Yes, Doonhamers. Some of music’s finest rabble-rousers, trendsetters and iconoclasts performed in this very place. We’ve delved into the Doonhamer Hive Mind, unearthing a treasure trove of some of the strangest and most prolific musical memories our wee valley has. From the dark depths of the Sabbath to the dizzying highs of Shamen, these are five bands you didnie even know Dumfries ever hosted…

The New York electro-punk duo performed their first ever UK gig at the Stagecoach music venue in Collin, 1978, before embarking on a European tour. And yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. You must be thinking their tour van broke down on the way to merry ol’ London town, but no dear friends, The Stagecoach Collin, an American-diner-style, ramshackle eatery, hotel and live music venue, was renowned for its energetic gigs, and remains as legend, in the minds of those lucky enough to have visited it, as firmly on the pulse of the growing punk and nu-wave scenes of the 70s and 80s.

You may or not have heard of Suicide, but be sure their influence is still very much felt to this day. Trailblazers through and through, in a November 1970 flyer the band was the first ever to use the phrase "punk music" to advertise a concert. Suicide's albums of the late 1970s and early 1980s are regarded as some of the most influential recordings of their time and helped shape the direction of indie rock, industrial music and dance music, inspiring the likes of Joy Division, Nick Cave and The Jesus And Mary Chain. Their live sets were legendary for their violence, even for a punk rock show. Their inaugural European gig in France, but three days before their Dumfries debut, was anything but smooth.

‘The tour’s opening night was at a science-fiction festival in Metz, France. It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts. “The audience just flipped out and started throwing stuff,” Rev recalls. “I felt something hit me, I looked down and someone had taken off their boot and thrown it.” Howard Thompson, who recorded many of these shows and was the band’s UK label rep, also recalls seeing “a wooden chair get slung at them” that night. This, though, was merely a warmup for Brussels. As Rev himself says: “After that, it was like going into the trenches.”’

The Guardian, July 2017.

Were you there? If so, get in touch, we want to hear what you threw at them.

What, where, how?! The Who, very much on the rise to infamy and super-stardom, paid a wee visit to The Drill Hall (Loreburn Hall) in December of 1966, in what would live on as folklore, or even myth, is in fact oh-so-very true. Yes, my Gallovidian friends, memories of the night are vivid for those lucky enough to have attended:

‘The last song at the Drill Hall, you knew what was coming, Townsend gave his guitar to the Roadie, who gave him this old, beat-up, cheap guitar… this is the one he smashed to pieces.’ – Laurie Ferguson

‘The band played nearly non-stop in 1966, mostly shows in the United Kingdom with several short trips to European countries like Sweden and Germany mixed in. Performances during the early part of the year included material from the My Generation album (released in late 1965) and numerous cover songs; March saw the release of “Substitute”, which would become one of the most performed songs in the Who canon, and “I’m a Boy” (released in August) would also remain in their act for several years. Later 1966 shows would feature material from the A Quick One album, as well as the single “Happy Jack”.’ - Scotbeat

Two years later, remarkably, the band again visited the region performing in what-was-then the Auchinleck Dance Hall (some refer to this as the local Miners Club).

‘The Who were touring with Tommy (their fourth album). They were supposed to play for only half an hour. At Auchinleck people sat down on the dance floor and listened. They played for over an hour. I think it was shock.’ – Harvey Gallacher

‘I was in the Drill Hall in 66 to see The Who. It was mental, a big shock to everybody there that night. Pete Townsend smashed his guitar on the stage and Keith Moon kicked his drums and everything onto the floor.’ – Jim Lennox

Got photos or memorabilia of this gig? If so, get in touch!

The Stagecoach once again baffles us with its punk rock luminary accolades. Sources for this gig are, truthfully, a bit vague (due to most of the Dumfries crowd being just off-the-walls drunk). But yes, The Cramps, innovators of the Psychobilly genre and CBGB regulars, graced D&G at the height of punk rock supremacy in the UK.

Their style, influenced by the early psychobilly bands of the 1950’s (Link Ray, the Green Fuz and the Sonics) along with B-Movie, campy sci-fi horror aesthetics, mark The Cramps as legends on the edge of the sub-culture’s hedonistic blend of brutality, rebellion and high art.

‘I saw the Cramps at the Stagecoach, the original band with Brian Gregory on guitar. Great show but a bit too much for a lot of the Dumfries crowd, only out for a Sunday night bevvy. What a front two, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy. Those were the days...’ - Kenny Logue

Were you sober and have a good memory of this gig? If so, get in touch!

Well, more than a fair few of you remember this one, and for all the right reasons too. Ocean Colour Scene, still in the hazy high of the Brit-Pop explosion, paid the town a wee visit with a gig at the Drill Hall in 1999.

A gig that lives on in living legend, the band played to a more than enthusiastic Doonhamer crowd. Sources are scarce as to who organised the gig, from the YES to the band themselves (some Scottish blood in there perhaps?). It’s nearly unfathomable, Ocean Colour Scene were surfing high on the Brit-pop scene. A year earlier, the band had embarked on an arena tour, with two sold-out nights in bonnie Stirling Castle.

20 years have since passed (sorry), and the night lives on, in-between memory, legend and heresay. With sources citing after-parties and favourite night-time haunts (it’s only for dancers), the gig is probably one of the most sentimental of musical experience for Doonhamers, whether its position in the late 90s, with the optimism of a new millennium and a British music scene that was the rival of the world or simply its huge attendance. Clearly, there was some magic in the air.

‘I was 13, it was my first ever gig, and I think my first whiff of "enthusiast tobacco". They were touring their sophomore record, they were so loud that my ears rang for days afterwards. Arguably the experience that got me into live music. I was told Steve Craddock had some connection to Dumfries but I'm not sure what it was.’ - Andrew Scott

Black Sabbath

Rugman’s Hall
November 16, 1969

We couldn’t possibly have written this without including the almighty Black Sabbath. The band had formed only one year previous, under the really rather ill-fitting title ‘Polka Tulk Blues’, hailing from Birmingham, the band’s influence on heavy metal is not to be understated, and was the starting gun for the wildly eccentric Brummie, Ozzy Osbourne.

Their Dumfries gig at Rugman’s Hall (now ‘Home’ restaurant on the White Sands), in 1968 was only ever a brief ‘did they play here?’ whiff of a memory until a recording surfaced online, putting to bed any doubts generations thereafter may have had. Originally recorded by Doonhamer Alex Wilson, the tape (so we’re led to believe) was purchased by the Osbournes, yet mysteriously emerged online through what is now believed to have been a leaked source. Wilson was a member of Dumfries’ hottest rock band Iron Claw, a band now firmly in the canon of Dumfries rock history. The recording, albeit, a little like a transistor radio in a spin cycle, is now touted as one of, if not the earliest recording of Black Sabbath.

Sources are once again blurry for this one, but their appearance at Rugman’s Hall is unrefutable.

Do you have any memories of this gig? If so, get in touch.

We’d like to thank all the contributors through the Old Dumfries as well as the scarce, yet religiously documented sources mentioned in the article.

Other notables:

Simple Minds
The Rezillos
Shamen
Sneaker Pimps
TerrorVision
Anne Christian
Lewis Capaldi
The Animals
John Martyn
Midge Ure
Wild Willy Barret
Suede
Girlschool
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5 bands you didn't know played in D&G