2007 - The Best and Worst

A quick look back over the year from a "best of" and "worst of" perspective. 

Best Gig 2007

1: The Scorpions - Hammersmith A long show at London's Best Venue - Great Fun 

2: Status Quo - Brighton The best Quo show I've been to for ages 

3: Paul McCartney - Roundhouse Legend - Up close and personal and a cheap ticket! 

 Most Disappointing Gig 2007 

1: Ian Hunter - Pigalle Club Purely down to the venue 

2: Ataris - Mean Fiddler OK musically, visually awful due to lighting

3: The Answer, Bloomsbury Ballroom Great band, awful sound here and a poor venue 

Best Venue 2007 

1: Hammersmith Apollo 

2: Borderline 

3: Fairfield Halls 

Worst Venue 2007 

1: Pigalle Club Not only the worst this year, but probably ever! You can't see unless you book dinner and can't afford to drink! (The toilets are nice!) 

2: Nottingham Rock City Much of the audience can't see the full stage 

3: Bloomsbury Ballroom Like a wedding reception with a rip-off bar 

Good in 2007 

1: The BBC Electric Proms Good artists at sensible prices! 

2: Tuborg At Hyde Park and the Mean Fiddler 

3: Nearly all my late-night return connections from far-away gigs worked out Good planning and more than a little luck! 

Bad In 2007 

1: Drunks A big increase recently in people completely out of it at gigs and being a nuisance (and standing near me!) 

2: Rip-off ticket prices £100+ for Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones, Genesis, Police etc. No thanks! £875 for The Eagles. Yeah, right! 

3: Rip-off prices at bars and merchandise stalls I don't want to pay £4 for a beer thank you. Nor will I pay £15 for a programme. I would buy a T shirt if they were a) good and b) around a tenner instead of poor quality and £16/£20 each ! 

4: People buying tickets for "big artists" purely to flog them on eBay for profit. I never have liked touts and this is what it makes you. 

Well, that's it for 2007. Hope you had a good one and an even better 2008!

Thunder - Nottingham Rock City - Wednesday 19th December

Thunder’s Xmas bash - once again at Nottingham Rock City. Always nice to see how friendly most people are once you get outside London - they actually talk to you and smile in hotels/bars… none of that nonsense at home!

After last years viewing fiasco, we made sure we got in early and got a good spot. The gig itself got off to a slow start - if anything the material was a little too obscure, even for the traditional Thunder “hardcore”. The pace picked up with the arrival of the guests - including the McDonald sisters and Peter Shoulder (who’s guitar solo on Go Your Own Way was fantastic). The 2nd half of the show picked up with a good selection of Thunder originals and some well chosen covers (see setlist). The only downside, as always, was the venue. There are a number of problems with Rock City:-

1) When the band sits down (as in the first half), if you are not in the front few rows (or very tall), you can’t see them.
2) The venue is much wider than the stage. If you are off to the right (about a third of the crowd), you can’t see.
3) If you are on the balcony and not in the front row, you can't see.
4) There is little on no signage to exits, toilets etc and the place is a maize.
5 There is a bloke in the gents demanding cash for napkins/aftershave/lollipops/ turning taps on… this is a rock venue for goodness sake, not some poncey club.
6) Hardly anyone behind the bar, so you don’t get served quickly.
7) When you do, the draft beer has run out, leaving you with a choice of a £3.50 can of (warm) Red Stripe.
8) There is only one guy on duty at the cloakroom = long queues.
9) According to other reports, security is overly zealous.

All in all, it is not a good place for a gig. It’s probably OK as a club (which it is most nights), but for live shows it’s amongst the worst venues I’ve been to. Let’s hope next years show is elsewhere!

Despite that, it was all good fun and we had a nice few hours afterwards in the Cookie Club.

Setlist:

MOMENT OF TRUTH
LONG WAY FROM HOME
ONCE IN A LIFETIME
LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH
DOES IT FEEL LIKE LOVE?
SUBSTITUTE (LUKE MORLEY VOCAL) (THE WHO)
IT’S ANOTHER DAY
ANGIE (ROLLING STONES)
ON A DAY LIKE TODAY
THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE (10cc)
GO YOUR OWN WAY (FLEETWOOD MAC)
+
SPIN DOCTOR
STAND UP
BLOWN AWAY
EVERYBODY WANTS HER
RADAR LOVE (GOLDEN EARRING)
PREACHING FROM A CHAIR
EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING
ROLLING THE DICE
DON'T WAIT FOR ME
ADDICTED TO LOVE (ROBERT PALMER)
CAN'T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN
+
IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL (ROLLING STONES)
DELILAH (SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND / TOM JONES)
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN (SPRINGSTEEN AND LOADS OF OTHERS)

