“After Mick Ronson stopped working with David Bowie in 1973, he had a brief stint as the guitarist in Mott the Hoople. I got tickets to see them at the Palace Theatre in Manchester but the tour was cancelled. I was absolutely heartbroken, and I still carry the pain today that I never saw them with Mick Ronson. A while later he formed a band with Mott the Hoople singer Ian Hunter so I had to get tickets for their tour when it came to Manchester in March 1975.
I remember the gig really well because nobody showed up, the venue was almost empty and I was really shocked. It was the first gig I’d ever been to that wasn’t full. But it meant that it was only five rows deep at the front so I got really close to one of my all time guitar heroes!
I suppose I've carried on my small tribute to Mick ever since the eighties when I started playing a Spiders From Mars era “Ronno” inspired wood fronted Gibson Les Paul... and it’s still a go to guitar to this day."
Billy - June 2022
This is Billy's original poster from that show and available now in the Billy Duffy Auction with other items of his memorabilia.