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Had a little drop of nostalgia on my way to Wembley Arena on Saturday night, thanks to a friend's tip off about the Getty Images Gallery pop-up store on Olympic Way. It's a little photographic celebration of the venue's concerts since the 1960s. (It's open 10.00-19.00 daily until later this month, I believe; and, yes, you can purchase the artwork if you have very deep pockets!)
I was surprised to discover that the building dates back to 1934, and that occasional "pop" concerts were held there since the early 1960s (when it was still known as the Empire Pool), although T.Rex in 1972 is referred to as the first "rock" concert. Since then Status Quo hold the record as most frequent visitors, although Prince played 35 shows there and Whitney Houston was the most regular female performer. Special mention to Alice Cooper who, by the end of last year, had played there in all six decades since his debut (presumably as a support act) in 1969 (and if '72 was the first "rock" show, then Alice must have been a fair old shock to a '69 "pop" audience!).
Alice's 1972 headline debut featured a little known support band named Roxy Music and, while no photos were displayed from that year, these cracking snaps of Bryan Ferry from 1975 and 1982 are in the gallery. I was at one night of the '82 run, having made my first concert* visit to Wembley (and, indeed, seen my first Roxy show**) two years earlier; that 1980 memory was jogged by the single Oh Yeah! b/w South Downs being in the gallery's jukebox selection.
(*I had been taken to see the Harlem Globetrotters basketball all stars there in 1969!)
(**How I'd have loved to have been at the '75 gig, but I lived in Small Town, Nowhere and was reliant on public transport... Come to think of it, I'd never have been able to raise £2.50 either!)
Ah, back when we were young...
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