Cregan & Co - Monday 30th December - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

Jim Cregan and Ben Mills at the Boom Boom Club

Another evening of Rod Stewart hits, courtesy of Jim Cregan and his band. A strange mix of old rockers and young ladies here to ogle at vocalist Ben Mills  makes for interesting a people watching at their shows, but the musicianship and songs means that it's the performance that always commands attention. A busier than expected hall was uncomfortably hot at times, but the 2 set show sent everyone on their way happy. 

Thunder's Harry James was on drums - a bit strange seeing him again so close to the Wolverhampton Christmas shows. 

Thunder - Saturday 21st December - Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Luke Morley
Wolverhampton 2nd Night

Breakfast in the hotel and pretty much all of the guests seemed to be kitted out in Thunder T shirts. Those I spoke with had all enjoyed the night before and most were disappointed not to be repeating the experience later. 

Rich was getting the train up from London and we met in Birmingham for a beer and to take in the delights of WBA v Hull City at The Hawthorns. This led to something that has rarely happened in 35+ years of watching top flight football when the match ball came straight to me in the 2nd minute. I'd like to report a clean overhead catch, but in reality it was more a parry sideways onto the head of the people next to me.

We tried to have a quick pint in Bilston afterwards at "The Trumpet" (famous to fans of Slade) but sadly it was closed until later that evening. I will have to return some other time. 

So, onto night 2 and more of the same. Slightly different order to part of the 2nd half and a dropped song, but if anything slightly better than last night - perhaps due to being fractionally less busy.

A nice nightcap followed in one of Wolverhampton's rock pubs. 

Setlist

[Acoustic]

Long Way from Home

Pinball Wizard

Robert Johnson's Tombstone

Heart of Gold

Carol Ann

You Can't Live Your Life in a Day

Long Train Runnin'

Love Worth Dying For

Higher Ground

When I'm Dead and Gone

[Electric]

She's So Fine

Everybody Wants Her

Pilot of My Dreams

In a Broken Dream

Hollywood Nights

Fly on the Wall

Empty City

Fade Into the Sun

Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)

Got to Get You into My Life

Don't Wait for Me

I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll

+

A Better Man

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Merry Xmas Everybody

Thunder - Friday 20th December - Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Danny Bowes of Thunder
(Wolverhampton 1st Night)

A trip to the Midlands for night one of two at the Thunder Xmas Parties. On my own for the first - the venue was heaving by the time I got there 10 mins before show time. I had to spend the acoustic set at the back before moving forward for the second half. A solid mix of favourites, rarities and covers with lots of audience participation, especially during an excellent "Do You Wanna Know (Just Another Suicide)"

Got soaked on the way back to the hotel!

Setlist

[Acoustic]

Long Way from Home

Pinball Wizard

Robert Johnson's Tombstone

Heart of Gold

Carol Ann

You Can't Live Your Life in a Day

Long Train Runnin'

Love Worth Dying For

Higher Ground

When I'm Dead and Gone

[Electric]

She's So Fine

Everybody Wants Her

Pilot of My Dreams

In a Broken Dream

Hollywood Nights

Fly on the Wall

Empty City

Fade Into the Sun

I'm Dreaming Again

Got to Get You into My Life

Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)

Don't Wait for Me

I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll

+

A Better Man

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Merry Xmas Everybody

Slade / Sweet - Tuesday 17th December - Guildford G-Live

A repeat of last year's double bill.  A near identical set from Sweet too, but none the worse for it as it was mainly hits based. The guys appeared at the interval to sign stuff which us always a nice touch.

Slade were good too, albeit a little brief. Apparently the singer Mal is looking to leave, but I thought this was his best performance in all the times I have seen them. All in all, good fun.

