Stray Cats - Wednesday 26th June - Hammersmith Apollo

One Liner: I've seen Brian Setzer and "Slim" Jim Phantom before, but not the full Stay Cats with Lee Rocker. An excellent evening of rockabilly in London's premier mid size venue. Good chat with some fellow punters on the bus home about other music venues through the years around South West London.

Setlist
Cat Fight (Over a Dog Like Me)
Runaway Boys
Double Talkin' Baby 
Three Time's a Charm
Stray Cat Strut
Mean Pickin' Mama
Gene and Eddie
Cry Baby
I Won't Stand in Your Way
Guitar Improvisation / Misirlou
When Nothing's Going Right (Lee Rocker on lead vocals)
(She's) Sexy + 17
Bring It Back Again (Lee Rocker on lead vocals)
My One Desire
Blast Off
Lust n Love
Fishnet Stockings
Rock This Town
+
Rock It Off
Built for Speed
Rumble in Brighton

Thunder - Tuesday 28th March - Hammersmith Apollo

Luke Morley and Ben Matthews

One of Britain's top rock bands in one of the World's great venues - what's not to like? Well, the venue name of course - I'm not going to call it the Eventim Apollo.

Regular readers of the blog would have known exactly where to find us in the venue (to within a couple of metres) and Danny and the boys were on excellent form. Their new album, "Rip It Up" has been a bit of a slow burner for me - especially after the fantastic "Wonder Days" predecessor. It is growing on me a bit and the new songs worked well in a live setting.

The normally excellent Lynne Jackaman appeared for some background wailing in the encore on "She Likes the Cocaine" and unfortunately it was wailing - her fantastic vocals not really shown to their best ability in my opinion.

So like pretty much every Thunder show I've been to, this was really good. It just didn't quite feel as much fun as normal for some reason. Can't quite put my finger on why.

[ Edit - Subsequent Christmas show(s) added in Wolverhampton - yay! ]

Setlist
No One Gets Out Alive
The Enemy Inside
River of Pain
Resurrection Day
Right From the Start
Backstreet Symphony
Higher Ground
In Another Life
The Thing I Want
Don't Wait For Me
Rip It Up
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll
+
Wonder Days
She Likes the Cocaine 
Dirty Love

Metal Hammer Golden God Awards - Monday 13th June - Hammersmith Apollo

We booked up for this on the basis that:-

• It cost £6.66 !
• It was at Hammersmith
• Saxon were playing a tribute to Motorhead
• There must be someone else decent on

In the run up to the show - and having seen the other announcements - I was fearing the old adage that "you get what you pay for"! Wrong! What a fun evening!

First up were Amon Amarth. I had not seen "Norse Metal" before. And my, did it make you smile. Extras dressed as warriors beating their shields. Fire (dry ice) breathing giant dragons. And an 8 ft hammer. Wow!

Gojira were up next. Not my scene at all here, although they seemed popular amongst the younger audience members. Just a lot of noise and shouting for me - I must be getting old!

Next were Halestorm. Fronted by the talented Lzzy Hale, musically this was the best performance of the night for me. Great guitar and some catchy songs.

Final act of the night was "A Salute To Lemmy with Saxon, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee". Whilst I'm not a huge Motorhead fan - I had been due to see them before Lemmy's sad passing. This proved a nice, albeit brief, tribute.

Interspersing all of the above was the awards show. And so what if most of the awards went to modern metal bands I've never heard off and so what if our hair wasn't anywhere as long as 90% of the crowd. There was a moving tribute to the recent victims of a shooting in a gay US nightclub with the message that "metal is non-discriminatory". Here here.

So, against all the odds, a really fun evening.

Setlists

Amon Amarth
The Pursuit of Vikings
First Kill
Twilight of the Thunder God

Gojira 
Silvera
Stranded
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe

Halestorm
Love Bites (So Do I)
Amen
I Miss the Misery

Saxon
Heavy Metal Thunder
Motorcycle Man
Princess of the Night
Ace of Spades [with Mikkey Dee]
Born to Raise Hell [with Mikkey Dee]
Overkill [with Mikkey Dee]

Status Quo - Sunday 26th April - Hammersmith Apollo

Whilst enjoying the debut "Aquostic" gig at the Roundhouse last year, I wasn't certain I could justify the high price for seats this time around. That little issue was solved by the availability of rear-stalls standing tickets at a much fairer price, so we opted for those. I remember doing the same for Chuck Berry tickets years ago and (depending on the gig and security attitude), you are sometimes allowed to stand at the side of the venue rather than really at the back. That's what we did here.

