Quireboys - Saturday 19th December - O2 Academy, Sheffield

The last gig of 2009 for me and a night away in Sheffield. Richard and I had been seeing Quo in Brighton when the Quireboys played London, so in the absence of any Thunder Christmas shows this year, we took a weekend break to Yorkshire. This meant the (freezing) delights of Leeds United (baaa!) v Southampton at Elland Road earlier in the day and an evening of classic rock in the evening.

We caught the end of Wolfsbane's set and positioned ourselves for the main event. The QB's were on top form, ripping through the whole of their classic 1989/90 debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy" and numerous other fan favourites. This is one band I am happy to see time and time again.

Rather predictably having visited a few bars on the way home and with the best intentions of calling it a night, in true Quireboys fashion we found the hotel bar open. This meant an "early night" of around 3am. Eeek!

Setlist (confirmation required)
Mayfair
Don't Bite The Hand
The Finer Stuff
Tramps And Thieves
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
7 O'Clock
Man on the Loose
Whippin' Boy
Sweet Mary Ann
I Don't Love You Anymore
Hey You
Misled
Long Time Comin'
Roses & Rings
There She Goes Again
Take Me Home
+
Sex Party (with Blaze Bayley from Wolfsbane)

The Union - Tuesday 15th December - Relentless Garage, Islington

The first ever gig from the Union. Thunder's Luke Morley joins forces with long-time guitar/volcalist mate, Peter Shoulder.

This was at the "Relentless Garage" which used to be the plain old "Garage" at Highbury and Islington. Really not into this constant renaming of venues any more than I am renaming of pubs. We managed to get returns on the "lottery only" style of ticket allocation, but weren't totally shocked to find the venue not full! Bar was expensive (and provoked a few comments from the punters) and the headline act played a short but acomplished bluesy set - all filmed for a DVD release next year. It'll be interesting to see how the album turns out too.

Photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/katharinahaack/4271996636/

Setlist
Easy Street
You Know My Name
Black Monday
Come Rain or Shine
Holy Roller
This Time Next Year
Saviour
Watch the River Flow
+
Lilies
Proud Mary

Status Quo - Friday 11th December - Brighton Centre

Much better than Croydon! And the bonus of the legendary Roy Wood as support. Marvellous! 9/10.

Taylor Swift - Monday 23rd November - Wembley Arena

OK, so we booked this on the strength of the "Fearless" album which is really good. Actually, so is the first one "Taylor Swift". And whilst aware that Taylor was a young up and coming artist, until the tickets were booked and we checked her website, we were not aware of her typical fanbase. Young teenage girls. Oh dear!

This meant 3 things:-

1) The bar was empty and easily accessible!
2) In our whole block of seats (200+) we were the oldest there.
3) In our whole block of seats we were 2 of only 5 blokes.

Putting aside the above, the show was good - full of catchy pop songs. The screaming between songs got a bit much and during one costume change gap I headed to the bar. On my return, I passed Ms Swift herself on the way to a "B Stage" at the back of the Arena and we nodded acknowledgement. Bet she was thinking that I was a bit old to be there!

Setlist
You Belong With Me
Our Song
Tell Me Why
Teardrops On My Guitar
Fearless
Forever & Always
Hey Stephen
Fifteen
Tim McGraw
White Horse
Love Story
The Way I Loved You
You're Not Sorry
Picture To Burn
Should've Said No

Status Quo - Wednesday 18th November - Croydon Fairfield Halls

Regular readers will have read enough reviews of Quo on this site to last them a while, so I'll be brief. Pretty good, but not quite up to their highest standards. 7/10.

[later note: It turns out Francis was ill around this time, which may explain the lack of spark]

Rock-Ola - Wednesday 11th November - Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

A first ever visit for us to the "Eel Pie" club in Twickenham. Not the original, this is in the top floor of the Cabbage Patch pub. Rock-Ola are Pete French (who we knew little about) and Bernie Marsden (ex Whitesnake). The first person we saw at the bar on the way in was Neil Murray (Rock bass player extraordinaire) which led us to think it should be good. Someone else in front of us signed a few autographs, but we couldn't work out who he was, despite looking familiar (think a cross bewteen Bernie Ecclestone and Ian MacLagen!) And guess what? It was. It's always nice when you take a gamble on some of these shows and it pay off.

