SAS Band - Saturday 7th December - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  30th Anniversary show for Spike Edney and his All Star band. with a revolving selection of guests each year, you never know for sure who will be appearing. Our "smart money" on Roger Taylor was spot on and it was nice to see a couple of acts we had not seen before with Spike including Jim Cregan (singing!) and Kiki Dee as well as some more regular favourites.

Most amusing was Justin Hawkins renditions of 2 different "Power of Love" songs with a very high version of the Jennifer Rush track morphing into the rocky Huey Lewis & The News song.

Venue and View:  Front left, standing.

Setlist

Rebel Rebel (with Tony Vincent)
Creep (with Tony Vincent)
Don't Stop Me Now (with Tony Vincent)
School's Out (with Toyah + Justin Hawkins on guitar)
Sweet Child O' Mine (with Toyah + Justin Hawkins on guitar)
War Baby (with Tom Robinson)
2-4-6-8 Motorway / "Here Comes the Sun" snippet (with Tom Robinson)
Every Kinda People (with Kiki Dee)
I've Got the Music in Me (with Kiki Dee)
The Power of Love (Jennifer Rush Song) (with Justin Hawkins)
The Power of Love (Huey Lewis Song) (with Justin Hawkins)
Dixie Chicken (with Justin Hawkins)
I Believe in a Thing Called Love (with Justin Hawkins)
+
Mamma Mia (with the FabbaGirls - Zoe Nicholas and Susie Webb)
Dancing Queen (with the FabbaGirls - Zoe Nicholas and Susie Webb)
Over My Shoulder (with Roachford)
Cuddly Toy (with Roachford)
Higher Ground (with Madeline Bell)
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (with Madeline Bell)
Forever Young (with Jim Cregan)
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (with Jim Cregan)
Under Pressure (with Roger Taylor and Justin Hawkins)
These Are the Days of Our Lives (with Roger Taylor)
Radio Ga Ga (with Roger Taylor)
Tutti Frutti (with Roger Taylor)
30 Riff Overture (with Jamie Moses and band)
Fairytale of New York (with Jamie Moses + Fabbagirls on vocals)
Do They Know It's Christmas? (ensemble)
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (ensemble)
All the Way (ensemble)

Scouting For Girls - Monday 7th October - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  More Scouting For Girls at Ray's "hometown" gig. They are always well received here and the crowd were in excellent voice. The band were their normal energetic selves and seems to be enjoying themselves as they tread a fine balance on inserting new songs into the set whilst retaining most of the old favourites.

Venue and View:  Front Left, Standing

Setlist
The Missing Part
This Ain't a Love Song
Dancing in the Daylight
Song I Can't Forget
It's Not About You
The Airplane Song
Michaela Strachan
I Wish I Was James Bond
Millionaire (with Kumbaya / The Lion Sleeps Tonight snippets) (Acoustic)
Butterflies (Acoustic)
Posh Girls
Year 3000
Raise a Glass
Heartbeat
Glow
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
+
Secret Tattoo
She's So Lovely

* This is the likely setlist based on other shows on the tour, but is not 100% certain.

Paul Jones and Friends - Wednesday 10th January - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  Paul Jones and Friends in Guildford in aid of a prostate cancer charity. The Friends are often quite famous in this annual event. The first half included Mike D'Abo - probably most well known for "Handbags & Gladrags" (Rod hit and theme from "The Office"). Robben Ford was the other first half guest with some neat blues guitar. It does transpire that Mr Jones can indeed play the harmonica. Very well!

There is a "no photo" rule. Without being rude, most of the audience would struggle to get the photo app on their phones. We're in the youngest 2-3% of the crowd, although the claret sales were doing well at the bar in the interval.

Part two bought some pleasant music and some wildly out of time clapping from those seated near us, but alas no mega-stars. It turns out I have seen Jimmy Helms before - in Londonbeat supporting Bryan Ferry at Wembley Arena in 1991! Andy Fairweather‐Low was good, but I feel slightly guilty in saying the evening was underwhelming. It was an expensive ticket, so it's probably just as well it's going to a good cause.