The show was good, but in typical Quo style, they made zero changes to the setlist. Yep, all the same songs, in the same order as last year. Now that I could understand if it hadn't been for the fact that the new record is a recording of that show - the same songs in the same order. C'mon guys, throw us a curve ball - swap 2 songs over! Would it have been too much to ask that they learn another song?

Still - there's probably only a fraction of us that moan about such things. The sound was good, the songs were good and I really enjoyed the evening. Just as well, as I'm going again next week!

Setlist
And It's Better Now
Break the Rules
Again and Again
Paper Plane
Mystery Song / Little Lady
Rock 'n' Roll
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Softer Ride
Down Down
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Down the Dustpipe
All the Reasons
Reason for Living
Rollin' Home
Don't Drive My Car
Claudie
Rain
Marguerita Time
Nanana
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Rock 'til You Drop
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)

Thunder - Saturday 14th March - Hammersmith Apollo

The return of Thunder to mainstream shows is much welcome in my book (perhaps less welcome at home as even when they've been in retirement there seem to be several "Thunder related" shows that I attend).

Reef are the support at London's premier music venue (that place in Putney has surely lost the copyright on that phrase!), We caught the last part of their set and they were a fair bit heavier than I'd envisaged.

Thunder came on to an excellent 70's montage on the giant video screens. They are supporting the marvellous new album, "Wonder Days" which is one of the highlights in their now extensive back catalogue. Danny Bowes vocals and enthusiasm were in evidence as normal and the band as solid as ever. Of course it was great to see Ben Matthew's looking so well after his recent health issues. I did wonder if he was being eased back in with the shorter than normal set, but he more than played his part.

As you now come to expect from Thunder, a great night out.

Hopefully a fuller tour is on the cards later in the year.

Setlist
Wonder Days
River of Pain
Black Water
Resurrection Day
Broken
The Devil Made Me Do It
Empty City
Backstreet Symphony
I'll Be Waiting
The Thing I Want
When the Music Played
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll
+
Low Life In High Places
Higher Ground
Dirty Love

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

Status Quo - Monday 31st March - Hammersmith Apollo

Quo Night 3.

I'd genuinely had no intention of doing the Monday night at Hammersmith, but nights 1 and 2 were so good, it made it essential - especially if this is genuinely the last chance to see this line-up.

The venue was much less busy - probably only 2/3 capacity on the floor, so this meant we had easy access to a good spot. We swapped our "normal" front-left position for a front-right one to see Alan Lancaster close up. He seemed revived after a day-off and again the band were on form. A slight bit of feedback disturbed the set part way through, but Rossi was having fun with some searing solo's than were different from the previous shows. Still no jig in Roadhouse Blues, which was a rare disappointment.

I treated myself to the signed lithograph on the way out - it will find pride of place somewhere at home.

All in all though, a fantastic 3 shows. Got to be up there as the gigs of the year.

Setlist
Junior's Wailing
Backwater / Just Take Me
Is There a Better Way
In My Chair
Blue Eyed Lady
Little Lady / Most of the Time
Rain
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays
Railroad
Oh Baby
Forty-Five Hundred Times / Gotta Go Home
Big Fat Mama
Down Down
Roadhouse Blues
+
Caroline
Bye Bye Johnny

Status Quo - Saturday 29th March - Hammersmith Apollo

Night 2 of classic Quo. And arguably, this was even better than last night. Another packed house, although we managed to get a bit closer to the front. Band were on top form again.

Alan Lancaster still looks a little frail and struggles to walk. Quite how he and Francis were playing "football" to injure Rossi's leg is anyone's guess. But again, it was a joy to see 4 musicians with such history enjoying their playing and the crowd.

Making a note to purchase the live CDs over the weekend.

Setlist
Junior's Wailing
Backwater / Just Take Me
Is There a Better Way
In My Chair
Blue Eyed Lady
Little Lady / Most of the Time
Rain
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays
Railroad
Oh Baby
Forty-Five Hundred Times / Gotta Go Home
Big Fat Mama
Down Down
Roadhouse Blues
+
Caroline
Bye Bye Johnny

Status Quo - Friday 28th March - Hammersmith Apollo

The Frantic Four "reunite for one final time" says the poster. Well that's good news for us Quo fans who thought last year may be our only chance to see the classic Quo line-up.

