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 Town" 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

Def Leppard - Friday 18th December - Wembley Arena

A double (or even triple) header with Def Leppard co-headlining again with Whitesnake, this time with the Black Star Riders (ex Thin Lizzy) as support.

We arrived part way through the Black Star Riders set - which sounded pretty good. Ricky Warwick's voice is stunningly similar to Phil Lynott's and the sing-a-long Whiskey In The Jar at the end was sung enthusiastically by the filling arena.

Whitesnake were up next. Supporting their latest album of Deep Purple covers, the setlist included many from that. Not being a big Deep Purple fan, many of these sounded pretty dull to me. David Coverdale's voice however seemed to be back in form and the final 4 songs of the set went down well.

Def Leppard opted to start with a song from their rather good new album and that set the scene nicely. Joe Elliott's vocals were strong and not even the site of a topless (from the start) Phil Collen could detract from the musicianship. I suspect hard-core Def Leppard fans could complain about a fairly static setlist, but for the casual fan (ie me) this hit the right balance.

Setlist - Def Leppard
Let's Go
Animal
Undefeated
Dangerous
Love Bites
Armageddon It
Rock On 
Two Steps Behind (acoustic Joe Elliott)
Rocket
When Love and Hate Collide
Switch 625
Hysteria
Let's Get Rocked
Pour Some Sugar On Me
+
Rock Of Ages
Photograph

Setlist - Whitesnake
Burn 
Bad Boys
Love Ain't No Stranger
The Gypsy 
Give Me All Your Love
Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City 
Mistreated 
You Fool No One 
Drum Solo
Soldier Of Fortune 
Is This Love
Fool For Your Loving
Here I Go Again
Still Of The Night

Setlist - Black Star Riders
All Hell Breaks Loose
Are You Ready
The Killer Instinct
Jailbreak 
Bound For Glory
Kingdom Of The Lost
Finest Hour
Whiskey In The Jar