READERS CONTRIBUTIONS...


Welcome to our Readers Contributions page.

On this page we will feature contributions from Sabre Dance members and fans
who have visited the site relating to BUDGIE. Stories, reviews and comments that
don't fit onto any other page will be presented here for your enjoyment.

To start things off I have featured some comments from Budgie fan Rich Revill
regarding his memories of seeing Budgie perform in Nottingham, England.

Any other fans out there, please send in any information for inclusion on this
page. Anything to do with Budgie and or Related Bands will be featured.

Simon Wilson 15th November 1998

From Rich Revill 13/11/98
    
So, here's what I mean about Budgie ...

I can't remember the date exactly, I'd have to go and check, but it was at
Nottingham's Rock City where Budgie were second on the bill after a warmup
band but before Gillan.

The first band were OK but as soon as they cleared the stage, the crowd
surged forward and I luckily managed to get my arms above my head which
resulted in me being lifted off my feet and spending the next hour and
fifteen minutes 'hanging'!

Budgie came on and just burnt the place down!  Big John's style is very
different to Tony Bourge's and there is little point in making comparisons
between these two superb musicians ... and then "Heavy Revolution", "Forearm
Smash", "Gunslinger" and "Wildfire" just showed those upstart young bands
how the fuck heavy metal SHOULD be played!!!!

After they played a couple of encores to rapturous applause and cheering, I
was "carried' to the back of the floor where enventually my feet hit the
desck again.  Retired to the toilets and I was soaked to the skin in sweat
and must have lost at least 8lbs in weight.  That's when you know you've had
a great time!

The photos I have (but may be unusable) were from Nottingham Royal Concert
Hall where Budgie were supporting Diamond Head.   Not the best venue (all
seater) to see a band with the raw-energy Budgie generate but they were
great!  The mic failed and Burke and the boys just kept on playing ... and
you could see Burke's vocal chords straining to make himself heard and you
COULD fucking hear him!!

Diamond Head came on (pretenders to the throne).  The mic failed. The entire
band walk off amidst loud boos from the crowd.

The local paper partly covered the gig the following day focusing on the
headliners but ending with "I wish I hadn't missed the Budgie set. It must
have been incredible because even as Diamond Head were coming back for their
encore, the crowd were shouting for Budgie to come back for more."

Sweet memories!

So, I was lucky enough to see Budgie about a dozen times and Tredegar a
couple of times before moving to France and now the US.  Just incredible.
My first wife and I had matching worn denim jackets with only the Budgie
logo embroidered in red on the back. Probably looked like dorks but who
gives a fuck!  In fact, I was in the bar at Leicester De Montford Hall one
time to see Budgie play and this crowd of people mistook me for Burke!
(Sentimental flashback to when I had long curly hair!).