Slim Jim Phantom - Friday 4th October - West Hampstead Arts Centre

Brief review:  The Stray Cat returns to West Hampstead. As the view from the back has pretty restricted last time, we got in early to grab a better spot prior to the support and were able to sit at the side. The support act (solo bloke with electric guitar) was pretty good (and I really enjoyed the punky version of the Scooby Doo theme!). The evening almost got ruined by a slightly strange middle aged gentleman deciding to sweep our (full!) drinks onto the floor because he wanted to steal our seats whilst I popped to the gents. He couldn't see what the problem was, so I suspect he had issues of some sort. I maturely let the matter drop despite a few of the people around us suggesting a more physical approach would have been apt!

The show itself was decent, albeit fairly brief. By his own admission, Jim isn't the best vocalist, but a decent selection of songs (including covers) meant that this didn't really matter. And having Neal X from Sigue Sigue Sputnik on guitar and other vocals was quite left field - he was good though.

Venue and View:  Front Right, standing (once our seats had been stolen!)

Slim Jim Phantom - Wednesday 21st June - West Hampstead Arts Centre

Brief review:  We’re gonna rock this town… with the town in question being errm… West Hampstead. Earlier, we heard there was a Rumble in Brighton tonight. And we will most definitely be doing a Stray Cat Strut back to the tube. 

Yes, it’s Britt Ekland’s ex hubby - Slim Jim Phantom in between his “Let’s Rock…” festival dates.

The set was basically as you'd expect - a mix of Stray Cats and rockabilly standards. And none the worse for it - unlike our view of the stage!

Venue and View:  Long, Narrow and Thin. We were at the back with a very limited view indeed.

Setlist
Matchbox
C'mon Everybody
It's All Over Now
Say Mama
Oh, Boy!
That's All Right
Honey Hush
Runaway Boys
Stray Cat Strut
Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll
Summertime Blues
Stood Up
+
Rock This Town

Rumble in Brighton

Slim Jim Phantom - Thursday 8th September - O'Neills, Leytonstone

Brief review:  Off to Essex tonight and a bit off a pub crawl in Leytonstone - the undoubted highlight of which was The North Star with an excellent range of beers. Earlier, there was a very loud band on in Luna which highlighted the problem you get if one of the band is good (the lead guitarist), but the rest aren't (or at least don't know the songs). We grabbed the swiftest of halves whilst they murdered Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Slim Jim had finished the large burger and chips we saw him eating when we picked up the tickets earlier in the evening and was playing the function room attached to the pub. In a 'T' Shirt and jeans, I had made nowhere near as much of an effort as most of the crowd in their rockabilly gear and fantastic hair styles.

The show was as you'd have hoped - lots of 50's/60's rocking covers and some Stray Cats classics. The always-excellent Darrell Higham was on lead guitar and there was impromptu guest spot from Jim Jones.  Marvellous!

Venue and View:  Front left on floor.

Slim Jim Phantom - Wednesday 24th January - The Islington

One Line Review: An entertaining evening of rockabilly with the Stray Cat. As he noted, he is the "3rd best singer" in his other band, but the quality of musicianship on display made up for this. With two Pretenders (James Walbourne & Nick Wilkinson) and a guest Sex Pistol (Glen Matlock) in the band, what's not to like?

Setlist anyone?