Sunday, September 30, 2012

Cregan & Co - Saturday 29th September - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

Jim Cregan at the Boom Boom Club
Having lost most of the other ex-members of the Rod Stuart band, the band which used to be known as "Apart From Rod" are now called "Cregan and Co". They'd also lost drummer Harry James on Magnum duty for this show.

This was the first time I'd seen the new vocalist, Ben Mills. A former X-Factor finalist, it turns out you shouldn't hold this against him - he can really sing!

The standard 70's Rod standards were performed flawlessly, with a couple of surprises - notably Handbags and Gladrags plus a bonus Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile) which was excellent (Jim Cregan had played the original guitar on this classic hit). Another fun night at the Boom Boom and a band well worth seeing!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Peckham Cowboys, Brijitte West, Gasoline Queens - Saturday 22nd September - Unicorn, Kentish Town



 
Brijitte West at the Unicorn
A trip to North London and a bit of Kentish Town we'd not visited before. A visit to a couple of pubs on the way was variable - one fairly hideous (The Gloucester Arms - full of flies!), one not bad (Torriano) - and one very nice (The Admiral Mann). A game of darts in the latter produced some very good scoring and even attracted an audience at one stage. Slightly annoyed I missed a double for a 14 dart leg which would have equalled my PB.

Anyway, the show was in the Unicorn - an imposing building with a number of stern looking doorstaff.  Once inside though, it seemed all that is good about a decent Rock Pub. Good stage and viewing area, reasonably priced drinks and a friendly crowd. The bill for the show was similar to the one we saw a few months ago and there was no admission charge - hurray!

In spite of our darts delay we were still in time to see the Gasoline Queens whose rock and roll set included the Stone's "Dead Flowers". In fact the set was very similar to last time, but sound quality a bit better. All in all, quite enjoyable.

Brijitte West was next - and playing an electric set for the first time we've seen her. Catchy songs, excellent vocals and a decent backing band. Really enjoyed her set and were able to tell her so afterwards during a brief chat.

The Peckham Cowboys were on last and despite the biggest crowd, were probably the weakest of the 3 acts on the night. Songs were OK despite a few technical difficulties, but another really short show (35 mins?) left us wondering if they simply don't have much material to play or just can't be bothered. It's hard to see how they will grow their fan base pursuing this strategy - indeed nearly all of the audience we recognised from previous shows at the 12 Bar Club and Catscratch Fever.

A quick pint of Estrella on the way back for the last southbound Northern Line concluded a good night.