A packed Hammersmith Apollo waited eagerly to see the band, with support coming from Wilko Johnson. Nice to see him again - shame that Roger Daltrey was busy across town at the TCT shows.

The atmosphere was never likely to meet the 2013 noise levels and excitement, but Quo came on to a rousing welcome. The set was very similar to last year, although I must confess to having to play "Gotta Go Home" before the show to remind myself of it!

I know there are some fans who will only see this line-up and not the current Quo line-up. I enjoy both, but there's no doubting this is the real deal. Heavy, more rehearsed than last year and all the band seemed to enjoy it this time around which was nice to see. How about a 2015 reunion?

Wilko Johnson Setlist
All Through The City
The More I Give
Dr Dupree
Going Back Home
Roxette
Don't Let Your Daddy Know
Back In The Night
She Does It Right

Quo Setlist
Junior's Wailing
Backwater / Just Take Me
Is There a Better Way
In My Chair
Blue Eyed Lady
Little Lady / Most of the Time
Rain
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays
Railroad
Oh Baby
Forty-Five Hundred Times / Gotta Go Home
Big Fat Mama
Down Down
Roadhouse Blues
+
Caroline
Bye Bye Johnny

Billy Joel - Tuesday 5th November - Hammersmith Apollo

Superstar Billy Joel returns to London, playing his smallest UK venue I'd guess since the 1970's. And not just any venue - London's best.

After a scrum for tickets whilst we'd been on holiday (thanks Dave!), we had decent seats in the stalls. Glad we remembered photo ID as it was needed for entry. Fyfe Dangerfield provided support (and another addition to my "chart acts" seen). He was fine and his version of Mr Joel's "She's Always A Woman To Me" from the John Lewis ad proved popular as expected.

Billy himself has clearly aged a bit since we last saw him. Now 64 (as he reminded us with a snippet of the Beatles classic), there was less jumping and running around, but still excellent showmanship and piano playing. Vocals were solid and of course the songs brilliant.

I was shouted down by friends who were there who didn't think "Zanzibar" was a weak point though. That song aside, I really enjoyed it all - being picky for £90 it would have been nice to have another 3 or 4 songs, but ho hum. I even purchased a poster on the way out - must be 20 years since I last did that at a gig!

Setlist
My Life
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Everybody Loves You Now
Where's the Orchestra?
Allentown
When I'm Sixty-Four 
Pressure
New York State of Mind
She's Right on Time
Vienna
Zanzibar
She's Always a Woman
Don't Ask Me Why
Uptown Girl
Blonde Over Blue
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
The River of Dreams [with Rule Britannia]
Piano Man
+
We Didn't Start the Fire
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
You May Be Right
Only the Good Die Young

Status Quo - Saturday 16th April - Hammersmith Apollo

More of the same (without the pre-show tribute band) - this time we were nearer to the front. Great atmosphere again. Same set as last night (no surprise there). Being at the front, it was apparent that Alan Lancaster looked a little frailer than I'd previously noticed. He was also having great difficulty holding on to the plectrum he uses to pluck his bass - by my reckoning he must have dropped it at least a dozen times. As the roadie usually had to come on to pick it up, I wondered why they didn't simply have a strip of replacements on his mic stand? I hope this wasn't a sign of Alan's much talked about illness and that he comes through this run of shows in good health.

Another great night. Now partly regretting not booking for Wembley Arena tomorrow!

Setlist
Junior's Wailing
Backwater
Just Take Me
Is There a Better Way
In My Chair
Blue Eyed Lady
Little Lady
Most of the Time
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays
Railroad
Oh Baby
Forty-Five Hundred Times
Rain
Big Fat Mama
Down Down
Roadhouse Blues
+
Don't Waste My Time
Bye Bye Johnny

Status Quo - Friday 15th April - Hammersmith Apollo

A tour 32 years in the making - the (temporary) return of the "classic" Frantic Four line-up of Status Quo. Having first seen Quo in 1984, I had never actually seen the incarnation of Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan, so it was with much anticipation (and a little trepidation that it might not be as good as we all hoped) that an afternoon was booked of and we trekked off to Hammersmith.

The Distillers pub in Hammersmith were hosting tribute band "Stated Quo" and they entertained a packed house with a raucous collection of familiar and more obscure Quo tunes.