Venue and View:  Seated, front right

Setlist

Leave No Trace (With Jawbone)

Build Me Up Buttercup (With Mike D’abo)

Just Like A Woman (With Mike D’abo)

Hand Bags And Gladrags (With Mike D’abo)

If Youve Gotta Go ,Go Now (With Mike D’abo)

What I Haven't Done (With Robben Ford)

White Rock Beer ....8 Cents (With Robben Ford)

Blues For Lonnie Johnson (With Robben Ford)

Fair Child (With Robben Ford)

Warm Up That Cup (With Jawbone)

Lover Man (With Elaine Delmar)

Summertime (With Elaine Delmar)

Stairway To Paradise (With Elaine Delmar)

Gonna Make You An Offer (You Can't Refuse) (With Jimmy Helms)

I've Been Thinking About You (With Jimmy Helms)

Higher Ground (With Jimmy Helms)

(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice (With Andy Fairweather‐Low)

Wide Eyes And Legless (With Andy Fairweather‐Low)

When They Ring Those Golden Bells (With Andy Fairweather‐Low)

If Youve Gotta Go ,Go Now (Reprise)

Scouting For Girls - Wednesday 29th November - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  Following Feastyfest, this is our 2nd Scouting For Girls show of the year. With the tour extended until late 2024 in support of their new album, there should be a couple of new songs in amongst the hits. Standing for this one - it's pretty busy and lively. A cover of Baby It's Cold Outside wouldn't be amiss in the circumstances!

As it turns out the band are on top form and the new songs are decent too. Jamie O'Gorman, the regular guitarist, is back in the fold for this leg of the tour.

Venue and View:  Far right hand side, near the front door.

Setlist
The Missing Part
This Ain't a Love Song
Famous
Love How It Hurts
The Place We Used to Meet
I Wish I Was James Bond
I'm Not Over You / It's Not About You
The Luckiest Boy in the World
1+1 
Posh Girls
Heartbeat
Song I Can't Forget
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
Glow 
+
Michaela Strachan
She's So Lovely

Francis Rossi - Saturday 23rd September - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  As I was going to be unable to see Francis's October show in Dorking due to a conflict, I was keen to see his Tunes & Chat show one more time. Luckily, Guildford is reasonably accessible and a pair of decent seats were available. Same songs as before, but a couple of slightly different anecdotes.

Excellent once again. 

Venue and View:  Mid stalls on the left.

Setlist

Set 1
Pictures of Matchstick Men
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays 
Spinning Wheel Blues 
In My Chair 
Gerdundula 
Rock 'n' Roll 
Claudie 
Break the Rules 
Down the Dustpipe 
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again) 

Set 2
What You're Proposing
And It's Better Now 
Nanana 
Tongue Tied 
Marguerita Time 
Rockin' All Over the World 
Paper Plane 
Caroline 

Status Quo - Saturday 12th March - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  Probably the first time Quo have played G-Live since it was rebuilt on the site of the Guildford Civic Hall. This was effectively our replacement gig for the cancelled show at the "Hammy Odeon" during the pandemic. We got a couple of new songs from the Backbone album and a standard array of other hits. They really could do with mixing up that last 5 songs of the main set though. That said, it was still good - Francis Rossi seemed to be enjoying himself and the vocals from the other band members are slowly getting better tour after tour.

Venue and View:  Around the 5th row, just right of centre. Decent sound

Setlist

Caroline
Rain
Little Lady
Softer Ride
Beginning of the End
Hold You Back
Backing Off
Get Out of My Head
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again
Mystery Song
The Oriental
Cut Me Some Slack
Liberty Lane
In the Army Now
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Paper Plane

SAS Band - Saturday 4th December - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  The traditional Christmas show for Spike Edney and the revolving cast of the SAS (Spike's All Star) Band. The setlist shows the guests and the hits performed - as always the musicianship on display was top notch.

Venue and View:  Balcony Seats (front left of centre). Decent view and once the woman in front stopped playing with her phone on full brightness, a comfortable watch. 

Setlist

Born to Run
Davy's on the Road Again (with Chris Thompson)
Blinded by the Light (with Chris Thompson)
If You Can't Stand the Heat (with Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
The Land of Make Believe (With Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
Making Your Mind Up (with Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
First We Take Manhattan (with Tom Robinson)
War Baby (with Tom Robinson)
2-4-6-8 Motorway (with Tom Robinson)
Addicted to Love (with Madeline Bell)
Sir Duke (with Madeline Bell)
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (with Madeline Bell)
Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves (with Madeline Bell, Cheryl Baker & Jay Aston)
(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay (Tom Robinson solo acoustic)
Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) (with Chris Thompson)
The Boys of Summer (with Tony Hadley)
Hammer to Fall (with Tony Hadley)
Gold (with Tony Hadley)
29 Riff Overture
Pink Cadillac / Peter Gunn Theme
Fairytale of New York
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Ensemble
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - Ensemble
You're the Voice - Ensemble with Chris Thompson
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - Ensemble

Scouting For Girls - Wednesday 3rd November - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  More SFG today with a family trip to Guildford. There were a few references to Croydon the night before around the noise levels and the reaction to questions about "Posh Girls" (make up your own jokes!). From what I picked up, we were one song shorter tonight, with the "Stick The Kettle On" collaboration with Lucy Spraggan dropped. Excellent as normal.

