At first hand
The live music experience, from classical concerts to gigs and festivals, has always given music an immediacy.
The Uxbridge Blues and Folk Festivals in 1965 and 1966 attracted several mainstream acts, including Manfred Mann, Brian Auger's Trinity and The Who.
Around the same time, Burton's Night Club in Uxbridge hosted Status Quo and the Tremeloes before moving to soul, Motown and reggae. Other live venues included the Black Bull in South Ruislip.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Unit One in Uxbridge was an important punk and new wave venue. The Injections, and The Androids, appeared there in 1978.
Brunel University Students' Union was a major live music site from 1967. Acts performing there ranged from Genesis, Tears for Fears and the Boom Town Rats to Primal Scream and the Shamen. U2 (listed in some adverts as The U2) were booked as a support act in 1979 but never actually played.