After a few pints, it was off to the main venue to get a decent spot. We settled for a good view about 1/3 of the way back, left of centre. The pre-show atmosphere was electric - the kind I've only experience a couple of times in nearly 30 yrs of gig going. An almighty roar greeted the lights going down and an edited version of Jackie Lynton's classic introduction from 1977 played on the PA. "Is there anybody out there that wants to rock....?"...

Indeed there was.

Starting off with Junior's Wailing, Lancaster took vocals on the first 3 songs. The set flew by with an intensity that belied the combined ages of the 4 musicians on stage (circa 250). Rossi was on fine form - solos were brilliantly played and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Also noticeable was the lack of messing around / changing words etc - maybe because all the show were being recorded? Who knows, but it was good to see a serious "no messing" performance.

An hour and a half later we were all done with the last few "Bye Bye's" of Bye Bye Johnny. On the way out we agreed how fantastic it had been. A one off tour? Let's hope not!

Setlist
Junior's Wailing
Backwater
Just Take Me
Is There a Better Way
In My Chair
Blue Eyed Lady
Little Lady
Most of the Time
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays
Railroad
Oh Baby
Forty-Five Hundred Times
Rain
Big Fat Mama
Down Down
Roadhouse Blues
+
Don't Waste My Time
Bye Bye Johnny

Killing Cancer Concert - Thursday 13th January - Hammersmith Apollo

When tickets went on sale for this, my immediate thoughts were:

1. Got to go to that. 2 of my all-time favourite artists (The Who & Bryan Adams) plus 2 others I like (Debbie Harry and Jeff Beck).
2. It's at the best venue in London - yippie
3. It's on a Thursday night and I'm free
4. It's for a good cause
5. And .... it's how much !!!?

The last issue was likely to cause concern as Richard and I thought we couldn't justify £132 for a ticket. This was luckily resolved by Rich managing to acquire a pair of "bargain" £49.50 standing tickets (back of the stalls) the nano-second they went on sale.

So we got in quite early to nab a standing spot and were quite please with the view, standing about 4 feet from people who had paid considerably more for the luxury of a seat. The early entry to the venue managed to confuse me enough that I knocked a substantial amount of beer out of the hand of a fellow punter as I swung 'round to talk to someone. Cue a trip to the bar to buy him a replacement!

Anyway - the show. Due to start at 7:30, it kicks off at 7:45 with an intro from Harvey Goldsmith. After that and a few videos it's time for some music. I've never been a fan of Richard Ashcroft and the 4 acoustic numbers he performed here were never likely to change my mind. Competent, but forgettable.

Roger Daltrey and band then appeared for a couple of obscure Blues numbers. Now I would happily watch Roger perform any stuff he wanted, but a full set of this style would be a bit challenging. Still, 2 songs worth was fine and a bit different.

We'd speculated on the acoustic numbers Bryan Adams would play on the back of his recent "Bare Bones" tour and he opted for a few old favourites like Cuts Like A Knife and Straight From The Heart as opposed to maybe more obvious hits. Still, after a quiet start, the audience seemed to like him. He also invited a beneficiary of the charity (who's name he mixed up with the Teenage Cancer Trust (!)) to come and duet on "When You're Gone" which was a nice touch.

Then an interval followed by Jeff Beck. Mr Beck was on fine form. Backed by the rest of the Who's band (ie no Daltrey or Townshend), the highlight for me was an excellent "A Day In The Life". Then Debbie Harry pops up for Heart of Glass and Call Me which I bet Mr Beck has never played before. Still, this was excellent and Debbie was in good voice. After another Blondie number it was time for the main event - The Who.

This is who nearly everyone had come to see and a storming trio of numbers kicked things off - Townshend on great form and Daltrey's voice strong.

Sadly as Won't Get Fooled again ended, off went Townshend and we got some more blues from Daltrey and Beck.

The Ensemble all re-appeared (minus Ashcroft) for a lengthy "Join Together" with Daltrey and Adams swapping lead vocals. And then off they went. H'mm wait a minute - it's only 10:25 (ticket said 11pm curfew). As the crowd yelled for more, Harvey came back, said goodnight and the house lights came up. Now don't get me wrong, the show was really good, but if you are paying £130 as many did, is it not reasonable to expect more than 21 songs over 2.5 hrs? Or at least more than 4 from the Headliners?

