Spike - Thursday 23rd December - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Third Spike show of the year for me - officially billed as "Spike and Chris's Xmas Miracle" with Chris Heilmann again providing additional guitar sound and generally keeping order. Similar set to normal, but a fair bit of rambling meant that it was shorter musically than previous ones. Spike shared some sad news about the death of his friend Robin Le Mesurier (Rod Stewart band member, Womble and more recently occasionally playing with Cregan & Co) and clearly felt emotional about his loss. As ever, some interesting tales were shared - how many are true is anyone's guess!

We shared our table with Dawn Osborne working for Total Rock - you can read her full review of the show here.

Venue and View:  Front right seats, directly by the stage. Not noticeably busier than the socially distanced shows earlier in the year.

Setlist

White Christmas (snippet)
Run For Home
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Darlin' 
Pearl's a Singer
The Cadbury's Flake Advert Jingle (snippet)
Fortune 
Raining Whiskey 
+
The Wombling Song (snippet)
House of The Rising Sun
The First Cut Is the Deepest 
How Come It Never Rains 
I Don't Love You Anymore 
There She Goes Again 
So Far So Good
The Power of Love
"New Christmas Song"

Thunder - Friday 17th December - KK's Steel Mill, Wolverhampton

Brief review:  Despite a huge queue to get in - caused by Covid checks seemingly being done by a single person, I managed to get into the cavernous venue a few minutes before showtime. The show was everything you want from a Thunder Christmas show - great musicianship, a decent selection of Thunder material and many inspired covers of rock classics. Marvellous!

Venue and View:  Well left of stage, but towards the front. Busy, but felt safe with enough personal space in an airy venue.

Setlist

[Acoustic]
Stand Up
She's So Fine
Olivers Army 
The Smoking Gun
Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)
Resurrection Day
Loser
Joy to the World 
A Better Man
Sailing 
+
[Electric]

Wonder Days
Higher Ground
You're Gonna Be My Girl
Tie Your Mother Down 
The Devil Made Me Do It
Burn 
Destruction
An Englishman on Holiday
Love Walked In
Sweet Home Alabama 
Last One Out Turn Off the Lights
+
Schools Out 
Dirty Love
Merry Xmas Everybody

Warner E Hodges - Wednesday 15th December - Dublin Castle, Camden

Brief review:  Warner was in good form as he and his UK based band romped through a repertoire ranging from country to hard rock. As well as solo material, there was a good choice of covers including Let There Be Rock (AC/DC), I Want You To Want Me (Cheap Trick), Country Roads (John Denver), Fortunate Son (Credence Clearwater Revival) and Merry Xmas Everybody (Slade). A loud and enjoyable evening.

Venue and View:  Left hand side, halfway back. Still only 5 yards from the stage. Comfortable access to the outside bar if you needed to walk through the crowd.

Slady - Friday 10th December - Belle Vue, High Wycombe

Brief review:  A free pub gig in High Wycombe for the excellent Slade tribute. Previous shows this year had unfortunately classed with other engagements, so this was well worth the train journey north. It transpires that Wycombe has a range of very good value pubs - or we got very lucky with happy hour timings! That also may account for people passing out in some of them.

The girls were on good form and there was a mix of hits and album tracks in a well performed set. It's great to see the music kept alive so enthusiastically. 

Venue and View:  Small pub with the stage squeezed into a corner, but not raised. Our view was up front and personal - pub pretty packed.

I didn't note the full setlist, but for reasons that were not entirely clear, Merry Xmas Everybody was played twice.

SAS Band - Saturday 4th December - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  The traditional Christmas show for Spike Edney and the revolving cast of the SAS (Spike's All Star) Band. The setlist shows the guests and the hits performed - as always the musicianship on display was top notch.

Venue and View:  Balcony Seats (front left of centre). Decent view and once the woman in front stopped playing with her phone on full brightness, a comfortable watch. 

