As the last train home was going to mean missing half the show, we decided the Oxford Tube was the best bet from Central London. Very efficient service it was too. Also, bearing in mind Oxford's reputation, it seemed rude to pass up the opportunity to visit some of the City's public houses, so a mid-morning start was in order.
Starting in the Cowley Road area - there were a very decidedly dodgy characters hanging around on street corners, eyeing up everyone and garbling into mobile phones. Probably being naïve here, but I'm assuming "do you know where the station is" is code for "do you want to buy any drugs?". The pubs weren't up to much - indeed many didn't seem to bother opening on a Friday Lunchtime. There were a couple of second hand records shops though, so that was a bit more interesting.
The city centre itself was much better for pubs, with the best being The Turf Tavern, The Bear and the slightly out of town, Jude The Obscure.
Anyway, enough of that - how was the show? Well, excellent now you come to ask. We had decent-ish seats - central in the 7th Row. The band seemed on top form (despite being a bit tired from the "warm up" mimed appearance on "Children In Need" earlier in the evening).
The only disappointment was the removal from the set of the new album title track - "The Party Ain't Over Yet", which was a shame as I hadn't heard it live. One thing we did notice was that Francis seemed to be enjoying himself much more when he was using his famous green Telecaster as opposed to any other guitar and as a result the show seemed quite "guitar heavy" - and that's good in my book!
Got out in time to get the late "Oxford Tube" back to London and made the connection at Victoria with seconds to spare. A tiring, but fulfilling day all round.
Setlist
Caroline
Something 'bout You Baby I Like
Don't Waste My Time
Forty-Five Hundred Times
Rain
All Stand Up (Never Say Never)
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
Belavista Man
Mystery Song / Railroad / Most of the Time / Wild Side of Life / Rollin' Home / Again and Again / Slow Train
Gerdundula
Drum Solo / The Killer
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Little Lady / Red Sky / Dear John
Big Fat Mama
Junior's Wailing
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny
