Paul Henman Music Fan

Music Fan

I’ve seen over 170 bands at 120+ concerts since my first gig in 1986. Favourites? It’s hard to pick just one, but a few which stick out are:

  • Dio (1986) because it was my first big concert
  • Motorhead (1991)
  • Rush (2002)
  • Bjork (2003)
  • Deep Purple & Thin Lizzy (Massey Hall, 2004)
  • The Musical Box (2004)
  • Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts (Sugar House, 1987) was a fun show – it ended with Dumpy riding a motorbike on to the main floor, doing doughnuts and then riding off through the emergency exit
  • Kiss (2000) was an OK concert but it was the day Kerri & I got engaged.

*** I take it back – it is easy for me to pick a favourite now – it’s the Marillion Weekend in Montreal, April 2011 – I even wrote about it!

Gigs – past, present and future

Date Headline act Venue Support act(s)
13/02/1986 Pallas SugarHouse (none)
10/05/1986 Dio Queens Hall, Leeds Keel
23/05/1986 Pallas King George’s Hall, Blackburn Militia, Cobra
14/09/1986 Chris de Burgh NEC ?
06/10/1986 Magnum Guildhall, Preston FM
22/11/1986 Cobra Yorkshire House –
28/11/1986 Gary Glitter Great Hall, Lancaster University –
29/01/1987 Blitzkrieg Zone 20/20 SugarHouse –
30/01/1987 Cobra Georgian Club, Lancaster –
31/01/1987 Metal Heart Yorkshire House –
06/02/1987 Rough Edge Yorkshire House –
15/02/1987 Metal Heart Flying Dutchman ph, Lancaster –
01/03/1987 Raw Deal Furness JCR –
06/03/1987 Magnum St.Georges Hall, Bradford Heavy Pettin’
07/03/1987 Deep Purple NEC Bad Company
13/03/1987 Raw Deal SugarHouse –
14/03/1987 Raw Deal Yorkshire House –
07/05/1987 Wedding Present SugarHouse –
16/05/1987 Raw Deal Yorkshire House –
21/05/1987 Blyth Power SugarHouse –
04/06/1987 Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts SugarHouse –
22/08/1987 Bon Jovi Donington Cinderella, WASP, Anthrax, Metallica, Dio
28/08/1987 The Mission Reading Rock Festival (day 1/3) The Babysitters, All About Eve, The Godfathers, Fields of the Nephilim, Icicle Works, The Fall
29/08/1987 Status Quo Reading Rock Festival (day 2/3) Quireboys, Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts, Shy, Glory, Terraplane, MGM, Lee Aaron, Georgia Satellites, Bad News, Magnum
30/08/1987 Alice Cooper Reading Rock Festival (day 3/3) Chariot, Kooga, Virginia Wolf, Vow Wow, Gypsy Queen, Lizzy Borden, The Enid, FM, The Bolshoi, Zodiac Mindwarp, The Stranglers
11/10/1987 Raw Deal Furness JCR –
22/10/1987 Tygers of Pan Tang SugarHouse –
25/10/1987 The Damned Great Hall, Lancaster University The Crows
02/12/1987 Dio NEC Warlock
22/12/1987 Marillion NEC It Bites
03/01/1988 Whitesnake NEC MSG (McAuley Schenker Group)
03/03/1988 Heart NEC The Jitters
18/04/1988 Def Leppard NEC Loverboy
16/06/1988 Pallas Georgian Rooms, Lancaster –
27/06/1988 INXS NEC Big Pig
15/11/1988 David Lee Roth Wembley Arena –
12/03/1989 Gary Moore Wembley Arena (Victory, except they cancelled)
01/04/1989 Europe Hammy Odeon Dare
19/08/1989 Bon Jovi Milton Keynes Bowl Skid Row, Vixen, Europe
29/10/1989 Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe Wembley Arena –
26/11/1989 Aerosmith Wembley Arena –
10/12/1989 Alice Cooper Wembley Arena Britny Fox, Great White
11/05/1990 Heart Wembley Arena –
12/05/1990 Midnight Oil Wembley Arena –
30/06/1990 Pink Floyd Knebworth – Silver Clef Award Winners Concert Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Dire Straits, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Genesis, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Status Quo, Tears for Fears
18/08/1990 Whitesnake Donington Thunder, Quireboys, Poison, Aerosmith
05/09/1990 Black Sabbath Cambridge Corn Exchange –
16/09/1990 Magnum Wembley Arena –
16/12/1990 Status Quo Wembley Arena Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts
20/01/1991 Ozzy Osbourne Wembley Arena Thunder
19/02/1991 Motorhead Hammy Odeon The Almighty
14/03/1991 Deep Purple Hammersmith Odeon Vixen
16/04/1991 AC/DC Wembley Arena –
30/06/1991 Yes Wembley Arena –
06/07/1991 ZZ Top Milton Keynes Bowl Little Angels, Thunder, Bryan Adams
11/02/1992 Lynyrd Skynyrd Town & Country Club –
24/02/1992 Eric Clapton Royal Albert Hall Clive Griffin
27/06/1992 Def Leppard Earls Court, Olympia Gun
18/07/1992 Bryan Adams Wembley Stadium Little Angels, Squeeze, Extreme
24/07/1992 Mr. Meana Plinston Hall, Letchworth From The Dark
02/08/1992 Genesis Knebworth Lisa Stansfield, Saw Doctors
22/08/1992 Iron Maiden Donington The Almighty, WASP, Slayer, Thunder, Skid Row
04/10/1992 Gary Moore Royal Albert Hall –
13/12/1992 Apollyon Baldock F.C. From The Dark
20/12/1992 Status Quo Wembley Arena –
08/01/1993 From The Dark Plinston Hall, Letchworth Apollyon
09/04/1993 From The Dark Plinston Hall, Letchworth The Lords
17/05/1993 Iron Maiden Wembley Arena The Almighty
22/05/1993 Bruce Springsteen Milton Keynes Bowl –
13/02/1994 The Egg and Bacon Band The Man In The Moon ph, Stevenage –
24/02/1994 The Uninvited Red Lion ph, Stevenage –
13/04/1994 Black Sabbath Hammersmith Apollo Cathedral, Godspeed
04/05/1994 Catch 22 Red Lion ph, Stevenage –
09/06/1994 Mr. Rainmaker Red Lion ph, Stevenage –
17/06/1994 Hard To Cure (?) Hitchin Football Club Devious
23/06/1994 Rickshaw AKA Red Lion ph, Stevenage –
07/07/1994 Turn The Page Red Lion ph, Stevenage –
01/10/1994 Purple Turtle Yorkshire Grey ph, Stevenage –
20/06/1995 Corduroy Agincourt, Camberley The Hairy Things (!)
16/02/1996 Deep Purple Rivermead, Reading Pan Ram
21/06/1996 AC/DC Wembley Arena –
29/06/1996 Eric Clapton Hyde Park Alanis Morissette, Bob Dylan, Pete Townsend’s “Quadrophenia”
14/12/1996 Status Quo Wembley Arena Steeleye Span
18/05/1997 The Who Wembley –
25/10/1997 Motorhead Brixton Academy –
29/10/1997 Lynyrd Skynyrd Royal Albert Hall –
22/11/1997 John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers Shepherds Bush Empire –
27/02/1998 Genesis Earls Court –
07/05/1999 Think Floyd (?) (none)
23/06/2000 Kiss Air Canada Centre Skid Row, Ted Nugent
Moved to Canada
18/03/2001 Jeff Beck Massey Hall –
26/05/2001 Raoul & The Big Time Steam Whistle Brewery –
01/06/2001 J.Englishman (Windsor) –
19/06/2001 Lynyrd Skynyrd Molson Amphitheatre Ted Nugent, Deep Purple
05/07/2001 Styx Molson Amphitheatre Joe Stark, Billy Squier, Bad Company
07/07/2001 Raoul & The Big Time (?) –
24/07/2001 Black Sabbath OzzFest @ The Docks Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society. Crazy Town, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson
28/09/2001 The Arrogant Worms Hugh’s Room Wendell Ferguson
30/11/2001 April Wine Kool Hous Blue Oyster Cult
05/06/2002 Big Rude Jake The Horseshoe (none)
27/04/2002 Motorhead The Docks –
06/07/2002 Long John Baldry Harbourfront (none)
17/07/2002 Rush Molson Amphitheatre (none)
16/08/2002 Zeppelinesque Healey’s (none)
17/08/2002 (various Thin Lizzy cover bands) Healey’s –
22/08/2002 Jethro Tull Molson Amphitheatre Saga
21/12/2002 The Arrogant Worms Hugh’s Room (none)
05/03/2003 Status Quo Club 279 (Hard Rock Cafe) The Trews
11/04/2003 Zeppelinesque Healey’s (none)
05/06/2003 Blessed Blond Bistro 333 (none)
05/07/2003 The Trews Celebrate Toronto –
30/07/2003 Rolling Stones Downsview Park
(“Molson Rocks For Toronto”, a.k.a. “SARSstock”, a.k.a. SARSapalooza”!) 		AC/DC; Rush; The Guess Who; Justin Timberlake; Blue Rodeo; The Tea Party; Sam Roberts; The Flaming Lips; Kathleen Edwards; The Isley Brothers; Sass Jordan; La Chicane; Jim Belushi & Dan Aykroyd & Have Love Will Travel Revue
03/08/2003 Iron Maiden Molson Amphitheatre Dio, Motorhead
12/08/2003 Def Leppard Molson Amphitheatre Ricky Warwick
26/08/2003 Moved to 03/09/03 Bjork Centre Island Bonnie Prince Billy
09/10/2003 Eric Idle Massey Hall ?
10/10/2003 Buffy Sainte-Marie Massey Hall ?
31/01/2004 The Trews Horseshoe Tavern Rebel Emergency; Bedouin Soundclash
26/02/2004 Deep Purple Massey Hall Thin Lizzy
27/03/2004 “The Musical Box” (Genesis cover band) recreating “Selling England By The Pound” The Danforth Music Hall (none)
22/07/2004 Alice Cooper Molson Amphitheatre Edgar Winter Band & Foghat
18/08/2004 Judas Priest Molson Amphitheatre Slayer
21/08/2004 Deep Purple Molson Amphitheatre Thin Lizzy & Joe Satriani
18/11/2004 April Wine Hard Rock Cafe Carl Dixon
18/03/2005 Thunderstruck Opera House (AC/DC tribute band)
16/06/2005 Marillion Live and Acoustic Trio (Los Trios Marillos = h, Rothers & Pete) Mod Club ?
03/08/2005 Iron Maiden Molson Amphitheatre Mastodon
15/08/2005 Def Leppard Molson Amphitheatre The Tea Party
04/10/2005 Jethro Tull Massey Hall Lucia Micarelli
03/12/2005 The Musical Box Massey Hall performing The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
28/06/2006 Spamalot Canon Theatre (Not a concert, I know, but a fun night nonetheless)
16/10/2006 Iron Maiden Air Canada Centre Bullet For My Valentine
03/04/2009 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Sun Domingo
04/04/2009 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal The Wishing Tree; Sun Domingo
05/04/2009 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal John Wesley
08/04/2011 Sun Domingo Brutopia, Montréal Tempus Fugit
08/04/2011 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Pete & Robin; John Wesley
09/04/2011 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Jason Hart
10/04/2011 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal The Free Press
20/06/2012 Marillion The Opera House, Toronto Sun Domingo
22/03/2013 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Mystery
23/03/2013 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Jacob Moon
24/03/2013 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Sound Of Contact
24/04/2015 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Scripted; Kings; Casey McPherson Eric Blackwood of Edison’s Children
25/04/2015 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Lo-Fi Resistance
26/04/2015 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal David Barrett Trio
31/10/2016 Marillion Danforth Music Hall, Toronto John Wesley
17/05/2019 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal District 97
18/05/2019 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Jenny Rothery and Riccardo Romano
19/05/2019 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal “An Audience With Marillion”
04/09/2020 Marillion Couch Convention –
05/09/2020 Marillion Couch Convention –
06/09/2020 Marillion Couch Convention –
01/07/2022 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal Randy McStine
02/07/2022 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal The Cyberiam
03/07/2022 Marillion Théâtre L’Olympia, Montréal “An Audience With Marillion”
Future (date in italics = not booked tickets yet)
(2023?) Marillion There are rumours of another Marillion weekend in North America –


As of 01-Nov-2022, setlist.fm says I’ve seen 206 concerts of 123 different artists.
Marillion is obviously the lion’s share of those gigs, followed by Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, and Status Quo.

Missing?

I’m sure there are other bands that I’ve seen which don’t appear on this list, such as

I also saw The Spice Girls and Jamiroquai perform a couple of songs each at the launch of the McLaren (Formula One) car on 13 Feb 1997.

Other bands I’d like to see (if I could turn back time)


What have I been listening to recently?

Unfortunately last.fm no longer supports the charts which I used to include here, so if you want to see what I’ve been listening to you’ll have to go to my last.fm profile page.