Setlist

Slade

Gudbuy T'Jane

Lock Up Your Daughters

Far Far Away

Look Wot You Dun

Coz I Luv You

Run Runaway

Mama Weer All Crazee Now

Get Down and Get With It

My Oh My

Cum On Feel the Noize

Merry Xmas Everybody

Status Quo - Friday 13th December - Brighton Centre

The regular winter jaunt to the south coast for a bit of "current Quo". Support came from 10cc who I was distinctly underwhelmed with. They have some decent songs (I'm Not in Love, Rubber Bullets, Things We Do For Love, Dreadlock Holiday) and are decent musicians to a man, but beyond those 4 songs, didn't do it for me. A shame, as I'd been hoping for much more from a band with a supposedly renowned back catalogue. 

Quo were on good form - Francis Rossi often seems to up his game at Brighton and tonight was not exception - some good solos and amusing banter with the crowd. All over in time for us to make the last train without missing anything too!

Setlists

10cc
The Wall Street Shuffle
The Things We Do for Love
Good Morning Judge
I'm Mandy Fly Me
Life Is a Minestrone
Art for Art's Sake
Silly Love
I'm Not in Love
Dreadlock Holiday
Donna (acapella)
Rubber Bullets

Status Quo

Caroline

Paper Plane

Hold You Back

Rain

Looking Out for Caroline

Go Go Go

Rock 'n' Roll 'n' You

Beginning of the End

What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again

Big Fat Mama

The Oriental

Creepin' Up on You

In the Army Now

Drum Solo

Roll Over Lay Down

Down Down

Whatever You Want

Rockin' All Over the World

+

Burning Bridges

Junior's Wailing

Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

SAS Band - Saturday 7th December - Guildford G-Live

A sold out show at G-Live. The announcement of 2 support acts had me fearing again for the accuracy of the stage times and the viability of our last train home from the nearby London Road station. The first act - 'The Opera Duo' did a decent version of Barcelona and 'Nessun Dorma' in their brief 3 song set. They were followed by 'Woman' - whose unique brand of vocals and strings provided an unusual take on a range of covers from Sweet Child O'Mine through Black Betty to Fat Bottomed Girls. They were well received. 

Spike Edney and his SAS band appeared and rattled through a few favourites from their covers repertoire with Jamie Moses and regular guests Patti Russo and Madeline Bell joining in. A highlight was the appearance of Midge Ure for Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, Vienna and a rousing Delilah! 

The 29 Riffs song then got an outing and sounded as good as ever. Next up was the return of Roger Taylor's 'Cross' for the first time in 20 years. Many of the crowd had travelled long distances to witness this historic occasion. Now I'm a big fan of Mr Taylor and own pretty much all of his solo output as well as the full Queen catalogue. Some of his material outside of Queen is fantastic - unfortunately, IMHO, very little of that was recorded with The Cross! I was left underwhelmed - especially as he left the stage for a few of the weaker numbers and dragged out others. 

The folly of a double support act meant we had to forego the Christmas sing-a-long at the end. Although a good evening, I couldn't help but think this was the weakest of all the SAS shows I have been to over the years with a noticeable lack of the usual roller coaster of surprise appearances. Maybe we've just been too spoiled in the past.

Setlist

THE CROSS

In Charge of My Heart

Top of the World, Ma

New Dark Ages

Man On Fire

Ain't Put Nothin Down

Liar

Dirty Mind

Cowboys And Indians

Power to Love

Heaven For Everyone

Sister Blue

Final Destination

+

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin - Sunday 1st December - 100 Club

Disaster! We found the venue this time, but the CD was sold out (bloke in front of me got the last one - grrrr!) I consoled myself with a DVD which Dan kindly signed later. Much emptier than last night and a support band too, meaning a shorter set from the headliners, which was a shame.  They mixed the set up a bit and a few songs were quite a bit shorter - indeed neither of us could recall the last time we heard 'Sheila' played without snippets from other songs in the middle. Still, another good show - hopefully more of the same for 2014?

Setlist anyone?

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin - Saturday 30th November - 100 Club

Now, how difficult can it be to find a venue on Oxford Street? Particularly one you've been to before and know where it is? And know it's number 100. "Very" would appear to be the answer as we walked past the narrow, unlit entrance 3 times!!!

Once in however, a full house was craning for a decent view of the side-on stage. Not easy with 2 massive pillars in front, but we found a central point with a half decent view. The show was good (it always is with this band) and the songs from the new CD ("Circus Life") went down well. Will look to purchase the standard version of the CD tomorrow and get it signed. 

T'Pau - Saturday 23rd November - Islington Assembly Hall

The first central London T'Pau show for many years. We'd even managed to coax some friends along to this based on the Burgess Hill show earlier in the year. A quick check on stage times before going for a beer revealed 3 support bands. This started alarm bells ringing - they are bound to overrun and there is a strict 11pm curfew. No matter, T'Pau will be on at 9:15 we are told. 

Post beer, we return for 9:00pm. They are running late - what a surprise!  A band called Blue Zoo who seemed to think they were famous in the 80's (no, me neither!) dragged on for a while meaning Carol and the boys didn't appear until 9:50. This led to a rushed set - no doubt missing out a few songs - with no break for an encore or between song chat. The extra support acts are a false economy - no-one wants to see them, so there's no better value for money and it just delays and detracts from the main act.

Still, the brief(er) T'Pau set was excellent - vocals top notch (not really any need for the young backing vocalist who had been drafted in) and a few setlist changes from earlier in the tour. Shamefully, I'm not fully up to speed on all the tracks from Rage or The Promise, so there were a couple I only vaguely recognised. I was slight disappointed not to hear 'Time Will Tell', but other than that all was good. A live CD of the performance is promised - I will be making a purchase!

If anyone knows the definitive setlist then please let me know.

Mott The Hoople - Monday 18th November - O2 Arena

Danny Bowes (Thunder)

Monday night? Really? Oh, OK then. Decent tickets acquired during pre-sale, it looked optimistic for MTH to do the O2. Still, at least the venue can be divided to the lower tiers only without looking too empty.
Huge plus point was the addition of Thunder as special guests.

Fish was up first to a sparsely populated arena. He is a bit larger then when I last saw him! A solid performance - but when it's not your crowd it must be tough.

Thunder enjoyed a bit more success - although not in the technical department. Guitarist Ben Matthew's must have missed half the set with difficulties - much fiddling from the roadies with leads and amp connections - not good. On the other side, Luke Morley's acoustic guitar (in it's usual position attached to a pole) had to be supported by another roadie to stop it collapsing. Still a solid set even got the crowd interacting and hopefully the boys won a few new fans. Danny's cry at the end of "we'll see you soon" was a bit optimistic if you are not flying to Japan or going to Wolverhampton for their Christmas shows!

In the intermission I grabbed a quick chat with the Sweet's Andy Scott - we're seeing him next month, so I was able to tell him we're looking forward to it.

Ian Hunter with a new Maltese Cross guitar

Mott The Hoople came on to huge applause. For a band where some members are in their 70's, they were fairly sprightly - Ian Hunter especially who was on his feet for the first hour or so. They had a few technical issues too with mics. The early part of the set was aimed at hardcore Mott fans, meaning there were a fair few songs I didn't know. The latter half was the hits and the crowd lifted during those. The bookies would have given you very poor odds on Joe Elliott turning up (he did) - and he took over on All The Young Dudes. Not sure of the last time I heard that without him !! A substantial number of band-related family members helped out on backing vocals for the encore.

Saturday Gigs bought the evening to a close and it's hard to believe that this won't be the last time we see the band, so all in all a decent send off. I think it was being filmed for DVD - hopefully the lighting will look better on that than it appeared for real!

