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
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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 
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Have I Told You Lately