Venue and View:  2nd Row of balcony seats. Unobstructed view and the standing area looked packed. Venue suggested this was just about sold out.

Setlist

I Wish It Was 1989
Heartbeat
I Wish I Was James Bond
1+1
Posh Girls
Butterflies
Famous
Millionaire
Bad Superman / Stacy's Mom
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) 
This Ain't a Love Song
Secret Tattoo
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
+
Michaela Strachan
She's So Lovely

Roger Taylor - Tuesday 19th October - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  A tour arranged at relatively short notice to support his new album ("Outsider"), the Queen drummer was in fine voice and delivered a setlist covering most periods of his long career. The band included Spike Edney on keyboards and was effectively 3/5 of the current live version of "Queen" (minus Bryan May and Adam Lambert). Roger takes a bit of stick for some of his solo material, but it ranges from the brilliant (Strange Frontier) to the slightly niche (A Nation of Haircuts). But none are too offensive and it's always likely that there will be a classic within a song or two.

Venue and View:  Excellent view and sound as usual at G-Live. 7th row stalls, absolutely central! Sold out.

Setlist

Strange Frontier
Tenement Funster
We're All Just Trying to Get By
A Nation of Haircuts
These Are the Days of Our Lives 
Up
Gangsters Are Running This World
A Kind of Magic 
Absolutely Anything
Surrender
Man on Fire
Rock It (Prime Jive) (Tyler Warren on vocals)
Under Pressure 
Say It's Not True 
I'm in Love With My Car 
Outsider
More Kicks (Long Day's Journey into Night... Life)
Drum Battle
Foreign Sand
Tutti Frutti 
Radio Ga Ga 
+
Rock and Roll 
Heroes

All we hear is... Radio Ga Ga... Radio Goo Goo

Scouting For Girls - Tuesday 19th November - G-Live, Guildford

Quick review: First night of 3 show for me. Decent seats and a decent show from SFG. Whilst their sets are never the longest, they manage to cram most of the essential hits in each time and mixed it up for this show with a couple of new tracks which were pleasant enough. Unfortunately, our prior request (for "Little Miss Naughty") from the meet and greet in Kingston did not come to fruition - probably trumped by the on-stage proposal.

Setlist
Grown Up
Heartbeat
Love How It Hurts
I Wish I Was James Bond
The Trouble With Boys
Posh Girls
Millionaire
Sweet Love
Famous
Count on Me
Elvis Ain't Dead / Hound Dog / I Can't Help Falling In Love
Michaela Strachan
This Ain't A Love Song
+
Christmas in the Air (Tonight)
She's So Lovely

SAS Band - Saturday 1st December - G Live, Guildford

24 years of the SAS band and another popular show at Guildford. Regulars Toyah, Patti Russo, Chris Thompson and Tony Vincent are joined by Justin Hawkins from The Darkness to add a touch more sparkle and unpredictability to Spike's All Stars.

Setlist
Rosanna (Jamie Moses)
Davy's on the Road Again (Chris Thompson)
Blinded by the Light (Chris Thompson)
Unchain My Heat  (Patti Russo)
Don't Stop Me Now (Patti Russo)
Radar Love (Patti Russo) 
Let Me Entertain You (Tony Vincent)
Creep (Tony Vincent)
Girls On Film (Tony Vincent)
Suffragette City (Toyah Willcox)
It's a Mystery (Toyah Willcox)
Thing Called Love (Justin Hawkins)
Woman in Love (Justin Hawkins)
Sweet Child O' Mine (Toyah & Justin Hawkins)
Show Me Heaven (Justin Hawkins)
I Want It All (Justin Hawkins)
Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) (Chris Thompson)
You're The Voice  (Chris Thompson)
29 Riff Overture
Fairytale of New York 
Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) (Justin Hawkins)
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (all-star finale)
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day (all-star finale)

Scouting For Girls - Saturday 25th November - Guildford G-Live

One Line Review: Great show musically, but one of the worst lighting setups I have ever seen, meaning the band were only silhouettes for most of the show whilst the balcony was blinded!