SETLISTS

Fish
Feast of Consequences
Assassing 
Credo
Tongues
Assassing (Reprise)
Fugazi (Snippet)
White Feather 
View from the Hill
Blind to the Beautiful

Thunder
Dirty Love
River of Pain
Higher Ground
Low Life in High Places
Backstreet Symphony
The Devil Made Me Do It
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll

Mott The Hoople
Rock and Roll Queen
One of the Boys
The Moon Upstairs
Hymn for the Dudes
Sucker
Soft Ground
Waterlow
Born Late '58 
Death May Be Your Santa Claus  / You Really Got Me
Ballad of Mott the Hoople
Walkin' with a Mountain 
Violence
When My Mind's Gone / No Wheels to Ride / The Journey
Honaloochie Boogie
The Golden Age of Rock 'N' Roll
All the Way from Memphis
+
All the Young Dudes (with Joe Elliott)
Roll Away the Stone
Saturday Gigs

The Union - Wednesday 13th November - Islington Academy

More Union - that's quite a bit in the last 12 months I guess! It may also account for the relative emptiness of the venue - probably only 2/3 full. Still, you know what you are going to get and we got it. Good show, great vocals and guitar. Maybe the setlist needs a bit of a shake up next time around though (and I wouldn't finish with "Lillies" in the encore if it were down to me).

Pleased to pick up the signed "Official Bootleg" CD on the way out. And I also added to my drumstick collection with another signed item. Nice!

Setlist
Step Up to the Plate
You're My Jesus
Tonight I'm Alive
Cut The Line
Easy Street
The World Is Yours
Obsession
Saviour
Wreck My Scene
Holy Roller
Black Gold
Black Monday
Siren's Song
+
Lilies
Watch the River Flow

Johnny Warman's Magic Bus - Friday 8th November - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

A low key gig at the Boom Boom. Variously billed as "the Total Who Show" and "Magic Bus" it did what it said on the tin. 100 minutes of brilliant Who material.
I can only say that Mr Warman's address book must contain an endless array of fantastic musicians. I really enjoyed the guitarist here, but for me the keyboard player was brilliant. Johnny gave his normal 100% and the smiles on the audiences' faces said it all.

We'll shout for "Bell Boy" next time!

Billy Joel - Tuesday 5th November - Hammersmith Apollo

Superstar Billy Joel returns to London, playing his smallest UK venue I'd guess since the 1970's. And not just any venue - London's best.

After a scrum for tickets whilst we'd been on holiday (thanks Dave!), we had decent seats in the stalls. Glad we remembered photo ID as it was needed for entry. Fyfe Dangerfield provided support (and another addition to my "chart acts" seen). He was fine and his version of Mr Joel's "She's Always A Woman To Me" from the John Lewis ad proved popular as expected.

Billy himself has clearly aged a bit since we last saw him. Now 64 (as he reminded us with a snippet of the Beatles classic), there was less jumping and running around, but still excellent showmanship and piano playing. Vocals were solid and of course the songs brilliant.

I was shouted down by friends who were there who didn't think "Zanzibar" was a weak point though. That song aside, I really enjoyed it all - being picky for £90 it would have been nice to have another 3 or 4 songs, but ho hum. I even purchased a poster on the way out - must be 20 years since I last did that at a gig!

Setlist
My Life
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Everybody Loves You Now
Where's the Orchestra?
Allentown
When I'm Sixty-Four 
Pressure
New York State of Mind
She's Right on Time
Vienna
Zanzibar
She's Always a Woman
Don't Ask Me Why
Uptown Girl
Blonde Over Blue
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
The River of Dreams [with Rule Britannia]
Piano Man
+
We Didn't Start the Fire
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
You May Be Right
Only the Good Die Young

Quireboys - Thursday 17th October - Islington Academy

Spike from The Quireboys

"Know your Quireboys Drummers". That is becoming almost a speciality quiz question for me (the drummer and/or bassist appears to change nearly every time we see them). 2 points to me then for identifying the Union's Dave McClusky on sticks. No points to Richard for suggesting I was wrong despite have a chat with the guy in person a few months back!

A new set from the QBs - based around their excellent new album "Beautiful Curse". The band were on good form and you'll be able to watch it all on DVD soon. Spike appeared to be drinking less and singing more and his vocals and charisma showed through. The normal London spot of ex-member Guy Bailey at the bar, who to be fair hasn't weathered quite as well.

As a nod in his direction, the band substituted "Sex Party" in for "Mayfair" which was on the original setlist.
A quick note about the merchandise. Great effort! A good selection of items - many signed.  All at sensible prices too. Other bands take note please!

