‘I sold the tickets, cancelled the hotel, and tried not to cry’ – giving up on my dream gig because childcare was too hard to arrange

Bill Linnane gets tickets to his dream gig, but then has to watch that dream die

Bill Linnane had to let go of his tickets to see the band Godspeed You! Black Emperor, whose music isn't for everyone Photo: Getty

Bill Linnane

When my wife and I started dating, I decided to introduce her to what I called ‘real music’. You know, angry blokes with loud guitars, or atonal bleeping and blooping by some guy in a mask.

This, to me, was culture, and despite her well established love of R&B and pop music, I decided to show her the path to musical enlightenment by dragging her along to many concerts in which she had no interest.