If I'm being unfair there and Townshend's hearing problems were shortening things, then 1 or 2 more songs from each of Ashcroft, Adams, Harry & Beck would have spun things out to an acceptable degree. So, despite a feeling of being sold slightly short, the excellence of what we did see outweighed the negatives.

Let's hope for a full Who show sometime soon.

Setlist
Richard Ashcroft
Sonnet
Space And Time
Lucky Man
History

Roger Daltrey
Freedom Ride
Gimme A Stone

Bryan Adams
Run To You
Cuts Like A Knife
When You’re Gone (Duet)
Straight From The Heart

Jeff Beck
Beck's Bolero
Hammerhead
A Day In The Life

Jeff Beck & Debbie Harry
Heart of Glass
Call Me

Debbie Harry
One Way Or Another

Who
Baba O’Riley
Who Are You
Won’t Get Fooled Again

Roger Daltrey & Jeff Beck
I’m A Man (Mannish Boy)

Ensemble
Join Together

Mott The Hoople - Friday 2nd October - Hammersmith Apollo

Met up with a couple of colleagues by the River before Richard joined us. Had a good chat about record collecting, gigs and the usual rubbish - it turns out we were in the company of a serious Mott The Hoople fan in Steve! Many beers later - and having skipped the support - we were inside for the much anticipated reunion. 

I thought it was a little rough around the edges to start (not surprising), but got better later on. The band did look old though! Ironically, Ian Hunter (70) and Mick Ralphs (65) looked in better nick than the others who were 60 or below. I wonder if that's because they've been musically more active over the last decade? Drummer Dale Griffin wasn't well enough to play most of the set, but did appear for the first encore.

Sitting behind us we spotted Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) and Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin from the Quireboys. Jimmy Page and Mick Jones were also in attendance and I suspect there were a few more "faces" dotted around.

I was gutted to find out that on the Tuesday Joe Elliot (backed by the Quireboys) was the support act, playing a selection of Ian Hunter / Mott The Hoople classics. Why don't they publish these things beforehand! 

Setlist

Hymn for the Dudes

Rock and Roll Queen

Sweet Jane

One of the Boys

Sucker

The Moon Upstairs

Original Mixed-Up Kid

I Wish I Was Your Mother

Ready for Love

Born Late '58

Ballad of Mott the Hoople

Sweet Angeline

Walking With a Mountain

The Journey

The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll

Honaloochie Boogie

All the Way From Memphis

+

Roll Away the Stone 

All the Young Dudes

Keep A-Knockin' (But You Can't Come In)

+

Saturday Gigs

Thunder - Saturday 11th July - Hammersmith Apollo

A week on, and Thunder's final headline show. An emotional evening at a packed Hammersmith Apollo provided a fitting end for a great band after 20 years. Thanks for the memories guys - hoping to see you reconsider and be back for the 25th Anniversary! 

Setlist (from Thunderonline.com) Loser / On the Radio / Higher Ground / Low Life in High Places / The Devil Made Me Do It / Gimme Some Lovin' / Empty City / Like a Satellite / River of Pain / You Can't Keep a Good Man Down / Love Walked In / I Love You More Than Rock ‘n’ Roll Encore: A Better Man / Backstreet Symphony / She's So Fine / Dirty Love (Including ‘Billie Jean’ excerpt and ‘Shakin’ All Over’)

Scorpions - Saturday 18th October - Hammersmith Apollo

Good show (although not quite as much fun as previously)... no drumstick (although Klaus must have thrown out aout 100!). Added bonus of seeing both Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker on stage with the Scorpions, but being brutally honest, they didn't add much musically to the evening. And no "Wind of Change" which pleased Dave immensely! Oh and did I mention the £4.40 pint of Tiger beforehand.... ouch! (nice though!). 

The evening ended with a couple of pints in the Larrick in Putney which was pretty empty despite (or maybe because of) a live band. Once they finished, a bloke did some solo covers pretty well including "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight", "Summer of '69" & "Hotel California". Shame about the 25 minute wait for a bus afterwards and the idiot ponytailed Chelsea fan with his 60+ grandad who started fighting someone on it! Yes, really... 

