Paul Heaton - Tuesday 4th March - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  I really enjoyed Paul's show at Hammersmith in December and so leapt at a very late opportunity to get into this small scale gig at Pryzm in Kingston - effectively a "thank you for buying the album" show. Paul said he was nervous, but didn't know why ("maybe it's because I can see you all"), but was on good form as was vocalist Rianne Downey. This was the early show of 2 that evening and the 65 minute set was a decent mix of old and new material. Highly recommended!

Venue and View:  Front Left, standing

Setlist

Just Another Family
Old Red Eyes Is Back 
Silly Me
Five Get Over Excited 
H Into Hurt
Bell Bottomed Tear 
Small Boats
Fish 'N' Chip Supper
I'll Sail This Ship Alone 
Heatongrad 
Don't Marry Her 
One Last Love Song 
Happy Hour 
Rotterdam 

Jon Bon Jovi - Thursday 30th May - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Here's something I didn't expect to write - "Bon Jovi" does a show in Kingston! To be fair, Jon isn't playing unfortunately, it's more a Q&A and playback of some of the best tracks from the new album.

Jon is a good interview, being informative, sharing about his recent illness and desire to get back on stage. He was also amusing and caring - especially when a couple of audience members fainted and had to be treated (and one carried out) - it was very hot. He went to check on their wellbeing during a break.

Let's hope for some full shows in 2025 or 2026.

Venue and View:  Standing - Front left. Hot!

Kaiser Chiefs - Thursday 7th March - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review: Having very much enjoyed Ricky and the boys at the church carol service last year, an album launch show at the intimate Pryzm seemed too good to miss. And indeed it was excellent with "Beautiful Girl" the standout new song for me plus the expected hits towards the end of the short set.

Venue and View:  Front left on the floor

Setlist
The Job Centre Shuffle
Everyday I Love You Less and Less
Beautiful Girl
Modern Way
How 2 Dance
Burning in Flames
Never Miss a Beat
Ruby
I Predict a Riot
Reasons to Stay Alive
+
Oh My God 

Texas - Tuesday 11th July - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Greatest Hits (and nominal Q&A) from Texas. Very good so far even if singer Sharleen is giving Motley Crue a run for their money in the profanity stakes!

Venue and View:  Front right (very right!) on the floor by the speaker.

Setlist
After All
Summer Son
Keep on Talking
Let's Work It Out
Black Eyed Boy
Inner Smile

Halo

Seasick Steve - Friday 30th September - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  A Banquet Records event. I know absolutely none of Steve's material, but had seen him on Jools Holland's TV show a few times. It was actually quite enjoyable, although I don't know how much for the "hobo" image is an act or if there is truly a need for a piece of string to be the guitar strap. Well worth the low entrance fee.

Venue and View:  Front Right. Pretty busy, but room to breathe.

Setlist
Don't Know Why She Love Me But She Do
Put That in Your Pipe
Hobo Low
St. Louis Slim
Crash and Burn
How Do You Do
Treasures
Soul Food
Summertime Boy
Train Wreck
Bring It On
Blue Room
Thunderbird

Rex Orange County - Thursday 24th March - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Another Banquet Records show to celebrate the launch of Rex's new album. This sold out in seconds - and thanks to Colin's "fastest finger" on a dodgy WiFi connection in Freiburg Station, we were able to get a pair tickets (with CDs). Now this is not normally my type of music at all, but it was actually OK. Rex seems a little shy of the attention all in all and seems to have a mild obsession with Kermit The Frog - which is fine!

Very excitable audience who seemed to know every word of the songs and very shrill shrieking after each one finished, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Oh, and the bar had zero queues throughout!

Venue and View:  Early show of 2 that evening. Huge queue of largely teenage girls to get in. Got a spot at the front of the right hand side raised area leaning on shelf, so a decent view away from the crush.

Setlist

Keep It Up
Open A Window
Worth It
Amazing
One In A Million
The Shade
Corduroy Dreams
Pluto Projector
Television / So Far So Good
Loving Is Easy
Best Friend

Bryan Adams - Tuesday 8th March - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Album launch of the "So Happy It Hurts" album from Mr Adams. A scramble for tickets as you can imagine for a small venue. We had tickets for the "late" show and were slightly concerned that ticket holders from the early show who also had late tickets would be allowed to queue inside (as we were for the Who previously). The strict "no phones" policy not only explains our lack of photos but also meant that devices had to be checked in. Unbelievably, the 20 or so people ahead of us in the queue all had phones, and so only 2 people were on the floor  when we got into the main part of the venue. On that basis, the bar was bypassed and we grabbed prime spot on the barrier, right in front of Bryan.

The show consisted of live vocals and Bryan's guitar over a pre-recorded backing track, which actually worked well. In between songs, Bryan told us about the recording and took a lot of unfiltered audience questions which was fun. An excellent evening!

Venue and View:  As front and central as we could get. 

