Ian Hunter - Shepherd's Bush Empire - Sunday 28th October

Seating on the floor of SBE? Never too sure about that, but as we were in the 3rd row I certainly can't complain about the view. Show started a little slowly but by the end I was really enjoying both the new songs and the classic hits.

For the encore Ian was joined by Mick Ralphs (Mott The Hoople/Bad Company), Verden Allen (Mott The Hoople) and guitarist Chris Spedding (Chart Act !!) as well as predictably, Tracy Hunter!

The classic "Saturday Gigs" was played in it's entirety.

All in all, MUCH better than the Pigalle Club show earlier this year!

Paul McCartney - Roundhouse - Thursday 25th October

After the hassle of getting tickets (crashed websites, phone system dying etc), I was not happy to receive an email from the Roundhouse saying that they were not sending out tickets, but I had to go to the venue early in the day to collect a wristband. As I work in London I was able to do so - I'm sure many were not so lucky - hope this isn't the shape of things to come for big name acts.

Anyway, after a long queue to get in, I was able to get near the front and enjoy the rarity of seeing a "living legend" in such a small venue. A set featuring lots of Beatles songs went down well and the whole thing was on BBC TV and Radio, The cameraman even decided to zoom in on me for some reason during "Get Back".

Setlist
Magical Mystery Tour
Flaming Pie
Got To Get You Into My Life
Dance Tonight
Only Mama Knows
C'Moon
The Long And Winding Road
Follow The Sun
That Was Me
Here Today
Blackbird
Calico Skies
Eleanor Rigby
Band On The Run
Back In The USSR
House Of Wax
I Got A Feeling
Live And Let Die
Hey Jude
Let It Be
+
Lady Madonna
I Saw Her Standing There
Get Back

Joe Brown / Dave Edmunds - Fairfield Halls - Thursday 4th October

First gig for a while (none in September, what's going on there?).

Had booked this on the strength of Dave Edmunds alone. As it turned out he and Joe Brown shared the stage for some of the night and also did solo stints. Edmund's guitar playing once once again to be admired and I actually enjoyed Joe Brown and his band too. I was the second youngest person in the audience (Richard beating me!). Should have asked for half price admission!

Status Quo - Bedford Park - Sunday 5th August

Charity Shield (oh all right, Community Shield) at Wembley - United winning thanks to Edwin's 3 penalty saves! - for me then a high speed dash to the station to get to Bedford and meet Richard. Excellent outdoor bill for us - Quo supported by the Quireboys. Greatest hits from Spike and the boys and a solid performance from Quo in front of a decent crowd - although we had to leg it during the encore to have any chance of getting home. 

One downside for me are enormous insect bites on my legs. One is so painful on my ankle, I can barely put weight on my leg today - that can't be right!

Scorpions - Hammersmith Apollo - Monday 30th July

Hammersmith -Still the best venue in London and this was one of the best shows of the year. Skipped all but the last song of the seemingly drugged/drunk/not bothered (delete as applicable) Michael Schenker, but enjoyed over 2.5 hours of classic German Rock! 

Uli Jon Roth joined the rest of his former bandmates and even if this is not your style of music, you would not have argued with the show as a pure performance. "Are you with us tonight?" asked vocalist Klaus Meine. Oh yes!

Slade II - Canazaro House, Wimbledon - Thursday 26th July

Slade II - I refuse to call them "Slade" without Noddy and Jim. Support provided by "The Bay City Rollers" (well, Les McGowan and chums anyway). Small crowd (less that 200) for an outdoor "festival", but actually good fun none the less. Even found a pub on Wimbledon Common I'd never been to!

Concert For Diana - Wembley Stadium - Sunday 1st July

Sure you saw this on TV if you were interested. The only thing I will say is that the sound seemed much better in the venue than on television. Oh, and Kanye West.... What's all that about? A suitable toilet break anyway.

Aerosmith - Hyde Park - Sunday 24th June

Got there late as had been at the Oval for Surrey's Twenty20 match. Therefore missed the Answer and the worst of the heavy rain! In fact only caught Joe Satriani and Aerosmith.

All a bit damp, but I though Mr Tyler & Co were really good - even if there were a few too many ballads. Had to remind Richard the next day that another CHART ACT had been seen with the inclusion of at least one of Run DMC turning up for "Walk This Way".

I gather Brian May was backstage - shame he didn't make an appearance on stage!

The Answer - Borderline - Wednesday 20th June

Pre-Hyde Park warm up for the Irish Rockers. If you read my previous entries, you'll know that I think this is a really good band and tonight was no exception. They even did a version of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion".

Gary Moore - Shepherd's Bush Empire - Friday 8th June

I'm sometimes a bit wary of Mr Moore these days as you could get a lot of obscure blues in the set. I needn't have worried as we got a set combining the best of his blues material, with a bit of the "Monsters of Rock" stuff thrown in. Highlight for me was "Don't Believe A Word".