Catscratch Fever - Saturday 31st March - White Lion, Streatham

Tyla J Pallas

An unusual one this. An unprecedented trip to Streatham for a show in aid of a local cats charity and a children's charity. A lengthy "all day" event, we decided to get there a bit later to concentrate on the 3 headline acts.

First, a quick check out of the pubs Streatham High Street had to offer. Most were absolutely fine (despite a £5 pint, yep really, of Moretti in our first stop). Gastropub prices gone mad! The backstreet option we found was a little more weird. I can only assume the "all-day bender" is alive and well in some parts of town!

Into the White Lion, which is a decent enough old fashioned pub with the gig surprisingly in the front area overlooked by massive windows. By no means full, but a healthy enough crowd was in by the time we turned up, checked our names were on the list (always nice when they are!) and handed over our catfood donation!

Our first act was Brijitte West who I'd never heard of, doing an acoustic set. Turns out she is the singer from NY Loose and was really good. Despite not knowing any of the songs, her half hour set flew by. After quite a long gap, the band we'd really come for, The Peckham Cowboys, were on. Featuring ex-Quireboy Guy Bailey on guitar, this is not a photogenic band! That matters not, when they play some good quality bar room blues and rock though. A solid show, but only about 25 mins worth which was a shame. Hopefully they'll do some of their own shows soon.

Headline act was Tyla from Dogs D'Amour. For me, this was the surprise of the evening. In his 90 minute acoustic set, I didn't know any of the songs (unfortunately no "Satellite Kid"!), but it was enthralling. A mixture of soft heartfelt ballads and some punchy rock numbers all played expertly whilst sipping on various drinks (Guinness, Red Wine etc) between songs. As Richard and I left, we commented how that will be tough to beat as the value gig of the year!

Roger Daltrey - Wednesday 28th March - Royal Albert Hall



"Who Are You"? Royal Albert Hall - view from the Gods


Our annual pilgrimage to the Royal Albert Hall in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust Charity. Their excellent work is supported by a series of gigs each year arranged by Roger Daltrey. Much as we'd liked to have gone to see Paul McCartney a few days later, the prices were a bit out of reach, so instead we went for the opening night to see Roger himself, albeit from slightly long range in the circle! there had been much press debate leading up to the show around debenture holders flogging their seats for huge profits and although there were some restricted view seats left empty, it was a pretty good turnout for the Who frontman and "friends".


Thumbnail of Kelly Jones and Ron Wood from
http://life.royalalberthall.com/2012/03/roger-daltrey-and-friends-kick-of-the-2012-teenage-cancer-trust-concerts/

 A 2 song acoustic set from Mr Daltrey started proceedings (pretty average in my opinion), including "Freedom" before the first of the "special" guests appeared - Paul Freeman who did 1 song. A brief (early!) interlude was followed by Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics, who I really enjoyed. One highlight was Ron Wood joining him for an excellent Faces "Ooh La La" - outrageously predicted by me at the start of the evening!

Another break and then it was time for Paul Weller. By many accounts, his live performances can be a bit hit or miss, depending on what songs he chooses to play. Here, I thought the mix of well known and new was about right and his brief acoustic set was enjoyable.

Another break and it was time for the main attraction - Roger Daltrey's electric set. Without Simon Townshend on guitar for a change and with no sign of Pete either, he ripped through a range of Who classics interrupted only by more guests. First up was Scottish songstress Amy MacDonald who did the 2 of the 3 songs of hers I have (!) and a popular cover of Springsteen's "Born To Run". I was impressed. She was quickly followed by Steve Winwood, who's "Higher Ground" has never struck me as a classic song. I was clearly in the minority on that one as most of the crowd got to their feet for an extended version. I much preferred the next song, the Spencer Davis classic "Gimme Some Lovin'" and by then the party was in full swing. Ron Wood and Kelly Jones returned later for a slight chaotic "Baba O'Riley" after a slightly self indulgent "Young Man Blues", but there was little to complain about. Roger's traditional solo show closers bought the evening to an end. A good evening for an excellent cause.

