Old Gig Tickets - The Longest Day

So, it was 31 years ago today that I stood in a damp, cold field in Milton Keynes waiting for somebody to fix U2's faulty PA. the rain, it rained. The wind, it blew. The temperature, it dropped. So much so that 22 June 1985 became the time of my first, and last, cigarette, a protest to let everybody I was with know just how fed up I was. Low point of the day, after U2 started and then the speakers failed again, was when Bono started telling very poor jokes to "entertain" the crowd. Last sight was my friend Sarah running off into the crowd because she disagreed with the decision the rest of us made to leave early.

The music? Well U2 were ok I guess once their pa worked, though even die-hard fanatic James said this wasn't one of their best. Everyone else was great (except Theatre of Hate, obviously). Billy Bragg side-stepping 2 litre bottles thrown from the crowd is a particular memory (nice fans you have there, Bono); REM were majestic, The Ramones suitably rabble rousing.

Overall, the name of the gig was about right....it did feel pretty much like the longest day.