Setlist: Coming Home Bad Boys Running Wild The Zoo No Pain No Gain Coast To Coast Holiday Lovedrive Another Piece Of Meat Loving You Sunday Morning 321 Dynamite Blackout Big City Nights Still Loving You No One Like You Hes A Woman Shes A Man Doctor Doctor Rock You Like A Hurricane

Journey - Tuesday 17th June - Hammersmith Apollo

Quite an unusual one this - a headline band who I've not seen before and only own one CD of (the "Greatest Hits"). Based on that CD and a positive review of their previous UK shows, Richard and I trouped off to London's best music venue. The fact that we had secured front row tickets added to the excitement, only slightly dampened by the outrageous £3.85 for a pint of Tuborg in a plastic glass!

Support was provided by John Parr and despite the technical difficulties and poor performance from the road crew - he was really good. Set included "Under A Raging Moon", "The Best A Man Can Get", "Oh Well" and, of course, "St Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)"

It was then onto Journey. At the time of booking, I didn't know they had a new singer, but the pint-sized Arnel Pineda delivered songs new and old with great enthusiasm. We were standing up against the stage in front of guitarist Neil Schon who appeared faultless throughout. We recognised a fair number of the songs and the combination of John Parr and Journey justified the ticket price.

Setlist:
Never Walk Away
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Only The Young
Stone In Love
Keep On Running
Ask The Lonely
Who's Crying Now
Change For The Better
Lights
After All These Years
Mother, Father
Piano Solo / Open Arms
Wheel In The Sky
Where Did I Lose Your Love
Chain Reaction
Wildest Dream
Edge Of The Blade
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
+
Escape
Any Way You Want It

John Fogerty - Hammersmith Apollo - Thursday 29th June

"And I like it, I like it, I like It, I like it, I la la la like it..." etc. John Fogerty is probably best known in the UK for being the writer of "Rockin' All Over The World", but in the rest of the World, he is known as the voice of Creedence Clearwater Revival. In this, his first British show in living memory, he ran through a near-perfect setlist (except for the absent "Almost Saturday Night") with great enthusiasm and a boisterous crowd (sporting, bizarrely an array of T Shirts including AC/DC and Pearl Jam) of all ages. 

An excellent band, including Billy Burnett (last spotted with Fleetwood Mac) backed up an energetic performance from Mr Fogerty (who must be at least in his late 50's). Recommended! PS if you got there late expecting to miss the support - there wasn't any! He came on at 8:10 and you could have easily missed half the show due to poor ticket information.

Setlist

Travelin' Band

Green River

Who'll Stop the Rain

It Came Out of the Sky

Lookin' Out My Back Door

Blue Moon Nights

Commotion

Born on the Bayou

Porterville

Cotton Fields

Ramble Tamble

Midnight Special

Bootleg

Deja Vu (All Over Again)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Sweet Hitch-Hiker

Long as I Can See the Light

Keep On Chooglin'

Down on the Corner

Centerfield

Up Around the Bend

The Old Man Down the Road

Bad Moon Rising

Fortunate Son

+

Rockin' All Over the World

Proud Mary

Def Leppard - Hammersmith Apollo - Sunday 18th June

Damn! A day after we got tickets for this, the Who announced a warm-up at the Brighton Centre. Bit of a dilemma, but we'd paid for these tickets, I've not seen a full Def Leppard show before and I've seen the Who lots of times (and am going next month). So did we make the right choice? 

Having discovered that OSP (bar in Fulham Palace Road) have outrageously stopped doing draft Budwar (orders from the brewery!), we got in fairly early and saw the main support, Cheap Trick. They were good fun - the guitarist changed his guitar after EVERY song (!) and it was surprising how many of the songs were recognisable. I may well be tempted to see them on their own. 

Got down to the front for Def Leppard, a couple of yards back from the barrier, left-speaker. They opened with "Hell Raiser" and continued with a reasonable setlist. unfortunately, bar "Hanging On The Telephone" (which I liked, and the rest of the audience seemed not to), the covers they chose of their latest album ("Yeah!") were the weaker ones IMHO. 

The fairly brief set concluded with the expected hits, Rocket, Animal, Pour Some Sugar etc, but for me there was something lacking. It was all very professional and well played (although Joe's voice sounded a bit ropey in places), but there was a general lack of spark or excitement. All in all, not bad, but given the same choice next time, I'm off to the Who!

Setlist

Hell Raiser

Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)

Let's Get Rocked

Make Love Like a Man

Promises

Hysteria

Let It Go

20th Century Boy

Hanging on the Telephone

Bass Solo

Rock On

Rocket

Photograph

Armageddon It

Animal

Rock of Ages

+

When Love and Hate Collide

Pour Some Sugar on Me