Saturday, April 30, 2016

Bryan Adams - Friday 29th April - Bournemouth BIC

Bryan Adams offering standing tickets seemed too good an opportunity to miss, so an afternoon off work, a cheap(ish) B&B for the Friday night booked and it was off to the seaside. I've not been to the BIC (or indeed Bournemouth) for a number of years. the venue was fine, but at the risk of being snobbish I was underwhelmed by the town. For somewhere that prides itself as a destination for stag and hen dos's these days, where were the decent places to get a drink? Does a town centre really need 3 or 4 Wetherspoons!? When one of the best bars is the Slug and Lettuce, you know that some decent independent places are needed!

Honourable exception goes to the "Goat And The Tricycle" - a decent pub with a range of darts / pool / shove ha'penny and beer selection (although even there, the lager options were so-so).

Still, the main reason for being there was the gig, so we got in fairly early to secure a decent spot. Some people had clearly been "enjoying" the afternoon more than we had and their hours in the Wetherspoons were taking their toll even before the show started with some people in front of us too drunk to stand to even welcome Bryan onstage. Happily they realised their situation and vacated to the comfort of the toilet / side wall.

So the show? Well, pretty good actually. A few less ballads that often the case (good news) and my non-favourite "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" dropped for the much better "Please Forgive Me" thanks to a shout from the audience. And our tweets requesting "Remember" may or may not have had an influence to that being added at the end of the show (not a natural place for it to be honest). BA's vocals were good, band excellent as always - especially Keith Scott on guitar and the band appear to have fun which comes across to the crowd who respond in kind. Glad we went.

Back to the "Goat And The Tricycle" afterwards for some late night darts which included a fantastic 130 checkout from yours truly in the early hours. V happy!

Setlist
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Don't Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin'
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of '69
When You're Gone (Acoustic)
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Here I Am
Somebody
I'll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 'til I Die
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
+
Brand New Day
C'mon Everybody / All Shook Up
She Knows Me (Acoustic)
Straight From the Heart (Acoustic)
All for Love (Acoustic)
Remember (Acoustic)

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

T'Pau - Tuesday 26th April - Water Rats, Kings Cross

More T'Pau - this time an electric show for Vintage TV. Although I've been to the Water Rats before, I think this is the first show I've seen there and it is tiny. The band were on good form. - the audience were on a "no photo" rule, so I did wait until the last song to sneak my one and only piccie (note TV camera bottom left!).

Pretty much a "greatest hits set", the TV broadcast cut out most of the between song chat, but this was an engaging performance and well worth the admittance fee.

Setlist
Sex Talk
Valentine
I Will Be With You
Monkey House
Bridge of Spies
Secret Garden
Island
Say You Will
Wing and a Prayer
Read My Mind
Nowhere
Heart and Soul
China in Your Hand
+
Made of Money


Thursday, April 21, 2016

From The Jam - Thursday 21st April - Under the Bridge

Dragged a mate who is a big fan of the Jam to see this and glad to say he loved it. I really like this venue under Stamford Bridge and the rescheduled show was a good 'un. Pretty much all of the Jam hits were played plus a few select album tracks. The Who's "So Sad About Us" was predictably a favourite for me.

Anyone got a setlist please?


Friday, April 15, 2016

T'Pau - Thursday 14th April - Royal Vauxhall Tavern

My second ever visit to the RVT and my second seeing of a T'Pau acoustic show there! We dragged along some friends who I think were more intrigued by the venue and it's reputation than the band, but they left having enjoyed the show. Carol and the boys were on good form and the acoustic format suits some of the songs pretty well. The encore song was a strange choice, but all in all a very pleasant hour and a bit.

Setlist
Heart And Soul
Valentine
I Will Be With You
Monkey House
Bridge Of Spies
Secret Garden
Island
Walk On Air
Purity
Make Love To Me
Wing And A Prayer
Read my Mind
Nowhere
China In Your Hand
+
Made Of Money

Saturday, April 02, 2016

Nina Nesbitt - Friday 1st April - NEC, Birmingham (Gadget Show Live)

OK, so not really a gig, but an appearance during the live portion of "The Gadget Show Live 2016" at Birmingham's NEC. And a chart act to add to my list. All good publicity of course for the very pleasant Nina as she performs her latest single, "Chewing Gum" prior to an audience test comparing vinyl sound with MP3. For our Audience, vinyl was the clear winner.

Setlist
Chewing Gum

Live performance on YouTube