Johnny Warman (British Invasion Show) - Friday 28th July - Half Moon, Putney

One Line Review: The normal solid show from Johnny and the boys with a great range of 60's and 70's British Rock classics.

Lee Aaron - Sunday 16th July - Underworld, Camden

Tonight a new record for me. Longest gap between me seeing an artist again now goes to Lee Aaron - a month short of 30 years! Having seen the Canadian songstress at the 1987 Reading Rock Festival (and very much enjoyed her set), it has taken this long to get another chance to see her again. In the meantime, she has released a number of CDs - including venturing into Jazz based material, but has recently return to her hard rock roots.

And I for one am glad she has. Vocally an excellent set, aided and abetted by decent musicians - this was a really fun evening. From the powerful opener from the new album - "Fire and Gasoline" through the classic Powerline and via a Deep Purple cover ("Mistreated"), this was rock and blues at its finest. The only disappointment was that the venue was only half full - possibly the normal "Sunday Night in London" syndrome - and a lack of a few classics from her eponymous album (I would have loved to hear "Number One" & "Only Human")

Lee appeared after the show, graciously chatting with fans, signing CDs and having photos taken. Her career appears to be on an upwards curve and with a couple of excellent tracks from the next album previewed here, hopefully it will be a much shorter gap until I see her again.

Setlist
Tom Boy
Hands On
Rock Candy
Fire and Gasoline
Diamond Baby
Powerline / Lady Of The Darkest Night
I'm A Woman
Baby Go Round
Some Girls Do
Sex With Love
Mistreated
Whatcha Do To My Body
Barely Holdin' On
Metal Queen
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Hot To Be Rocked



Video
As you know, I don't normally record or post video, but here's 2 minutes of "Powerline" from the show. (Visuals heavily compressed to meet Blogger's upload limit). Enjoy!

Brian Setzer - Tuesday 11th July - Forum, Kentish Town

Brian Setzer plays a solo show in Kentish Town. Nearly a faux pas by me as I almost wore a Ben Sherman "target" T-Shirt. I may not have got out alive with the packed house wearing altogether different styles and fashion! As it was, the torrential rain outside meant there were some very soggy "cats" inside.

Still, an enjoyable show - very busy on the floor (think it was sold out as it was the only UK date) and a decent amount of Stray Cats material to keep the very casual fan (me!) happy.

Brian's guitar playing was excellent - as were the rest of the band. We did speculate on where else a double bass player can find employment these days - especially as Imelda May seems to have changed musical direction.

Go cats go!

Setlist
Put Your Cat Clothes On
Rumble in Brighton
Vinyl Records
Stray Cat Strut
Nothing is a Sure Thing, Baby
Stiletto Cool
Cry Baby
'49 Mercury Blues
Whathsername
Drive Like Lightning
Slow Down / Folsom Prison Blues
Gene and Eddie
Blue Moon of Kentucky (Instrumental)
Runaway Boys
Jump, Jive an' Wail
Fishnet Stockings
Let's Shake
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Sleep Walk
Rock This Town