Gazza
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Rat Bastid "We piss anywhere, man.."
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Belfast, UK
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Not really, when you think about it. Spain was still a Fascist state until Franco's death in November 1975. As far as I'm aware, the Stones refused to play there until it was a democracy.
The Stones first Spanish gig was in Barcelona in a bullring - ironically its one of the few (if only) places in the city where everything is in Spanish instead of Catalan (Catalonia is in the process of outlawing the 'sport', I think).
It also emphasises how much the 'concert map' for a band touring Europe has changed in recent years. Countries like Spain and Portugal wouldnt really have been on the radar in the 70s'. Eastern Europe was pretty much off-limits until the 90's. Even Italy and Ireland werent major markets for concerts until the 80s.
If a band was touring Europe in, say, the late 70s, the itinerary was rarely going to be more than the UK, Scandinavia, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and West Germany.
Now? There are almost 50 countries in Europe and realistically anything between 30-40 where a British or American band could potentially have a sizeable audience to perform in front of.
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