With Coldplay in town this week, we thought we’d look at some other significant concerts in the history of the city. Contact our contentious lists correspondent Angus Young to argue with his selections.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Cecil Cinema, May 1962: Arguably Hull’s first major rock and roll show featured The Killer on his second UK tour – four years after the first ended abruptly in scandal when he introduced his new 13-year-old bride Myra who was also his cousin.
Myra returned with him for the second tour even though Lewis was still married to his previous wife.
The Beatles, Majestic Cinema, October 1962: The Beatles first live show in Hull also promoted the group’s first single Love Me Do released at the same time.
Ten years later Paul McCartney and his new band Wings played at Hull University, arriving announced before asking the students’ union whether they could put on a show. The band stayed the night at the Pearson Park Hotel.
The Rolling Stones, ABC Cinema, September 1964: A gig captured in vivid colour courtesy of a special British Pathe newsreel feature titled Rolling Stones Gather Moss.
It starts with the band pretending to hitch a lift to Hull and features some great footage of screaming fans. Still available on YouTube, have fun trying to spot your granny swooning over Jagger and Co.
Jimi Hendrix Experience, Skyline Ballroom, March, 1967: With one hit – Hey Joe – already under his belt, Hendrix was promoting the follow-up single Purple Haze when he played the Skyline with support from The Small Faces and Robert Palmer’s Mandrakes among others.
According to legend, when the guitarist and his band finished their set they immediately ran down Jameson Street to catch the night’s last train back to London.
The Who, City Hall, February 1970: Recorded live, the show would be eclipsed by the recording of another concert by the band the day before which became the best-selling album Live At Leeds.
The Hull tapes were finally released in 2012 as a double CD album called The Who Live in Hull 1970.
Bay City Rollers, ABC Cinema, November 1974: At the height of Rollermania, nearly 1,000 teenage girls wearing tartan-lined trousers and waving tartan scarves welcomed Scotland’s pop sensations, having queued overnight for tickets.
Billed as the biggest group since The Beatles, the band stayed next door at the Royal Station Hotel after the gig.
New Order, The Tower, March 1982: In the early 1980s the Tower hosted an eclectic series of gigs featuring new bands on the up. To underline the point, chart-topping Haircut 100 played there 24 hours after New Order had walked off the same stage just before the end of the set when their computer equipment stopped working.
The Housemartins: Hull City Hall, October 1986: Nurtured in The Adelphi, the sight of the self-styled Fourth Best Band in Hull taking the City Hall stage as part of their Think For A Minute UK tour confirmed their arrival as national pop stars.
A photograph of fans at the concert that night later adorned the cover of a biography of the band called Now That’s What I Call Quite Good written by Hull poet Nick Swift.
Cliff Richard: Holy Trinity Church, November 1997: Cliff was a regular visitor to Hull in the 1960s and early 1970s with The Shadows and as a solo artist but this gig was a bit different – a one-off sell-out in the largest parish church in England.
Instead of performing his hits, he sang gospel songs which were relayed to another audience outside in Trinity Square via a PA system.
Elton John: KC Stadium, July 2003: Stadium rock finally arrived in Hull when Elton John played a solo gig at the new home of Hull City and Hull FC, the first in a series of big-name concerts to be staged there.
Other acts who followed in his footsteps included Bryan Adams, Neil Diamond, R.E.M., Bon Jovi and The Who. On each occasion, fans were soaked by heavy rain although the sun did manage to shine for Rod Stewart in 2015.