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And then he walked along the edge of the Circle
This is the place where we will post your stories about the Green's Playhouse, The Glasgow Apollo and Satelitte City (The Wee Apollo). As it develops we will break the stories up into sections such as Myths, Gigs I missed, Meeting the Bands, Where are they now etc. No story too trivial and we will only edit out bad language!
New Forum structure on Apollomemories soon.
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| Can i help you down the stairs?
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| Former Stranglers manager Ian Grant provided the following story:
"If I
were asked for one memory, it would be when The Stranglers played there (two nights
but not in a row) and the fans set light to the balcony and Hugh Cornwell had a
spotlight targetted on the bouncers who were ejecting a fan (he did supposedly pull a
knife). After the show all the bouncers lined up on the stairs to the dressing
room.
We were holed up.
JJ Burnell offered them ?outside? one by one
and they were so taken aback we just walked past them all and left"
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| Abus load of us had come from Dunfermline to see The Skids supporting the Stranglers
at the Apollo. Great atmosphere and the Skids went down well, even though Jobson came
on in Teddy Boy gear!!.
Stranglers take the stage and were flipping ace, about
three songs in I couldn't see and stood on my chair to get a better view. Suddenly I
was flying through the air sideways, tucked under the arm of a huge fat bouncer. He
booted the fire door open and I was taken to a scene from the books of Dante. All
around were tuxedo clad fat bouncers kicking seven bells out of punks. I sorta
guessed I was getting it as well but no he kicked open the fire door and I was
chucked headfirst into the street and rolled along the pavement.
It was like a
movie the door opened again and someone else of our bus got lobbed out, bleeding from
his nose and head. Even for Glasgow our appearance in the chippy, begging for napkins
to soak up the blood must have been a bit rage.
Another gig was The Clash. Lots of
trouble, the gig got stopped a few times as fans and bouncers and the band and
bouncers fought. Anyway after one massive stooshie, Joe Strummer(God Bless man), got
up and shouted "AWrite, let's all calm down, come on now.". Everyone sorta
calmed down a bit, the band picked up their guitars and he said. "Ok this next
song is... WHITE RIOT" Cue absolute flipping mayhem... Ace
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| I was a part time bouncer which I enjoyed as I got to see a lot of bands for free,
got paid for doing it and made some extra cash when I worked the stage door by
letting punters in without tickets.
Worst concert for fan violence was David
Soul. Yes David Soul of Starsky and Hutch fame. Fans were predominently 13 year old
girls in the throes of ecstasy and I do not mean the drug. Sceaming, hysterical,
punching, kicking, spitting tearing. You would expect that from the bouncers but it
was the teenie boppers. The Apollo actually brought in a line of police to keep the
fans off the stage and we bouncers were lined up behind the thin blue line.
Give me a Stranglers concert any day.
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| My Very first Gig was Eddie and The Hot Rods with squeeze and Radio Stars Supporting!
When The Eddies came on i was in the Upper Circle(The one that used to shake alot)I
was about 14.I started Poggoing on the seat and within 30 Seconds found Myself back
out in Renfield Street.That was my Induction to the Appollo and the bouncers!Needless
to say i kept an eye out for them later.I saw them in action at the Clash gig and the
Stranglers.They were some devision!!!
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| The greatest satisfaction could be had by evading the meaty, beaty, big and bouncy
bruisers. One of your mates going in with one ticket and throwing it out the toilet
window in a matchbox. Then finding your way into the stalls. Adrenaline rush!
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| I was disgusted in the bouncers @ the Queen concert im sure was 30th May 1995 on my
birthday it was .. I was to meet Freddie Mercury and present them with a plaque as i
had wrote to the manager of the Apollo and got a reply bac k to take it to someone on
the night .. I went from bouncer to bouncer with the letter from he manager to be
lauged at and sent from one bouncer to another and the name of the head bopuncer was
on the letter . I remember going home that night crying to be told oh sorry you were
too late and i was at the concert early . I was told they have sent someone else in
with the plaque to Freddie .. He was my hero .. I went home crying , as i would say
the usual one of their friends were sent in to meet Freddie. The concert before that
i went to see Queen too and had my ticket and when it was an onchore in which i didnt
know they got changed and come back on stage i left thingking into the lane tou will
be there hoping to see them come out and all of a sudden they cam back on again and i
sat in that lane that night crying again as they refused to let me bk into the
concert as they said you left .. I wont forget that 2 Queen concets i was gave crap
by the bouncers ... First time when they refused to let me back in there was a
Brian May lookalike in the lane with a blonde in a fur coat lol and i stood there
laughing at the crazy fans run to him it was the usual Queens getaway from the
concet.. Thats all ill say on the bouncers they bounced me from one to the other on
the night i produced the letter from the manager that i was to meet the band behind
doors for my birthday due to the previous experience of not being allowed back into
the Apollo .....
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| Sorry 1975 not 1995 slip of the keys there sorry
*+*
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| Sorry about the typing errors i have just got a cordless keyboard and had'nt checked
how my spelling was ...
