Pat McManus - Thursday 24th April - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  An evening in the company of the extraordinary Pat McManus. A guitar virtuoso, he is known as "The Professor" for good reason. As you know, I like guitar based rock and have a number of guitar heroes. But in terms of technical ability, Pat must be towards the top of that very long list. He plays the fiddle too. Rich and I have a phrase as frustrated guitar "players" - he is "annoyingly good"! Tonight's show featured a higher number of covers than normal including excellent versions of Crossroads, Jumping Jack Flash, The Stumble and Walking By Myself.

He must enjoy playing the Half Moon too as he seems to be here every six months or so.

Venue and View:  Seated (with no table) a few rows back on the left hand side

Rhino's Revenge - Sunday 27th October - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Another matinee performance from John 'Rhino' Edward's 3 piece band with Craig Joiner on guitar and Status Quo's Leon Cave on the sticks. Daughter Mae joined for a guest drum spot, but it was largely as you'd expect with a fun show of largely solo material, with some choice Quo covers thrown in for good measure.

Venue and View:  Standing at the back.

Setlist

Bad Company - Wednesday 11th September - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  More "Hart, 'Bucket', Davey and James" at the Half Moon. Very similar show to last time and none the worse for it.

A highlight for me was meeting Wimbledon Champion Pat Cash for the second time. He was kind enough to chat briefly about music and pose for photos with us. He looks annoyingly good for his age!

Venue and View:  Front left, standing

Pat McManus - Sunday 1st September - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  These shows with Pat are becoming reasonably frequent. His excellent guitar and fiddle work is demonstrated on a variety of solo material, older Mama's Boys favourites and some excellently curated covers paying homage to some of the great blues guitarists.

Venue and View:  Front left, standing

Robert Hart's Bad Company - Wednesday 1st May - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Robert Hart, Dave "Bucket" Colwell, Pat Davey and Harry James make up this collection of largely ex-members of Bad Company and associated acts. Hart and Colwell have legitimate claim of being in the actual Bad Company of course as latter day members. And here we get the greatest hits of Bad Co with a couple of Manfred Man's Earth Band and Free hits for good measure. Seriously good stuff.

Venue and View:  Left hand side of the stage, a couple of metres back.

Robert Hart's Bad Company Experience - Wednesday 22nd November - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  One of London's classic rock venues for a classic rock band (caveat - mk 3 of the band with 2 members from that era). Bad Company with Robert Hart and Dave "Bucket" Colwell, effectively covering for Paul Rodgers and Mick Ralphs - both are called out in positive ways. Sold out, loud and excellent. They are back next year, as shall we. Some would say that we Can't Get Enough.

Venue and View:  Left hand side, standing.

Rhino's Revenge - Sunday 29th October - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Status Quo's John "Rhino" Edwards, ably backed by Leon Cave (Status Quo) and Craig Joiner (Romeo's Daughter). A 3pm start is not ideal, but this is the second Half Moon show running where Rhino has opted for a matinee slot - maybe it suits the friends and family in the audience,

The set was reasonably familiar and none the worse for it, but did include 3-4 tracks from his upcoming album. All sounded fine.

Venue and View:  Right hand side - a few rows back towards the entrance.

Pat McManus - Wednesday October 4th - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  The man known as "the Professor", Irish guitar genius Pat McManus again graces the Half Moon. Playing a range of material from across his career, there is a focus on many of the highlights from his time in the Mamas Boys. Fitting tributes were also played to lost friends including Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore

Venue and View:  Front left, seated.

Who's Next - Sunday 13th August - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Decent Who tribute band with a reasonably "hardcore" set. The guitarist especially stood out, but a rocking performance from all the band.

Venue and View:  Central view a couple of rows back.

John Coghlan (Jazz) - Sunday 4th June - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Sunday evening Jazz in Putney. Really? I hear you cry. Well, yes - with a twist. John Coghlan is on drums, so the set is largely Quo classics reimagined in the Jazz style. Nice!

Ben Holder is on vocals and his Jazz passion and violin playing add much to the occasion. If I tell you that everyone at the interval I heard talking about it at the bar were saying things along the lines of "it is much better than I expected" then John and the boys should take that as a complement from a crowd of largely non jazz enthusiasts.

Venue and View:  Pretty much central - half way back, with room to move around

Man of The World (Peter Green Tribute) - Thursday 26th January - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  An enjoyable evening of blues, celebrating the life and career of Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green. Recreations of the songs I knew in the set were spot on and I particularly enjoyed The Stumble and Shake Your Money Maker. Unfortunately we missed the first 2 songs, but I will definitely check out the band again the next time they play locally.

Venue and View:  Sold out, view from the back for the first half, a few steps forward and left for the second

Setlist

Pat McManus - Wednesday 16th November - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Return trip to see Pat at the Half Moon again. Missed the first song which meant getting a place to stand without blocking others was a little tricky, but it worked out OK. Different set from earlier in the year, but still very good.

