Showing posts with label Kentish Town. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kentish Town. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Magnum (Tony Clarkin Tribute) - Tuesday 21st January - O2 Forum, Kentish Town

Brief review:  A tribute concert to the much-missed Tony Clarkin (founder, guitarist and song writer for Magnum). An emotional evening, but it was great to hear Bob Catley on vocals once more, ably supported by the most recent incarnation of the rest of the band.

A fitting tribute to a rock legend.

Venue and View:  Front left, standing

Setlist
How Far Jerusalem
Lost on the Road to Eternity
Wild Swan
When We Were Younger
The Tall Ships
The Flood (Red Cloud's War)
Les Morts Dansant
Don't Wake The Lion (Too Old to Die Young)
+
Soldier of The Line
Just Like an Arrow
Need a Lot of Love
On a Storyteller's Night
All England's Eyes
Vigilante
Kingdom of Madness
+
The Spirit
When the World Comes Down

Sunday, September 04, 2022

Quireboys - Saturday 3rd September - Forum, Kentish Town

Brief review: The much postponed "Orchestral Show", reduced to a single night from the 2 sold pre-Covid. Now Spike-less, this was always going to be a challenge for the band, but I think they came through it well. A varied set list with some rarely played favourites, the "Orchestra" turned out to be 4-5 (excellent) musicians on strings and wind sections. It worked well as a one off and it will be interesting to hear if the upcoming CD / DVD of the performance captures how well it came across in the room.

I do think the real challenge for the band going forward is how to grow their fan base - it must be hard for them to be profitable currently without outside interests.

Venue and View:  Front left on the floor. Very sparse, so lots of room!

Setlist
Gracie B
Roses & Rings
There She Goes Again
Mona Lisa Smiled
Hello
Blackwater
The Promise
Stubborn Kinda Heart
Late Nite Saturday Call
I Don't Love You Anymore
I Love This Dirty Town
Louder
This Is Rock 'n' Roll
Original Black Eyed Son
7 O'Clock
+
Sex Party


Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Brian Setzer - Tuesday 11th July - Forum, Kentish Town

Brian Setzer plays a solo show in Kentish Town. Nearly a faux pas by me as I almost wore a Ben Sherman "target" T-Shirt. I may not have got out alive with the packed house wearing altogether different styles and fashion! As it was, the torrential rain outside meant there were some very soggy "cats" inside.

Still, an enjoyable show - very busy on the floor (think it was sold out as it was the only UK date) and a decent amount of Stray Cats material to keep the very casual fan (me!) happy.

Brian's guitar playing was excellent - as were the rest of the band. We did speculate on where else a double bass player can find employment these days - especially as Imelda May seems to have changed musical direction.

Go cats go!

Setlist
Put Your Cat Clothes On
Rumble in Brighton
Vinyl Records
Stray Cat Strut
Nothing is a Sure Thing, Baby
Stiletto Cool
Cry Baby
'49 Mercury Blues
Whathsername
Drive Like Lightning
Slow Down / Folsom Prison Blues
Gene and Eddie
Blue Moon of Kentucky (Instrumental)
Runaway Boys
Jump, Jive an' Wail
Fishnet Stockings
Let's Shake
+
Sleep Walk
Rock This Town

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Black Star Riders - Friday 17th March - Kentish Town Forum

I primarily went along to this on the basis that Rich was going, the tickets were quite good value and Gun were supporting - who I'd not seen before (certainly in this incarnation). In the event a secondary support was added, pushing Gun down to 3rd on the bill, which was a bit of a pain (shorter set, earlier start etc).

Still, they were OK. Having gone through several vocalists it turns out that the founder member and bass player is now on singing duties. He was fine and the set was pretty decent - even my pet hate "Word Up" sounded bearable.

The other support band were not bad either, but I can't remember their name. The Black Star Riders seem to be shifting away from their Thin Lizzy history and only "The Boys Are Back In Town" was covered here. You would have thought St. Patrick's Day would have yielded "Whiskey In The Jar"! Still, they are a decent rock band and vocalist Ricky Warwick has a fantastic voice. I enjoyed their set despite not knowing the songs, which is a bit of a theme for my recent visits to the Forum (or the "Town & Country" as I prefer to call it!)

