Thursday, December 21, 2006

Thunder - Rock City, Nottingham - Wednesday 20th December

The Thunder Christmas Party. Brief summary - great show, crap venue (a third of the audience can't see the stage when it's this full). Please move it next year (ideally to London!!). Looking forward to the CD of the show.

Setlist
[Semi-acoustic]
Stand Up
Don't Wait Up
All I Ever Wanted
Meet Me on the Corner
Shake the Tree
My Brother Jake
Illogical
Don't Wanna Talk About Love
My Darkest Hour
Band on the Run
Starman 
+
[Electric]
She's So Fine
The Devil Made Me Do It
Behind Blue Eyes
It's All About You
Sail Away 
Tumbling Dice 
China Grove 
Today the World Stopped Turning
Fly on the Wall
River Deep, Mountain High 
Robert Johnson's Tombstone
+
Play That Funky Music
All the Way From Memphis
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday


Saturday, December 16, 2006

Status Quo - Brighton Centre - Friday 15th December

An afternoon off work for a crawl of Brighton - very pleasant. Got to the venue early (didn't want to miss the start like at Croydon - and then hung around for ages!! Typical. Indeed they were so late, we had to leave during "Bye Bye Johnny" to get the last train!

Setlist
Caroline
Something 'bout You Baby I Like
Don't Waste My Time
Forty-Five Hundred Times
Rain
Paper Plane
All Stand Up (Never Say Never)
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Little Lady / Red Sky / Dear John
Big Fat Mama
Gerdundula
Drum Solo
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
In the Army Now 
Mystery Song / Railroad / Most of the Time / Wild Side of Life / Rollin' Home / Again and Again / Slow Train
Junior's Wailing
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Monday, December 04, 2006

Spike & Friends - Kingston Peel - Sunday 2nd December

Spike is Spike Gray, vocalist from the Quireboys. The "Friends" are basically the Quireboys and a different drummer !! For those that don't know the "Peel", it is a slightly rough 'n' ready pub on the outskirts of Kingston-upon-Thames. However, it was perfect for a raucous and occassionally drunken evening of good time rock 'n' roll. 

The evening had started well with Manchester United beating Middlesbro 2-1 at the Riverside (dive, what dive?) and we caught the X26 (ex-726 for those old enough) to Kingston. A quick phone call to the venue suggested that Spike wouldn't be on stage until 9.30, so we had a bit of time to kill, which was spent in the Fighting Cocks, Kingston Tup and the Honest Cabbage before finding the bar in the Peel. Keith Weir, the keyboard player could be seen on the pool table, enjoying a couple of pre-show beers and this was the theme of the evening (it was the last night of their tour) - Spike as usual encouraging the audience to buy him a "pint of JD and Coke" constantly during the show! 

As could have been predicted, the 9.30 turned into a 9.45 start! Anyway, the music - mainly based around Spikes "new" (well, recently released anyway) solo effort, was good enough for first part of the show, with a few ballads and a Frankie Miller cover. The end of the show (and several encores) was basically the best of the Quireboys and excellent. Shame the crowd was so small (about 80ish?), but a good fun evening - band on until past 11.20, and good connections for us on the buses home.

Status Quo - Croydon Fairfield Halls - Wednesday 22nd November

Same as last night... except we got there on time!

Setlist
Caroline
Something 'bout You Baby I Like
Don't Waste My Time
Forty-Five Hundred Times
Rain
Paper Plane
All Stand Up (Never Say Never)
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Little Lady / Red Sky / Dear John
Big Fat Mama
Gerdundula
Drum Solo
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
In the Army Now 
Mystery Song / Railroad / Most of the Time / Wild Side of Life / Rollin' Home / Again and Again / Slow Train
Junior's Wailing
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Status Quo - Croydon Fairfield Halls - Tuesday 21st November

No surprises here (other than the start time which meant we missed the first 15 minutes!). Quo were loud and good. Setlist was as expected (still wish they'd swap it around a bit more), but everyone went home happy.

Setlist
Caroline
Something 'bout You Baby I Like
Don't Waste My Time
Forty-Five Hundred Times
Rain
Paper Plane
All Stand Up (Never Say Never)
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Little Lady / Red Sky / Dear John
Big Fat Mama
Gerdundula
Drum Solo
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
In the Army Now 
Mystery Song / Railroad / Most of the Time / Wild Side of Life / Rollin' Home / Again and Again / Slow Train
Junior's Wailing
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Thunder - Oxford New Theatre - Friday 18th November

Excellent. Front row seats, good sound, nice venue, nice city and a very late night! 

Setlist
Backstreet Symphony
Dirty Dream
What a Beautiful Day
A Million Faces
Laughing on Judgement Day
Gimme Some Lovin'
Robert Johnson's Tombstone
My Darkest Hour
River of Pain
The Devil Made Me Do It
Fade Into the Sun
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll
+
You Can't Keep a Good Man Down
A Better Man
Dirty Love

The Answer - Mean Fiddler (Astoria 2) - Wednesday 1st November

Went with Paul for his first viewing of this Irish band. I'd sold it to him on the promise of a mix of Led Zep, Free, Bad Company with a bit of AC/DC thrown in. Thankfully he agreed and we both enjoyed the show.

Setlist
Come Follow Me
No Questions Asked
Doctor
Never Too Late
Keep Believin'
Sometimes Your Love
Under the Sky
Preachin'
Into the Gutter
+
Leavin' Today
Memphis Water
Be What You Want
Moment
Jam

The Who - Roundhouse, Camden - Sunday 29th October

My first ever visit to the Roundhouse and (in the words of Mott The Hoople's "Saturday Gigs"), we did indeed float up there on a Sunday afternoon. With good reason too - a chance to see The Who, "up close and personal". Well that was the plan. As it turned out, the place was heaving and we had to put up with a spot about 2/3 of the way back. However, the venue is quite small, so still a good view. 

A relatively short set and no encore (no complaints though - tickets were cheap and this was part of the BBC Electric Proms series). The middle part of the show was based around the Endless Wire album. Slightly deaf afterwards!

Setlist
I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Who Are You
+
Fragments
Sound Round
Pick Up the Peace
Endless Wire
We Got a Hit
They Made My Dream Come True
Mirror Door
+
Baba O'Riley
My Generation
A Man in a Purple Dress
Mike Post Theme
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
Sparks
See Me, Feel Me
Tea & Theatre

Dead Men Walking - Fairfield Halls - Sunday 22nd October

The Ashcroft Theatre part of the halls seemed empty ! (80 people?). Support from TV Smith (slightly paranoid?). DMW were their normal eclectic mix (I did enjoy Saturday Gigs - "and then we went to Croydon!"). Special guest was Johnny Moped - for the first stage appearance in 20 years. H'mmm, maybe he'd consider leaving it as long again.

Good show, wrong night, wrong venue!

Dan Baird - The Borderline - Friday 20th October

I'm writing this weeks after the event, but from what I can remember it was excellent!