Venue and View:  Just behind the tables, on the right

Rhino's Revenge - Sunday 30th October - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  The one show that survived from Rhino's mini tour. Jim Kirkpatrick was away with FM and so son Freddie subbed on guitar. A decent show as ever including the requisite number of Quo covers.

Venue and View:  Left hand side, towards the back.

Setlist
Once Bitten Twice Shy
Busy Doing Nothin'
One Note Blues
Secretary
The Strange One
Spend Spend Spend
Belavista Man
Gravy Train
Jungle Love
Obstruction Day
Two Way Traffic
Jam Side Down
My Name Is Stan
Bad News
Never Too Old (To Rock'n'Roll)
Let's Work Together

John Coghlan's Quo - Saturday 16th July - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  John is retiring from touring and, having cancelled a previous show at The Cavern, was our last chance to see him before he does. A packed Half Moon was treated to some classic Quo, but the fact that John had to take a break for around 1/3 of the set showed that he is hanging up his drumsticks at the right time.

An invaluable member of the Frantic Four - thanks for the memories John and best of luck for the future.

Venue and View:  Central, towards the back.

Pat McManus - Wednesday 16th March - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Pat used to be in a band called Mama's Boys who I saw many, many years ago! He is an excellent guitarist and better than average vocalist too and his blend of Irish infused rock and blues draws a natural comparison to his contemporaries Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore.

A recommended evening out if you enjoy that style of music.

Venue and View:  Reasonably quiet in the back room, so decent view from the right hand side

Rhino's Revenge - Saturday 12th October - Half Moon, Putney

One Liner: A tribute evening celebrating the life of Quo legend Rick Parfitt. "State of Quo" opened the evening to a packed house with Rhino's Revenge as headliners. Excellent from start to finish!

Setlist
Two Way Traffic 
Belavista Man 
Secretary
Gravy Train 
Busy Doing Nothin'
One Note Blues
Obstruction Day 
Old Time Rock & Roll 
Get Out of Denver 
Cougar
Before You Accuse Me (Jim Kirkpatrick on vocals)
Mony Mony
Jungle Love
The Madness 
This Is Me 
The Strange One
Lucinda
Never Too Old (To Rock 'n' Roll)
My Name Is Stan
Bad News 
Jam Side Down 
+
Paper Plane (with "State of Quo")
Back in the U.S.S.R. 
Once Bitten Twice Shy 

Bucket's Rebel Heart - Thursday 4th July - Half Moon, Putney

One Liner: Excellent show from Dave "Bucket" Colwell featured tracks from his new album, decent oldies and a smattering of Bad Company, Free and Humble Pie classics. Joined by Jimmy Kunes on vocals (helped by Ilona on backing vocals for 3 songs) this was a really good evening. Anyone got the setlist please?

Setlist
?

Rhino's Revenge - Friday 24th May - Half Moon, Putney

One Liner: Another fun evening with Rhino's Revenge. A good mix of their own stuff, a few Quo tracks and some well chosen covers.

Setlist
Two Way Traffic
Cougar
Belavista Man 
Spacemaker
Secretary
Busy Doing Nothin'
Back In The USSR
Before You Accuse Me (Jim vocals)
Old Time Rock & Roll 
Gravy Train 
One Note Blues
Mony Mony (snippet)
Jungle Love
Jam Side Down 
Spend Spend Spend
Never Too Old (To Rock'n'Roll)
Bad News 
My Name Is Stan
Mine All Mine
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Rhino's Revenge - Friday 13th April - Half Moon, Putney

The second Rhino's Revenge show of the year and it's quite a different set from their support slot warm up show. It's also much busier in the Half Moon. The band are in playful mood and Freddie Edwards joins the 3 piece "for one night only".

A selection of material across both Rino's Revenge albums is punctuated with the normal array of Quo obscurities. The 2 non-Quo covers (Bob Seger & Steppenwolf) were excellent and somehow I won the bet with Richard on "Born To Be Wild" as a random cover that could be played. Where in my subconcious that had come from, I have no idea!

The evening was also notable for visting a few new places in Putney. Revolution has now taken over the Wetherspoons by the station, the Lost & Co bar had Paulaner on draft in their happy hour and the Boma Bridge had a nice "Tunnel Bar" heading off toward the Thames.

Setlist
One Note Blues
Secretary
Belavista Man
Republican
Jungle Love
Gravy Train
Spacemaker
Two Way Traffic
Mine All Mine
The Stranger One
Lucinda
Busy Doing Nothin'
Bad News
Old Time Rock & Roll
My Name Is Stan
Jam Side Down
+
Born To Be Wild

Johnny Warman (British Invasion Show) - Friday 28th July - Half Moon, Putney

One Line Review: The normal solid show from Johnny and the boys with a great range of 60's and 70's British Rock classics.