15 music legends you didn't know played in St Albans and Hemel

Here's 15 artists you didn't know had performed in our area.

1. U2 – St Albans and Hemel Hempstead

U2 would achieve huge success as one of the biggest bands of the 1980s, but did you know they played in both St Albans and Hemel Hempstead in 1981?

On January 31, the Irish rockers played St Albans City Hall as part of a tour to promote their debut album Boy.

U2.

Bono and co. were back later that year, when they played at Hemel Hempstead's Dacorum Pavilion on October 21.

2. Ozzy Osbourne – St Albans

Ozzy Osbourne had been kicked out of Black Sabbath in 1979, but quickly began a solo career, releasing his debut album Blizzard of Ozz in 1980.

He toured to promote the album that year, playing a show at St Albans City Hall on October 24.

The setlist that night included new singles Crazy Train, as well as Black Sabbath hits Iron Man and Paranoid.

3. Dire Straits – St Albans

Off the back of their impressive debut album, Dire Straits went on a UK tour in late 1978, taking in venues across the country.

Two of the stops on their two-legged, 55-show tour, were at St Albans City Hall, first on February 3 and then on July 8.

4. Talking Heads – St Albans and Hemel Hempstead

On February 3, 1978, the very same day Dire Straits played St Albans City Hall, the weird and wonderful Talking Heads performed at the venue on their '77 Tour.

David Byrne and co. would return just over a year later, this time playing the Dacorum Pavilion in Hemel as part of their Fear of Music Tour.

Talking Heads (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

The band would go on to critical success in the years that followed, after the release of their album Remain in Light, which included the much-loved hit Once in a Lifetime.

5. The Clash – St Albans

1977 saw the punk revolution sweep the UK, and The Clash were at the forefront of the movement.

The band, led by the legendary Joe Strummer, rocked St Albans City Hall on May 21, 1977, as part of their White Riot Tour to mark the release of their debut album.

The Clash played hits including Police and Thieves, I'm So Bored With the U.S.A., and Career Opportunities, with a grainy recording of the show still available to listen to today.

6. AC/DC – St Albans

It would be a few years until the Australian rockers truly established themselves, but they clearly enjoyed St Albans in the early days, playing City Hall twice.

They first appeared at the venue on August 7, 1976, before playing it again on March 14, 1977 as a stop on their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Tour.

7. The Velvet Underground – St Albans

By the time The Velvet Underground played at St Albans City Hall on December 2, 1972, things were coming to a close for the legendary group.

The Velvet Underground. (Image: Flickr)

Considered one of the most influential bands of the 1960s, their 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico - with the Andy Warhol banana cover - is iconic, but with frontman Lou Reed having quit in 1970 things quickly went downhill.

Their St Albans gig was for the new album Squeeze, but that would be their final album, as The Velvet Underground called it quits later that year.

8. Pink Floyd – St Albans

Anyone at St Albans City Hall on March 3, 1967, would have seen a young psychedelic rock band making their steps in the music industry.

Little did anyone know, they would go on to become one the best-selling and most critically acclaimed groups of all-time. It was Pink Floyd.

Later that year, they would release their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, but their success would truly begin with 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, and would be followed by Wish You Were Here in 1975 and Animals in 1977.

Imagine seeing one of the greatest bands of all time, and you didn't even know it.

9. The Who – Hemel Hempstead

Another legendary band who appeared just as they were starting to make waves was The Who.

Daltrey, Townshend, Moon and Entwistle rocked the Dacorum Pavilion on April 7, 1965 as part of a tour to mark the release of their debut album, My Generation.

Just like Pink Floyd, they would go on to achieve incredible success.

10. David Bowie – Hemel Hempstead

May 7, 1972, saw Dacorum Pavilion played host to a musical icon when David Bowie rocked Hemel Hempstead.

The packed setlist included hits such as Changes, Starman and Space Oddity, with a bootleg recording of that night showing just how good Bowie was.

The show was one of 95 he put on in 1972, and was part of the Ziggy Stardust tour.

11. Elton John – Hemel Hempstead

A star whose productivity and longevity seems to know no bounds, Elton John was already a household name when he appeared at Dacorum Pavilion on January 3, 1971.

The show was part of the Tumbleweed Connection Tour to promote his latest album, which would chart at number two in the UK.

Elton would go on achieve huge success, producing countless hits and classic albums including Goodbye Yelllow Brick Road, Honky Chateau and Madman Across the Water, selling more than 100,000,000 albums worldwide.

12. Eric Clapton – Hemel Hempstead

One of the greatest guitarist to ever do it, Slowhand wowed the crowd at Dacorum Pavilion on July 29, 1976.

A member of legendary groups The Yardbirds and Cream, Eric Clapton had gone solo in 1970, with 1974's 461 Ocean Boulevard proving a huge success in both the UK and the US.

That night in Hemel, he played the big single from that album, a cover of Bob Marley and The Wailers song I Shot Sheriff, with the setlist also including Knockin' on Heaven's Door and Layla.

13. The Cure - Hemel Hempstead

In 1979, The Cure were just getting started and were still some way from success in both the albums and singles charts and establishing their legacy as one of the great alternative bands.

Their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, had been released earlier that year, and on September 29, 1979, they played St Albans City Hall.

14. Joy Division – Hemel Hempstead

Despite only producing two albums, 1979's Unknown Pleasures and 1980s Closer, Joy Division's impact on indie music was palpable.

One of the stops on their Unknown Pleasures Tour was Dacorum Pavilion on November 5, 1979, with audio recordings from that night still available today.

Sadly, frontman Ian Curtis would take his own life on May 18, 1980, aged just 23, bringing an end to Joy Division.

15. New Order – Hemel Hempstead

Joy Division might have been over following the untimely passing of Curtis, but band members Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris regrouped to create New Order.

The new band would go on to achieve huge success in the 1980s, with synth-pop dance hits such as Blue Monday.

Almost six years to the day after appearing at Dacorum Pavilion as Joy Division, they would be back at the Hemel Hempstead venue on November 8, 1985, wowing the crowd with their new sound.