Joe Cocker - Indigo2, London - Sunday 16th December

The evening started with a pleasantly swift trip to London due to engineering works. This had the unexpected bonus of a fast train direct to London Bridge where we caught the 2nd half of Arsenal v Chelsea around Borough Market. A swiftish tube to the Millennium Dome where, unfortunately, The Spice Girls were also playing. Due to Dave’s rubbish information, we were unable to find the “Philpot” pub, either in reality or on-line for directions - mainly due to it being called the “Pilot”. So a quick one in the “Slug & Lettuce” (not normally found in such places by choice) and into the venue. The “Indigo2” holds around 2000 people and must have the highest price gig bar in England (bar the appalling Pigalle club of course). £4 for a pint of Becks Vier! Outrageous and out of principle meant no more were purchased.

Gig was solid - Mr Cocker certainly starting to look his age, but vocally still impressive. All the expected hits were played - I was especially please to hear “When The Night Comes” and “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”. I lost big-time in the bet with Richard on the number of unnecessary “screams”. I went 12 or under - we lost count somewhere around 30!

Once again found ourselves next to a couple (in their 50’s) who were totally legless and unable to stand without supporting each other (just). To avoid getting too annoyed, I moved away - thankfully 10 minutes later they had staggered elsewhere. 2 blokes behind us (also in their 50’s) were in a similar state. That has been one of the bad things this year - people turning up at gigs absolutely slaughtered. As you know from these pages, I’m all for making the gig a social occasion - but surely the idea must be to be in some sort of state to enjoy / remember it!

Status Quo - Brighton Centre - Thursday 13th December

My prediction was that they'll have dropped "Gravy Train". Failing that, the set will be the same as at Southend & Croydon. We shall see...

Wrong on both counts!! Gravy Train in and "Burning Bridges" added.

This was my 3rd (and last) show of the tour and by far the best. Francis seemed really up for this one and some of the improvised solos were excellent. I'm not normally a fan of Burning Bridges, but when you get the "guitar version" like last night (as opposed to what I term the "keyboard version" which often gets played), it really rocks!

All in all a great night! (also funny to see security asking Rhino what he wanted them to do with the bloke who tried to climb on stage. "Throw him out" was the obvious reply!)

We also did a nice mini-crawl of the Kemp Town area of Brighton beforehand - especially liked the Hoffbrau in the Hand In Hand and the huge female > male ratio in the St James!

Chas & Dave - Chicago Rock Cafe, Sutton - Wednesday 5th December

Yes indeedy, Charles and David - live in Sutton on a Wednesday evening! Now before I hear you scoffing, let's just say this was actually really good fun. I hadn't been to Chicago's for years, but it had a nice friendly crowd and felt more like a weekend. Everyone was in the mood for a Cockney sing-along and that's what we got for about an hour and 10 minutes.

 

Quite a late start (10:30) which gave us time to watch the Geordies grab a deserved draw with the Gooners. The set list was pretty much what you'd expect, with all the hits played. They are also the only artist I've seen (I think) who have had just piano, bass and drums. We were trying to work out how old they are... a bit of surfing suggests Chas and Mick are 64 (Mick looks older!) and Dave is 62.

Thunder - London Astoria - Sunday 2nd December

A late afternoon departure - slightly delayed due to Richard getting the timetable mixed up with Saturday! Went to the "Beehive" in Vauxhall for a couple of beers and the 2nd half of Spurs v Birmingham. Good entertainment and a cracking winner from Birmingham in injury time. Then a quick trip up to Waterloo (despite Richard trying to board the southbound Surbiton service!) and a bus across the bridge (Waterloo Sunset - the best ground-level view in London?).

First port of call, the Nell Gwynne, was unfortunately closed.. not sure if this is permanent (which would be a shame) or just for Sunday. So, instead, a mini-International crawl visiting the Maple Leaf (Canada), Walkabout (Australia) - with Steinlager on draft and Bok Bar (South Africa) before a bit of live Jazz (nice!) in the historic Lamb and Flag. After another swift half, it was off to the venue (we'd been informed by the guy who answers the phone for the Astoria - he's been there for years and knows everything!) that Thunder would be on at 8.25. They were!

