Cregan & Co - Friday 19th July - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Another Sutton outing for Jim, Ben, Pat, Sam & Harry. A slightly mixed up set - still revolving around the Rod Stewart material Jim played on, but also with a few newer choices. See these guys whilst you can as they are brilliant. Hopefully the recent venue issues with promotion (or lack of it) won't prevent them from returning.

Venue and View:  Floor Standing. Half full, but then again hardly anyone would have known this was on!

Johnny Warman - Friday 3rd May - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  The evergreen Mr Warman. I've lost count of how many times I've seen him at the Boom Boom and elsewhere and he always delivers. This was the 60's and 70's Rock Show version of his "Magic Bus" lineup and featured rock classics from those eras. I just hope the promotion issues at the Boom Boom get sorted and the shows actually get advertised to increase the audience numbers.

Venue and View:  Standing on the floor, central near the front.

Friday 29th March - Bootleg Blondie - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Excellent Blondie tribute. I'd not seen the band before but would happily go and see them again. I particularly liked the attention to detail, such as the song-appropriate outfits that the singer (another Debbie) wore.

Venue and View:  Standing

Guitar Legends - Friday 15th March - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  My previous review of the Guitar Legends would have mentioned that I didn't think the vocals were up to scratch. I therefore was slightly reticent about seeing them again, but as Richard hadn't seen them, he persuaded me to go. And I am glad I did as I had no such complaints this time around. An expected set of Rock classics with a couple of surprises thrown in for good measure.

Venue and View:  Pretty central standing of a reasonably spacious floor. Easy access to the bar.

Johnny Warman (Total Who) - Friday 31st March - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Who classics from Johnny and band including Marcus Flynn and Neil Fairclough. If you have not seen them before then go!

Venue and View:  Floor, middle. Front half

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.

Cregan and Co - Friday 21st October - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  The normal excellent show from Jim and the boys. The "new" material fits in well and I'd certainly not heard them do Joe Cocker's "N'oubliez Jamais" before. I gather Jim may be producing another Quireboys album soon, so we may even get a reference there. Still, it's the Rod Stewart songs that the audience comes to sing and the Boom Boom crowd was in fine voice. 

Venue and View:  Midway back on the floor

Setlist
The First Cut Is the Deepest
The Wild Side of Life
So Many Rumours
Forever Young
Hot Legs
Best of The Bad Boys
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
I Was Only Joking
Downtown Train
N'oubliez Jamais
I Saw Her Standing There
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Blondes (Have More Fun)
Baby Jane
Young Turks
Maggie May
+
Passion
Stay With Me

Creedence Clearwater Review - Friday 16th September - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Excellent tribute band playing a mix of CCR and John Fogerty classics very well indeed. Must remember to wear a checked shirt next time! And hopefully they will get the bigger crowd that they deserve.

Venue and View:  Slightly right of centre standing, 10 yards from the stage, but you could basically stand where you wanted.

State of Quo - Friday 17th June - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  One of the best Quo tribute bands rocking the house. Decent array of vintage Quo T shirts on display amongst the audience.

Venue and View:  Central, about 10 yards from the stage. Busy enough for an atmosphere, but plenty of room to move around and get to the bar

Guitar Legends - Friday 24th September - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Local gig, showcasing Marcus Flynn's excellent guitar playing as they cover rock classics from everyone from Jimi Hendrix through Brian Setzer to Gary Moore. The band musically provided great support, but without being disrespectful to the bassist (who played very well), I think they need a proper vocalist with the range to carry off the songs.

Venue and View:  Seated on the far right wall.

Cregan and Co - Friday 3rd September - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review: Jim Cregan, Pat Davey, Harry James, Ben Mills and Sam Tanner were in excellent form as always for an evening of mainly Rod Stewart covers. There were (to our surprise), 2 new original songs, which were fine (guest Val Cowell adding some bluesy vocals on the first), but basically the rest of the show was a big sing-a-long. Just as you'd expect!