The set was basically blues-driven with some Whitesnake / Led Zep stuff thrown in. Couldn't tell you what all the songs were, but all were listenable to and the instruments and vocals were performed with passion. And it's not often you get to stand next to an 8/10 lookalike for Avram Grant!

Magnum - Friday 6th November - O2 Academy, Islington

Rammed, rammed rammed!

Yep, it was packed.. could barely get through the door. Once we did (upsetting several people), we squeezed over to the bar (where you could actually breathe and get served!). Show was good (complete setlist change) and featured many songs from the excellent "Into The Valley of The Moonking" album (rubbish title, great music!). Only complaint (besides the crush) was that the show could have been a bit longer.

Walked up past the Union Chapel on the way out. Attempted to gatecrash the last few minutes of the show - I've even forgotten the artists name (I know it's someone Richard likes!) Blagged our way in through an exit, but got in just as she'd left the stage. Unfortunately, no encore, but a nice try!

Oh and I should also mention the torrential rain (we got soaked!) and the very pleasant delights of the Baverian Brewhouse near Old Street.

Setlist
Cry To Yourself
Take Me To The Edge
Brand New Morning
The Moon King
When We Were Younger
No One Knows His Name
Dragons Are Real
A Face In The Crowd
We All Run
Les Morts Dansant
All My Bridges
All Englands Eyes
Vigilante
+
Don't Wake The Lion
The Kingdom Of Madness

Photo - ALX PIX http://www.flickr.com/photos/alxpix/4237450817/

The Mods - Friday 23rd October - Tooting & Mitcham FC

Continuing our regluar visits to see Johnny Warman and the boys - this time at the home of Tooting & Mitcham FC - a new venue for me. Pre show, we checked out the delights of Mitcham - the best pub by some distance was the "Hooden On The Green" with excellent darts facilities and attractive staff. Some of the others were a bit rough and ready, but by no means unfriendly.

The gig itself was of the normal excellent standard. It appears (unfortunately) that guitarist Steve Byrd has been permanently replaced which is a shame. He's even been removed from their website, so I wonder if there was a falling out? That said, his replacement - Gary Grainger is also one hell of a guitar player, so it was interesting to check out his playing and try to pick up a few tips!

We'll look forward to seeing the band again in 2010.

Mott The Hoople - Friday 2nd October - Hammersmith Apollo

Met up with a couple of colleagues by the River before Richard joined us. Had a good chat about record collecting, gigs and the usual rubbish - it turns out we were in the company of a serious Mott The Hoople fan in Steve!

Many beers later - and having skipped the support - we were inside for the much anticipated reunion. I thought it was a little rough around the edges to start (not surprising), but got better later on. The band did look old though! Ironically, Ian Hunter (70) and Mick Ralphs (65) looked in better nick than the others who were 60 or below. I wonder if that's because they've been musically more active over the last decade?

Sitting behind us we spotted Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) and Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin from the Quireboys. Jimmy Page and Mick Jones were also in attendance and I suspect there were a few more "faces" dotted around.

I was gutted to find out that on the Tuesday Joe Elliot (backed by the Quireboys) was the support act, playing a selection of Ian Hunter / Mott The Hoople classics. Why don't they publish these things beforehand!

Setlist
JUPITER
HYMN FOR THE DUES
ROCK AND ROLL QUEEN
SWEET JANE
ONE OF THE BOYS
SUCKER
THE MOON UPSTAIRS
ORIGINAL MIXED UP KID
I WISH I WAS YOUR MOTHER
READY FOR LOVE
BORN LATE 58
BALLAD OF MOTT
SWEET ANGELINE
WALKING WITH A MOUNTAIN
LIKE A ROLLING STONE / THE JOURNEY
THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK AND ROLL
HONALOOCHIE BOOGIE
ALL THE WAY FROM MEMPHIS
ROLL AWAY THE STONE
ALL THE YOUNG DUDES
KEEP A KNOCKIN'
SATURDAY GIGS

Woodedz - Friday 25th September - Half Moon, Putney

Rhino from Status Quo (and most of his family) playing at the popular Half Moon venue in Putney.

The location allowed for a bit of a crawl beforehand and we got to the venue around 9:00 to see Rhino still in the bar. This gave us time for a win on the Quiz machine and a game of Pool where - despite the amount of beer consumed - I was uncharacteristically brilliant.