Setlist
I Need a Holiday
Heartbeat
Famous
Love How It Hurts
It's Not About You
I Wish I Was James Bond
Michaela Strachan
Bad Superman
Posh Girls
Millionaire
The Airplane Song
Elvis Ain't Dead / (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You 
This Ain't a Love Song
Livin' on a Prayer
Keep on Walking
Dancing In the Daylight
+
1+1
Christmas in the Air (Tonight)
She's So Lovely

Slade / Mud 2 - Saturday 28th October - Guildford G-Live

Don Powell & Dave Hill - Slade 2017

One Line Review: Mud (not sure if this is an "official" version) were OK, but not much atmosphere. Decent show from Slade with a couple of set changes.

Setlist anyone please?

SAS Band - Saturday 3rd December - Guildford G Live

Spike Edney's SAS Band return for their annual Christmas knees up. With guests Tom Robinson, Midge Ure, Toyah Wilcox, Madeline Bell and Patti Russo, this fitted into the standard show - classic rock covers played by exceptional musicians. Only slight disappointment was - like  last time around - the "other special guests" didn't materialise. Still, those we had were good - the version of "2,4,6,8" was possibly the best I've heard. For me, Midge Ure stole the show with the trio of "Vienna", "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" and "The Boys Are Back In Town". Toyah and Jamie Moses did a decent version of Fairytale of New York and there were nice musical tributes to David Bowie and Leonard Cohen.

It was good, and I enjoyed it, but the amount of spare room in the standing area was possibly a reflection of the high ticket cost and the familiarity of the guests.

Setlist anyone?

SAS Band - Saturday 6th December - Guildford G-Live

At last years SAS Band Christmas show, Spike had hinted at a 20th anniversary tour  featuring "as many guests that have worked with us over the years that we can get". Possibly due to the 2014 Queen tour, that had been scaled back to a warm-up in Southampton and this show back at Guildford.

So it was with that expectation that we'd probably see loads of names with a high percentage chance of the remaining Queen members turning up for some pre-holiday fun.

Things started off with band stalwart Chris Thompson being joined by original bassist Neil Murray and the regulars Johnny Marter. Jamie Moses and, of course, Spike Edney. Other regulars followed - Mick Wilson (10cc), Patti Russo, Madeline Bell and Paul Young. The Fabba Girls did their standard bit in the middle too and there was the always fun "29 Riffs".

The 2 highlights for me where the 2 artists I'd not seen with the SAS Band before - Tom Robinson and Mel C. Tom included (in his words) "A medley of my greatest hit" - the classic "2 4 6 8 Motorway" and an entertaining story and sing-a-long- "Glad To be Gay". Mel C showed that she is the Spice Girl who can sing and her version of "River Deep, Mountain High" especially was excellent.

Errr.. and that was it, guest-wise. Which, unfortunately left it feeling a bit of a downer. Don't get me wrong, the band always deliver a solid (and fun) performance - and you should go if you've never seen them, but this was an expensive ticket and billed as a special anniversary rather than a regular show. Maybe we've just been spoiled before.

Setlist
Davy's On The Road Again (with Chris Thompson)
Blinded by the Light (with Chris Thompson)
Happy (with Mick Wilson)
Bring Me a Bible and a Beer (with Patti Russo)
Radar Love (with Patti Russo)
Come Back and Stay (with Paul Young)
Cold Sweat (with Paul Young)
The Power of Love (with Madeline Bell)
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (with Madeline Bell)
Listen to the Radio (with Tom Robinson)
I Predict a Riot (with Tom Robinson)
2-4-6-8 Motorway (with Tom Robinson)
(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay (with Tom Robinson)
Mamma Mia (Fabba Girls)
Dancing Queen (Fabba Girls)
29 Riffs (SAS Band)
Don't Stop Me Now (with Me C)
I Wish (with Mel C)
I Turn to You (with Mel C)
River Deep, Mountain High (with Mel C)
Everyday Hurts 
Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) (with Chris Thompson)
+
[unknown]
Oh Happy Day (ensemble)
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (ensemble)
Do They Know It's Christmas? (ensemble)
You're the Voice (ensemble)

Slade / Sweet - Tuesday 17th December - Guildford G-Live

A repeat of last year's double bill.  A near identical set from Sweet too, but none the worse for it as it was mainly hits based. The guys appeared at the interval to sign stuff which us always a nice touch.

