Mick Ralphs Blues Band - Sunday 7th December - Dingwalls, Camden

A four band bill, a Sunday night and early finish on the tube. H'mmm - Monday booked off work as contingency. Apparently, not many others took that option and chose to stay away as Dingwalls was sparsely populated in the extreme. It being a Sunday night aside, I do not know why as, for once, all the bands looked to provide something to the bill if this is the style of music you like.

We caught the end of the openers and they sounded more than competent. The Western Sizzlers were next - this is the first time we'd seen Rick Richards outside of the Georgia Satellites and they produced a solid set based around their new album "For Ol' Times Sake..." (purchased on the night) which includes a nice cover of Quo's "Break The Rules" and a very Quo-esq "One More Beer" (think "Wild Side of Life"). As I found out later via a brief chat, singer and songwriter Kevin is a massive Quo fan (I jokingly pointed out that his 100+ times of seeing them was "lightweight", but I think he won the argument by saying that the vast majority of those were "proper Quo" with the pre '85 line-up!).

Warner E. Hodges was up next. Keen readers may work out that I'd seen him twice recently already via his involvement in Dan Baird & Homemade Sin, but I'd never seen him on his own before. I didn't know most of the songs, but he was really good as expected. A very heavy impromptu encore of "Country Roads" bought about a bit of a sing-a-long - excellent stuff. He was as gracious as always afterwards posing for photos and a chat.

Top of the Bill was Mick Ralphs with his Blues Band. They have changed their vocalist since we saw them last. I've no idea why, but there was something about the previous singer I didn't quite take to. Only a perception - but he gave off the impression he thought we were lucky to be able to hear him sing (he was good, but...!). As I say, only a perception from distance, he may well be a top bloke.

The new guy seemed much more personable, but as a result the material played was a bit different. To be fair, I didn't know much of it. Predictably "Can't Get Enough" was thrown in (can't really argue with that to be honest) and Mick's guitar playing was really good and the rest of the band too. Mick also was happy to have photos taken afterwards - a true gent.

All in all, a long day (we'd had a long darts session in the afternoon), but a good one.

Setlists anyone please?

Who Convention – Sunday 3rd October – Dingwalls, Camden

Having really enjoyed the last convention a few years ago at Bush Hall, I was looking forward to this. As it turned out, it was OK, but not especially enthralling. We got to see Thunderclap Newman (Mr Newman himself appears… errrr… slightly eccentric!) with Josh Townshend (Simon’s son, Pete’s Nephew) on guitar. 

We then went “down the front” for the Wholigans who were good (although maybe not quite as good as previously), but we left before the end as we were fearful of the tube strike making things difficult. Maybe it was because I was tired after the night before, but I couldn’t get too excited about the whole thing which was unfortunately sparsely attended. Shame there were no members of the Who making a surprise appearance this time around.

The Answer – Thursday 12th February – Dingwalls

It's been a little while since I've seen the boys from Northern Ireland and with a new album coming out and hot off the back of supporting AC/DC in the states, this gig in compact Dingwalls seemed too good to miss. A "record" crowd of 6 of us braved the snow and joined the throng of people down the front - we didn't even have to flog Dave's ticket to a tout this time!

The Answer seem to be Classic Rock Magazine's favourite "up and coming" band at the moment. There's no doubt they are very competent musicians and vocalist Cormac Neeson has a strong voice for the music being played. The catch is in the songs. Most are standard "classic rock" fayre and perfectly listenable to. The problem is that very few have that catchy chorus that you want to sing along with. Exceptions include "Under The Sky", "Never Too Late" and (unfortunately not performed here) "Sometimes Your Love". I just feel to get to the "next level" they need a few singalong stand out tracks. All in all, a perfectly adequate, albeit 6/10 gig.

Lightning Seeds - Camden Dingwalls - Wednesday 7th June

I've seen the Lightning Seeds a couple of times. The first, around 10 years ago, they were excellent. The last, at the Hammersmith Palais 6-7 years ago, they were truly awful - they played hardly anything I knew, sound quality was poor and the audience was bored. Tonight, I'm glad to say was closer to the first show.

Supporting a new compilation, this was a collection of greatest hits and a few favourites thrown in, lapped up by a smallish crowd. 2 observations;- The female guitarist should lighten up a bit. You're in a band woman, playing to lots of people enjoying your music - a smile once in a blue moon wouldn't go amiss - enjoy it! Secondly, how many of the songs do sound very similar. I guess you could say that Mr Brodie has created a "sound" of his own.

So all in all, an enjoyable show - bit on the short side though at only just around an hour and ten minutes, but couldn't think of anything obvious they missed out (shame no "Likely Lads Theme" though!). Now, dare I risk it if they come 'round again?