4 Bills & A Ben – Saturday 28th February – Boom Boom Club, Sutton Utd

A late notice encounter with 4 Bills and a Ben, prompted by the appearance of ex-Quo drummer Jeff Rich and Quo bassist Rhino Edwards. The added bonus was that Rhino and his family band were also supporting. They seemed intent on playing a number of covers from Quo's covers albums, so in amongst original material, we got "Get Out of Denver", "Lucille", "Sweet Home Chicago" and a few others.

Good evening, big crowd (recognised a number of people normally seen at Quo shows) and the Mods on fine form with guitarist Steve Byrd re-joining after injury. Only downside was the lack of Who songs, which seem to be saved for the Mods incarnation of the band these days.

Status Quo – Saturday 14th February – Portsmouth Guildhall

Quo in February? Yep, rescheduled from December due to illness and on a Saturday. Sounds like a plan - albeit after a bit of negotiation with Mrs B about missing Valentine's Day!

Richard and I headed down on the train in the afternoon and had time to visit some of the local hostelries - a mix of very pleasant and pretty rough! The venue itself, the Guildhall, was quite impressive and it was nice to be at a Quo standing show again - even at halfway back the view and sound were excellent. 

A good fun day was completed with a bonus half hour in Woking on the way home, where there seemed to be a shortage of clothes on many people at 23:30!

The Answer – Thursday 12th February – Dingwalls

It's been a little while since I've seen the boys from Northern Ireland and with a new album coming out and hot off the back of supporting AC/DC in the states, this gig in compact Dingwalls seemed too good to miss. A "record" crowd of 6 of us braved the snow and joined the throng of people down the front - we didn't even have to flog Dave's ticket to a tout this time!

The Answer seem to be Classic Rock Magazine's favourite "up and coming" band at the moment. There's no doubt they are very competent musicians and vocalist Cormac Neeson has a strong voice for the music being played. The catch is in the songs. Most are standard "classic rock" fayre and perfectly listenable to. The problem is that very few have that catchy chorus that you want to sing along with. Exceptions include "Under The Sky", "Never Too Late" and (unfortunately not performed here) "Sometimes Your Love". I just feel to get to the "next level" they need a few singalong stand out tracks. All in all, a perfectly adequate, albeit 6/10 gig.

SAS Band – Saturday 24th January - Indigo2

The SAS Band – or “Spikes All Stars” if your prefer and their “New Year” bash at the Indigo2. The normal smattering of Guest Stars, which included Roger Taylor (Queen), Toyah, Jeff Scott Soto, Madeline Bell, Fabba Girls, Roy Wood, Graham Gouldman (10cc) and others.

For a change we actually watch the support band - “Crash” on the basis they featured Motorbike champion James Toseland and had a set based on covers of Classic Rock songs. They weren’t bad.

The main act were as impressive as always – the highlights being Toyah’s “School’s Out”, 10cc’s “Dreadlock Holiday” / “Rubber Bullets” and Queen’s “Cosmos Rocks” sung by Mr Taylor. And of course, the not-so-seasonal “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Mr Wood.

Excellent stuff…

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.

Happy New Year

So, that was 2008... here's hoping for a nice 2009. Not too much planned so far on the Gig front, but due to see the Mods soon, so I'll update you on that when I can.

2008 - The Best and Worst

My annual look back over the year from a "best of" and "worst of" perspective. 

Best Gig 2008 

1: Bryan Adams - O2 Classic long set and barely a "filler" amongst them 

2: Who - Indigo2 They maybe of pensionable age (nearly), but no-one rocks like the 'oo! 

3: Journey - Hammersmith Apollo Unexpectedly good evening of Classic Rock 

Most Disappointing Gig 2008 

1: The Scorpions - Hammersmith Apollo Last years "Best Gig" winners was the most disappointing this year - but still not bad! 

2: Status Quo - Brighton A rare below-par performance from the Quo - but still an enjoyable show. 

I can't really describe any of the others as disappointing - In a year of reduced shows for me, the quality has been really good. That's probably down to me being very selective! 

Best Venue 2008 

1: Hammersmith Apollo 

2: Indigo2 

Worst Venue 2008 

1: London Astoria 

2: Wembley Arena 

Good in 2008 

1: Less Drunks at gigs than last year. 

2: Venues don't seem to be quite such a squeeze when "full". Maybe Health & Safety has reduced some capacities. 

3: More friendly security - Seems more customer focused at most venues. 

Bad In 2008 

1: Even more people buying tickets for "big artists" purely to flog them on eBay for profit. Lowlifes! And don't even get me started about Seatwave / GetMeIn / Viagogo etc! How does AC/DC sell out 2 nights at the O2 in less than 10 minutes? Why are prime seats available via GetMeIn (A Ticketmaster Company) etc a nanosecond later at a 400% markup? 

2: Fuelled by above, Rip-off ticket prices still. Maybe the credit crunch will bring these back down. Even if it does you can bet the agencies will still charge a fortune in "booking fees" and postage. 

3: Merchandise costs are still far too high. I still don't want to pay £15 for a programme. As said before, I would buy a T shirt if they were a) good and b) around a tenner instead of poor quality and £16/£20 each ! The "fake" ones outside are less than a fiver and often not any worse quality. 

Well, that's it for 2008. Hope you had a good one and an even better 2009!

The Who - Monday 15th December - Indigo2

What can I say - It's the WHO! Therefore as you would expect it was very, very good! Included the first public performance for 25 years of "Slip Kid". Lots on banter and swearing from Townshend and Daltrey in fine voice. Also the novelty of the 1st song performed twice has PT had a problem with his ears and had to leave the stage for 5 minutes. I blame the hat and glasses! 

Setlist: Can't Explain [break for Townshend to sort his ears out!] Can't Explain (again!) The Seeker Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere Fragments Who Are You Behind Blue Eyes Tattoo Sister Disco Baba O'Riley Eminence Front 5:15 Love Reign O'er Me Won't Get Fooled Again My Generation Naked Eye + Slip Kid Magic Bus Pinball Wizard Amazing Journey/Sparks See Me, Feel Me Listening to You Tea & Theatre

Quireboys - Sunday 14th December - The Forum, Kentish Town

Rock and Roll at its best! Greatest Hits and a selection from the excellent new "Homewreckers and Heartbreakers" album.

Kentish Town has smartened up a bit too.. it even has a nice Piano Bar called "Annies"!

Status Quo - Friday 12th December - Brighton Centre

The 2nd of 2 Quo shows at the end of the year and Brighton presented an opportunity to take a day off work and have a leisurely wander around some bars and record shops.

It was just as well we weren't thirsty while we were in the Brighton Centre as they were enforcing a bizarre rule whereby drinks could be taken into the auditorium before the lights went down, but not during the show (despite the fact the bars were open and serving!).

Anyway, we had a good view from Row E, but personally I felt the band weren't quite on top form tonight. Last years Brighton Show was one of the best I've seen, but this one appeared a little rusty. Still, good to hear the "new" old songs in the set and Richard and I have decided to go for the rescheduled Portsmouth show in February.

Setlist:
Caroline
The Wanderer
Rain
Don''t Drive My Car
Mean Girl
Softer Ride
Beginning Of The End
Is There A Better Way
Proposin' Medley
Pictures Of Matchstich Men
Ice In The Sun
The Oriental
Creeping Up On You
In My Chair
Living On An Island
In The Army Now
Drum Solo
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over The World
+
Juniors Wailing
Rock 'N' Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny