McGoos, formerly the Palace Picture House, was THE mod hangout in mid sixties Edinburgh, located at 18-20 High Street, opposite John Knox's house. The frontage of the building complete with engraved Palace Picture House logo is still present, though the structure behind has now been demolished. The Who also played here, but I don't yet have a confirmed date.
I've lived in New Zealand since 1968 but prior to leaving Edinburgh I saw The Who at McGoos - first half of 1967, I think. High points of the evening were Barbara Ann (yes, the Beach Boys), CC RIder and the final song - My Generation.
1966 28th-30th August The Kinks
1967 26th April The Small Faces
1967 6th August Cream, support band The Jury who would later become The Writing On The Wall
I'll always remember Keith Moon struggling to kick the last of his nailed down drum kit into the audience and Pete Townsend walking off the stage while his Fender Telecaster was flying through the air and was yet to return to the the stage courtesy of gravity - it landed in perfect time to the last beat on Keith's remaining drum - prior to it too heading into the audience.
Earlier in the evening Pete T. had the bottom half of his Rickenbacker guitar fall off, after running into his speaker stack, and he had to change to the Telecaster which had large chunks of the body missing through previous run-ins with his speakers - strong guitar.
I don't remember the concert being advertised. I think it was a word of mouth thing and cost 6 shillings to get in.
I still have a plectrum that John Entwistle threw into the audience. This is odd as I always remember him playing with his fingert tips. His Marshall speaker stack was immaculate while Pete Townsend's was full of holes. I remember him knocking his Fender amps off the top of the speaker stacks, using the tuning head end of his guitar neck, and the roadies catching them - they looked like twins with page-boy haircuts. It was the first time we had seen anyone with so many speakers and 2 x 100 watt Fender amps - wow....!
Great times at McGoos with The Kinks, the Small Faces, Alan Price and the best sound of all the Spencer Davis Group - I was always in awe of Stevie Winwood as he was only a couple of months older than me.. They were supported by the local group the Moonrakers who played the Spencer Davis' current hit "Somebody Help Me". Bit cheeky really....but it brought those in the upstairs cafe out into the main room as they thought that the Spencer Davis Group were on.
There were some great local bands in the 60's. My favourites were The Partisans, The Screaming Citizens and my Broughton School band - The Hipple People .
Thanks for reminding me of this period.
They were great times
.David Byron
Hamilton
New Zealand
Thank you to David for allowing me to include his reminiscences on the site.
The above slideshow depicts mid sixties Edinburgh bands "The Good Companions" and "The Jokers" at various venues including The Palais at Fountainbridge, The Place, Cephus Cellar, and The Green Light at Holy Corner. Thank you to Frank Ferri for providing these rare pictures.