Slade were good too, albeit a little brief. Apparently the singer Mal is looking to leave, but I thought this was his best performance in all the times I have seen them. All in all, good fun.

Setlist

Slade

Gudbuy T'Jane

Lock Up Your Daughters

Far Far Away

Look Wot You Dun

Coz I Luv You

Run Runaway

Mama Weer All Crazee Now

Get Down and Get With It

My Oh My

Cum On Feel the Noize

Merry Xmas Everybody

SAS Band - Saturday 7th December - Guildford G-Live

A sold out show at G-Live. The announcement of 2 support acts had me fearing again for the accuracy of the stage times and the viability of our last train home from the nearby London Road station. The first act - 'The Opera Duo' did a decent version of Barcelona and 'Nessun Dorma' in their brief 3 song set. They were followed by 'Woman' - whose unique brand of vocals and strings provided an unusual take on a range of covers from Sweet Child O'Mine through Black Betty to Fat Bottomed Girls. They were well received. 

Spike Edney and his SAS band appeared and rattled through a few favourites from their covers repertoire with Jamie Moses and regular guests Patti Russo and Madeline Bell joining in. A highlight was the appearance of Midge Ure for Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, Vienna and a rousing Delilah! 

The 29 Riffs song then got an outing and sounded as good as ever. Next up was the return of Roger Taylor's 'Cross' for the first time in 20 years. Many of the crowd had travelled long distances to witness this historic occasion. Now I'm a big fan of Mr Taylor and own pretty much all of his solo output as well as the full Queen catalogue. Some of his material outside of Queen is fantastic - unfortunately, IMHO, very little of that was recorded with The Cross! I was left underwhelmed - especially as he left the stage for a few of the weaker numbers and dragged out others. 

The folly of a double support act meant we had to forego the Christmas sing-a-long at the end. Although a good evening, I couldn't help but think this was the weakest of all the SAS shows I have been to over the years with a noticeable lack of the usual roller coaster of surprise appearances. Maybe we've just been too spoiled in the past.

Setlist

THE CROSS

In Charge of My Heart

Top of the World, Ma

New Dark Ages

Man On Fire

Ain't Put Nothin Down

Liar

Dirty Mind

Cowboys And Indians

Power to Love

Heaven For Everyone

Sister Blue

Final Destination

+

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Bryan Adams - Sunday 14th July - Guildford Stoke Park

The only UK date this year for Bryan Adams as part of the "Magic Summer Live" event in Guildford. Not being too keen on the rest of the bill, our attendance was obtained by a "2 for 1" offer a few weeks before the event. A really hot day meant refreshment was sought in a couple of pubs by the river before heading to Stoke Park. We caught the end of James Morrison's set, but were confident we'd not missed much for the rest of the day.

Bryan himself seemed very relaxed and played a solid set. The electric version of "I'm Ready" was unexpected and most welcome. "Summer of '69" was as brilliant as ever (albeit quite short) and the crowd engaged well after a long day in the sun. A man was called from the audience (a first according to BA) for "When You're Gone" and all in all this was an enjoyable Sunday evening.

Setlist anyone? (the one on setlist.fm is wildly incomplete)

Slade / Sweet - Friday 9th November - Guildford G-Live

The 2012 version of Slade

A double header on a Friday at the new G-Live venue in Guildford. After a pint or two by the riverside we headed to the venue which is quite an upgrade compared to the old Civic Hall.

First up were Sweet who include original guitarist Andy Scott. The band played a set sticking mainly to hits and their new album which is covers-based. They were better than I expected, so much so that I bought couple of CDs at the interval and got them signed.
 

Headliners were a band calling themselves Slade. Original members Dave Hill and Don Powell treating us to around 75 minutes of prime 70s rock. Whilst it still takes a few songs to get over the singer's rasping vocals, the show settles down into a mass sing-a-long. A relatively early finish enabled us to get a direct train home and it was a really nice evening.

Setlists
SWEET
Hellraiser
New York Groove / Empire State Of Mind
The Six Teens
Wig Wam Bam / Little Willy
Teenage Rampage
You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
Love Is Like Oxygen / Fanfare For The Common Man
Blockbuster
Fox On The Run
+
Action
Ballroom Blitz

SLADE
We'll Bring The House Down
Take Me Bak 'Ome
Far Far Away
Everyday
Coz I Luv You
Run Runaway
The Bangin' Man
Gudbuy T'Jane
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Get Down And Get With It
+
My Oh My
Cum On Feel The Noize
Merry Xmas Everybody