I was watching a documentary on The Ramones the other night and remembered this gig. It's the only time I've been to the infamous Milton Keynes Bowl. I had to laugh at the audacity of the owners of the field that is the Milton Keynes Bowl. I was expecting some sort of natural ampitheatre or something a little bit like the Hollywood Bowl. It is for anyone who has never been there, no more than a field with a horseshoe shaped mound of earth around the edge (not the guitarist). It chucked it down all day, ironically, until U2 came on. Billy Bragg was very good, so were the Ramones (1234!). Well actually only 1 now (the drummer). Two died of cancer and one of drugs (according to the documentary). I also remember the stupidity of Michael Stipe, referring to the inclement weather ("It's not like this in Georgia") and the response from what appeared to be every person in the audience ("well eff off back there!"). He didn't really endear himself to the audience that night. I also remember the car park (another field), like a quagmire. It was like the Somme with Fiesta's instead of tanks. I also remember the people covered in mud, having spent £10 quid on an 'official mechandise t-shirt' and completely destroying it on the mudslide. Mud was 'in' at MK long before it bacame famous at Glastonbury. U2 were fantastic but that was the last big open air all day concert I've been to. Although I loved seeing U2 I had to question my sanity. Standing in a field all day in the pouring rain. Hmmm. Do I really need to do this? I tend to go for small, indoor gigs these days, where you're less likely to contract trenchfoot.

tourdb © 1997 - 2008 tourdb (at) popsmart (dot) org