A Monday night - never the best time for a gig, but this is one of my favourite artists and kind enough to play 15 minutes from home! Therefore on a very warm summer evening it was off to an indoor gig.
Unfortunately the venue was not as packed as the band deserve, but predictably we got a hot and sweaty romp through a mixture of Dan's material from across the years. I do get what he says about "New Is Good", but feel like the older material (especially Georgia Satellites stuff with which he made his name) is relegated slightly too much into the set and I would be among the minority who see him enough to recognise the more obscure material. Certainly by the number of GS T shirts in the crowd, and the fact that it's a venue he hasn't played before, I would have thought a few more well known older songs would have been appropriate.
That said, it was nice to hear Warner E Hodges take the vocals for "Don't Pass Me By".
Dan is legendary for cutting from the set any songs that are requested from the crowd. I am considering using this to my advantage next time I see him by calling for those I don't want to hear!
Anyway, all this is being slightly picky. As is usually the case, this was a great evening of Rock N Roll in suburbia and the merchandise stall seemed to be doing good business afterwards. Come back soon Dan.
Setlist anyone please?
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Rhino's Revenge - Friday 12th May - 100 Club, London
Rhino's Revenge (Rhino is Status Quo's bassist) at the famous 100 club on Oxford Street. Rhino gave us the normal mix of Quo tracks (some co-written by him) and a selection from the 1st and 2nd Rhino's Revenge albums. The latter isn't his best work in my view, but the live show is always good fun. Could have done with being able to hear his chat in between songs a bit clearer, but even though the backing band was without the normal family members, the music was loud and clear. Unlike the red lighting which ruined all attempts at a decent bit of photography! He seemed to be enjoying himself as we even got an unscheduled second encore of "Roll Over Beethoven". On the basis the band needed to work out keys and rhythm, I guess this had not been rehearsed!
Setlist (approximate!)
Rocker
My Name Is Stan
Belavista Man
Two Way Traffic
Famous
Busy Doing Nothin'
Get Out of Denver
Obstruction Day
Spend Spend Spend
Lucinda
Mine All Mine
Secretary
Bad News
+
Paper Plane
Jam Side Down
+
Roll Over Beethoven
Setlist (approximate!)
Rocker
My Name Is Stan
Belavista Man
Two Way Traffic
Famous
Busy Doing Nothin'
Get Out of Denver
Obstruction Day
Spend Spend Spend
Lucinda
Mine All Mine
Secretary
Bad News
+
Paper Plane
Jam Side Down
+
Roll Over Beethoven
Friday, May 12, 2017
Elio Pace - Thursday 11th May - Epsom Playhouse
Elio Pace plays a local show at the Epsom Playhouse Theatre. This is the third time I've seen his interpretation of the Billy Joel songbook and as previously, the songs are performed with skill and passion plus some interesting background on how they were written and musical influences. It's obvious that Elio is a huge Billy Joel fan and his solid band (including current Queen touring bassist, Neil Fairclough) complement the excellent piano work nicely. Well worth the short trip.
Setlist
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
My Life
This Night
The Longest Time
Vienna
And So It Goes
Leningrad
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
New York State of Mind
Root Beer Rag
She's Always A Woman
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
+
Goodnight Saigon
Allentown
Captain Jack
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Honesty
She's Got A Way
An Innocent Man
Just the Way You Are
Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
We Didn't Start the Fire
The River of Dreams
Tell Her About It
Uptown Girl
+
You May Be Right
Piano Man
Setlist
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
My Life
This Night
The Longest Time
Vienna
And So It Goes
Leningrad
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
New York State of Mind
Root Beer Rag
She's Always A Woman
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
+
Goodnight Saigon
Allentown
Captain Jack
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Honesty
She's Got A Way
An Innocent Man
Just the Way You Are
Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
We Didn't Start the Fire
The River of Dreams
Tell Her About It
Uptown Girl
+
You May Be Right
Piano Man
Labels:
Billy Joel Songbook,
Elio Pace,
Epsom Playhouse,
review
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Fire & Water - Saturday 29th April - Cavern, Raynes Park
A local show for the excellent Free / Bad Company / Led Zeppelin tribute and a venue I had not visited before.
Personally I could have done with the set having more Bad Co and less Zeppelin, but it was an enjoyable evening. The lead guitarist was particular impressive. It just proves once again that there are some really talented musicians out there and good quality local shows to go to without spending a fortune.
I liked the venue and will look to return soon. Check the the band out too if this is your kind of music, although their online presence is lacking somewhat.
Personally I could have done with the set having more Bad Co and less Zeppelin, but it was an enjoyable evening. The lead guitarist was particular impressive. It just proves once again that there are some really talented musicians out there and good quality local shows to go to without spending a fortune.