As Harry Redknapp may say  - top top band - top top show.

Setlist
Black Mariah
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Homewreckers and Heartbreakers
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Diamonds and Dirty Stones
27 Years
I Don't Love You Anymore
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
Beautiful Curse
Chain Smokin'
I Love This Dirty Town
7 O'Clock
+
For Crying Out Loud
Mother Mary
Sex Party

Wheatus - Saturday 12th October - Borderline

After a previous trip seeing Wheatus in Kingston a year or 2 back, I was looking forward to seeing them play in a really small venue. Shamefully, I didn't own their debut CD which was being celebrated here, so I had to borrow a copy from my brother. That sounded OK, but I anticipated a bit more from the live experience. I was to be proved correct.

I met my fellow gig-goers in a slightly dodgy part of town a few minutes walk from Stockwell tube  at least the pub had an interesting selection of beers. We then failed miserably to get into the Intreprid Fox near the venue - a ticket only event with various zombies and vampires was in full swing (as indeed it appeared to be across the whole of Soho).

As predicted, the venue was packed (an afternoon matinee had been added!) and we were inside in time to catch the end of the main support - a freestyle rapper. H'mmm. There's an undoubted skill to being able to rap along to whatever nonsense is passed to you (phones, shoes, bag, glasses, beer etc), but let's just say it isn't my cup of tea.

Anyway, thankfully the main band were on. They somehow were getting some very electric sounds out of the semi-acoustic lead guitar (which appeared to be channelled through a bank of iPads/Macs at the rear of the stage.

My guess is that they played pretty much every song they've recorded plus a very good cover of Green Day's "Basket Case". The One Direction cover played on most of the other dates was sadly missing on this occasion (and no AC/DC either - genuine shame!). Of course, all ended with a boisterous "Teenage Dirtbag" with support acts back on stage. The one we missed (first on the bill I guess) actually sang really good vocals on this!

Off to Bradleys for a nightcap and a good fun evening was had by all.

Setlist
The London Sun
Fair Weather Friend
A Little Respect 
Truffles
Fourteen
Lemonade
Hey, Mr. Brown
Sunshine
Whole Amoeba
The Story of The Eggs
Leroy
Anyway
BMX Bandits
Love Is A Mutt From Hell
Wannabe Gangster
Basket Case
Teenage Dirtbag
+
Hump 'em n' Dump 'em

Fleetwood Mac - Tuesday 24th September - O2 Arena, London

So, back for some more Fleetwood Mac - this time in the UK and back to the O2 again. And, thanks to some extremely generous friends, an evening in a corporate-style box with drinks thrown in... Lovely.

The setlist was identical to the show we saw in Tampa and the anecdotes were similar as you'd expect. Stevie Nicks vocals sounded better though and there was genuine appreciation from the crowd. We were slightly unluckily that Christine McVie only joined the band on the other 2 London shows and not this one, but you can't have everything. A really nice evening - thanks A&P!

Setlist

Second Hand News

The Chain

Dreams

Sad Angel

Rhiannon

Not That Funny

Tusk

Sisters of the Moon

Sara

Big Love

Landslide

Never Going Back Again

Without You

Gypsy

Eyes of the World

Gold Dust Woman

I'm So Afraid

Stand Back

Go Your Own Way

+

World Turning

Don't Stop

+

Silver Springs

Say Goodbye

Rod Stewart - Friday 20th September - O2 Arena, London

H'mm - not a great start to the evening. We'd taken a flyer earlier on in the day and purchased 2 below face value tickets from one of those "authorised secondary ticket sites" - you know the sort I mean. All comes with a guarantee and you print your own ticket etc. All good and feeling quite pleased with things until we get to the gate. Tickets rejected! No definitive reason given, but probably sold multiple times and used by someone else. This had happened to "loads of tickets" that night according to the gate security.

