Cregan & Co - Saturday 29th September - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

Jim Cregan at the Boom Boom Club

Having lost most of the other ex-members of the Rod Stuart band, the band which used to be known as "Apart From Rod" are now called "Cregan and Co". They'd also lost drummer Harry James on Magnum duty for this show.

This was the first time I'd seen the new vocalist, Ben Mills. A former X-Factor finalist, it turns out you shouldn't hold this against him - he can really sing!

The standard 70's Rod standards were performed flawlessly, with a couple of surprises - notably Handbags and Gladrags plus a bonus Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile) which was excellent (Jim Cregan had played the original guitar on this classic hit). Another fun night at the Boom Boom and a band well worth seeing!

Apart From Rod - Wednesday 26th January - Half Moon, Putney

Another trip to Putney and an enjoyable evening of Rod Stewart's early hits played by the original touring band from the era. Had a nice chat with Jim Cregan afterwards who seemed a very pleasant chap. Also spotted Queen backing vocalist Zoe Nicolas enjoying the show at the front, although she turned down Robert Hart's offer of a duet for "Stay With Me".

Apart From Rod - Saturday 27th November - Sutton United Boom Boom Club

Many years ago, long before inflicting his 5 "Great American Songbook" albums on the World, Mr Rod Stewart was one of the foremost Rock and Pop vocalists in the World. Post Faces, his 70's albums are rightfully noted for containing some classic material. Amongst the people who helped write and played on this material in both studio and on stage were Jim Cregan and Gary Grainger.

Jim and Gary have formed "Apart From Rod" to showcase much of this classic material, joined by another couple of recognisable names - Robert Hart on Vocals (Ex Bad Company), Harry James on Drums (ex Thunder and currently Magnum), Pat Davey on Bass(ex Tom Robinson Band) and Keyboard wizard, Sam Tanner.

So lots of people we've seen before separately and know are good. Unfortunately, Gary Grainger wasn't available, but we were treated to another member of the Rod Stewart Band, Robin Le Mesurier stepping in at the last minute who was an excellent substitute.

There's no doubting the bands ability and in Robert Hart, they are lucky to have one of rock's finest vocalists (amazing that Bad Company ended up with 2 so good - with Paul Rodgers obviously the other). A great evening of 70's classics followed - with a few anecdotes thrown in, highlights being Cregan's solo in "I Was Only Joking", the Piano on Twisting The Night Away, You're In My Heart and a stomping "Stay With Me" (with Val from Bad Influence on additional vocals). I'll even forgive (just!) the inclusion of a drum solo (as it was Harry) and the amazing fact that Robert Hart didn't know the words to "Sailing".

A really good night out - will certainly look to see them again.