Venue and View:  Standing about half way back to the left. Pretty full!

Setlist

Downtown Train 
Forever Young
Hot Legs 
The First Cut Is the Deepest
The Wild Side of Life
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
I Was Only Joking 
Best of The Bad Boys [with Val Cowell of Bad Influence - Live Debut]
Anyone Who Knows Her [Live Debut]
Young Turks
Handbags and Gladrags 
Blondes (Have More Fun) 
Baby Jane 
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Maggie May 
+
Have I Told You Lately

Jamie and the Jets - Friday 13th August - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Local show with recommended Elton John tribute act. The recommendation was a good one and a fun evening was had by all. Excellent vocals and musicianship and even a few "hardcore" album tracks thrown in for good measure.

Venue and View:  Seated about half way back, so view partially obstructed by standing punters (photo is from the other side when standing). Reasonably busy in the seats, but plenty of standing room.

Alter Eagles - Friday 6th August - Boom Boom , Sutton

 
Brief review:  Excellent local tribute show with a full range of hits by the Eagles, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh

Venue and View:  Standing in the middle. Plenty of space.

Warner E Hodges - Tuesday 23rd October - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

Warner E Hodges (centre) and his band

Normally when we see Warner it's as part of the excellent Homemade Sin band with Dan Baird, so it was a treat to see him solo at the local Boom Boom Club.

Warner's passion for music (and especially AC/DC) shone through and he was engaging throughout. The music was great too, wth some solo stuff, tunes from his "other band" - Jason and the Scorchers and a smattering of covers including AC/DC, Beatles, John Denver & CCR.

A really nice evening - come back soon please Warner. "Take Me Home... Country Roads..."

Cregan & Co - Wednesday 30th December - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

An early "New Year" show from Jim Cregan and his band of merry men. A family outing for us this time, following the relative success of forcing the kids to watch Rod Stewart in Las Vegas. Here, at a packed Boom Boom club at Sutton Utd FC, vocalist Ben Mills let rip through a selection of Rod classics and highlights from "Family" (Jim's "other" band) plus Steve Harley's "Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)".

As ever. musicianship was of the highest standard. Drummer Harry James becomes my artist seen this year with the most acts (Thunder, Magnum, Snakecharmer and here) and a special guest appearance from ex-Bad Company guitarist Dave "Bucket" Colwell for "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller" ended off a great show.

Jim and Dave photo by Philip Crow

Johnny Warman's Magic Bus - Friday 16th May - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

Johnny Warman, back at the Boom Boom with his "Mods" replacement band - "Johnny Warman's Magic Bus". 2 hours of classic Mods v Rockers including a song from the 80's ! The Rolling Stones "Start Me Up". Good stuff, but not as much Who material as we'd expected.

Johnny Warman's Magic Bus - Friday 8th November - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

A low key gig at the Boom Boom. Variously billed as "the Total Who Show" and "Magic Bus" it did what it said on the tin. 100 minutes of brilliant Who material.
I can only say that Mr Warman's address book must contain an endless array of fantastic musicians. I really enjoyed the guitarist here, but for me the keyboard player was brilliant. Johnny gave his normal 100% and the smiles on the audiences' faces said it all.

We'll shout for "Bell Boy" next time!

All Right Now - Friday 18th January - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

So it appears it's all change in the musical world of Johnny Warman. He appears to have left "The Mods" (and formed "Magic Bus" playing similar material) and presumably there's no more "Four Bills and a Ben"?

Additionally, this band "All Right Now" have migrated from playing nearly all "Free" and "Bad Company" material to a range of classic rock. Speaking as a fan of both the aforementioned bands, I think this is a good thing - it should widen their potential audience and give them a chance to mix up the setlist.

Tonight's show was good and contained a few surprises - not least relatively modern songs like "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'". The band were spot on with the lead guitar especially impressive.

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 - 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.