Fleetwood Bac - Friday 30th December - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Fleetwood Bac appear to be considered the primary tribute band for Fleetwood Mac and this show probably showed why. Excellent musicianship, faithfully reproduced songs and vocals. Personally, I'm not sure about tribute bands with wigs (does anyone really need the musicians to try and look like the band they are emulating?), but that was only a minor distraction. 

Personally, I'd have liked one or two more of the blues period songs in addition to "Oh Well" and as I'm sure I've mentioned before, any Fleetwood Mac (or tribute) show could be enhanced by omitting "Tusk" IMHO :)  A few favourites were missing ("Seven Wonders", "Eyes of The World", "Oh Diane"), but it was nice to include "Say You Love Me" and "Hold Me" as lesser hits). We even got a Stevie Nicks solo track ("Edge of Seventeen") which I gather is now popular with a younger audience. The rendition of "Songbird" - dedicated to Christine McVie was especially moving.

If the middle of the set was a little "hardcore" (in that as an average "Mac" fan there were a few songs I didn't know), the overall show was well worth it and a good time seemed to be had by all.

Venue and View:  Reserved seats on the left, half way back. Sold out and pretty crowded.

Bryan Adams - Wednesday 14th December - O2 Arena

Brief review:  This show was postponed from earlier in the year when we suspect poor ticket sales (around the time when many BA fans had forked out for 3 nights of Royal Albert Hall tickets) had forced the date to be moved. Unfortunately this time around there was a national rail strike, so all things considered there was a decent turn out, albeit the standing pit was not sold out which made for a comfortable experience for those of us there.

The gap in shows also allowed the set to sound fresher to my ears and there were some excellent seldom played requests (Take Me Back, On A Day Like Today & Rebel) which were highlights. It's also the first time I've heard him do Christmas Time live, so that was a bonus.

An excellent evening, despite the travel hassle and the last of 6 Bryan Adams shows for me this year (it's like being back in the 90's!)

Venue and View:  Front "pit" standing  - right hand side, excellent view and plenty of breathing space

Setlist
Kick Ass
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Somebody
One Night Love Affair
Shine a Light
Heaven
Go Down Rockin'
It's Only Love
You Belong to Me
I've Been Looking for You
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
Here I Am
When You're Gone
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
Back to You
These Are the Moments That Make Up My Life
18 til I Die
Summer of '69
Take Me Back
On a Day Like Today
Rebel
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
+
So Happy It Hurts
Run to You
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Straight From the Heart
All for Love
Christmas Time

Nordoff Robbins Christmas Carols - Tuesday 13th December - St Lukes Church, Chelsea

Brief review:  A charity evening in Chelsea. Purchased initially as The Who were meant to be performing, but they dropped out for unexplained reasons. We decided to go anyway and support the charity who do excellent musical therapy work - primarily with disabled youngsters. As well as some traditional Christmas Carols and readings in this grand location, there were 2 "substitute" guests.

First up was Richie Sambora (ex Bon Jovi guitarist and songwriter). Richie has had some well documented addiction issues in the past and let's just say he appeared a little "distracted" here and provoked a few mutterings around us. His choice of a guitar pedal that attempted to convert the sound into a Church organ effect just about worked on the first number - Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", but soon became quite grating on the Bon Jovi numbers. Being a fan of both JBJ and Richie from years gone by, the performance - whilst unique (and for a good cause) - was quite a disappointment.

By contrast, other than observing that Nile Rodgers seems to be the darling of the BBC (can a charity concert they broadcast be performed without him and / or Emeli Sandé?), I had reasonably low expectations. He always comes across as a decent bloke, but doesn't really play the style of music I go for. Credit where credit is due though, he and the 2 singers (under the guise of "Chic") were excellent, basically serving up a mini "Greatest Hits" set of songs he wrote or co-wrote. You wouldn't really catch me dancing at the best of times, but his excellence as a musician shone through.

Mince pies and mulled wine followed and we even saw the BBC's Wendy Hurrell who had done an interview slot early for BBC London. Bearing in mind some of the rubbish that BBC London News frequently send her to, hopefully this was a more enjoyable evening for her as it was for the rest of us.

Venue and View:  Right hand side on ground floor, pews at the front (just behind sponsors)

Setlist - Nile Rodgers and Chic 
Everybody Dance
We Are Family
Get Lucky
Le Freak
Good Times / Rapper's Delight
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Setlist - Richie Sambora 
Hallelujah
It's My Life
Wanted Dead or Alive
I'll Be There for You
Livin' on a Prayer

Scouting For Girls - Friday 9th December - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

Singer Roy Stride goes walkabout to the balcony

Brief review:  My pet hate for the SBE is that the seats are usually unreserved so if you want to sit together (or at all) you have to get in early. That was the plan (to arrive at doors opening) until a train delay and missed connection meant we were 15 minutes late. And the advertised time must have been wrong as the first support act was already mid set and 3/4 of the seats were full! Still at least we got some and on the end of a row too which was useful for bar access, but did mean we were up and down like a yo-yo for the 2 supports and main act!

Scouting for Girls have realised that everyone loves their first album and so they rightly milk the contents of that whilst interspersing other favourites and new songs around it. You know their show will be fun and well performed with lots of sing-a-long anthems and this was no exception. Rumour has it that they are due to headline Cheam's FeastyFest next year.

Venue and View:  Level 1 seats. Towards back on far left, but with a clear view of the stage

Setlist
I Wish I Was James Bond
It's Not About You
Heartbeat
Michaela Strachan
The Airplane Song
Keep On Walking
Famous
Butterflies
Love How It Hurts
Posh Girls
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
This Ain't a Love Song
Song I Can't Forget
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
+
Christmas in the Air (Tonight)
She's So Lovely

Plastic Elvis - Friday 2nd December - Cheam Village Christmas Lights

Brief review:  The Cheam Christmas lights are switched on by Plastic Elvis (aka Time Vine). 3 Christmas songs in the style of Elvis before the plunger was errr... plunged.

Venue and View:  No need to get close - children first...