Venue was very busy - must have been pretty much sold out. We just squeezed onto the floor on the left where the view was OK and the sound pretty good. A solid show - albeit slightly reliant on more recent material. Certainly a fair few of the people near us didn't seem to recognise much of it. Danny Bowes (vocals) was on good form and the band were as on the ball as ever - some great solos from Luke Morley and Ben Matthews. In the absence of "Dirty Love", Richard and I had our "Higher or Lower" bet on "Can't Keep A Good Man Down". Richard went for 12 minutes. I went "lower" and won - it was around 9 minutes 30 - could have made all the difference if they'd gone into "Get It On" as sounded likely at one stage. A 16 song set in just over an hour and 45 minutes shows that some of the songs are quite lengthy compared to the studio originals.

At the end of the show we made a quick getaway (via the stairs to the Ladies toilet! and the attractive female security - "Yes, of course we were told to come out this way") and were home in good time via Victoria. All in all, a good evening - looking forward to the Christmas Party in Nottingham.

Set List:
Dirty Dream
Last Man Standing
Higher Ground
I'll Be Waiting
The Devil Made Me Do It
Robert Johnson's Tombstone
River of Pain
Flawed to Perfection
Like A Satellite
Chain Reaction
Backstreet Symphony
Love Walked In
You Can't Keep A Good Man Down
+
(Somebody Get Me A) Spin Doctor
Low Life In High Places
I Love You More Than Rock & Roll

Magnum - London Astoria 2 - Sunday 18th November

A trip to the West End for the Brummie rockers. An interesting train journey up (with "Nutters 'R' Us" out in force - I think our American friends use an excellent term - "Whack-job"), where we avoided getting attacked by lunatic in commando gear and then out at Victoria in the pouring rain to catch a 38 "bendy bus". This got stuck in traffic along Piccadilly, so off we got and legged it to the nearest bar - absolutely soaked. After a mini-crawl of 3 half pints, I grabbed some "food" in the gourmet capital of London, McDonalds. It was there that I bumped into Thunder's Harry James ('Arry, 'Arry!), recognisable by bald head and Crystal Palace scarf. It transpired he wasn't drumming tonight, but was going to have a few beers instead. Good man! Just time for a beer in the "new" Intrepid Fox rock bar and it was time to go into the venue.

The show itself was good. The Mean Fiddler is back as the "Astoria 2" these days, but inside it's still the same maze of stairs and doors. Got down near to the front on the left and were treated to over 2 hours of Magnum classics, including the whole of the "Wings of Heaven" album. A busy, if not full, crowd seemed to enjoy the whole thing and were enthusiastic in their participation, no doubt aided by the Red Stripe and Tuborg available. The live CD of the show, due next year, should be a good one.

Status Quo - Croydon Fairfield Halls - Friday 16th November

Our annual jaunt to the Fairfield Halls for some more Quo. A bit of light refreshment in "The Brief" beforehand and then onto the venue. It always amazes me how elderly the staff are here - I can only assume they work on a voluntary basis.

Anyway, we had good seats in row "E" which turned out to be the 3rd Row in front of "Rhino". Not surprisingly, same set as last week. There was also a bit of trouble with a very drunk/stoned bloke causing trouble, although apparently the night before there had been a more serious altercation at the front. What is the point in turning up to these things in that sort of state? Anyway, my prediction is that by the next time I see Quo (Brighton next month), "Gravy Train" will have been dropped from the set.

Status Quo - Southend Cliffs Pavilion - Friday 9th November

The start of the "In Search of The Fourth Chord Tour" (well second night anyway). Will they change the setlist we were asking pre-gig. Errr... predictably not much at all, which is a real shame. Despite claims from the band that "they try other stuff in rehearsal which may or may not work", the reality is that most of the set is the same as last year (and the year before).

But to be fair, that doesn't make it a bad show - it's just a bit frustrating as it could be even better with a bit more thought and effort. The Cliffs Pavilion was sold out and we couldn't get near the bar when we arrived. Not a big deal as we had sampled a couple of Southend's "finest" bars before the show. Managed to get a good spot 10 yds or so from the barrier behind some very excitable lads who had clearly enjoyed the bars more than we had. Despite their drunkenness, they at least bumped, barged and jumped with each other as opposed to innocent bystanders and didn't cause too much trouble apart from annoyingly throwing their empty plastic glasses when they'd finished. The nearest bouncer seemed to be paying more attention to the blonde girl in front of him than any crowd control issues!