The show was good (although it was a shame the late start meant a shorter set) and was the normal mix of Solo stuff, Quo Material (mainly lesser played album tracks and 'b' sides) and a smattering of Rock covers. Pretty much every member of Rhino's family seemed to be in attendance and most performed! All in all, good fun. Didn't hang around to chat afterwards - instead went for a bit more listening to some classic rock in the B@1 bar.

Jeff Beck - Monday 21st September - Indigo2

Ambiguously billed as "Jeff Beck with the Imelda May Band", it was unclear if Imelda May and her band were supporting (as they had done on the last tour) or Jeff was joining her band for the evening. A call to the O2 on the day of the show confirmed the latter - no support and Mr Beck in the Band. Knowing that this would mean a night of Rockabilly as opposed to Jeff's normal material, in the bar beforehand Dave was making all sorts of threats to "sue Harvey Goldsmith for misrepresentation" etc.

As it turned out, there was no need to worry. The band were solid, Imelda May's vocals quite stunning and the whole evening was full of enough classic tunes, whatever style they were played in and we all enjoyed it. Ronnie Wood and Jimmy Page were in attendance, but unfortunately had declined the offer to perform - taking a bit of stick from Jeff as a result. Few performers seem so uncomfortable speaking to their audience, but who cares when the guitar playing is so good.

Found out later that Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton are playing the O2 next year. Price £125. Errr... no thanks Harvey. It's good, but not that good.

Setlist
Feel Me
Love Tattoo
Baby Let's Play Outside
Double Talking Baby
Cruisin'
Train Kept a-Rollin'
Poor By
My Baby Left Me
Rockin' is Out Business
Apache
Sleepwalk
Peter Gunn
Remember (Walking in the Sand)
Please Mr. Jailor
Corpus Christi Carol
Lilac Wine
Green Onions
Casting My Spell
The Girl Can't Help It
Brush with the Blues
Rock Around the Clock
Cry Me a River
How High the Moon
Shake Rattle and Roll
Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Setlist from http://www.songkick.com/concerts/2459851-jeff-beck-at-indigo2

Upcoming shows

Looking forward to these over the next month or 2:-

Jeff Beck - Indigo2
Woodedz - Half Moon, Putney
Mott The Hoople - Hammersmith
Magnum - Islington

U2 - Friday 14th August - Wembley Stadium

Let me be honest, I'm not too much of a U2 fan - especially the lead singer! That said, I recognise that they are a pretty good band with some excellent songs, so - pride suitably swallowed, I shelled out for a "view from the Gods" ticket at Wembley. And guess what? Apart from one truely awful song involving words like "password", "click" and "reboot yourself" - I think it was "Unknown Caller" - the rest of the set was very good.

Setlist
Breathe, No Line On The Horizon, Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, London Calling (snippet) / , London Bridge Is Falling Down (snippet) / Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet), Elevation, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet), Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Unknown Caller, The Unforgettable Fire, City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo / Acquiesce (snippet), I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Two Tribes (snippet) / Reverend Black Grape (snippet), Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet), Pride (In The Name Of Love), MLK, Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet), Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet) / Acquiesce (snippet), One, Mysterious Ways / Norwegian Wood (snippet)+ Ultra Violet (Light My Way), With Or Without You, Moment of Surrender

Setlist from http://www.u2setlists.com/360.shtml

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin - Sunday 26th July - Borderline

Mr Baird and friends at the intimate Borderline. When we got there for the early start, the place was empty. By the time the show was 30 minutes in, it was totally rammed. Great band, great set with some unusual covers. 2 hrs 25 minutes almost non-stop and we even made the tube!

Anyone got the setlist?

Scouting For Girls - Thursday 23rd July - Epsom Racecourse

2nd visit in a fortnight to evening racing + gig at Epsom racecourse. This time it's for Scouting For Girls - a band whose album I bought on the strength of a single - and really enjoyed.

The relative lack of material led to a set that included all the songs that I liked plus an excellent cover of "Live and Let Die".

Thunder - Saturday 11th July - Hammersmith Apollo

A week on, and Thunder's final headline show. An emotional evening at a packed Hammersmith Apollo provided a fitting end for a great band. after 20 years.

Thanks for the memories guys - hoping to see you back for the 25th Anniversary!

Setlist (from Thunderonline.com)
Loser / On the Radio / Higher Ground / Low Life in High Places / The Devil Made Me Do It / Gimme Some Lovin' / Empty City / Like a Satellite / River of Pain / You Can't Keep a Good Man Down / Love Walked In / I Love You More Than Rock ‘n’ Roll Encore: A Better Man / Backstreet Symphony / She's So Fine / Dirty Love (Including ‘Billie Jean’ excerpt and ‘Shakin’ All Over’)

Bryan Adams - Tuesday 7th July - Southampton Guildhall

An acoustic outing from Mr Adams (a first for me) at the pleasant (seated) Southampton Guildhall. An outrageous £69 (with booking fee) ticket, but this was just about justified by a good perfomance including some rarely heard material.

As you'd expect from an acoustic show, a few too many ballads, but with the bonus of some amusing tales between many of the songs, this was an evening not to be missed.

Setlist:
Run To You / Tonight We Have The Stars / Back To You / Here I Am / Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven / Let's Make A Night To Remember / Can't Stop This Thing We Started / I Thought I'd Seen Everything / When You Love Someone / Heat Of The Night / Not Romeo Not Juliet / Everything I Do / Cuts Like A Knife / Lonely Nights / This Time / Mysterious Ways / Please Forgive Me / Summer Of '69 / Walk On By / Heaven / When You're Gone / The Right Place / The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You + Somebody / Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? / Never Let Go / Straight From The Heart

Thunder - Sunday 5th July - Cambridge Corn Exchange

Thunder's farewell tour (sob!). Decided to do the Cambridge show as well as London next week, especially as the band are promising an ever changing setlist for this final fling.

A packed and extremely hot venue meant we were stuck 3/4 of the way back, but a fine show was delivered. Trains and nightbuses meant I wasn't home until 3am, but this was one show that was worth the hassle.

Setlist (from Thunderonline.com)
Loser / Welcome To The Party / Higher Ground / Low Life In High Places / Gimme Some Lovin’ / Moth To The Flame / The Devil Made Me Do It / Love Walked In / Stand Up / You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down / Don’t Wait For Me / I Love You More Than Rock ‘n’ Roll Encore: A Better Man / Just Another Suicide / Dirty Love (Including ‘Billie Jean' excerpt)

Status Quo - Thursday 2nd July - Epsom Racecourse

The Quo were back at Epsom for another "Epsom Live!" performance - the first since the opening of the new Granstand. Fresh from their successful set at Glastonbury, the band were in good spirits and excellent form.

Bryan Bros Band - Saturday 27th June, Hand in Hand, Wimbledon

The Bryan brothers are the top Men's double pairing in World tennis. Taking a break from the Wimbledon championships, they played (with their band) at the small "Hand in Hand" pub on Wimbledon Common.

A pleasant evening - a bit hazy after an all day jaunt at the Twenty20 cricket (Surrey v Middlesex at the Oval). From what I can remember, another Tennis star - Mardy Fish - turned up on vocals for some of the show and the band played a competent mix of mainly cover versions. Unexpectedly bumped into some people I know and there also seemed to be lots of attractive girls around to ogle!

Britney Spears - Saturday 13th June - O2 Arena

Britney Spears - surely that doesn't fit in with the normal gig profile on here does it? Well, no - but this was a treat for Mrs B. So what was it like? Well, to be fair, it was pretty good as a "show". Like many, I'm not convinced by how much of the vocals were actually "live", but as a spectacle it was an impressive bit of theatre.

Support was from "Ciara" - which may or may not be another "chart act" to add to my list of acts seen.

I didn't know too many of the songs, but it didn't really matter as most were catchy and well received by a mainly young and female audience.

Set list (from WikiPedia)
Act 1: The Circus
Welcome to the Circus (Video Introduction)
"Circus"
"Piece of Me"
Thunderstorm (Performance Interlude)
"Radar"
Act 2: House of Fun (Anything Goes)
Martial Arts Segue (Performance Interlude) (features LAZRtag Remix of "Gimme More")
Medley:
"Ooh Ooh Baby"
"Hot as Ice"
"Boys" (The Co-Ed Remix)
Boot Camp Segue
"If U Seek Amy"
"Me Against The Music" (Bollywood Remix)
"Everytime"
Act 3: Freakshow/Peepshow
Everybody's Looking for Something (Video Interlude) (features "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)")
"Freakshow"
"Get Naked (I Got A Plan)"
"Mannequin" (Added July 5, 2009)
Britney's Hotline (Performance Interlude) (contains elements of "Breathe on Me", "Boys" and "I'm a Slave 4 U")
Medley:
"Breathe on Me"
"Touch of My Hand"
Act 4: Electro Circ
Band Jam Segue (Performance Interlude)
"Do Somethin'"
"I'm A Slave 4 U" (Remix)
Heartbeat (Dance Interlude) (featuring "Lollipop", "American Boy", "Don't Stop the Music", "Closer" and other songs)
"Toxic"
"...Baby One More Time" (Remix)
Encore
"Break The Ice" (Video Interlude) (contains elements of "Gimme More" and "I'm A Slave 4 U")
"Womanizer" (Extended Remix)