With the company representative missing, we faffed around for quite a while before 'sourcing alternative tickets' for ourselves. This meant we had missed a good 40 minutes of the set, but at least we were in eventually to see just over an hour. And what a good 70 mins or so it was - Rod's voice sounded good, the setlist was pure sing-a-long and I think everyone would have left having enjoyed the show.

PostScript: ticket money refunded without question, however no explanation given. Any of the readers have good or bad experiences with these secondary ticket resellers - not the likes of ebay, but the semi-official authorised ones?

Setlist

This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)

You Wear It Well

Tonight's the Night

Havin' a Party

Rhythm of My Heart

Chain of Fools 

Forever Young

The First Cut Is the Deepest 

Have I Told You Lately

I Don't Want to Talk About It 

Brighton Beach

Can't Stop Me Now

She Makes Me Happy

Maggie May

I'd Rather Go Blind

Soul Man  (Sung by backup singers; sung as "Soul Girl") 

You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)

Sailing

Hot Legs

Baby Jane

+

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Woodedz - Sunday 7th September - Dugdale Centre, Enfield

New town, new venue. Well for those of us from south if the river anyway. It looks to an outsider that Enfield has a nice part - Enfield Chase, and a not so great part - the town. We found 3 nice pubs in the former - the riverside one being particularly pleasant.

The venue - the Dugdale Centre - is firmly in the town. It is a modern theatre complex and stands out from its slightly rougher surroundings. 

In case you don't know, Woodedz are John 'Rhino' Edwards from Status Quo, together with his 2 sons, Freddie and Max. The audience - primarily Quo fans were here in support of this charity show raising cash for the local Papworth Hospital. 

Not really knowing what material to expect, it was good to hear a large chunk of the Rhino's Revenge album, some obscure and not so obscure Quo tacks and a smattering of covers. The only downside was a dreadful song which appeared to be called 'Secretary' with truly cringe-worthy lyrics ("you want a double entendre, I'll give you one" etc). 

Otherwise, well worth the tenner entrance fee and trip across town. Now if only the venue could afford a stage...

Scouting For Girls - Friday 8th August - Brighton Racecourse

So, another chance to see Scouting For Girls - this time in the environment of Brighton racecourse after an afternoon of horse racing. The concert area itself was on a smaller scale to similar events at Epsom and Sandown and as a result a reasonable view could be had by all.

Bizarrely, the setlist was completely different to the Borderline show. A couple of covers were thrown in - Carly Simon's Bond theme, 'Nobody Does It Better' was a highlight and there was a recent Daft Punk song which has apparently been at number one for ages. I was possibly one of about 3 people in the crowd who didn't know it! Otherwise the greatest hits went down well. 

If anyone has the setlist, please pass comment. This was a nice evening in the sun without the hassle often associated with outdoor shows. 

Scouting For Girls - Tuesday 16th July - Borderline, London

Scouting For Girls turn up the heat

Scouting For Girls warm up for their forthcoming tour of British Racecourses with an intimate show at the Borderline - scene of their first London gig 8 years ago. With the temperature outside in the high 80's the heat in this underground venue was intense - for some reason the air conditioning was on at the back of the venue, but not on the floor at the front.

Funnily enough, we didn't feel like consuming much beer, so stayed away from the (empty) bar.

Anyway the heat didn't stop the predominantly female crowd enjoying the boys run through some new and more familiar material. The standard highlights included "I Wish I Was James Bond", "Elvis Ain't Dead", "Michaela Strachan" and of course, the finale, "She's So Lovely". One thing I do like about the band is that they seem to genuinely enjoy playing and engaging with the audience. Couldn't ask for more and looking forward to my family trip to Brighton next month to see them again.