Setlist

Born to Run
Davy's on the Road Again (with Chris Thompson)
Blinded by the Light (with Chris Thompson)
If You Can't Stand the Heat (with Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
The Land of Make Believe (With Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
Making Your Mind Up (with Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
First We Take Manhattan (with Tom Robinson)
War Baby (with Tom Robinson)
2-4-6-8 Motorway (with Tom Robinson)
Addicted to Love (with Madeline Bell)
Sir Duke (with Madeline Bell)
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (with Madeline Bell)
Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves (with Madeline Bell, Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay (Tom Robinson solo acoustic)
Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) (with Chris Thompson)
The Boys of Summer (with Tony Hadley)
Hammer to Fall (with Tony Hadley)
Gold (with Tony Hadley)
29 Riff Overture
Pink Cadillac / Peter Gunn Theme
Fairytale of New York
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Ensemble
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - Ensemble
You're the Voice - Ensemble with Chris Thompson
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - Ensemble

Kenney Jones - Friday 3rd December - 229 Club, Great Portland Street, London

Brief review:  More from Robert Hart and Dave "Bucket" Colwell. Ably support by Pat Davey (Cregan and Co, Paul Young etc) on bass and Steve Smith (keyboards) they join the headliner Kenney Jones (drums) for a run through some highlights of Kenney's long career. As you'd expect, that meant lots of Who & Small Faces stuff with a smattering of Bad Company and Free material and other rock classics. What was interesting for me is that brilliant as Robert Hart is on vocals, he must have a bit of a mental block with some of the lyrics - some of which were either wrong or in the wrong verse order on some songs. Still, it's not like they have been gigging much recently, so I think we can excuse that in the face of how good the other aspects are. Ken is obviously a man of few words - a brief "thanks for coming" was as much as we got from the man himself.

Venue and View:  Front left about 10 yards from the high stage. Excellent view, but very sparse audience

Sweet - Thursday 25th November - Chalk, Brighton

Brief review:  A new venue for me, just around the corner from the "Quadrophenia Alley". Unfortunately, the early start meant we only heard the last 3 songs from support Limehouse Lizzy, but they sounded good. As did the Sweet - now with Paul Manzi full time on vocals. The only lull was a couple of lesser known songs in the middle of the set, but otherwise it was hits all the way. 

Venue and View:  Front left about 10 yards from Andy Scott. Busier than expected, but not uncomfortable. Lighting was probably the worst I've seen this year with the band in near darkness for much of the set.

Setlist

Action
New York Groove 
Burn on the Flame
Hell Raiser
The Six Teens
Defender
Windy City
Set Me Free
Everything
Teenage Rampage
Wig Wam Bam / Little Willy
Love Is Like Oxygen / Fanfare for the Common Man
Fox on the Run
+
Blockbuster
The Ballroom Blitz

Danny & Luke (Thunder) - Tuesday 23rd November - Crawley Hawth

Brief review:  Another round (following on from previous years) of chat and music from Thunder's Danny Bowes and Luke Morley - this time without Mick Wall hosting. Entertaining, but clearly much more scripted than the "unscripted" book they were promoting. I did actually get my 2nd half question selected by Danny and was able to engage in some friendly banter from the stage.

Venue and View:  4th Row, left of stage. Sparce crowd (less than half full)

The Dead Daisies / Quireboys - Wednesday 10th November - Shepherd's Bush Empire

Brief review:  Managed to bag some promotional free tickets for this one and enjoyed the Quireboys romp though their re-released debut album "A Little Bit Of What You Fancy". In fact, it was basically a setlist from 1990!

I don't know much about the Dead Daisies, but with Glenn Hughes on vocals and Doug Aldrich also in the band, it was a fair guess that there would be some decent rock music performed. And despite not knowing much of the material, in was perfectly enjoyable - maybe not quite enough to make me rush out and buy their albums, but I wouldn't be adverse to seeing them again. 

Venue and View:  Front left for Quireboys and first half of DD. By the merch desk at the rear after Fortunate Son.

Setlists

[Quireboys]
Misled
Man on the Loose
Long Time Comin'
Whippin' Boy
Hey You
There She Goes Again
I Don't Love You Anymore
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock

[Dead Daisies]
Unspoken
Rise Up
Dead and Gone
Chosen and Justified
Mexico
Bustle and Flow
Lock 'n' Load
Fortunate Son 
Midnight Moses 
Drum Solo
Mistreated 
My Fate
Leave Me Alone
Saving Grace
Like No Other (Bassline)
Holy Ground (Shake the Memory)
+
Long Way to Go
Burn

Scouting For Girls - Wednesday 3rd November - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  More SFG today with a family trip to Guildford. There were a few references to Croydon the night before around the noise levels and the reaction to questions about "Posh Girls" (make up your own jokes!). From what I picked up, we were one song shorter tonight, with the "Stick The Kettle On" collaboration with Lucy Spraggan dropped. Excellent as normal.

Venue and View:  2nd Row of balcony seats. Unobstructed view and the standing area looked packed. Venue suggested this was just about sold out.

