John Fogerty - Wednesday 18th June - Earth Arts Centre, Hackney

Brief review:
The people of Hackney are treated tonight with the presence of a genuine International superstar. 50 million albums sold and 3 songs with over a billion streams on Spotify. Mr John Fogerty, founder of Credence Clearwater Revival is in town to chat and play to people who have bought his new Legacy record from Rough Trade. It's a chat and play event in a new venue for us - which has the look of a 1930's art deco theatre. A 45 minute chat and then brief live set was fair value for the £25 (including CD) paid and about as much as the tiered wooden terrace with no cushioning or seat backs would allow for my aging limbs. And in case you were guessing the biggest streamer - Have You Ever Seen The Rain has over 2 billion streams on Spotify. Nice!

Venue and View:  "Terrace Seating" - ie very uncomfortable sitting on a wooden "shelf" on the left hand side towards the front.

Setlist
Have You Ever Seen The Rain
Bad Moon Rising
Proud Mary

Danny Bowes - Wednesday 4th June - Bush Hall

Brief review:  Danny from Thunder with his "Maximum Chat" show. As he continues his recovery from a serious stroke, Danny is unable to sing currently. So it was good to see him looking relatively good as he regaled the audience with a number of amusing anecdotes from his early life and those of a travelling musician. His sense of humour is intact and the warmth in the room was palpable.

Venue and View:  Seated, half way back on the left

Jamie and the Jets - Friday 30th May - St George’s Church, Beckenham

Brief review:  A spectacular church venue which doubles as an arts venue for shows. Tonight we are here for Jamie and The Jets (Elton John tribute) and very good it is too, albeit a little quiet. Late substitution on the guitar, but he is doing very well for his first show. There are some (very) deep cuts along with the hits, but none the worse for it in, what is turns out to be a 2 hour show. The piano belongs to the church and apparently is challenging to play, although as Jamie joked "if it was good enough for Rick Wakeman....".

Plus we had the excitement of a tram part-way home.

Venue and View:  4th row central, pew seats!

The Ataris - Tuesday 27th May - O2 Academy, Islington

Brief review:  A rare indoor headline show in the UK for Kris Roe and his punk-rock band from Indiana. This led to an extended set and very good it was too. Leaning heavily on the excellent "So Long, Astoria", the band even namechecked the ex London venue of the same name and showed decent local "Crossrail" knowledge! Hopefully they enjoyed the show and will be back sometime soon.

Venue and View:  End of the bar, half way back on the left

Setlist
In This Diary
Unopened Letter to the World
The Hero Dies in This One
Takeoffs and Landings
Your Boyfriend Sucks
Car Song
Boxcar
1*15*96
The Boys of Summer
I.O.U. One Galaxy
All Souls' Day
San Dimas High School Football Rules
I Won't Spend Another Night Alone
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Eight of Nine
So Long, Astoria

Clearwater Creedence Revival - Saturday 24th May - Indigo2

Brief review:  A rare triple header on the basis we like the 2 support acts as well as the headliner. First up, ELO's Bev Bevan with his band Quill. Next, John Verity from Argent. And headliners are Clearwater Credence Revival, celebrating 55 years of the real CCR (Credence Clearwater Revival). Jim Kirkpatrick is in the band, which is good news, but otherwise we are struggling to connect anyone with John Fogerty's original supergroup! Still, plenty of others here - old and unexpectedly younger (largely in checked shirts) - to celebrate.

An excellent evening.

Venue and View:  On the floor, front left

Bev Bevan

John Verity

Bryan Adams - Thursday 15th May - O2 Arena

Brief review:  Exactly a year on from the last Royal Albert Hall residency, Bryan is back in London at the O2. As it as a "full floor" standing show I was expecting some gaps, but it was basically a 22,000 person "sell out" which was great. Bryan's current format has him on bass for much of the set. Previously this hasn't worked for me, but it was more tolerable this evening as he also played guitar on some of the songs which demanded the classic "twin lead guitar" sound. As always I have a few minor quibbles with the set, but as much as I think they are dire, someone must like "Go Down Rockin' " and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman". A couple of new songs from the upcoming album, 3-4 covers and a 'B' stage for the encore. Mostly excellent and money well spent.

