The story of my first ever gig, back in May 2003

Twenty years ago this month I went to my first gig proper. I’d been to a couple of concerts and seen bands playing at events before this, but Sunday 18th May 2003 at The Great Hall in Cardiff was the first time I went to a show I’d booked to see, with musicians performing live. The headline band was Less Than Jake, a ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. You’ve probably heard (or read) me mention them before.

Thirteen years later (an incredibly lucky number for me in this case), I got to work with the band on the vinyl pressing of their live album ‘Live From Astoria’, released via our label, Saint November Records. The years since have created memories that would’ve blown my 15 year old mind. That said, the memories from the first gig in 2003 are still among my most treasured.

You may have realised by now that I’m the nostalgic type (understatement..?), I love an anniversary. By chance.. hand on heart, God’s honest truth.. I ended up being in Cardiff on the night of the 20th anniversary. I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to stop by the venue and take a few photos. I even took my ticket from the show back with me.

⏪ Rewind to 2003

The full line up was LTJ, The Pieteasters, Teen Idols and Allister. My friend Ed had downloaded a handful of tracks from both The Pietasters and Teen Idols and burnt some CD-Rs for us, so we were as excited to see them as LTJ. I’m not sure if we knew much of Allister’s stuff going in, but that would change in the next few years.

This entire edition of the newsletter ought to be dedicated to my Mum. In my Dad’s absence due to work commitments, she drove us the three hour journey to Cardiff and sat in the car during the gig, waiting for us to eventually re-emerge for the return trip home. When we arrived in the city early afternoon my Mum parked up in a bay near the venue. Immediately we spotted a tour bus and, assuming it would be LTJ’s, we excitedly lined up for the photo op.

Our guess that it belonged to the headline band was confirmed when Roger (LTJ’s bassist), having seen us taking a photo, kindly popped his head out the door to say hello.

For all that can be said about my Mum’s driving and navigation skills, the same cannot be said for her ability to use a digital camera in 2003. Ed fell victim to this and was mortified for years at being accidentally cut from the photo. You would think that in the 20 years since of me using Photoshop I may have fixed this for him. What can I say, it’s been a busy couple of decades.

We spent some time in town before the show, checking out the gigantic Virgin Megastores (RIP) and the independent Spiller Records (still going strong). At Virgin we found, and all bought, the 7″ single edition of She’s Gonna Break Soon the lead track from Less Than Jake’s album Anthem (more on this shortly). This record is still one of the prize pieces of my collection, not just because of the wonderful memories attached to finding it, the cover illustration Mitch O’ Connell is one of my all time favourite pieces of LTJ artwork.

Arriving back at the venue, we joined the queue and had only been waiting a few minutes before the Teen Idols squeezed past, in single file, all wearing their leathers and get up. To be fair The Pietasters or Allister may well have walked past us too, but there was no mistaking the Teen Idols with their iconic look.

At the door we were given a free keyring that said ‘LTJ ❤️ The F*ckin’ UK’. These were an apology from the band for having rescheduled the tour twice. I don’t think the new dates had caused an inconvenience to any of us (perhaps my poor Mum?), but we were certainly happy to accept the bonus merch. I still have mine in the collection, along with everything else I bought or picked up that night, including the t-shirt below, which has been retired now for a number of years, though I recently bought a (near enough) replica of it.

The show itself was a non stop, four hour sugar rush of skanking, running and moshing that set the standard for every gig I’ve ever been to in the 20 years since. Sure, plenty have been a fair bit lighter on the audience participation, yet that same feeling of absolute escapism has been what kept me scouring magazines, and later social media, finding the tour announcements, booking tickets, travelling here, there and everywhere. It all started at The Great Hall in Cardiff on a Sunday night in May 2003, while my Mum completed her crossword in the car outside.

⏩ Back to the future

I was so sure I knew exactly where the venue, and entrance was. I’d been back here for another Less Than Jake gig in 2012. The building must have been redeveloped because I ended up leading my partner on a wild goose chase up and down the street, before we found a door that we thought may lead up to the above-street-level hall.

Our best guess paid off and as a bonus the doors were open, so I got to take a wistful walk through the venue itself. Before I outstayed my welcome I played the intro to one of LTJ’s best known hits Gainesville Rock City on my phone and started a one man circle-pit, not too dissimilar to this one from the 2nd time I saw the band at Reading 2003 (see if you can spot me in the photo).