Billy Joel - Tuesday 5th November - Hammersmith Apollo

Superstar Billy Joel returns to London, playing his smallest UK venue I'd guess since the 1970's. And not just any venue - London's best.

After a scrum for tickets whilst we'd been on holiday (thanks Dave!), we had decent seats in the stalls. Glad we remembered photo ID as it was needed for entry. Fyfe Dangerfield provided support (and another addition to my "chart acts" seen). He was fine and his version of Mr Joel's "She's Always A Woman To Me" from the John Lewis ad proved popular as expected.

Billy himself has clearly aged a bit since we last saw him. Now 64 (as he reminded us with a snippet of the Beatles classic), there was less jumping and running around, but still excellent showmanship and piano playing. Vocals were solid and of course the songs brilliant.

I was shouted down by friends who were there who didn't think "Zanzibar" was a weak point though. That song aside, I really enjoyed it all - being picky for £90 it would have been nice to have another 3 or 4 songs, but ho hum. I even purchased a poster on the way out - must be 20 years since I last did that at a gig!

Setlist
My Life
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Everybody Loves You Now
Where's the Orchestra?
Allentown
When I'm Sixty-Four 
Pressure
New York State of Mind
She's Right on Time
Vienna
Zanzibar
She's Always a Woman
Don't Ask Me Why
Uptown Girl
Blonde Over Blue
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
The River of Dreams [with Rule Britannia]
Piano Man
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We Didn't Start the Fire
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
You May Be Right
Only the Good Die Young

Quireboys - Thursday 17th October - Islington Academy

Spike from The Quireboys

"Know your Quireboys Drummers". That is becoming almost a speciality quiz question for me (the drummer and/or bassist appears to change nearly every time we see them). 2 points to me then for identifying the Union's Dave McClusky on sticks. No points to Richard for suggesting I was wrong despite have a chat with the guy in person a few months back!

A new set from the QBs - based around their excellent new album "Beautiful Curse". The band were on good form and you'll be able to watch it all on DVD soon. Spike appeared to be drinking less and singing more and his vocals and charisma showed through. The normal London spot of ex-member Guy Bailey at the bar, who to be fair hasn't weathered quite as well.

As a nod in his direction, the band substituted "Sex Party" in for "Mayfair" which was on the original setlist.
A quick note about the merchandise. Great effort! A good selection of items - many signed.  All at sensible prices too. Other bands take note please!

As Harry Redknapp may say  - top top band - top top show.

Setlist
Black Mariah
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Homewreckers and Heartbreakers
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Diamonds and Dirty Stones
27 Years
I Don't Love You Anymore
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
Beautiful Curse
Chain Smokin'
I Love This Dirty Town
7 O'Clock
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For Crying Out Loud
Mother Mary
Sex Party

Wheatus - Saturday 12th October - Borderline

After a previous trip seeing Wheatus in Kingston a year or 2 back, I was looking forward to seeing them play in a really small venue. Shamefully, I didn't own their debut CD which was being celebrated here, so I had to borrow a copy from my brother. That sounded OK, but I anticipated a bit more from the live experience. I was to be proved correct.

I met my fellow gig-goers in a slightly dodgy part of town a few minutes walk from Stockwell tube  at least the pub had an interesting selection of beers. We then failed miserably to get into the Intreprid Fox near the venue - a ticket only event with various zombies and vampires was in full swing (as indeed it appeared to be across the whole of Soho).

As predicted, the venue was packed (an afternoon matinee had been added!) and we were inside in time to catch the end of the main support - a freestyle rapper. H'mmm. There's an undoubted skill to being able to rap along to whatever nonsense is passed to you (phones, shoes, bag, glasses, beer etc), but let's just say it isn't my cup of tea.

Anyway, thankfully the main band were on. They somehow were getting some very electric sounds out of the semi-acoustic lead guitar (which appeared to be channelled through a bank of iPads/Macs at the rear of the stage.