Setlist - Gun
Let It Shine
Word Up! 
Don't Say It's Over
Better Days
She Knows
Steal Your Fire
Shame On You

Setlist - Black Star Riders
Heavy Fire
Bloodshot
The Killer Instinct
Dancing With the Wrong Girl
Soldierstown
Hey Judas
When the Night Comes In
Cold War Love
All Hell Breaks Loose
The Boys Are Back in Town
Hoodoo Voodoo
Who Rides the Tiger
Blindsided
Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed
Testify or Say Goodbye
Kingdom of the Lost
Bound for Glory
Finest Hour

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Peckham Cowboys, Brijitte West, Gasoline Queens - Saturday 22nd September - Unicorn, Kentish Town



 
Brijitte West at the Unicorn
A trip to North London and a bit of Kentish Town we'd not visited before. A visit to a couple of pubs on the way was variable - one fairly hideous (The Gloucester Arms - full of flies!), one not bad (Torriano) - and one very nice (The Admiral Mann). A game of darts in the latter produced some very good scoring and even attracted an audience at one stage. Slightly annoyed I missed a double for a 14 dart leg which would have equalled my PB.

Anyway, the show was in the Unicorn - an imposing building with a number of stern looking doorstaff.  Once inside though, it seemed all that is good about a decent Rock Pub. Good stage and viewing area, reasonably priced drinks and a friendly crowd. The bill for the show was similar to the one we saw a few months ago and there was no admission charge - hurray!

In spite of our darts delay we were still in time to see the Gasoline Queens whose rock and roll set included the Stone's "Dead Flowers". In fact the set was very similar to last time, but sound quality a bit better. All in all, quite enjoyable.

Brijitte West was next - and playing an electric set for the first time we've seen her. Catchy songs, excellent vocals and a decent backing band. Really enjoyed her set and were able to tell her so afterwards during a brief chat.

The Peckham Cowboys were on last and despite the biggest crowd, were probably the weakest of the 3 acts on the night. Songs were OK despite a few technical difficulties, but another really short show (35 mins?) left us wondering if they simply don't have much material to play or just can't be bothered. It's hard to see how they will grow their fan base pursuing this strategy - indeed nearly all of the audience we recognised from previous shows at the 12 Bar Club and Catscratch Fever.

A quick pint of Estrella on the way back for the last southbound Northern Line concluded a good night.

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Quireboys - Saturday 11th December - Forum, Kentish Town

Spike in typical pose
The last show of 2010 for me. Feeling a little bit under the weather after the previous days' pub crawl - so it was quite useful that I wasn't meeting Richard until later on Saturday evening. We went into the venue early to catch "The Dan Reed Network" who were OK, but I think Dan himself seemed to be enjoying their performance more than most of the audience! I'm certainly not tempted to pay money to see them at their own show. Whilst waiting between the acts I remembered that I'd seen the Quireboys here (when it was known as the "Town And Country Club") around 1990 - scary!

The venue was only half full, giving easy access to an excellent view a few rows back in our normal "front-left" position. Last time we saw the Quireboys they were doing an acoustic set and I was pleased to be able to grab a copy of the limited edition of 1000 signed double CDs from that mini-tour. Tonight was plugged in and, as normal, was a belter of a show. Starting with ""Hoochie Coochie Man" / "Mayfair", the band rocked through nearly all of their favourites in a 2 hour set. The 11:20 finish meant a late return home, but the show was well worth that. Perhaps not surprisingly I felt a lot better by the end than I had at the start. A great gig to finish the year!

Setlist (need confirmation please!)
Hoochie Coochie Man
Mayfair
C'mon
Man on the Loose
There She Goes Again
Tramps And Thieves
Mona Lisa Smiled
Roses And Rings
I Love This Dirty Town
Ode to You (Baby Just Walk)
The Finer Stuff
Lorraine Lorraine
Searching
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Hey You
Whippin' Boy
Sweet Mary Ann
Misled
7 O'Clock
+
I Don't Love You Anymore
Sex Party

Friday, April 24, 2009

Saxon - Thursday 23rd April - Forum, Kentish Town

Surprisingly, I'd never seen Saxon before and knew little of their material. Supported by the impressive Doro Pesch, this was a good fun evening. Despite my lack of previous listening, there were enough good songs to keep me on the lookout for a "best of" CD in the near future! Extremely long encore too with a bit of Judas Priest! 

Setlist Battalions of Steel Heavy Metal Thunder Demon Sweeney Todd Ride Like the Wind Requiem - We Will Remember Strong Arm of the Law The Letter Valley of the Kings Bands Played On Hellcat The Eagle Has Landed (Der Adler ist Gaylanded) Come Rock of Ages (The Circle is complete) Machine Gun Never Surrender Wheels of Steel + Live to Rock Motorcycle Man + Crusader You've Got Another Thing Coming (with Doro) + 747 Strangers In The Night Denim and Leather Princess of the Night