Setlist (Daltrey Electric)
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
Behind Blue Eyes
Mr Rock and Roll - Amy MacDonald
This Is The Life - Amy MacDonald
Born To Run - Amy MacDonald
Higher Love - Steve Winwood
Gimme Some Lovin' - Steve Winwood
Pinball Wizard
I Can See For Miles
Won't Get Fooled Again
Young Man Blues
Baba O Riley
+
Without Your Love
Blue, Red and Grey

The Union / The Answer – Thursday 15th March – Camden Electric Ballroom

Luke & Peter from The Union

Regular readers (if there are any!) will know that I like both of these bands. After watching Man Utd’s particularly poor display against Bilbao on TV, we trundled in to fairly busy venue and got our normal “spot” to watch the first band of this “double header”. I’m pleased to report that The Union were on top form, concentrating on the heavier elements of their 2 albums so far. It struck me for the first time about their “glam” influences, during Glitter-esq drum and bass on “Obsession” and Slade like chorus on “Black Monday” – “Hell Fire Fury, Stomping Your Feet”. Brilliant stuff.

The Answer

As you know my views on the Answer sway from them being an excellent band (they are), but not quite having the songs to go with the talent. This appears partially mitigated against by their new album “Revival” which is a step up from the disappointing “Everyday Demons” in my view. Much new material was played here and it sounded good. We did laugh though at singer Cormack’s crowd surfing – he didn’t get as far as he had done in the tiny Borderline. We (somewhat unkindly!) speculated that he seems to have put on few pounds since then.

So all in all an excellent double bill. Only slight disappointment was that none of the local pubs were serving at 11pm on a Thursday – what is going on with our City?

Oh, and there was an unconfirmed "Ling Alert" !

Setlist: The Union
Watch The River Flow
Black Gold
Blame It On Tupelo
Saviour
Step Up To The Plate
Obsession
The Remedy
Cut The Line
Easy Street
Black Monday
Siren's Song

Setlist: The Answer
New Day Rising
Under The Sky
Vida (I Want You)
Faith Gone Down
Come Follow Me
Trouble
Nowhere Freeway
Preachin'
Tornado
Too Far Gone
One More Revival
+
Evil Man
Waste Your Tears

Simon Townshend – Wednesday 7th March – Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

A “limited number of tickets” were available for the official launch party for Simon’s new album and Richard and I snared a couple when they became available. Our search for a pub in the vicinity with a dartboard proved to be in vain, so we had to settle for the entertainment of seeing Stevenage take the lead against Spurs and Lionel Messi’s first 2 of is historic 5 goals in a Champions League game.

We wanted to get in relatively early as support was provided by Mollie Marriott, who as a quick Youtube search will show you, has a very impressive voice. According to Rich, the phrase I used on the night – “I’ve checked her out on Youtube” – sounds dodgy and could mean something else entirely! In any case, she and her band were as good as I’d hoped, playing mainly original material but finishing with an alternative take on a rock and roll number (unfortunately the title escapes me!)

So onto Simon’s set. We secured a good view outside the “dressing rooms” at the side of the stage and were treated to an extended set. An early surprise was a version of the early Who track – “I’m The Face”. From there there was a mix of new material (all pretty good), some old classics (especially good version of “The Way It Is”) and his brother’s “Going Mobile”. Slightly surprised that there were no guests (Roger Daltrey had shown up for 4 songs a few shows earlier), but all in all a good evening. Unfortunately the CDs for signing sold out before we got a chance to grab one, but at least that meant we got a civilised train home.

Setlist
Electric Friend
Something New
I’m The Face
Flyaway
There’s A Girl
Come Back
Making Waves
She Asked Me
Anyway She Moves
Make It
Bed of Roses
Looking Out Looking In
Still Love
Going Mobile
Stay
Forever And A Day
+
The Way It Is (Solo Acoustic)
Twenty To Eleven
The Dirty Jobs
I'm The Answer

American Anthems Featuring John Parr - Tuesday 7th February - New Wimbledon Theatre

Purely by chance I noticed an advert for this online. Having enjoyed Mr Parr's support slots at the Borderline and Hammersmith over the last couple of years, it looked a good opportunity to see him, albeit in the confines of a stage production.

That production basically involved a particularly thin plot used as an excuse to perform classic American rock songs. The performances ranged from OK to actually pretty good - the guy playing the preacher (Rob Castell) was particularly entertaining and Rebecca Kelly was probably the pick of the female vocalists. A more than competent live band ensures that the numerous tunes played (Bon Jovi, Springsteen, Eagles, Journey, Guns 'N' Roses, Elvis etc) were well received. The blokes in the audience were also rewarded with an attractive quartet of dancers/backing singers who as well as performing well, seemed to appear in skimpier and skimpier outfits as the night went on.

So, good music, thin plot - where does Mr Parr fit in? Errr, well he didn't really. They basically stopped the play so that he could appear in some sort of "guest spot". He then churned through "Naughty Naughty" with the band and "Coming to Wimbledon" & "Oh Well" acoustically before a predictable (but excellent) "St. Elmo's Fire" back with the band. He did appear later in the encore, but it was clear that his name is only on the show to sell a few more tickets (and sell a few copies of his new CD afterwards). So, if you'd come only expecting to hear a lot of John Parr material you'd have left disappointed. Let's hope for a solo tour soon and regard this show for what it was - a bit of fun and a vehicle for some classic songs.

We retired to Wetherspoons Pub afterwards and were joined by pretty much the entire cast (minus Mr Parr). Regrettably the dancers were more appropriately dressed by then!

Official American Anthems Site
Picture above taken from publicity photos on Real Radio XS

An Evening with Danny And Ben From Thunder - Friday 20th January - Bush Hall, Shepherd's Bush

So, my last show of 2011 was Thunder, the first of 2012 is two members of the same band - singer Danny Bowes and guitarist (and occasional keyboardist) Ben Matthews. At an intimate Bush Hall, the emphasis was as much on storytelling as music. Indeed only 10 songs in 2 and a half hours showed that it wasn't even a 50-50 split.

The stories were entertaining - covering Thunder's life on the road and trips to Japan, Germany and a number of festivals. The music was pretty much acoustic and featured only 3 Thunder songs including a pleasant piano-based "A Better Man". The other covers were a little hit and miss ("hit" for the Who's Squeeze Box, "miss" for Chuck Berry's Nadine). For the final song of the evening - Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love", the boys were joined by Danny's daughter Lucy on vocals and despite looking nervous, she performed very well.

So all in all a good fun evening, but not a show which you would choose to go to more than once on a tour.

Setlist
Seagull
Nadine
A Better Man
See My Baby Walking
+
Squeeze Box
She's Not You
Interlude / I'm One (Acoustic Guitar only)
Blackbird
Like a Satellite
+
Make You feel My Love

Thunder - Tuesday 20th December - Rock City, Nottingham

Thunder , for those that could see them!

So, Thunder are back. Or are they? Time will tell if this was a one-off return for the traditional Christmas shows in Nottingham, or the rebirth of a fantastic band. I for one, hope the latter.

The downside is that they continue to play at the dreadful Rock City. The venue holds 1900 people. It was full, very full. You can only see the whole stage if you are either a) directly in front of it or b) in the front row of the balcony. Everyone else can see either nothing or very little. This leads to pushing, arguing and general unpleasantness. It take ages to get in and an age to filter out. It's a real shame as the admin side of things (website, ticket sales, staff etc) are all excellent, but it makes for the worst gig experiences I have anywhere.

OK rant over - awful venue, great band. The usual mix of covers and Thunder Classics. The band played a bit safe with the selection of their own material and the covers were a bit hit and miss (blank stares all round at a couple of them), but it was still a good night. Indeed, the finale of "Merry Christmas Everybody" seemed slightly more authentic than Slade's a few nights earlier!!

With hotel booked and a lie in the next morning, we upped the average age by joining the students in the "Rescue Rooms" nightclub (after a fun go at the "Countdown" board game in the pub!). £1.90 a pint of San Miguel possibly contributed to the hangover the next day!

I have subsequently found out the the 1st World Darts Final was played at the venue now known as Rock City! As Richard asked, how did they see a thing?

Setlist
Everybody Wants Her
Living for Today
We Can Work It Out
Everybody's Laughing
Breakdown
Come & Get It
The Thrill of It All
You Wear It Well
You're My Best Friend
Once in a Lifetime
Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know)
+
Loser
The Devil Made Me Do It
Higher Ground
Castles In The Sand
Living For The City
Gimme Some Lovin'
Like A Satellite
You Can't Keep A Good Man Down
Live and Let Die
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll
+
A Better Man
Dirty Love
Merry Xmas Everybody

Slade - Sunday 19th December - Koko, Camden

Dave Hill

A Koko debut this year for Slade. Well, that's the name they used, but it's not Slade for me without Noddy (Holder) and Jim (Lea).

So, let's say, an evening with Slade II. Original members Don Powell and Dave Hill were greeted like returning hero's by a pleasingly large turnout. The whole event was for the Lord's Taverners charity, so let's hope they made some cash, DJ (and fan) Mike Read did the introductions and then followed a run through of basically "The Best of Slade".

Two things stood out for me. One, Dave Hill is an excellent guitarist. The riffs were spot on and he clearly enjoys playing to the crowds. Two, the vocals. Ouch! Now nobody can replace Noddy, so maybe they shouldn't try. The vocals for the first few songs were shouted and just a bit off-key. As the show warmed up and the songs were actually "sung" - it all started to sound a bit better and I especially enjoyed "Lock Up Your Daughters". All filmed for DVD release if you want to check it out for yourself.

The very early start meant the closing song (no prizes for guessing the obvious) was all done and dusted before 9pm. An early night all round!

Def Leppard - Wednesday 14th December - Wembley Arena

Off to North London to the "hangar" for a rock "double-header". Skipping support "Steel Panther", we arrived to find Motley Crue in full swing. Taking a safe view from miles away, we were "treated" to an expletive filled set of actually quite fun material.

Regular readers will know how much I detest drum solos, but even I will admit that Tommy Lee's rollercoaster "wheel" was entertaining. I enjoyed a snippet of the "Leader's" Rock And Roll Part 2 before "Smoking in The Boys Room" and of course, "Girls Girls Girls" was a massive singalong. Quite whether I wanted to be called a "MotherF****r" so often I'm not so sure. It didn't really add much and we stopped counting at around 100 profanities.

Excellent timing of Beer runs and Gents visits meant we moved forward about 80 yards for Def Leppard. They were solid and in good touch with the audience. As it was the last night of the tour, I'd expected a guest or 2 (Brian May, Ian Hunter?), but no such luck.

Richard was only half believing when I pointed out that the version of "Bringing On The Heartache" was not as heavy as the other rendition I'd heard in the same venue - by Mariah Carey !!

Setlist
Undefeated
Rocket
Action
Let It Go
C'mon C'mon
When Love and Hate Collide
Women
Two Steps Behind (Acoustic)
Bringin' on the Heartbreak
Switch 625
Hysteria
Animal
Armageddon It
Photograph
Pour Some Sugar on Me
+
Love Bites
Let's Get Rocked

Status Quo - Sunday 11th December - O2 Arena, London

All on stage for the "grand" finale!

The Home - Brighton - Home - Greenwich O2 cycle continues with a return the the O2. Pretty much the same as Brighton except we skipped Kim Wilde's set. Some very drunk people around us made me think it was going to get unpleasant but as it turned out everyone behaved (even if the bloke in front was blatantly smoking weed whilst standing next to a steward!).

I actually quite enjoyed Francis completely messing up the last verse of Paper Plane with a random selection of words from other verses and it was nice to see the venue fairly packed (notwithstanding the top level was curtained off). Some of the people near us had not read up on the encore and their faces were a picture when Winter Wonderland started. A mixture of bemusement and horror!

See Brighton for the setlist - you didn't think it would change did you?