Setlist

Kick Ass
So Happy It Hurts
Never Gonna Rain
You Lift Me Up
I've Been Looking for You
Always Have, Always Will
On the Road
Just Like Me, Just Like You
I Ain’t Worth Shit Without You
Let’s Do This
Just About Gone
These Are the Moments That Make Up My Life

Imelda May - Wednesday 22nd September - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Another Banquet gig showcasing Imelda's new CD. She's an excellent vocalist and I thought that the songs actually sounded better live than on the album. None of the famous guests could make it unfortunately, but thanks to some savvy planning ("Where would the band go after the show? An Irish bar!") we got to meet Imelda afterwards and she was kind enough to pose for photos with us.

Venue and View:  Front right near speaker and pop up bar (again!). Room to move around if you wanted to.

Setlist

11 Past the Hour
Just One Kiss
Big Bad Handsome Man
Solace 
Can’t Say
Different Kinds of Love
Diamonds
Breathe 
Don’t Let Me Stand on My Own (with Niall McNamee)
Human
Mayhem
Should've Been You
Made to Love 

Fratellis - Saturday 11th September - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  An excellent Banquet Records show (buy the CD and get a ticket for next to nothing), this was an enjoyable full set from the Glaswegian stars. The sound was a bit muffled to start with but improved. The cover of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" provoked some moshing (!) as did Chelsea Dagger later which was more predictable. Richard rightly pointed out that I would have been one of very few in the venue to have seen the last song, Runaround Sue, played live by the original artist (Dion, at the Town and Country in 1990)

Venue and View:  Front right, by the speaker and pop-up bar! Fairly full, but room to breathe on the floor.

Setlist

Henrietta
Baby Don't You Lie to Me!
Impostors (Little by Little)
Whistle for the Choir
Need a Little Love
Yes Sir, I Can Boogie 
Flathead
Stand Up Tragedy
Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes
I've Been Blind
Six Days In June
Creepin' Up the Backstairs
Baby Fratelli
Too Much Wine
We Need Medicine
+
Lay Your Body Down
Chelsea Dagger
Runaround Sue 

The Who - Friday 14th February (Show 2) - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review: The last of the 4 shows - and the first to sell out in seconds. This original one was to mark the 50th anniversary of "Live At Leeds". A nice "Live At Kingston" T Shirt was available (as was limited collectable lithograph). It has been a true honour and privilege to somehow grab tickets for these shows - and thanks to Banquet Records for putting them on and the Who for playing them.

Setlist
Substitute
Squeeze Box
Tattoo
The Kids Are Alright
The Kids Are Alright (reprise)
Behind Blue Eyes
Break the News
She Rocked My World
Pinball Wizard
Won't Get Fooled Again

The Who - Friday 14th February (Show 1) - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review: Show 3 of 4 - the early Friday show. 3/4 of the way though the residency. Still plenty of mistakes, but it's clear the band are enjoying these shows. As are the audience.

Setlist

Substitute

Squeeze Box

Three Steps to Heaven (Partial)

Tattoo 

The Kids Are Alright

Behind Blue Eyes

Break the News (Aborted and restarted)

She Rocked My World

Pinball Wizard

Won't Get Fooled Again

The Who - Wednesday 12th February (Show 2) - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review: Show 2 of 4 - the Wednesday evening show. Pete admitted that despite reservations, he and Roger were actually enjoying the shows. There was also a bit of a rant about the nearby Bentalls centre.

Setlist

Substitute

Squeeze Box

Behind Blue Eyes

The Kids Are Alright

Break the News

She Rocked My World (with "Tattoo" intro)

Pinball Wizard

Won't Get Fooled Again

The Who - Wednesday 12th February (Show 1) - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review: Show 1 of 4 over two nights at the Pryzm nightclub in Kingston. As you can imaging there had been a scramble for tickets from Banquet records for the Who's smallest venue show for 40 odd years. People had come from across the globe and after a slightly hesitant start and a few mistakes, the acoustic set was greeted with great enthusiasm. It included the live debut of a a couple of tracks from the new album, called "WHO".

Setlist

Substitute

Squeeze Box

Behind Blue Eyes

The Kids Are Alright

Break the News 
She Rocked My World 

Pinball Wizard

Won't Get Fooled Again

Scouting For Girls - Tuesday 1st October - Fighting Cocks, Kingston

One Liner: Small pub gig and Q&A session with 2 of the boys from SFG in support of their new album. Another excellent Banquet records show and great to meet and chat with Roy and Greg afterwards whilst having a beer.

Setlist
Heartbeat
Grown Up
Posh Girls
The Trouble With Boys
This Ain't a Love Song
Dancing With You
She's So Lovely

+

lots of Q&As

Bryan Adams - Monday 4th March - Pryzm, Kingston (Late Show)

One Liner: Very pleased to get a ticket for this nightclub show (it sold out in 35 seconds) as part of Banquet Records album release. This featured the first ever live version of "Part Friday Night, Part Sunday Morning". Wish I'd also done to the earlier show which was added afterwards as it was a slightly different set.

Setlist
All or Nothing
Part Friday Night, Part Sunday Morning
Heaven
Shine a Light
You Belong to Me
When You're Gone (Acoustic)
Lonely Nights
When the Night Comes 
Cuts Like a Knife
I Could Get Used to This
Summer of '69 (with Adrian O'Neill on guitar)
Whiskey in the Jar (Acoustic)

The Fratellis - Thursday 8th March - New Slang @ The Hippodrome, Kingston

Brief Review: Banquet Records in Kingston do a fine job of attracting some decent acts down to a club night in town - usually with the bonus of flogging a fair few copies of their new CD. Tonight it's the Fratellis and it's an impressive showcase of music new and old - and 4 songs getting their live debut ahead of the upcoming UK tour. I was particularly impressed by the cleaness of the guitar sound and the clear vocals. £15 for the new CD and a decent gig - bargain!
And, I wasn't quite the oldest person in the club - result!

Setlist
Baby Don't You Lie to Me!
Stand Up Tragedy
Henrietta
Starcrossed Losers
Impostors (Little by Little)
Whistle for the Choir
Sugartown
Thief
Baby Fratelli
I’ve Been Blind
Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night
Laughing Gas
We Need Medicine
Chelsea Dagger
A Heady Tale

Woodedz - Tuesday 8th July - Grey Horse, Kingston

So after a gig-free June, a late announcement means it's 2 live shows on the bounce seeing Quo bassist John "Rhino" Edwards and Woodedz. On the night of the scarcely believable Brazil 1, Germany 7 World Cup Semi-Final, the band completed their 3 night "World Tour" with a headline show in Kingston.

The set turned out to be a bit longer than at Putney and as normal, the standard of musicianship was exceptionally high. Rhino, as I'm sure would be the first to admit, is not amongst the World's top vocalist and this was compounded tonight by what I assume was a severely sore throat. A new career as a 1930's bluesman beckons! Still, to be honest, that didn't really matter a jot as the smallish crowd of friends, family and fans lapped it up. Sounds like it may be the last show from the guys for a while - good luck to Max who is off to Germany to study. A new album is on the way though... allegedly!

Setlist
2 Way Traffic
Shame
Secretary
Dust to Gold
Don't Come Around Here
Republican
Obstruction Day
Belavista Man
Get Out of Denver
Jam Side Down
Bad News
Paper Plane
+
Jungle Love

XCom - Friday 9th May - The Peel, Kingston

So are they "XCom" or "Bad Company 2008"? Neither if Mr Rodgers gets his way, dubbing them a "tribute band falsely using the Bad Company name" and threatening legal action. Either way, Mr Ralphs and co were coming to South London and it seemed a good opportunity to see what they could do.

This was my first gig for ages and the first whilst recuperating from a recent op. Therefore I needed to take things easy and was grateful for the relatively short set. This consisted of a smattering of Bad Company songs, "Can't Get Enough", "Feel Like Making Love", "Movin' On" et all and, bizarrely, 2 Free songs - "Wishing Well" and "All Right Now". Both classic songs of course, but a little strange given that none of the band played on the originals. All in all, whilst they are clearly not Bad Company with Paul Rodgers, I enjoyed the bands performance with Robert Hart up front and a fun time was had by all.

Spike & Friends - Kingston Peel - Sunday 2nd December

Spike is Spike Gray, vocalist from the Quireboys. The "Friends" are basically the Quireboys and a different drummer !! For those that don't know the "Peel", it is a slightly rough 'n' ready pub on the outskirts of Kingston-upon-Thames. However, it was perfect for a raucous and occassionally drunken evening of good time rock 'n' roll. 

The evening had started well with Manchester United beating Middlesbro 2-1 at the Riverside (dive, what dive?) and we caught the X26 (ex-726 for those old enough) to Kingston. A quick phone call to the venue suggested that Spike wouldn't be on stage until 9.30, so we had a bit of time to kill, which was spent in the Fighting Cocks, Kingston Tup and the Honest Cabbage before finding the bar in the Peel. Keith Weir, the keyboard player could be seen on the pool table, enjoying a couple of pre-show beers and this was the theme of the evening (it was the last night of their tour) - Spike as usual encouraging the audience to buy him a "pint of JD and Coke" constantly during the show! 

As could have been predicted, the 9.30 turned into a 9.45 start! Anyway, the music - mainly based around Spikes "new" (well, recently released anyway) solo effort, was good enough for first part of the show, with a few ballads and a Frankie Miller cover. The end of the show (and several encores) was basically the best of the Quireboys and excellent. Shame the crowd was so small (about 80ish?), but a good fun evening - band on until past 11.20, and good connections for us on the buses home.