My guess is that they played pretty much every song they've recorded plus a very good cover of Green Day's "Basket Case". The One Direction cover played on most of the other dates was sadly missing on this occasion (and no AC/DC either - genuine shame!). Of course, all ended with a boisterous "Teenage Dirtbag" with support acts back on stage. The one we missed (first on the bill I guess) actually sang really good vocals on this!

Off to Bradleys for a nightcap and a good fun evening was had by all.

Setlist
The London Sun
Fair Weather Friend
A Little Respect 
Truffles
Fourteen
Lemonade
Hey, Mr. Brown
Sunshine
Whole Amoeba
The Story of The Eggs
Leroy
Anyway
BMX Bandits
Love Is A Mutt From Hell
Wannabe Gangster
Basket Case
Teenage Dirtbag
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Hump 'em n' Dump 'em

Fleetwood Mac - Tuesday 24th September - O2 Arena, London

So, back for some more Fleetwood Mac - this time in the UK and back to the O2 again. And, thanks to some extremely generous friends, an evening in a corporate-style box with drinks thrown in... Lovely.

The setlist was identical to the show we saw in Tampa and the anecdotes were similar as you'd expect. Stevie Nicks vocals sounded better though and there was genuine appreciation from the crowd. We were slightly unluckily that Christine McVie only joined the band on the other 2 London shows and not this one, but you can't have everything. A really nice evening - thanks A&P!

Setlist

Second Hand News

The Chain

Dreams

Sad Angel

Rhiannon

Not That Funny

Tusk

Sisters of the Moon

Sara

Big Love

Landslide

Never Going Back Again

Without You

Gypsy

Eyes of the World

Gold Dust Woman

I'm So Afraid

Stand Back

Go Your Own Way

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World Turning

Don't Stop

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Silver Springs

Say Goodbye

Rod Stewart - Friday 20th September - O2 Arena, London

H'mm - not a great start to the evening. We'd taken a flyer earlier on in the day and purchased 2 below face value tickets from one of those "authorised secondary ticket sites" - you know the sort I mean. All comes with a guarantee and you print your own ticket etc. All good and feeling quite pleased with things until we get to the gate. Tickets rejected! No definitive reason given, but probably sold multiple times and used by someone else. This had happened to "loads of tickets" that night according to the gate security.

With the company representative missing, we faffed around for quite a while before 'sourcing alternative tickets' for ourselves. This meant we had missed a good 40 minutes of the set, but at least we were in eventually to see just over an hour. And what a good 70 mins or so it was - Rod's voice sounded good, the setlist was pure sing-a-long and I think everyone would have left having enjoyed the show.

PostScript: ticket money refunded without question, however no explanation given. Any of the readers have good or bad experiences with these secondary ticket resellers - not the likes of ebay, but the semi-official authorised ones?

Setlist

This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)

You Wear It Well

Tonight's the Night

Havin' a Party

Rhythm of My Heart

Chain of Fools 

Forever Young

The First Cut Is the Deepest 

Have I Told You Lately

I Don't Want to Talk About It 

Brighton Beach

Can't Stop Me Now

She Makes Me Happy

Maggie May

I'd Rather Go Blind

Soul Man  (Sung by backup singers; sung as "Soul Girl") 

You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)

Sailing

Hot Legs

Baby Jane

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Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Woodedz - Sunday 7th September - Dugdale Centre, Enfield

New town, new venue. Well for those of us from south if the river anyway. It looks to an outsider that Enfield has a nice part - Enfield Chase, and a not so great part - the town. We found 3 nice pubs in the former - the riverside one being particularly pleasant.

The venue - the Dugdale Centre - is firmly in the town. It is a modern theatre complex and stands out from its slightly rougher surroundings. 

In case you don't know, Woodedz are John 'Rhino' Edwards from Status Quo, together with his 2 sons, Freddie and Max. The audience - primarily Quo fans were here in support of this charity show raising cash for the local Papworth Hospital. 

