So what’s a barn dance got to do with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal? Well it wasn’t a few people in cowboy attire jigging about in the local church hall. No siree……
All the way back in 1980 when NWOBHM was pretty much at its zenith there was a cavernous cow shed (that’s basically what it was) on the outskirts of Stafford which was used mainly for agricultural shows. Bingley Hall. No seating, cold concrete floor, huge stage. At the time Bingley Hall was one of the largest venues in the UK with a capacity that must have surpassed 10,000.
Many of the big acts of the time passed through. I remember trekking there to see Rush twice, Rainbow, Kiss and probably some others I’ve forgotten about. Getting there by car wasn’t too easy and getting off the car park after the show was a true nightmare. So to avoid that we would normally enjoy the “comforts” of a local hotel and walk to the venue or kip down on Stafford station – those were the days when one could do things like that. Manchester station was another favourite after shows at the Apollo or Free Trade Hall though that’s a whole other story.
Anyhoo – the Heavy Metal Barn Dance was one such momentous event which took place in July 1980. Entitled the Barn Dance not too cunningly given that Bingley Hall was basically a big barn. Geddit……?
Some of the biggest names in NWOBHM were in the bill. Motorhead were headliners celebrating the silver album status of their now legendary class Bomber album (who remembers the iconic bomber shaped lighting rig they toured with then?) before nipping back in to the studio to record the even more classic Ace of Spaces.
Other acts on the bill were Saxon, Girlschoool, Vardis, Angel Witch, White Spirit and Mythra though I cannot recall what the running order was. Such an awesome line-up of the time and a wild time not that anything much can be remembered given the length of time that’s passed and the (ahem) simple time that was had by all.
The Heavy Metal Barn Dance was possibly the biggest NWOBHM-related event ever. Big bands, big crowd, big party. The Heavy Metal Holocaust at Port Vale in 1981 was huge though more mainstream heavy metal (Ozzy, Triumph) with only really Vardis on the bill who fit the NWOBHM tag.
Bingley Hall isn’t used as a concert venue any longer and in for mainly nostalgic reasons that’s a shame. Anywhere after half way back and field glasses were needed to see anything (no big screens back then) though it was always fun. The Barn Dance being no exception.
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