Setlist
Make That Girl Mine
Millionaire
Without You
Summer In The City
Love How It Hurts
Take a Chance On Us
Silly Song
Famous
This Ain't A Love Song
Keep On Walkin'
I Wish I Was James Bond
It's Not About You
[Happy Birthday to Audience member]
Heartbeat
Elvis Ain't Dead (inc I Can't Help Falling With Love With You)
+
It Always Rains In L.A.
Posh Girls
Mountains of Navaho
Michaela Strachan
She's So Lovely

Bryan Adams - Sunday 14th July - Guildford Stoke Park

The only UK date this year for Bryan Adams as part of the "Magic Summer Live" event in Guildford. Not being too keen on the rest of the bill, our attendance was obtained by a "2 for 1" offer a few weeks before the event. A really hot day meant refreshment was sought in a couple of pubs by the river before heading to Stoke Park. We caught the end of James Morrison's set, but were confident we'd not missed much for the rest of the day.

Bryan himself seemed very relaxed and played a solid set. The electric version of "I'm Ready" was unexpected and most welcome. "Summer of '69" was as brilliant as ever (albeit quite short) and the crowd engaged well after a long day in the sun. A man was called from the audience (a first according to BA) for "When You're Gone" and all in all this was an enjoyable Sunday evening.

Setlist anyone? (the one on setlist.fm is wildly incomplete)

The Who - Monday 8th July - Wembley Arena

The Punk & the Godfather?

I'm not going into details other than to confirm that the Who are officially brilliant !

Setlist

I Am The Sea
The Real Me
Quadrophenia
Cut My Hair
The Punk and the Godfather
I'm One
The Dirty Jobs
Helpless Dancer
Is It in My Head?
I've Had Enough
5:15
Sea and Sand
Drowned
Bell Boy
Doctor Jimmy
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me
+
Who Are You
You Better You Bet
Pinball Wizard
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre

Fleetwood Mac - Friday 7th June - Tampa Bay Times Forum

View from the cheap seats!

So, definitely a new venue for me here! The Tampa Bay Times Forum provided a stop off on Fleetwood Mac's US tour. With tickets considerably cheaper than when the UK dates were announced shortly afterwards, we snapped up a few "nosebleed" seats and had a family outing.

The US make a gig going experience very easy. Car parked within 2 minutes walk of the venue, seamless "Will-Call" pickup and lots of legroom in a venue about the size of Wembley Arena.

With Christine McVie not in the current line-up, several of my favourite songs were missing. The middle of the set was a bit slow going (does any Fleetwood Mac fan really want to hear the words "and here are 3 songs from the album Tusk"?), but things picked up form Big Love onwards. You could be picky and say there was a slight self indulgence from Lindsey Buckingham with elongated solos, Stevie Nicks with the choice of a a solo song and Mick Fleetwood with the percussion solo, but I don't think you'd have found many in the near sell out crowd complaining. Knowing the setlist in advance meant we could slip out after 2.5 hours to miss the second encore and still feel we had got good value for money as we drove back up the I4 to Orlando.

Setlist
Second Hand News

The Chain

Dreams

Sad Angel

Rhiannon

Not That Funny

Tusk

Sisters of the Moon

Sara

Big Love

Landslide

Never Going Back Again

Without You

Gypsy

Eyes of the World

Gold Dust Woman

I'm So Afraid

Stand Back

Go Your Own Way

+

World Turning

Don't Stop

+

Silver Springs

Say Goodbye

Joe Cocker - Monday 14th May - Hammersmith Apollo

Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong. View from on high.

A one-off show for the man from Sheffield at London's Hammersmith Apollo. The speed of ticket sales meant only a seat in the balcony. We rather unkindly joked how the rather "mature" audience could be so quick of the mark to secure the best seats!

A solid set and the standard strong vocals/screams meant this was well worth the effort. I was especially pleased to see the Bryan Adams track "When The Night Comes" in the set. Joe looked in good health and hopefully his parting shot of "see you next time" will ring true.

Setlist
I Come In Peace

Feelin' Alright

The Letter

When the Night Comes

You Love Me Back

I'll Be Your Doctor

Up Where We Belong

Come Together

Eye on the Prize

You Don't Need A Million Dollars

You Are So Beautiful

Younger

Fire It Up

N'oubliez jamais

You Can Leave Your Hat On

Unchain My Heart

With a Little Help from My Friends

+

Summer in the City

Cry Me a River