Not really knowing what material to expect, it was good to hear a large chunk of the Rhino's Revenge album, some obscure and not so obscure Quo tacks and a smattering of covers. The only downside was a dreadful song which appeared to be called 'Secretary' with truly cringe-worthy lyrics ("you want a double entendre, I'll give you one" etc). 

Otherwise, well worth the tenner entrance fee and trip across town. Now if only the venue could afford a stage...

Scouting For Girls - Friday 8th August - Brighton Racecourse

So, another chance to see Scouting For Girls - this time in the environment of Brighton racecourse after an afternoon of horse racing. The concert area itself was on a smaller scale to similar events at Epsom and Sandown and as a result a reasonable view could be had by all.

Bizarrely, the setlist was completely different to the Borderline show. A couple of covers were thrown in - Carly Simon's Bond theme, 'Nobody Does It Better' was a highlight and there was a recent Daft Punk song which has apparently been at number one for ages. I was possibly one of about 3 people in the crowd who didn't know it! Otherwise the greatest hits went down well. 

If anyone has the setlist, please pass comment. This was a nice evening in the sun without the hassle often associated with outdoor shows. 

Scouting For Girls - Tuesday 16th July - Borderline, London

Scouting For Girls turn up the heat

Scouting For Girls warm up for their forthcoming tour of British Racecourses with an intimate show at the Borderline - scene of their first London gig 8 years ago. With the temperature outside in the high 80's the heat in this underground venue was intense - for some reason the air conditioning was on at the back of the venue, but not on the floor at the front.

Funnily enough, we didn't feel like consuming much beer, so stayed away from the (empty) bar.

Anyway the heat didn't stop the predominantly female crowd enjoying the boys run through some new and more familiar material. The standard highlights included "I Wish I Was James Bond", "Elvis Ain't Dead", "Michaela Strachan" and of course, the finale, "She's So Lovely". One thing I do like about the band is that they seem to genuinely enjoy playing and engaging with the audience. Couldn't ask for more and looking forward to my family trip to Brighton next month to see them again.

Setlist
Make That Girl Mine
Millionaire
Without You
Summer In The City
Love How It Hurts
Take a Chance On Us
Silly Song
Famous
This Ain't A Love Song
Keep On Walkin'
I Wish I Was James Bond
It's Not About You
[Happy Birthday to Audience member]
Heartbeat
Elvis Ain't Dead (inc I Can't Help Falling With Love With You)
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It Always Rains In L.A.
Posh Girls
Mountains of Navaho
Michaela Strachan
She's So Lovely

Bryan Adams - Sunday 14th July - Guildford Stoke Park

The only UK date this year for Bryan Adams as part of the "Magic Summer Live" event in Guildford. Not being too keen on the rest of the bill, our attendance was obtained by a "2 for 1" offer a few weeks before the event. A really hot day meant refreshment was sought in a couple of pubs by the river before heading to Stoke Park. We caught the end of James Morrison's set, but were confident we'd not missed much for the rest of the day.

Bryan himself seemed very relaxed and played a solid set. The electric version of "I'm Ready" was unexpected and most welcome. "Summer of '69" was as brilliant as ever (albeit quite short) and the crowd engaged well after a long day in the sun. A man was called from the audience (a first according to BA) for "When You're Gone" and all in all this was an enjoyable Sunday evening.

Setlist anyone? (the one on setlist.fm is wildly incomplete)

The Who - Monday 8th July - Wembley Arena

The Punk & the Godfather?

I'm not going into details other than to confirm that the Who are officially brilliant !

Setlist

I Am The Sea
The Real Me
Quadrophenia
Cut My Hair
The Punk and the Godfather
I'm One
The Dirty Jobs
Helpless Dancer
Is It in My Head?
I've Had Enough
5:15
Sea and Sand
Drowned
Bell Boy
Doctor Jimmy
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me
+
Who Are You
You Better You Bet
Pinball Wizard
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre