My first time seeing Chris de Burgh was when he opened for Gino Vannelli in London Ont, at Alumni Hall around 1975, before his first album came out. I don't recall the actual date. He was a complete unknown, at least in this country.

He opened the show by walking out on stage with his guitar in hand, sat down on a stool next to another stool with a glass of water on it and began to strum away. Now you need to understand, Gino Vannelli was a rockin' Canadian boy with lots of radio play and the crowd was there to rock. Soon he began narrating along...

"There's a Spanish train that runs between

Saw some unknown California band backing up Black Sabbath in 1978. Van Halen. Who knew?

Saw Bob Seger playing at a high school in '72 or '73.

Also the Wigan Pier used to hold heavy metal shows in the early 80s - saw Angelwitch, Samson and maybe Iron Maiden (that one is a blur lol).

An as-yet unconfirmed sighting: in November of 1978 I went to a concert in Nancy, France--in a small warehouse / arena in the industrial district of the city--where I watched a young (18-year old) Yannick Noah practicing tennis before a Peter Gabriel concert (a concert that is not under the lists of Peter's concerts on Concert Archives though a concert in "Nantes" is listed from a date slightly later than the one I attended). Then, sitting on the concrete floors, wearing my full winter regalia due to the ambient temperature in the unheated building, I sat four people deep from the center stage while a tiny brown-haired wraith-like dynamo dressed in a skin-tight one piece black "leather" one-piece jumpsuit with a large, torso-length front zipper revealing some not inconsiderable cleavage sang her set of highly-animated (and TOTALLY unfamiliar) songs in the shrillest voice I'd ever been exposed to (singing in English) while flying around the stage in front of her band. I'd never heard of this artist--or any of her songs--before, so her name or the name and content of her songs did not register to me, but I've always been willing to bet my bottom dollar that it was Kate Bush. (Either that or Pat Benetar--but why would Pat Benetar be touring Europe in 1978--especially when the first record of her touring on The Continent was in 1983?) While I've never heard of (nor have I been able to confirm) Kate doing any concerts in Europe--ever--I do know that at this time she was in full training for her Hammersmith Odeon concert series (May of 1979) and that she was already acquainted with Mr. Gabriel, so in retrospect, when I later became aware of the music and existence of this theatrical comet (Kate Bush), I quickly deduced that it could have been her making a little jaunt across The Channel for a little "quiet" (under the radar) practice experience--all under the protection and tutelage of a seasoned veteran of the stage and theater (or theatricity). What also contributed to my rhapsodic belief that it might have been Kate was the fact that it was soon revealed that Mr. Gabriel had, in fact, been sitting directly behind me (on the floor) during the whole of Kate's performance before getting up with his reflective vest and cyclopically-torched minor's hard-hat to make his way up the front steps to the stage for his own set. I know he thanked the warmup artist for her set, but the name he used to identify her never registered with me.

Not that anybody's life depends on it, but, I've asked this question before here on PA: Does anybody have any suggestions on how to verify the possibility of this uncharted stage appearance from Ms. Bush in late 1978? I mean, it would make some sense to do some "secretive" practice stage performing as her career was taking off. ("Wuthering Heights", Kick Inside and Lionheart were all phenoms of 1978.)--especially to gain a sense of direction: how she wanted her stage performance to feel, look, and unfold. (We all know that her Hammersmith Odeon shows were filled with many costume changes and lavish theatrical staging. This performer/performance in Nancy lacked any costume changes and no other ancillary stage performers [other than her band]. And this artist only sang and ran around the stage--she played no instruments during the concert. [Remember: as a warmup performer, her setlist was limited. I'm guessing that she did seven or eight songs. I was completely sober at this concert and a newcomer to all-things European--living as an exchange student in Strasbourg--which, I think, is why so much of this experience remains so fresh to me. Plus, I was a tennis player, which is why the weird chance encounter with Yannick Noah remains so vivid.]) Anybody have any insights or suggestions?