Venue and View:  Half way back on the left for the main show. Up close and personal for the encore at the 'B' stage.

Setlist
Roll With the Punches
Run to You
Somebody
18 til I Die
Cloud Number Nine
Make Up Your Mind
Heaven
It's Only Love
You Belong to Me / C'Mon Everybody
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Please Forgive Me
Go Down Rockin'
Shine a Light
Here I Am
Whiskey in the Jar
When You're Gone
Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?
Never Ever Let You Go
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
One Night Love Affair
London Calling
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
Back to You
So Happy It Hurts
Summer of '69
Cuts Like a Knife
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
+
Straight From the Heart
All for Love

Scouting For Girls - Monday 5th May - Brighton Foodies Festival, Preston Park

Brief review:  Our first of 2 "Food Festival" trips to see SFG this summer as the boys return to Preston Park for the Brighton "Foodies Festival". Prior the band, Mrs B and I had very much enjoyed some gin and rum tasting in the "drinks experience" tent and a variety of ABK beer (hic!), but thankfully the toilet queues were short. A fairly standard festival set from the band who were on their normal excellent form, with the added bonus of a raucous "Come On Eileen".

Venue and View:  Standing, left of stage, 1 row behind the barrier

Setlist
I Wish I Was James Bond
Heartbeat
Famous
Michaela Strachan
This Ain't a Love Song
Gotta Keep Smiling
Come On Eileen
Posh Girls
Millionaire
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
She's So Lovely

* Setlist done from memory and so may not be 100% correct

Francis Rossi - Friday 2nd May - Epsom Playhouse

Brief review:  Our first of 2 trips to see the 2025 version of Francis' solo tour. The setlist is slightly updated from previous tours and there is definitely less chat and more music. Of course most would prefer a full Status Quo show, but if this keeps him performing this well then what's not to like. Don't Waste My Time was a particular favourite as well as the lesser-played Twenty Wild Horses.

Also nice to spot Bob Young sitting just in front of us, co-writer of many of the songs played.

Venue and View:  Stalls, a third back on the left.

Setlist
Pictures of Matchstick Men
In My Chair
Spinning Wheel Blues
Wild Side Of Life
Gerdundula
Claudie
Don't Waste My Time
Rock 'n' Roll
Break the Rules / Down the Dustpipe
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)
+
What You're Proposing
And it's Better Now
Someone Show Me Home
Twenty Wild Horses
Tongue Tied
Roll Over Lay Down
Rockin' All Over the World
In the Army Now
Down Down
Caroline

Jim Cregan - Tuesday 29th April - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:
This was "an evening with" interview show without music. Jim is a great storyteller and was able to share amusing anecdotes for a couple of hours with the majority not being in his excellent book "And On Guitar...". Most famous for being part of the Rod Stewart band for many years, he is also the guy who did the famous solo on Steve Harley's "Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)" which he described as life-changing for him. Apparently that was an early hours recording done in 3 takes aided by a few cognacs.

You suspect Jim would be the perfect dinner guest. The only criticism was a slight reliance on some video footage which could have been kept shorter to allow more speaking time. Otherwise, a fun evening.

Venue and View:  Seated - back row, centre.

Pat McManus - Thursday 24th April - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  An evening in the company of the extraordinary Pat McManus. A guitar virtuoso, he is known as "The Professor" for good reason. As you know, I like guitar based rock and have a number of guitar heroes. But in terms of technical ability, Pat must be towards the top of that very long list. He plays the fiddle too. Rich and I have a phrase as frustrated guitar "players" - he is "annoyingly good"! Tonight's show featured a higher number of covers than normal including excellent versions of Crossroads, Jumping Jack Flash, The Stumble and Walking By Myself.

He must enjoy playing the Half Moon too as he seems to be here every six months or so.

Venue and View:  Seated (with no table) a few rows back on the left hand side