I liked the venue and will look to return soon. Check the the band out too if this is your kind of music, although their online presence is lacking somewhat.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Quireboys - Sunday 23rd April - Islington O2 Academy
More Quireboys and an electric show in Islington. Spike and the boys seem to favour Sunday nights in the capital - assume the venues are cheap then!
Decided to skip the ridiculous number of support acts (please stick to one maximum) and the venue was pleasantly busy enough without being packed. Only downside was not being able to get a phone signal or WiFi to enable the O2 2 for 1 Tubourg offer!
Show was good - with a slight change of set from recently. Loads of old favourites and a vocal audience. A real surprise with Black Mariah being in the encore too.
Setlist
Twisted Love
Too Much of a Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Gracie B
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Breaking Rocks
Tramps & Thieves
Hey You
I Don't Love You Anymore
Roses & Rings
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock
+
I Love This Dirty Town
White Trash Blues
Black Mariah
Sex Party (with support bands)
Decided to skip the ridiculous number of support acts (please stick to one maximum) and the venue was pleasantly busy enough without being packed. Only downside was not being able to get a phone signal or WiFi to enable the O2 2 for 1 Tubourg offer!
Show was good - with a slight change of set from recently. Loads of old favourites and a vocal audience. A real surprise with Black Mariah being in the encore too.
Setlist
Twisted Love
Too Much of a Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Gracie B
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Breaking Rocks
Tramps & Thieves
Hey You
I Don't Love You Anymore
Roses & Rings
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock
+
I Love This Dirty Town
White Trash Blues
Black Mariah
Sex Party (with support bands)
Thursday, April 13, 2017
The Who - Wednesday 12th April - Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
I had not been to Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena since December 2008 when it was the NIA and Elton John described it as the worst venue acoustically he had ever played in. It seems to have been spruced up a bit since then and is set in a nicely regenerated part of Birmingham alongside the canals.
The day hadn't got off to the best start with it taking four and a quarter hours to navigate the 140 miles to the venue. However, after a brisk pizza in Coast 2 Coast, we grabbed our seats. As the show had been moved from last year (when it was due to be at the NEC), we knew we were in the front row on the side tier, but were slightly further back that anticipated. This didn't really matter as the view was excellent, but the legroom very limited! I chose not to go to the bar as the queues for a beer (and the gents!) were massive!
Still, what a difference from the Royal Albert Hall. This was brilliant; much better sound, band clearly enjoying themselves (last night of the tour) and Townshend on exceptional form. Loads of guitar crunching and soloing - even a "knee slide" in Won't Get Fooled Again - who would know he was in his seventies. Likewise Daltrey, back to form vocally with a great performance. I really can't describe how uplifting this was after the disappointment of the other week. The lighting, sound and videos where top notch too.
The only dip was the turgid "Join Together". We got a rare "Relay" at the end - strange choice to finish (very hardcore!), but I was particularly pleased to hear "Bargain" and "You Better You Bet"
Fantastic stuff! Now who wants to give me a few thousand dollars for their Vegas residency?!
Setlist
I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Who Are You
I Can See for Miles
My Generation
Bargain
Join Together
It's a Boy
1921
Christmas
The Acid Queen
I'm Free
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me
You Better You Bet
I'm One
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Relay
The day hadn't got off to the best start with it taking four and a quarter hours to navigate the 140 miles to the venue. However, after a brisk pizza in Coast 2 Coast, we grabbed our seats. As the show had been moved from last year (when it was due to be at the NEC), we knew we were in the front row on the side tier, but were slightly further back that anticipated. This didn't really matter as the view was excellent, but the legroom very limited! I chose not to go to the bar as the queues for a beer (and the gents!) were massive!
Still, what a difference from the Royal Albert Hall. This was brilliant; much better sound, band clearly enjoying themselves (last night of the tour) and Townshend on exceptional form. Loads of guitar crunching and soloing - even a "knee slide" in Won't Get Fooled Again - who would know he was in his seventies. Likewise Daltrey, back to form vocally with a great performance. I really can't describe how uplifting this was after the disappointment of the other week. The lighting, sound and videos where top notch too.
The only dip was the turgid "Join Together". We got a rare "Relay" at the end - strange choice to finish (very hardcore!), but I was particularly pleased to hear "Bargain" and "You Better You Bet"
Fantastic stuff! Now who wants to give me a few thousand dollars for their Vegas residency?!
Setlist
I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Who Are You
I Can See for Miles
My Generation
Bargain
Join Together
It's a Boy
1921
Christmas
The Acid Queen
I'm Free
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me
You Better You Bet
I'm One
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Relay
Labels:
Barclaycard Arena,
Birmingham,
NIA,
review,
The Who
Friday, March 31, 2017
The Who - Thursday 30th March - Royal Albert Hall
What a treat - Thunder and the Who in the same week. And as a bonus, TCT stalwart Noel Gallagher was added as a late support.
His acoustic set was a mixed bag. A few non-descript solo (HFB) songs and four Oasis classics including the dodgiest version of Wonderwall I've heard. If you are going to write one of pop's all time classic sing-a-long songs, why change it so that it has different emphasis and is much worse than it was? Leave that to Bob Dylan! The set was saved by a back-on-track version of "Don't Look Back In Anger" to finish.
Anyway, the premise for the headliners would be that this would be the World premier of "Tommy" - played acoustically. It turns out that the band felt that they couldn't make this work, so we got "Tommy" - electric!
Now I don't like to be critical of one of my favourite bands and one of the greatest of all time, but his was one of the weakest shows I've seen them do. Pete Townshend seemed pretty grumpy (I suspect he was finding it harder than normal playing a challenging set that hadn't been done for years [1989]), the sound volume was wildly inadequate (the mere thought of being able to be 20 yards from the stage for the Who and be able to talk at normal volume to your neighbour seems unthinkable) and the audience pretty static.
Still, at least we got the often dropped "Sally Simpson" and a few greatest hits afterwards, but this seemed cut short. Apparently the intro to "Welcome" was played for the first time since 1969 by those in the know! But there was definitely something lacking. I'm at Birmingham in a few weeks with a different set promised - let's see how that goes!
[ Edit - I gather the Saturday TCT Who show at the RAH was a huge improvement ]
Setlist - Noel Gallagher
Everybody's on the Run
Supersonic
If I Had a Gun...
Half the World Away
Wonderwall
AKA... What a Life!
Don't Look Back in Anger
Setlist - The Who
I Can't Explain
Substitute
+
[Tommy]
Overture
It's a Boy
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Eyesight to the Blind
Christmas
Cousin Kevin
The Acid Queen
Do You Think It's Alright?
Fiddle About
Pinball Wizard
Go to the Mirror!
There's a Doctor
Tommy Can You Hear Me?
Smash the Mirror
I'm Free
Miracle Cure
Sensation
Sally Simpson
Welcome
Tommy's Holiday Camp
We're Not Gonna Take It
+
Won't Get Fooled Again
Join Together
Baba O'Riley
Who Are You
His acoustic set was a mixed bag. A few non-descript solo (HFB) songs and four Oasis classics including the dodgiest version of Wonderwall I've heard. If you are going to write one of pop's all time classic sing-a-long songs, why change it so that it has different emphasis and is much worse than it was? Leave that to Bob Dylan! The set was saved by a back-on-track version of "Don't Look Back In Anger" to finish.
Anyway, the premise for the headliners would be that this would be the World premier of "Tommy" - played acoustically. It turns out that the band felt that they couldn't make this work, so we got "Tommy" - electric!
Now I don't like to be critical of one of my favourite bands and one of the greatest of all time, but his was one of the weakest shows I've seen them do. Pete Townshend seemed pretty grumpy (I suspect he was finding it harder than normal playing a challenging set that hadn't been done for years [1989]), the sound volume was wildly inadequate (the mere thought of being able to be 20 yards from the stage for the Who and be able to talk at normal volume to your neighbour seems unthinkable) and the audience pretty static.
Still, at least we got the often dropped "Sally Simpson" and a few greatest hits afterwards, but this seemed cut short. Apparently the intro to "Welcome" was played for the first time since 1969 by those in the know! But there was definitely something lacking. I'm at Birmingham in a few weeks with a different set promised - let's see how that goes!
[ Edit - I gather the Saturday TCT Who show at the RAH was a huge improvement ]
Setlist - Noel Gallagher
Everybody's on the Run
Supersonic
If I Had a Gun...
Half the World Away
Wonderwall
AKA... What a Life!
Don't Look Back in Anger
Setlist - The Who
I Can't Explain
Substitute
+
[Tommy]
Overture
It's a Boy
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Eyesight to the Blind
Christmas
Cousin Kevin
The Acid Queen
Do You Think It's Alright?
Fiddle About
Pinball Wizard
Go to the Mirror!
There's a Doctor
Tommy Can You Hear Me?