Setlist

I Wish It Was 1989
Heartbeat
I Wish I Was James Bond
1+1
Posh Girls
Butterflies
Famous
Millionaire
Bad Superman / Stacy's Mom
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) 
This Ain't a Love Song
Secret Tattoo
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
+
Michaela Strachan
She's So Lovely

Scouting For Girls - Tuesday 2nd November - Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Brief review:  Roy and the boys (minus ill bassist Greg) run through a selection of greatest hits and other material in their usual engaging manner. Whilst it would be nice if their show was slightly longer (it's pretty much always 70 minutes), they do pack a fair bit of fun into their energetic set. Looking forward to a (seated) repeat tomorrow. Signed cassette (!) purchased afterwards.

Venue and View:  A new part of the Fairfield Halls - "The Recreational" is an impressive custom build standing venue with excellent sight lines. We stood on the left, not too far back. Busy, but not packed.

Setlist

I Wish It Was 1989
Heartbeat
I Wish I Was James Bond
1+1
Posh Girls
Butterflies
Famous
Millionaire
Stick The Kettle On
Bad Superman / Stacy's Mom
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) 
This Ain't a Love Song
Secret Tattoo
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
+
Michaela Strachan
She's So Lovely

Tom Robinson - Friday 22nd October - Nell's, Kensington

Brief review:  Music and stories from the BBC Radio 6 presenter and eponymous founder of "The Tom Robinson Band" (TRB). Tom is the second performer I've seen this week (after Roger Taylor) who is in his seventies, but he is still able to delivery his music with power and passion. Many of the protest songs are still relevant today, as well as a reminder of what has changed since the 70's. An excellent evening.

Venue and View:  Still one of my favourite venues. Central floor view, a couple of yards from the stage.

Setlist

Up Against the Wall
Never Get Old
Risky Business
Martin
Spain
Too Good to Be True
The Mighty Sword of Justice
Atmospherics: Listen to the Radio
(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay
Grey Cortina
War Baby
2-4-6-8 Motorway
+
Only the Now
Power in the Darkness

Roger Taylor - Tuesday 19th October - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  A tour arranged at relatively short notice to support his new album ("Outsider"), the Queen drummer was in fine voice and delivered a setlist covering most periods of his long career. The band included Spike Edney on keyboards and was effectively 3/5 of the current live version of "Queen" (minus Bryan May and Adam Lambert). Roger takes a bit of stick for some of his solo material, but it ranges from the brilliant (Strange Frontier) to the slightly niche (A Nation of Haircuts). But none are too offensive and it's always likely that there will be a classic within a song or two.

Venue and View:  Excellent view and sound as usual at G-Live. 7th row stalls, absolutely central! Sold out.

Setlist

Strange Frontier
Tenement Funster
We're All Just Trying to Get By
A Nation of Haircuts
These Are the Days of Our Lives 
Up
Gangsters Are Running This World
A Kind of Magic 
Absolutely Anything
Surrender
Man on Fire
Rock It (Prime Jive) (Tyler Warren on vocals)
Under Pressure 
Say It's Not True 
I'm in Love With My Car 
Outsider
More Kicks (Long Day's Journey into Night... Life)
Drum Battle
Foreign Sand
Tutti Frutti 
Radio Ga Ga 
+
Rock and Roll 
Heroes

All we hear is... Radio Ga Ga... Radio Goo Goo

T'Pau - Saturday 16th October - REC Rooms, Horsham

Brief review:  A "double header" for me with football in Crawley in the afternoon and T'Pau down the road in Horsham later. A new venue for me and it was nicely laid out with a decent view and sound quality. A decent and varied set from Carol, Ron and the band - but predictably it was only around the 70 minute mark. But transport wise, that suited us pretty well for the journey home via the delights of East Croydon. 

Venue and View:  A couple of rows back on the left for most of the show. At the back for the encore to make a quick escape for the train! Reasonably busy once everyone moved from the bars to the event space.

I didn't note the setlist for this one - if you have the full list then please share.

Robert Hart / Dave "Bucket" Colwell - Thursday 14th October - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  What's not to like? Brilliant vocals, excellent guitars and some of rock's best songs. Robert also told a few stories between songs which were entertaining too, although hearing the nonsense that Angel was at Number 1 in the American charts for weeks (it wasn't - certainly not in a chart anyone has heard of!) once again almost provoked some heckling. But that would have been disingenuous as it was otherwise an excellent evening.

