Have you ever travelled abroad just to see a concert?

[Part 2]

Paris 1987 to The Locomotive to see Ghost Dance. Slept under the van one night when it was a bit full.

My mates used to follow bands around Europe late 80s hitching everywhere.

A mate went to see U2 in Paris once and fell asleep so bought a ticket for the next night at tout price. He fell asleep again and someone nicked his hat.

Think I'm gonna go to Meteo festival in France this August.

 

[pesh]

Yes

 

[tim]

I've travelled abroad to post a letter.

 

[8ball]

Does Cardiff count?

 

[marty21]

Does Cardiff count?

if it does, so does Swansea

 

[maomao]

Does Cardiff count?

Not if you're Welsh.

 

[8ball]

Not if you're Welsh.

What if you’re Welsh, but you live in England?

 

[krtek a houby]

Yeah, but not specifically. Rock Werchter in the 80s.

 

[flypanam]

Yes, went to Bern once to catch a CST records celebration in 2012.

Seen Fucked Up in Toronto. Saw Sandro Perri on one occasion in Montreal and I also saw Tim Hecker and Colin Stetson there too. Although I didn’t travel to MTL specifically to see them, the in laws live there.

 

[contadino]

Roskilde 2000 and Miles Davis in Paris 1988-ish are two memorable ones. Wouldn't travel nowadays.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Went to a festival in Switzerland because the Pixies were playing. Was supposed to be on my way from France to Germany but I ended up staying in Switzerland for a bit instead.

 

[xenon]

I went to Scotland to see Mudhoney in 1992. It's another country. I'm counting it.

If that counts then, fuck it. I’m going to Cardiff to see the pixies next month

 

[scifisam]

No, but I was considering it earlier this last year. Seems a good thing to organise a trip around, rather than actually just going for the gig then coming home.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

No. I'm not a big gig goer.

 

[Yossarian]

I have seen gigs abroad - notable ones - Beastie Boys in Chicago around 1987, Violent Femmes in Champaign-Urbana in 87, BB-King in Champaign-Urbana in 1988 - but I was living in Champaign-Urbana at the time.

I was in Windsor, Ontario for a couple of years and made the extremely short journey to Detroit - maybe 10 minutes on a city bus from downtown to downtown, with minimal customs and immigration formalities at the time - to see bands dozens of times, sometimes we'd go as far as Ann Arbor etc. if there was a good enough band playing. I had a look on Google Maps today and was glad to see St. Andrew's Hall and the State Theatre, both of which were getting very shabby in the early '90s, are still standing and going strong.

Also made a few music related trips from the UK to mainland Europe - and from England to Scotland - always for festivals, not individual acts, though I'm not sure if I would have gone as far as Ullapool in northern Scotland if the Alabama 3 hadn't been playing.

 

[hipipol]

Amsterdam to see Bob Marley

 

[savoloysam]

I'm considering going to Canada in May (went there last year and totally fell in love with Montreal) to see The New Pornographers as they only ever tour North America these days.

You only live once folks and whilst I have the cash and can afford I am going to have a fucking blast tonight.

 

[Riklet]

Went to Barcelona for Sonar in 2010 which was amazing. And to Lisbon for Nos festival in 2016.

Not actually travelled just to see a single concert though I dont think.

 

[weltweit]

Not for music, but I went to France for the weekend to see the Le Mans 24 hour.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

I went all the way to Bristol once.

 

[Petcha]

Yes. I booked a ticket to see Tjinder Singh of Cornershop fame in Brighton from my native country, which is a fair distance. In 1999. Apparently Talvin Singh and Tjinder Singh are not the same person. I'm still here though.

 

[JimW]

Also because I happened to be here, not special trip, but saw Bjork play the Worker's Gymnasium in Beijing, way back when touring stars were still a rarity. Was funny, because the band came on without her for the opener and the audience got antsy thinking she was being precious or something. Then the people I was with were disappointed because she had her hair black and looked too Chinese and not foreign starlet enough for them.

 

[nagapie]

Travelled to Eswatini, then Swaziland, from South Africa to see Joan Armatrading.

Other than that been to international festivals in Barcelona and Detroit but not single concerts.

 

[ska invita]

Would love to, many an act that never comes to Britain. Particularly US ones.... Furthest I've been is North London.

 

[Mattym]

Malta for a techno festival back in the day- stubbed my toe on a rock in the sea the first day we were there, so could hardly walk for the rest of the holiday. The wife got food poisoning, but insisted on coming to the festival. We get there and it is basically a big festival, but a total dust bowl with loads of stages, tents etc in crazy heat and nowhere to sit down etc. Cue 8 or more hours of soulless banging techno, loads of people completely addled on gravel (including all the cloakroom attendants- who were too battered to find our things), loads of fights outside the venue after it finished and then a cab ride back, a 2hr wait for the ferry back to the island of Gozo (can't remember how long the ferry journey took itself) followed by another cab ride on the other side- what was not to like?

 

[Mumbles274]

Some day Festival in Bremen. REM, robbie williams, banco De gaia, er er others maybe?

 

[Orang Utan]

I went all the way to Bristol once.

Me too. A Young Gods gig at the Bierkeller.
And Sheffield a few times - The Shamen, The Orb, Disposable Heroes
Never went to Bradford even though it was closer than the others but it seemed beyond the pale to me.
Have never been wealthy enough to actually go to another country for one gig.

 

[Orang Utan]

Malta for a techno festival back in the day- stubbed my toe on a rock in the sea the first day we were there, so could hardly walk for the rest of the holiday. The wife got food poisoning, but insisted on coming to the festival. We get there and it is basically a big festival, but a total dust bowl with loads of stages, tents etc in crazy heat and nowhere to sit down etc. Cue 8 or more hours of soulless banging techno, loads of people completely addled on gravel (including all the cloakroom attendants- who were too battered to find our things), loads of fights outside the venue after it finished and then a cab ride back, a 2hr wait for the ferry back to the island of Gozo (can't remember how long the ferry journey took itself) followed by another cab ride on the other side- what was not to like?

If festivals count, I’ve been to a few Sonars in Barcelona and an Electric Elephant in Croatia but I’d count them as holidays as I always spent at least a week there

 

[Mattym]

If festivals count, I’ve been to a few Sonars in Barcelona and an Electric Elephant in Croatia but I’d count them as holidays as I always spent at least a week there

But if you base the holiday around going to a festival, then yes, it's a holiday but then I wouldn't necessarily have ever gone to Malta for a holiday (other than to go to the festival).

 

[Mattym]

Never went to Bradford even though it was closer than the others but it seemed beyond the pale to me.

Went to see Hamlet at the Alhambra, which was a weird place to take Sheffield 6 formers to, when I'm sure The Lyceum had the very same stuff on, but think that might be for a different thread.