Status Quo - Friday 8th December - Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith

One Line Review: Quo's Hammersmith show changed from Acoustic to Electric and all the better for it. View from "side standing" - better than we could have hoped for and "Don't Waste My Time" made a welcome return.

Setlist
Caroline
Something 'bout You Baby I Like
Rain
Little Lady
Softer Ride
Beginning of the End
Hold You Back
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again
Paper Plane
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
Don't Drive My Car
In the Army Now
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World 
+
Don't Waste My Time
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Foreigner - Sunday 13th April - Hammersmith Apollo

So, I just can't stay away from the Hammersmith Apollo at the moment (sorry Eventim, I'm not going to call it the Eventim Apollo - we all know it's really the Hammersmith Odeon [or Gaumont for the really pedantic out there!])

This time headlining are 2 bands I've not seen before - Foreigner and Europe.

First up are FM (who I have seen before). Having researched their setlist (and found nothing we knew!), we only turned up for the last few minutes of their brief set - but they sounded fine.

Taking our nice seats in row N (loads of legroom!), on came Europe. In a high tempo set, Joey Tempest made several references to the "Hammersmith Odeon", recounting seeing Thin Lizzy from the balcony when he was 16 years old.

The band were good and ended with a predictably rousing version of "The Final Countdown".

It wasn't long to wait for the headline act. Having treated myself to their "best of" CD a few weeks ago, I was prepared for a few more of the songs than I would have been. What my lack of knowledge of the band didn't give me was the fact there appeared to be no original members of Foreigner on stage for the first few songs!

We couldn't work out whether this was to allow Mick Jones an ovation when he appeared, or whether he's so sick of playing those first few numbers, he just wanted them out of the way before appearing!

Still, the show was good, whoever was playing. The band were a fair bit heavier and less MOR than I'd expected and the crowd reasonably enthusiastic. We could clearly have done without the keyboard and drum solos though.

The set appeared aimed at the casual fan with all the obvious hits, and for that it worked fine for me. There are probably hardcore Foreigner fans wanting them to "change the set".

So all in all a rarity - a multi act bill which worked well and provided decent value for money for what was on the face of it quite a high ticket price.

Oh, and the "Hammersmith O" is still London's best venue!

Setlists

FM
Tough Love
I Belong To The Night
Don't Stop
Closer To Heaven
That Girl
Crosstown Train
Burning My Heart Down

EUROPE
Riches To Rags
Firebox
Superstitious
Let The Good Times Rock
No Stone Unturned
Carrie
Scream of Anger
Sign of The Times
Cherokee
Rock The Night
+
The Final Countdown

FOREIGNER
Double Vision
Head Games
Cold As Ice
Waiting For A Girl Like You
Feels Like The First Time
That Was Yesterday
Dirty White Boy
Starrider
Urgent
Keyboard and Drum Solo
Juke Box Hero
+
Long, Long Way From Home
I Want To Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded

Joe Cocker - Monday 14th May - Hammersmith Apollo

Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong. View from on high.

A one-off show for the man from Sheffield at London's Hammersmith Apollo. The speed of ticket sales meant only a seat in the balcony. We rather unkindly joked how the rather "mature" audience could be so quick of the mark to secure the best seats!

A solid set and the standard strong vocals/screams meant this was well worth the effort. I was especially pleased to see the Bryan Adams track "When The Night Comes" in the set. Joe looked in good health and hopefully his parting shot of "see you next time" will ring true.

Setlist
I Come In Peace

Feelin' Alright

The Letter

When the Night Comes

You Love Me Back

I'll Be Your Doctor

Up Where We Belong

Come Together

Eye on the Prize

You Don't Need A Million Dollars

You Are So Beautiful

Younger

Fire It Up

N'oubliez jamais

You Can Leave Your Hat On

Unchain My Heart

With a Little Help from My Friends

+

Summer in the City

Cry Me a River

Thunder - Hammersmith Carling Apollo - Saturday 4th February

What a difference! For Thunder, the same set (almost), a full crowd (downstairs only) and this was great! Everything seemed to flow better, sound was good - vocals and guitar excellent and what a great show. Strange how it sometimes works like that. 

Toby Jepson seemed to be trying a bit too hard - his vocals were a bit dodgy - guitarist still hadn't has a reality check. But as I say the night belonged to Thunder - well done guys. A nice touch was the jam with the support bands on Elton's "Saturday Night's (Alright For Fighting)" (strangely, Toby's guitarist was the only one missing - still in the dressing room admiring himself presumably) and an epic (18 minutes!) Dirty Love.

Classic Stuff!

Setlist

Loser

Amy's on the Run

Higher Ground

I'm Dreaming Again

You Can't Keep a Good Man Down

Like a Satellite

Ball and Chain

Empty City

Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)

Love Walked In

Fade Into the Sun

I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll

+

An Englishman on Holiday

A Better Man

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (with Toby Jepson and Roadstar)

Baby, Please Don't Go

Dirty Love