Venue and View:  Side view on the right, allowing an interval chat with Noel the landlord. Nowhere near as busy as two performers of this quality deserve.

Setlist

Little Bit of Love 
Movin' On 
Feel Like Making Love 
Davy's on the Road Again 
Natural Born Bugie 
Somebody to Love
Shooting Star 
All or Nothing 
+
Can't Get Enough 
Ready for Love 
Little Martha
Mr Brown 
Angel 
Ooh La La 
Sweet Little Rock & Roller 

Wendy James - Friday 1st October - Islington Academy 2

Brief review:  Whilst it's great to see Wendy still performing well, I have to say I find her solo material a bit "hit and miss". Some songs are good, but others drag a bit - for me at least. But then I am of the age where the reason I am here is for the Transvision Vamp songs, and those were performed well, even if it was difficult not to be mildly irritated by the posturing of the guitarist trying so hard to look cool. Maybe the Osmonds outfit didn't help!

Venue and View:  Pretty busy - and not a great venue compared to the larger downstairs room. We went for the right hand side, but towards the back and away from the hideously expensive bar!

Setlist

You’re So Great
Speedball
You're a Good Man, Sister
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? 
You're a Dirtbomb, Lester
If Looks Could Kill 
I Want Your Love 
Perilous Beauty
Little Melvin
The Impression of Normalcy
Tell That Girl to Shut Up 
Down on You 
Bad Valentine 
Baby I Don't Care 

Guitar Legends - Friday 24th September - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Local gig, showcasing Marcus Flynn's excellent guitar playing as they cover rock classics from everyone from Jimi Hendrix through Brian Setzer to Gary Moore. The band musically provided great support, but without being disrespectful to the bassist (who played very well), I think they need a proper vocalist with the range to carry off the songs.

Venue and View:  Seated on the far right wall.

Imelda May - Wednesday 22nd September - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Another Banquet gig showcasing Imelda's new CD. She's an excellent vocalist and I thought that the songs actually sounded better live than on the album. None of the famous guests could make it unfortunately, but thanks to some savvy planning ("Where would the band go after the show? An Irish bar!") we got to meet Imelda afterwards and she was kind enough to pose for photos with us.

Venue and View:  Front right near speaker and pop up bar (again!). Room to move around if you wanted to.

Setlist

11 Past the Hour
Just One Kiss
Big Bad Handsome Man
Solace 
Can’t Say
Different Kinds of Love
Diamonds
Breathe 
Don’t Let Me Stand on My Own (with Niall McNamee)
Human
Mayhem
Should've Been You
Made to Love 

Simply Madness (Feasty Fest) - Sunday 12th September - Cheam Park

View from the back

Brief review:  Feasty Fest features a number of bands - mainly doing covers or tribute acts within Cheam Park. Simply Madness are (unsurprisingly) a Madness tribute band. And if you like Madness, you'll probably like them as they sounded pretty authentic to me.

Venue and View:  Seated under a tree, 100 yds from the stage.

Fratellis - Saturday 11th September - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  An excellent Banquet Records show (buy the CD and get a ticket for next to nothing), this was an enjoyable full set from the Glaswegian stars. The sound was a bit muffled to start with but improved. The cover of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" provoked some moshing (!) as did Chelsea Dagger later which was more predictable. Richard rightly pointed out that I would have been one of very few in the venue to have seen the last song, Runaround Sue, played live by the original artist (Dion, at the Town and Country in 1990)

Venue and View:  Front right, by the speaker and pop-up bar! Fairly full, but room to breathe on the floor.

Setlist

Henrietta
Baby Don't You Lie to Me!
Impostors (Little by Little)
Whistle for the Choir
Need a Little Love
Yes Sir, I Can Boogie 
Flathead
Stand Up Tragedy
Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes
I've Been Blind
Six Days In June
Creepin' Up the Backstairs
Baby Fratelli
Too Much Wine
We Need Medicine
+
Lay Your Body Down
Chelsea Dagger
Runaround Sue 

Cregan and Co - Friday 3rd September - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review: Jim Cregan, Pat Davey, Harry James, Ben Mills and Sam Tanner were in excellent form as always for an evening of mainly Rod Stewart covers. There were (to our surprise), 2 new original songs, which were fine (guest Val Cowell adding some bluesy vocals on the first), but basically the rest of the show was a big sing-a-long. Just as you'd expect!

Venue and View:  Standing about half way back to the left. Pretty full!

