The Mods - Saturday 22nd March - CSC, Cheam

A private charity show from The Mods - less than 5 minutes from home. That'll do nicely. This was my first time seeing the band since Johnny Warman was replaced by Tim Huggins on vocals. Maybe comparing them would be disrespectful as both have different styles. The new singer has a good range of vocals, but has a way to go to match Mr Warman's showmanship and crowd encouragement.

I think this could be described as a tough gig for the band. An empty dance floor in front of them and people packed at the back near the bar and sitting in seats elsewhere. Still a strong performance got some people on their feet later on. I guess that's the danger of being a house band at an event, rather than the main event themselves. Still, good performance + good band = good evening.

http://www.the-mods.com/index.html

The Mods - Saturday 2nd April - All Saints Hall, Whetstone

Off to the All Saints Church Hall in Whetstone - a fair old trek, but it is for the Mods, one of our favourite local bands. Tonight they are doing a "full Who show" in a venue played by the Who in 1964.

Richard was right to query that last statement when we arrived as this was like so many Church Halls up and down the country and it's amazing to think that superstar bands of the past played venues like this when they were up and coming. It was quite a weird setup, with tables and chairs at the front and standing near the mixing desk at the back. The "bar" was even stranger - a counter in the cafe where the server had to rush out to a fridge in the back to get beer priced at a uniform £2 a bottle.

Still, the show was good although the audience were very unenthusiastic at the start. The band took a midway break - partly I suspect to the lack of reaction they were getting (through no fault of their own). The second half bought a livelier reaction from the crowd (alcohol induced?) and gradually people stood up and danced.

I enjoyed it, but whether the band will return to this neck of the woods I'm not sure. We had a lengthy trip home for the full length of the Northern Line and a I slept well afterwards!

The Mods - Saturday 4th December - Half Moon, Putney

The snow and ice meant a late cancellation of what I had planned for Saturday, so I took the opportunity to pop down to Putney for the Mods, who were billed as performing The Who's Quadrophenia. Unfortunately, due to the drummer (Johnny Marter?) being indisposed, the short notice replacement didn't know all the material, so that didn't happen.

No matter - he knew a sufficient selection of other Who material to more than make up for that. Starting with A Legal Matter and moving through all sorts - Pictures of Lily, 5:15, The Kids Are Alright, Can't Explain, Substitute,  The Seeker, I'm A Boy, Summertime Blues and many more - the band were on excellent form. An interesting version of Young Man Blues segued the Jazzy style of Mose Alison's original with the Who's powerhouse version. I particularly enjoyed Pinball Wizard with the guitar intro played at the start and the "Elton John" piano solo played midway through by the excellent Mickey Simmonds.

There were a couple of non-Who tracks - Argent's Hold Your Head Up and Led Zeps Kashmir plus the Kingsmen's Louie Louie (from Quadrophenia) as an encore. Surprised it wasn't busier - blame the weather I guess, but a good night in the company of fantastic musicians.

The Mods - Saturday 26th June - Half Moon, Putney

A trip to Putney for one of our regular bands - the Mods. A good selection of the normal covers with emphasis tonight on The Who which was good. Singer Johnny Warman promised a full version of Quadrophenia on the next visit - that will be worth a listen!

The Mods - Friday 23rd October - Tooting & Mitcham FC

Continuing our regular visits to see Johnny Warman and the boys - this time at the home of Tooting & Mitcham FC - a new venue for me. Pre show, we checked out the delights of Mitcham - the best pub by some distance was the "Hooden On The Green" with excellent darts facilities and attractive staff. Some of the others were a bit rough and ready, but by no means unfriendly. 

The gig itself was of the normal excellent standard. It appears (unfortunately) that guitarist Steve Byrd has been permanently replaced which is a shame. He's even been removed from their website, so I wonder if there was a falling out? That said, his replacement - Gary Grainger - is also one hell of a guitar player, so it was interesting to check out his playing and try to pick up a few tips! We'll look forward to seeing the band again in 2010.

The Mods – Friday 16th January – Boom Boom Club

My first show of 2009 and a short trip to Sutton United’s Boom Boom club. As normal, an excellent performance of the hits of The Who, Small Faces, Kinks, Stones etc. Normal guitarist Steve Byrd was out injured for this one, but his replacement was top notch. A quality bunch of musicians playing quality songs.

The Mods - Friday 19th September - Bull & Butcher, Totteridge

An intended mini pub crawl through the streets of Barnet actually turned into quite a session. This included some surprisingly high standard darts on one of the pubs en route - can't go wrong when the pub provides 2 Tournament boards and a proper raised oche ! Despite playing really well (123 on one throw and a 100+ checkout), Richard somehow won 3-2 !!

Maybe due to the beer, I was surprised when we got to the venue, because it wasn't where I expected. Or rather it was, but it was a different venue to the last time we went to Totteridge & Whetstone. Very confused!

Anyway - the band were the Mods who we normally see in Sutton - that is Johnny Warman, Steve Byrd, Steve Barnacle, Johhny Marter et al. The expected evening of classic Small Faces, Kinks etc and the bonus of even more Who tracks than normal. Excellent stuff, aided and abetted by unusually attractive bar staff!

All followed by a long snooze on the Northern Line!