Live: David Bowie and the Buzz, Chislehurst Caves

One of David Bowie and the Buzz’s more unusual live shows took place on Friday 4 March 1966: an underground performance at Chislehurst Caves near Bromley, Kent.

The man-made tunnels cover 22 miles in Chislehurst, with the earliest dating from the 13th Century.

In the 1960s a number of leading musical acts performed at Chislehurst Caves, including Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Pretty Things, and the Animals.

The place was damp and horrible, but it was a prestigious gig, all the top acts would appear there, and among the other bands playing that evening was The Herd. They were a great band; they also played The Marquee Club on a regular basis, which was a sure sign of real quality assurance. The Herd included a very young Peter Frampton on lead guitar, and Peter was yet another mate of David’s – and Peter’s dad Owen Frampton had been David’s art teacher at school in Bromley. The Herd were to become one of the Marquee Club’s favourite bands and they seemed likely to be heading for national success, but then Peter Frampton left them and went on to bigger things, and the band went nowhere without him.