Anyway, as I say, predictable set, with the addition of 2 tracks from the new album (Beginning of The End - good, Gravy Train - not so much). The songs seemed to be played with enthusiasm and were quite "heavy" which is always good, although the elongated drum solo was (like pretty much every drum solo I've endured) quite skilful, but pointless. They really should be banned!

Best surprise of the evening was the extended "Bye Bye Johnny" with completely different arrangement from normal - I thought it was excellent.

Setlist:
Caroline
Something 'Bout You Baby I Like
Don't Waste My Time
4500 Times
Rain
Paper Plane
Beginning of The End
Gravy Train
All Stand Up (Never Say Never)
The Oriental
Creepin' Up On You
Proposin' Medley / Big Fat Mama
Gerdundula (with Drum solo)
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
+
In The Army Now
Rockin' All Over The World
Bye Bye Johnny

Ian Hunter - Shepherd's Bush Empire - Sunday 28th October

Seating on the floor of SBE? Never too sure about that, but as we were in the 3rd row I certainly can't complain about the view. Show started a little slowly but by the end I was really enjoying both the new songs and the classic hits.

For the encore Ian was joined by Mick Ralphs (Mott The Hoople/Bad Company), Verden Allen (Mott The Hoople) and guitarist Chris Spedding (Chart Act !!) as well as predictably, Tracy Hunter!

The classic "Saturday Gigs" was played in it's entirety.

All in all, MUCH better than the Pigalle Club show earlier this year!

Paul McCartney - Roundhouse - Thursday 25th October

After the hassle of getting tickets (crashed websites, phone system dying etc), I was not happy to receive an email from the Roundhouse saying that they were not sending out tickets, but I had to go to the venue early in the day to collect a wristband. As I work in London I was able to do so - I'm sure many were not so lucky - hope this isn't the shape of things to come for big name acts.

Anyway, after a long queue to get in, I was able to get near the front and enjoy the rarity of seeing a "living legend" in such a small venue. A set featuring lots of Beatles songs went down well and the whole thing was on BBC TV and Radio, The cameraman even decided to zoom in on me for some reason during "Get Back".

Setlist
Magical Mystery Tour
Flaming Pie
Got To Get You Into My Life
Dance Tonight
Only Mama Knows
C'Moon
The Long And Winding Road
Follow The Sun
That Was Me
Here Today
Blackbird
Calico Skies
Eleanor Rigby
Band On The Run
Back In The USSR
House Of Wax
I Got A Feeling
Live And Let Die
Hey Jude
Let It Be
+
Lady Madonna
I Saw Her Standing There
Get Back

Joe Brown / Dave Edmunds - Fairfield Halls - Thursday 4th October

First gig for a while (none in September, what's going on there?).

Had booked this on the strength of Dave Edmunds alone. As it turned out he and Joe Brown shared the stage for some of the night and also did solo stints. Edmund's guitar playing once once again to be admired and I actually enjoyed Joe Brown and his band too. I was the second youngest person in the audience (Richard beating me!). Should have asked for half price admission!

Status Quo - Bedford Park - Sunday 5th August

Charity Shield (oh all right, Community Shield) at Wembley - United winning thanks to Edwin's 3 penalty saves! - for me then a high speed dash to the station to get to Bedford and meet Richard. Excellent outdoor bill for us - Quo supported by the Quireboys. Greatest hits from Spike and the boys and a solid performance from Quo in front of a decent crowd - although we had to leg it during the encore to have any chance of getting home. 

One downside for me are enormous insect bites on my legs. One is so painful on my ankle, I can barely put weight on my leg today - that can't be right!

Scorpions - Hammersmith Apollo - Monday 30th July

Hammersmith -Still the best venue in London and this was one of the best shows of the year. Skipped all but the last song of the seemingly drugged/drunk/not bothered (delete as applicable) Michael Schenker, but enjoyed over 2.5 hours of classic German Rock! 

Uli Jon Roth joined the rest of his former bandmates and even if this is not your style of music, you would not have argued with the show as a pure performance. "Are you with us tonight?" asked vocalist Klaus Meine. Oh yes!

Slade II - Canazaro House, Wimbledon - Thursday 26th July

Slade II - I refuse to call them "Slade" without Noddy and Jim. Support provided by "The Bay City Rollers" (well, Les McGowan and chums anyway). Small crowd (less that 200) for an outdoor "festival", but actually good fun none the less. Even found a pub on Wimbledon Common I'd never been to!

Concert For Diana - Wembley Stadium - Sunday 1st July

Sure you saw this on TV if you were interested. The only thing I will say is that the sound seemed much better in the venue than on television. Oh, and Kanye West.... What's all that about? A suitable toilet break anyway.

Aerosmith - Hyde Park - Sunday 24th June

Got there late as had been at the Oval for Surrey's Twenty20 match. Therefore missed the Answer and the worst of the heavy rain! In fact only caught Joe Satriani and Aerosmith.

All a bit damp, but I though Mr Tyler & Co were really good - even if there were a few too many ballads. Had to remind Richard the next day that another CHART ACT had been seen with the inclusion of at least one of Run DMC turning up for "Walk This Way".

I gather Brian May was backstage - shame he didn't make an appearance on stage!

The Answer - Borderline - Wednesday 20th June

Pre-Hyde Park warm up for the Irish Rockers. If you read my previous entries, you'll know that I think this is a really good band and tonight was no exception. They even did a version of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion".

Gary Moore - Shepherd's Bush Empire - Friday 8th June

I'm sometimes a bit wary of Mr Moore these days as you could get a lot of obscure blues in the set. I needn't have worried as we got a set combining the best of his blues material, with a bit of the "Monsters of Rock" stuff thrown in. Highlight for me was "Don't Believe A Word".

Ian Hunter - Pigalle Club - Tuesday 15th May

The Pigalle Club - officially the worst venue I can remember going too. Unless you'd paid the £60+ for dinner and a table, you couldn't see a thing from the bar (where you were kept) or upstairs where you could attempt to peer over the diners and balcony. What a rip-off (as was the £4 small bottles of beer). 

The conversation from everyone around us was how awful the whole place was. Oh.. the performance. Well it was semi-acoustic with a lot of new stuff. Sounded OK, but for what we could see we might as well have been in a pub listening to the CD. 

I'm loathe to keep going on about it, but I can't describe how poor the whole experience of visiting this venue was.

[Footnote: I generally don't like celebrating any venue closing down, but I am delighted to see the back of this one in 2012 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigalle_Club]

Bryan Adams - Wembley Arena - Thursday 10th May

First time seeing Mr Adams for a while. Had a decent seat overlooking the stage. A solid performance, but the set was a bit too "ballad heavy" for me. Tempted to go Friday night as well, but cash a bit tight, so will give it a miss.

Ataris - Mean Fiddler (Astoria 2) - Friday 4th May

Not just a bad photo - this was the actual
lighting and "view"

New band for me in a familiar venue. I've got a few of the Ataris CDs, including the excellent "So Long, Astoria" and recognised a fair few of the songs. The predictably young audience was fairly boisterous, so we didn't get too near the front. This meant barely seeing the band - not because of the distance, but because the lighting was the worst I've ever seen at a gig - the band were in almost darkness throughout! 

Note sure what the point of that was, but Richard tells me that is normal for bands of that ilk. Anyway, pretty good except for the visuals!

Woodedz - Kensington Orange - Saturday 7th April

A pleasant evening in Kensington (if you exclude Richard's karaoke version of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize" in the pub up the road). We were actually greeted at the door by Rhino which was nice. A good set by the Quo bassist and his sons and a bit busier than last time around. 

2 songs - Gravy Train and Bad News were featured, which should be on Quo's next album.

The Who - Royal Albert Hall - Saturday 31st March

Early evening start for a trip back to the RAH for the Who. Got to Victoria Station and were greeted by several hundred riot police with baying Alsatians. Why? Well, apparently Sheffield Wednesday fans (happy from their with at Palace) were arriving to pass through to the tube. As to the level of threat they offered we were unable to tell. Anyway, attempts to find any pub showing the second half of Watford v Chelsea on PremPlus proved fruitless. Finally managed to find one south of Sloane Square with Sky Sports News to find that Chelsea sneaked a lucky 92nd minute winner - arghh! 

After a swift one in the Gloucester Arms, we met Mick in the Queen's Arms for a couple of decent beers (Staropramen, Kirin and Kuppers Kolsh) and then off to the hall. As normal, we were able to stroll in with little security checks and it was only when we realised we had gone the wrong way (towards the dressing rooms) that we encountered some guards who directed us down more stairs to get to the floor. We were given a plain white wristband and found our seats in the back row of the arena. Still, not too bad, the floor is pretty small compared to most venues. 

As expected, the Who were excellent (when are they not?). Daltrey's voice was strong and good, despite recent illness and Townshend's playing spot on, coupled with the normal rambling/ranting between songs. Didn't hear a "get on with it" from Gary, but I'm sure it was there! The only disappointment was no "Substitute" or "Kids Are Alright" but this was more than made up for by a storming "My Generation", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and an excellent "You Better, You Bet". In fact, the only duff track in my view, was "Eminence Front" - I've never liked that! 

For the encore we wandered down to the front and enjoyed the Tommy encore from near the stage (taking extra care not to impede the paying customers at the front!). Richard managed to snag a setlist and we decamped happy to the "Prince of Wales" off Kensington High Street for a nightcap. Un-remarkable pub, but stunningly attractive barmaid! 

Slow journey home, livened up by a petite girl throwing a non-paying rider off the bus when he'd refused to leave. Cue round of applause from other passengers! Last chance to see the Who for a while - I'm refusing to pay the 70 odd quid for the summer Wembley shows... ditto the £150 + fees for the Rolling Stones!!!

Setlist

I Can't Explain

The Seeker

Who Are You

Behind Blue Eyes

Baba O'Riley

Eminence Front

A Man in a Purple Dress

Black Widow's Eyes

You Better You Bet

My Generation

Cry If You Want

Won't Get Fooled Again

Pinball Wizard

Amazing Journey

Sparks

See Me, Feel Me

Tea & Theatre

Noel Gallagher - Royal Albert Hall - Tuesday 27th March

It's Tuesday, it's the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Royal Albert Hall - that means Noel Gallagher. Warm up beers in the excellent "Hereford Arms" (some nice outifts on display!), the Gloucester Arms and the hard-to-find Queen's Arms (via the mews) and we were in the venue (with the normal lack of ticket checking) to see the support who were the Coral. They were OK - nothing more, nothing less. Then followed a small bout of accidental "blagging" whereby what we thought was a bar, turned out to be corporate hospitality. Still, they offered us free beer without any questions and we thought it rude to ask if we should actually be there!

Anyway, the show... well, if was good. Noel choose a selection of Oasis songs to play acoustically and a selection of cover versions. Paul Weller joined him for a few too. From our view in the Choir seats, we suspected that the strings section had been chosen for looks as well as playing ability! Richard pointed out he would do the same in Noel's position. Anyway, here's the setlist:-

'(It's Good) To Be Free'
'Talk Tonight'
'Fade Away'
'Cast No Shadow'
'Half The World Away'
'The Importance Of Being Idle'
'The Butterfly Collector' (with Paul Weller)
'All You Need Is Love ' (with Paul Weller)
'Don't Go Away'
'Listen Up'
'Sad Song'
'Wonderwall'
'Slide Away'
'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out'
'Don't Look Back in Anger'
'Married With Children'

Unfortunately, we didn't get 'Strawberry Fields Forever' which had been played the night before, which actually meant there was "booing" at the end. A bit harsh, as it was a good show. Sound for the music was good, but the pre-song intros were very muffled.

Who's Who - Half Moon, Putney - Saturday 17th March

As I left home, checked the venue on-line... tickets available. Got there... "sold out" !! Argghhh!

Consoled ourselves with trips to a couple of Putney pubs and enjoyed watching Ireland beat Pakistan in the cricket.

The Answer - Bloomsbury Ballroom - Friday 9th March

Friday night and it's a bumper group of us for the Answer with Paul, Chris and Mark joining Richard and myself for a trip to the grand sounding "Bloomsbury Ballroom". Dave had double-booked, so we had a spare ticket and took the chance to wind him up by saying "Jimmy Page" was bound to be special guest !! (not true, unfortunately). 

Anyway, after discovering it was a late start, there was far too much time for a few too many beers at various venues, including the Polish bar behind Holborn Station. Managed to sell Dave's ticket for pretty much face value and get in with lots of time to spare. 

Didn't care for the venue (nowhere near as grand as it sounds) and the sound was muffled. The "newbies" in our group enjoyed it, but Richard and I didn't feel it was as good as the times we've seen them previously. Still quite enjoyable and the band should be destined for bigger things.

Jimmy Barnes - Borderline - Wednesday 7th February

An unexpected treat - a chance to see Mr Barnes relatively soon after his last UK appearance. A "warm up" to the Charity show the next day, this acoustic show certainly entertained the primarily Australian audience.

A good choice of hits, album favourites and covers led for a giant singalong. Richard made a new friend (that hair is a pulling machine, I tell you!) and everyone went home happy. Compared to everyone else there, we felt very, very sober.

Jimmy!