Smash the Mirror
I'm Free
Miracle Cure
Sensation
Sally Simpson
Welcome
Tommy's Holiday Camp
We're Not Gonna Take It
+
Won't Get Fooled Again
Join Together
Baba O'Riley
Who Are You
Labels:
Noel Gallagher,
review,
Royal Albert Hall,
Teenage Cancer Trust,
The Who
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Thunder - Tuesday 28th March - Hammersmith Apollo
![]() |
| Luke Morley and Ben Matthews |
Regular readers of the blog would have known exactly where to find us in the venue (to within a couple of metres) and Danny and the boys were on excellent form. Their new album, "Rip It Up" has been a bit of a slow burner for me - especially after the fantastic "Wonder Days" predecessor. It is growing on me a bit and the new songs worked well in a live setting.
The normally excellent Lynne Jackaman appeared for some background wailing in the encore on "She Likes the Cocaine" and unfortunately it was wailing - her fantastic vocals not really shown to their best ability in my opinion.
So like pretty much every Thunder show I've been to, this was really good. It just didn't quite feel as much fun as normal for some reason. Can't quite put my finger on why.
[ Edit - Subsequent Christmas show(s) added in Wolverhampton - yay! ]
Setlist
No One Gets Out Alive
The Enemy Inside
River of Pain
Resurrection Day
Right From the Start
Backstreet Symphony
Higher Ground
In Another Life
The Thing I Want
Don't Wait For Me
Rip It Up
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll
+
Wonder Days
She Likes the Cocaine
Dirty Love
Labels:
eventim,
Hammersmith Apollo,
Lynne Jackaman,
review,
Thunder
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Black Star Riders - Friday 17th March - Kentish Town Forum
I primarily went along to this on the basis that Rich was going, the tickets were quite good value and Gun were supporting - who I'd not seen before (certainly in this incarnation). In the event a secondary support was added, pushing Gun down to 3rd on the bill, which was a bit of a pain (shorter set, earlier start etc).
Still, they were OK. Having gone through several vocalists it turns out that the founder member and bass player is now on singing duties. He was fine and the set was pretty decent - even my pet hate "Word Up" sounded bearable.
The other support band were not bad either, but I can't remember their name. The Black Star Riders seem to be shifting away from their Thin Lizzy history and only "The Boys Are Back In Time" was covered here. You would have thought St. Patrick's Day would have yielded "Whiskey In The Jar"! Still, they are a decent rock band and vocalist Ricky Warwick has a fantastic voice. I enjoyed their set despite not knowing the songs, which is a bit of a theme for my recent visits to the Forum (or the "Town & Country" as I prefer to call it!)
Setlist - Gun
Let It Shine
Word Up!
Don't Say It's Over
Better Days
She Knows
Steal Your Fire
Shame On You
Setlist - Black Star Riders
Heavy Fire
Bloodshot
The Killer Instinct
Dancing With the Wrong Girl
Soldierstown
Hey Judas
When the Night Comes In
Cold War Love
All Hell Breaks Loose
The Boys Are Back in Town
Hoodoo Voodoo
Who Rides the Tiger
Blindsided
Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed
Testify or Say Goodbye
Kingdom of the Lost
Bound for Glory
Finest Hour
Still, they were OK. Having gone through several vocalists it turns out that the founder member and bass player is now on singing duties. He was fine and the set was pretty decent - even my pet hate "Word Up" sounded bearable.
The other support band were not bad either, but I can't remember their name. The Black Star Riders seem to be shifting away from their Thin Lizzy history and only "The Boys Are Back In Time" was covered here. You would have thought St. Patrick's Day would have yielded "Whiskey In The Jar"! Still, they are a decent rock band and vocalist Ricky Warwick has a fantastic voice. I enjoyed their set despite not knowing the songs, which is a bit of a theme for my recent visits to the Forum (or the "Town & Country" as I prefer to call it!)
Setlist - Gun
Let It Shine
Word Up!
Don't Say It's Over
Better Days
She Knows
Steal Your Fire
Shame On You
Setlist - Black Star Riders
Heavy Fire
Bloodshot
The Killer Instinct
Dancing With the Wrong Girl
Soldierstown
Hey Judas
When the Night Comes In
Cold War Love
All Hell Breaks Loose
The Boys Are Back in Town
Hoodoo Voodoo
Who Rides the Tiger
Blindsided
Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed
Testify or Say Goodbye
Kingdom of the Lost
Bound for Glory
Finest Hour
Labels:
Black Star Riders,
Forum,
Gun,
Kentish Town,
review
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Creedence Clearwater Review - Friday 10th March - Boom Boom Club, Sutton
With no February shows, this was my first gig in ages and a decent tribute act to the fine music of Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty. Thought the singer was really good - he'd be an excellent fit in the current incarnation of Slade. And for a casual fan of CCR and JF, they played pretty much everything I expected to hear.
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