Setlist

Downtown Train 
Forever Young
Hot Legs 
The First Cut Is the Deepest
The Wild Side of Life
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
I Was Only Joking 
Best of The Bad Boys [with Val Cowell of Bad Influence - Live Debut]
Anyone Who Knows Her [Live Debut]
Young Turks
Handbags and Gladrags 
Blondes (Have More Fun) 
Baby Jane 
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Maggie May 
+
Have I Told You Lately

Francis Rossi - Monday 16th August - Dorking Halls

Brief review:  "An evening with" show - along similar lines to last year. Slight variation in stories and questions, but not much. Still good fun, but there could be much more varied material covered from Francis's career. Does anyone really care about the band being on "Coronation Street"?

Venue and View:  Front-right seats - good view.

Björn Again - Saturday 14th August - Hampton Court

Brief review:  The Hampton Court Festival always brings some eclectic performers and this show looked the best of the bunch this year (I was slightly surprised it went ahead!). As always, all the ABBA favourites performed well and with humour. The cover of Van Halen's "Jump" added a bit of variety to the proceedings.

Venue and View:  Pre-show drinks in (expensive!) gazebo, thanks to friends. Seats well back on the right hand side (just under cover), but unobstructed view and sound. Fussy stewarding about stepping forward from our seats when standing!

Jamie and the Jets - Friday 13th August - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Local show with recommended Elton John tribute act. The recommendation was a good one and a fun evening was had by all. Excellent vocals and musicianship and even a few "hardcore" album tracks thrown in for good measure.

Venue and View:  Seated about half way back, so view partially obstructed by standing punters (photo is from the other side when standing). Reasonably busy in the seats, but plenty of standing room.

Alter Eagles - Friday 6th August - Boom Boom , Sutton

 
Brief review:  Excellent local tribute show with a full range of hits by the Eagles, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh

Venue and View:  Standing in the middle. Plenty of space.

Spike - Thursday 15th July - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Spike enjoyed his May dates here so much that he's back for more. Pretty similar set, but good fun as always. Shared a table area with Dave "Bucket" Colwell, his Bad Company manager and their wives/girlfriends. I was asked to take a photo of them, so I am now claiming I am the official Bad Company photographer :) - move over Ross Halfin! Dave got picked on from the stage for a couple of the stories, but unfortunately didn't guest on any music.

One Geordie guy had been enjoying the hospitality a little too much and was getting very annoyed with the sound of a game of pool in the back room. He was gently removed during the interval.

Venue and View:  Side view, seated with rock royalty. Socially distanced venue limited to 50 people.

Setlist
Similar, but not identical to previous show. Also included "The House of The Rising Sun"

Spike - Sunday 30th May (Afternoon Show) - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Back to the Cavern which is one of the few venues showcasing live music current. Spike from the Quireboys performing an acoustic set of favourites, across many genres. I must admit that I didn't even know Spike played guitar. A fair few amusing stories were thrown in for good measure, and I understand that this afternoon show was a fair bit longer that the evening one that followed.

Venue and View:  Decent view near the front, seated. Socially distanced show limited to 50 people and made to feel welcome as always by Noel and the team.

Setlist

The Cadbury's Flake Advert Jingle [Soundcheck]
+
Run For Home
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Darlin' 
Pearl's a Singer
Fortune 
Raining Whiskey 
Seven Spanish Angels 
Little Ole Wine Drinker Me 
The First Cut Is the Deepest 
+
Ode to You (Baby Just Walk) 
How Come It Never Rains 
I Don't Love You Anymore 
There She Goes Again 
Roses & Rings 
Let Me Down Easy 
First Song 
Streets of London 
Wild Horses 

Jim Kirkpatrick - Thursday 20th May - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  I've normally seen Jim as part of Rhino's Revenge and his "day job" is playing guitar for rockers "FM". But he is at the Cavern tonight in a postponed show to promote his new solo album and play some of the songs acoustically. He is a fine player and decent singe, so despite not knowing the material, this was a good evening. I especially enjoyed the cover of Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well.

Venue and View:  Decent seat near the front. Socially distanced show

Setlist

Ballad of a Prodigal Son
Heavy Weather
61 & 49
Malted Milk 
Ain't Goin' Down Alone
Always on the Road
+
No Such Thing as a Sure Thing
Guitar Noodle
Oh Well
Oh Well [Part 2]
Won't Daydream No More
Heart of Blues
Got to Know
Out on the Western Plains
What Did I Drink Last Night
Guitar Noodling
She's Not There 
+
Walkin' Blues 
Hey Hey