May 30th 1975 im sure that concert was for Queen and i
had went to the one in front of that
sorry bouncers not all were like that
though but the ones that dealt with me where ... The one that sent their mates in to
meet Freddie that night i hope you can sleep at night you know who you were lol
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| Ahh, the Apollo bouncers – a corrupt bunch but nowhere near as thuggish as the
Edinburgh playhouse lot (an average stale venue we were all forced to go to in the
aftermath of the Apollo shutting). The Apollo bouncers were also quite accommodating
– but at a price. I remember a few occasions where me and my mates (around the ages
of 14-15) had to bribe the bouncers into letting us into a sell-out show. a memorable
example of this was of the 1984 (i think) status quo show. We were banging the side
doors for ages and then suddenly a bouncer threw open the doors and demanded what we
were up to. We told him we wanted into the show. He said how much. Well, we were
pretty broke se we offered him a quid each. He laughed with contempt and slammed the
door on us. We thought that was it but 5 minutes later the bouncer re-emerged and
lets us in for the original asking price of a pound each. Suppose that was his good
deed for the day. A top night was had by all. i’m sure many others out there have had
a similar experiences with the bouncers at the Apollo.
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| I went to the Rush gig on their Hemispheres Tour, 1982 I think, with a bunch of my
mates, Fudge, Burky, Auldy, Davie, Woody, and me, Frankie. We'd good seats in the
middle balcony in the center of the front row. Now, Rush had these big banks of
spotlights that they shone on the crowd at regular intervals just on a prominent
riff, absolutely blinding but pretty cool. As one of their biggest fans, and having
had a few beers at the Burns Howff prior to the gig, I determined that the band would
get a good look at their biggest fan in Scotland the next time they shone those big
spotlights by me standing up on the front rail of the balcony, arms outstretched in
appreciation of their talents. next time the spots came on I duly got up in position
to my mates' amazement. I was up there for a nano-second and a half when I was
wrenched backwards by the neck and lifted over the back of my seat by a
"concerned" bouncer and dragged rearwards towards the exit. "Wait,
Wait, let me get my combat jacket" I shouted. To my surprise he dropped me down
and I duly picked up my jacket, as he grabbed the rear of my shirt again and
proceeded as before down the damp dank stairwell to the foyer. In the foyer he
explained to his fellow bouncers what this daft wee bar steward had been up to as he
chucked me through the glass doors and into Renfield Street. My pal Fudge came down
the stairs after me and followed me into the street to make sure I was alright. I was
still in a daze but apart from the onset of whiplash in the neck, I was fine. We
waited furtively by the chipshop for ten minutes until our bouncer friend returned to
his post upstairs, then a further five minutes later, we re-entered the foyer as if
we'd just stepped out for fresh air. The foyer bouncers looked me up and down like
they knew they'd seen me before but couldn't place me, before giving us the go ahead
to beat it inside. We decided our previous vantage point upstairs was no longer an
option so decided to go down to the front of the stage and join the crowd, and we'd
an absolutely brilliant time for the rest of the gig. I duly got well slagged by my
mates on the bus home and it did put me off Rush for a while as I was a bit
embarassed at myself, but hell, I was only a lad, and I've done dafter things since.
Anyway, The Apollo, magic place, many great memories, well done on this website, it's
the business!
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| Hi
Spent a while writing a reply & then pressed preview is my reply - NEVER SO
HAPPY TO SEE A POLICEMAN - now lost in cyberspace?
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| I was a student at Strathclyde in 1975 and got a part-time job as a bouncer - my
first gig was The Who on 15th October 1975. I asked a more experienced guy for his
advice and the best he could offer was "If they rush the stage, punch the first
guy as hard as you can - they'll all fall over him (her?) and that'll be
that".... I was bricking myself, the "rush" never happened, but when
it got busy, my "experienced" mate legged it to the back of the hall....
After that it was the best job I ever had - free gigs, met some great bands and some
of the stewardesses were quite tasty too...
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| Not many posts in the last year or so - maybe they've all succumbed to their
injuries?! I've been on the wrong end of the famous Apollo bow-ties a few times, but
I also have a nice story! I took my wee bruv to see Van Halen in 1980 - I was 15 so
he would have been 9 and we had seats in the middle of the stalls, on an aisle. When
the band (eventually!) came on, everyone jumped up and went Apollo mental. My wee
bruv couldn't see, so stood on his chair. 10 seconds later "aff the f*ckin chair
NOW!". The wee man was in tears. Another bow-tie came over "ye want tae go
doon the front wee man?" - too right he does! He planted us right in the middle
of "no mans land", in front of everbody. Now, with the height of the stage,
I could see the band except the drummer, but all he could see was the lights and
rigging. He was jumping up and down on his toes and getting nowhere. Nice bow-tie
comes back over "ye want tae take him up tae that box?" he says to me
pointing to the box right at the left corner of the stage (Box A?), which was empty.
That'd be brilliant big man, thanks. So we watched the rest of the gig about 6 feet
from bass player Mike Anthony! Needless to say my wee brov was trailed along to every
gig thereafter. He even got us into the press, guests and disabled balcony at
Ingleston for Rainbow and then Rush!
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| By the way, I'm not related to the ex-bouncer above, in case you think he put me up
to it!
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