Per Gessle - Monday 4th May - O2 Academy, Islington

So, a trip to Islington for Per Gessle - the male half of Roxette, for probably his first ever UK solo show.

The show had been downgraded from the Shepherd's Bush Empire and to be honest, probably suited a venue this size. That said, it was a fine evening of catchy pop tunes, with a fair selection of Roxette classics included. Most of the crowd appeared to be of Scandanavian origin and Per was greeted with true "hero-like" worship. Great fun, although is was a shame that Marie Fredrikson (other half of Roxette) chose the gig in Holland a few days later to be surprise guest!

Setlist (Order not 100% certain!):
DRESSED FOR SUCCESS
DROWNING IN WONDERFUL THOUGHTS ABOUT HER
STUPID
THE PARTY PLEASER
WISH I COULD FLY
SHE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
7TWENTY7
I HAVE A PARTY IN MY HEAD
LATE, LATER ON
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
DO YOU WANNA BE MY BABY?
OPPORTUNITY NOX
DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
CHURCH OF YOUR HEART
DANGEROUS
JOYRIDE
+
C'MON
HEY MR DJ
ARE YOU AN OLD HIPPIE, SIR?
THE LOOK
IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE
+
SLEEPING IN MY CAR
(I'M NOT YOUR) STEPPIN' STONE
QUEEN OF RAIN

Saxon - Thursday 23rd April - Forum, Kentish Town

Suprisingly, I'd never seen Saxon before and knew little of their material. Supported by the impressive Doro Pesch, this was a good fun evening. Despite my lacking of previous listening, there were enough good songs to keep me on the lookout for a "best of" CD in the near future! Extremely long encore too with a bit of Judas Priest!

Setlist
Battalions of Steel
Heavy Metal Thunder
Demon Sweeney Todd
Ride Like the Wind
Requiem - We Will Remember
Strong Arm of the Law
The Letter
Valley of the Kings
Bands Played On
Hellcat
The Eagle Has Landed (Der Adler ist Gaylanded)
Come Rock of Ages (The Circle is complete)
Machine Gun
Never Surrender
Wheels of Steel
+
Live to Rock
Motorcycle Man
+
Crusader
You've Got Another Thing Coming (with Doro)
+
747 Strangers In The Night
Denim and Leather
Princess of the Night

Gary Moore - Friday 15th April - Brighton Dome

As expected, this fell into Gary's "Blues Show" catagory, rather than his "Monsters of Rock" type set. Shame though that was, it was a pleasant enough seated show - excellent musicianship and some good blues material, albeit not wildly exciting.

Remind me not to touch the Dome's "festival lager" - black in colour - fine when chilled, but undrinkable when it warms up 2/3 of the way through a pint!

AC/DC - Thursday 16th April - O2 Arena

Indentical to Tuesday - except saw all the the Answer. Oh, and the fact we were "several miles away" in the seats up near the roof. Allowed us to see just what a good spot we had 2 days earlier.

AC/DC - Tuesday 14th April - O2 Arena

An evening of Classic Rock at the O2. A couple of pleasant beers in the garden of The Pilot was followed by catching the end of The Answer's set. They sounded OK and were debuting a few tracks from their new album, "Demon Eyes".

We had got to a pretty good spot - front left - about 10-15 yds from the front. I described to a colleague that you get the following at an AC/DC gig.

• A 54 year old man in a schoolboy outfit who duckwalks, appears to suffer convultions and performs a striptease
• A 61 year old man in a flat cap with a heavy Georgie accent
• A 50ft inflatable prostitute
• A massive steam train which catches fire
• A number of cannons firing at the audience

Rightly, they were alarmed. What can't be explained is how all of the above works - except the answer surely lies in the music. Everyone recognises an AC/DC tune and here they were performed faultlessly. Excellent stuff!

