Magnum - Wednesday 30th March - Islington Assembly Hall

Brief review:  I wasn't too sure what to expect from the latest incarnation of Magnum. Stalwarts Bob Catley and Tony Clarkin remain, but I felt that losing Mark Stanway and Harry James would be big gaps to fill. But to be fair, their replacements are very competent musicians. It always feels that Tony keeps a tight grip on what is performed (he writes all the songs, so I guess he gets to choose!) and I'm sometimes critical about the old favourites that are left out of the set. 

Tonight though seemed to be a good balance. Starting with the recently re-recorded "Days of No Trust". The re-recording (in my view) is vastly inferior to the original! But this live version had a bit more oomph to it and was fine. Then a run of newish material which can best be described as "generic modern day Magnum". That sounds harsh and it's not meant to. The songs are good and well performed, just maybe with no standout qualities. But perfectly listenable to! Then onto some crowd favourites including an excellent "Wild Swan". I'm never quite sure why "All England's Eyes" seems undroppable from the set, but there are enough highlights for that not to matter. Bob's vocals were better than last time around and it felt like a proper Magnum show despite the changes in personnel.

Venue and View:  Left hand side, towards the front. A bit busier than expected.

Setlist
Days of No Trust
Lost on the Road to Eternity
The Monster Roars
The Archway of Tears
Dance of the Black Tattoo
Where Are You Eden?
The Flood (Red Cloud's War)
The Day After the Night Before
Wild Swan
Les Morts Dansant
Rockin' Chair
All England's Eyes
Vigilante
Kingdom of Madness
+
On a Storyteller's Night
Sacred Hour

Wayward Sons - Tuesday 29th March - Islington Academy

Brief review:  Toby Jepson and his current band. Despite not really knowing any of the set, it's a typically good rock n roll sound with good vocals and musicianship. I just can't help feeling that throwing in a handful of Little Angels numbers may get more punters through the door to hear the new stuff.

Venue and View:  Front left. Pretty sparse audience meant easy bar access.

Setlist

Any Other Way
Don't Wanna Go
Even Up the Score
Land of the Blind
Ghost
Punchline
Bloody Typical
Sign of the Times
Fade Away
Downfall
Fake
Crush
Small Talk
Faith in Fools
Joke's on You
+
Feel Good Hit
Big Day
Until the End

The Who - Friday 25th March - Royal Albert Hall

Brief review:  Another Who show supporting the excellent Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall. Given the choice, I don't know any Who fans who would choose an acoustic set (or an orchestral one) over a full band electric show, but we should be grateful for the opportunity to see them nowadays - whatever form the show takes.

That said, they did look particularly under-rehearsed for this. Several songs were restarted due to something going wrong (forgotten words, wrong key, different intro etc) and Roger was so distressed with Break The News that he insisted they play it again to do it justice. It had the feel that you were gate crashing their rehearsal, which did give a certain charm. Well down the list of my favourite Who shows, but even on an off night, they are a cut above many others.

Venue and View:  Stalls seats to the left, level with the first few rows on the floor.

Setlist

[Acoustic]
Substitute
Squeeze Box
The Kids Are Alright
Tattoo
Behind Blue Eyes
Real Good Looking Boy
Break the News
Break the News (Repeated)
She Rocked My World
Beads on One String 
Eminence Front
Pinball Wizard
Who Are You
Let My Love Open the Door 
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again

Rex Orange County - Thursday 24th March - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Another Banquet Records show to celebrate the launch of Rex's new album. This sold out in seconds - and thanks to Colin's "fastest finger" on a dodgy WiFi connection in Freiburg Station, we were able to get a pair tickets (with CDs). Now this is not normally my type of music at all, but it was actually OK. Rex seems a little shy of the attention all in all and seems to have a mild obsession with Kermit The Frog - which is fine!

Very excitable audience who seemed to know every word of the songs and very shrill shrieking after each one finished, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Oh, and the bar had zero queues throughout!

Venue and View:  Early show of 2 that evening. Huge queue of largely teenage girls to get in. Got a spot at the front of the right hand side raised area leaning on shelf, so a decent view away from the crush.

Setlist

Keep It Up
Open A Window
Worth It
Amazing
One In A Million
The Shade
Corduroy Dreams
Pluto Projector
Television / So Far So Good
Loving Is Easy
Best Friend

Pat McManus - Wednesday 16th March - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Pat used to be in a band called Mama's Boys who I saw many, many years ago! He is an excellent guitarist and better than average vocalist too and his blend of Irish infused rock and blues draws a natural comparison to his contemporaries Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore.

A recommended evening out if you enjoy that style of music.

Venue and View:  Reasonably quiet in the back room, so decent view from the right hand side

Halestorm - Sunday 13th March - Shepherds Bush Empire

Brief review:  As I think I have mentioned before, they are one of the bands I am happy to go and see despite knowing a tiny proportion of the set. They are just a proper rock band with great vocals and sound.

One nice touch on this tour is that during the acoustic section the band have been doing a "local" cover, appropriate to where they are playing. I was hoping/expecting to hear a Who song, but instead we got a decent cover of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go".  An enjoyable evening and I really must get round to buying some of their albums!

Venue and View:  Front of left hand side bar. Packed standing area

Setlist
[Acoustic]
Break In
Dear Daughter
Raise Your Horns
Familiar Taste of Poison
Mz. Hyde
Should I Stay or Should I Go
Apocalyptic
I Like It Heavy
+
[Electric]
Back From the Dead
Rock Show
I Get Off
Do Not Disturb
I Am the Fire
Bombshell
Amen
Drum Solo
Freak Like Me
Uncomfortable
The Steeple
+
Here's to Us
Love Bites (So Do I)
Black Vultures
I Miss the Misery

Status Quo - Saturday 12th March - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  Probably the first time Quo have played G-Live since it was rebuilt on the site of the Guildford Civic Hall. This was effectively our replacement gig for the cancelled show at the "Hammy Odeon" during the pandemic. We got a couple of new songs from the Backbone album and a standard array of other hits. They really could do with mixing up that last 5 songs of the main set though. That said, it was still good - Francis Rossi seemed to be enjoying himself and the vocals from the other band members are slowly getting better tour after tour.

Venue and View:  Around the 5th row, just right of centre. Decent sound

Setlist

Caroline
Rain
Little Lady
Softer Ride
Beginning of the End
Hold You Back
Backing Off
Get Out of My Head
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again
Mystery Song
The Oriental
Cut Me Some Slack
Liberty Lane
In the Army Now
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Paper Plane

Bryan Adams - Tuesday 8th March - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Album launch of the "So Happy It Hurts" album from Mr Adams. A scramble for tickets as you can imagine for a small venue. We had tickets for the "late" show and were slightly concerned that ticket holders from the early show who also had late tickets would be allowed to queue inside (as we were for the Who previously). The strict "no phones" policy not only explains our lack of photos but also meant that devices had to be checked in. Unbelievably, the 20 or so people ahead of us in the queue all had phones, and so only 2 people were on the floor  when we got into the main part of the venue. On that basis, the bar was bypassed and we grabbed prime spot on the barrier, right in front of Bryan.

The show consisted of live vocals and Bryan's guitar over a pre-recorded backing track, which actually worked well. In between songs, Bryan told us about the recording and took a lot of unfiltered audience questions which was fun. An excellent evening!

Venue and View:  As front and central as we could get. 

Setlist

Kick Ass
So Happy It Hurts
Never Gonna Rain
You Lift Me Up
I've Been Looking for You
Always Have, Always Will
On the Road
Just Like Me, Just Like You
I Ain’t Worth Shit Without You
Let’s Do This
Just About Gone
These Are the Moments That Make Up My Life

Lumineers - Friday 4th March - O2 Arena

Brief review:  A new band for me, Lumineers with their pleasant brand of pop melodies from their catchy new Brightside album. We had tickets for their launch show at Prizm in Kingston last month, but were unable to make the rearranged date. The support band (Gregory Alan Isakov) were amongst the poorest I’ve seen - to our ears just noise - but the main act were very enjoyable, even amongst a busy standing crowd.

Venue and View:  On the floor, half way back on the left. Big queue to get in, but moved reasonably quickly.

Setlist

Brightside
Cleopatra
Ho Hey
Flowers in Your Hair
Angela
A.M. Radio
Big Shot
Gun Song
My Cell
Slow It Down
Never really Mine
Sleep on the Floor
Gloria
Gale Song
Where we Are
Ophelia
It Wasn't Easy to Be Happy for You
Rollercoaster
Big Parade - with Gregory Alan Isakov
Remington
Brightside (Reprise)
+
Donna
Leader of the Landslide
Birthday
Stubborn Love