Setlist:
Rock n Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place To be
Back In Black
Big Jack
Dirty deeds done dirt cheap
Shot Down in Flames
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bells
Shoot to thrill
War Machine
Anything Goes
You Shook Me all night long
TNT
Whole lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
+
Highway To Hell
For Those About To Rock

Who's Who – Saturday 21st March – Half Moon, Putney

A long day! Having met friends in the Coat and Badge in Putney for lunch and beer, we then endured Manchester United's woeful performance in a 2-0 defeat at Craven Cottage. A few more beers amongst jubilent Fulham fans and off to the Half Moon for the Who tribute.

Luckily we'd taken the precaution of pre-booking this time - just as well as it was sold out! The normal solid show, with an elongated "Tommy - highlights" section, but suprisingly no songs from Quadrophenia!

Then home via All Bar One in Wimbledon for a long sleep!

4 Bills & A Ben – Saturday 28th February – Boom Boom Club, Sutton Utd

A late notice encounter with 4 Bills and a Ben, prompted by the appearance of ex-Quo drummer Jeff Rich and Quo bassist Rhino Edwards. The added bonus was that Rhino and his family band were also supporting. They seemed intent on playing a number of covers from Quo's covers albums, so in amongst original material, we got "Get Out of Denver", "Lucille", "Sweet Home Chicago" and a few others.

Good evening, big crowd (recognised a number of people normally seen at Quo shows) and the Mods on fine form with guitarist Steve Byrd rejoining after injury. Only downside was the lack of Who songs, which seem to be saved for the Mods incarnation of the band these days.

Status Quo – Saturday 14th February – Portsmouth Guildhall

Quo in February? Yep, rescheduled from December due to illness and on a Saturday. Sounds like a plan - albeit after a bit of negotiation with Mrs B about missing Valentine's Day!

Richard and I headed down on the train in the afternoon and had time to visit some of the local hostelries - a mix of very pleasant and pretty rough! The venue itself, the Guildhall, was quite impressive and it was nice to be at a Quo standing show again - Even at halfway back the view and sound were excellent. A good fun day was completed with a bonus half hour in Woking on the way home, where there seemed to be a shortage of clothes on many people at 23:30!

The Answer – Thursday 12th February – Dingwalls

It's been a little while since I've seen the boys from Northern Ireland and with a new album coming out and hot off the back of supporting AC/DC in the states, this gig in compact Dingwalls seemed too good to miss. A "record" crowd of 6 of us braved the snow and joined the throng of people down the front - we didn't even have to flog Dave's ticket to a tout this time!

The Answer seem to be Classic Rock Magazine's favourite "up and coming" band at the moment. There's no doubt they are very competent musicians and vocalist Cormac Neeson has a strong voice for the music being played. The catch is in the songs. Most are standard "classic rock" fayre and perfectly listenable to. The problem is that very few have that catchy chorus that you want to sing along with. Exceptions include "Under The Sky", "Never Too Late" and (unfortunately not performed here) "Sometimes Your Love". I just feel to get to the "next level" they need a few singalong stand out tracks. All in all, a perfectly adequate, albeit 6/10 gig.

SAS Band – Saturday 24th January - Indigo2

The SAS Band – or “Spikes All Stars” if your prefer and their “New Year” bash at the Indigo2. The normal smattering of Guest Stars, which included Roger Taylor (Queen), Toyah, Jeff Scott Soto, Madeline Bell, Fabba Girls, Roy Wood, Graham Gouldman (10cc) and others.

For a change we actually watch the support band - “Crash” on the basis they featured Motorbike champion James Toseland and had a set based on covers of Classic Rock songs. They weren’t bad.

The main act were as impressive as always – the highlights being Toyah’s “School’s Out”, 10cc’s “Dreadlock Holiday” / “Rubber Bullets” and Queen’s “Cosmos Rocks” sung by Mr Taylor. And of course, the not-so-seasonal “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Mr Wood.

Excellent stuff…

The Mods – Friday 16th January – Boom Boom Club

My first show of 2009 and a short trip to Sutton United’s Boom Boom club. As normal, an excellent performance of the hits of The Who, Small Faces, Kinks, Stones etc. Normal guitarist Steve Byrd was out injured for this one, but his replacement was top notch. A quality bunch of musicians playing quality songs.

Happy New Year

So, that was 2008... here's hoping for a nice 2009. Not too much planned so far on the Gig front, but due to see the Mods soon, so I'll update you on that when I can.