Bryan Adams - Wednesday 26th November - Wembley Arena

So it turns out Wembley is now called the SSE arena. I'm not old enough to call it the "Wembley Empire Pool", so I'm sticking to "Wembley Arena" where Mr Adams was making his 27th appearance (or so he told the crowd). I'll need to work out how many of those I've been at - must be 20 odd I'd guess. We had pretty average seats (Block B, row 9) - and I was feeling decidedly less than 100%, but that didn't really matter as Bryan delivered another strong show. Very similar to Saturday, but a different "bonus", a first hearing (for me) of "The Boys Night Out" which did leave a large portion of the crowd slightly bewildered. The rest of the show followed the pattern of the other recent shows on the tour.

A charity donor had paid £10,000 to perform and did a great job on "When You're Gone".

Bryan encouraged those of us further back to move forward for the encore which we did (Wembley security weren't really keen on this idea in the middle of the arena though!)

All great stuff - roll on show 28 as soon as possible!

Setlist
Reckless
One Night Love Affair
She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'
Run to You
Heaven
The Boys Night Out
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
Long Gone
Somebody
Ain't Gonna Cry
Summer of '69
Let Me Down Easy 
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Cuts Like a Knife
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Please Forgive Me
When You're Gone [Acoustic with Lesley Kirkland]
18 til I Die
Cloud #9
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
+
You've Been a Friend to Me
C'mon Everybody 
She Knows Me [Acoustic]
Straight from the Heart [Acoustic]
All for Love [Acoustic]

Bryan Adams - Saturday 22nd November - O2 Arena

More Bryan Adams. This time a full band show at the sold out O2, celebrating 30 years since the release of "Reckless" - the classic 1984 album, and probably my favourite record of all time.

So you won't be surprised to hear that this did not disappoint. We got 2 hours plus of classic rock, the first time I'd ever heard the songs  "Reckless" (not on the original album!), Ain't Gonna Cry and "Let Me Down Easy" played, plus a first (and so far, only) play of "Too Hot To Handle".

Bryan was amusing with his comments between songs and seemed to be having a ball. Looking forward to Wednesday for a repeat at Wembley.


Setlist
Reckless
One Night Love Affair
She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'
Run To You
Heaven [with Jim Vallance]
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
Long Gone
Somebody
Ain't Gonna Cry
Summer Of '69
Let Me Down Easy [Acoustic]
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Cuts Like A Knife
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Please Forgive Me
When You're Gone [Acoustic]
18 Til I Die
Cloud #9
The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
+
Too Hot To Handle
You've Been a Friend to Me
C'mon Everybody 
She Knows Me [Acoustic]
Straight From The Heart [Acoustic]
All For Love [Acoustic]

Joanne Shaw Taylor - Wednesday 19th November - Shepherd's Bush Empire

I'd never actually heard of Joanne up until a few months ago and had booked to see this show on the strength of seeing Bernie Marsden. Throw in the fact that it was a good value ticket and we nabbed front row seats and it was looking like an enjoyable evening. I was also feeling relatively young in an audience of primarily middle aged gentlemen.

Bernie came on first and slightly surprisingly most of his set was acoustic. None the worse for it, both vocals and guitar were excellent. The finale "Here I Go Again" featured lines from both the 1987 remake and the original, which was nice.

Joanne was on shortly afterwards. And wow! What a great evening of blues rock. I was expecting at least one more guitarist in the band, but clearly this wasn't needed. Some of her solos (split between a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Telecaster) were fantastic and the songs very listenable to. Vocally, Joanne seems to sound a bit like Tina Turner in the "Steamy Windows" vein, and sometime the words weren't 100% clear, but that was a minor niggle. She's only in her mid twenties, so a long career seems likely. A highlight was when Bernie reappeared for "Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues".

The evening concluded with the title track from her new album "The Dirty Truth". I shall certainly be purchasing some CDs and looking out for tickets the next time Joanne tours.

Setlists

Bernie Marsden
Lie On The Track
Wedding Day
Till the Day I Die
Who Do We Think We Are?
Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City
Ain't Gonna Cry No More
Dragonfly
Here I Go Again

Joanne Shaw Taylor
Mud Honey
Just Another Word
Watch 'em Burn
Jealousy
Jump That Train
Diamonds In The Dirt
Wrecking Ball
Tried, Tested & True
Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues [with Bernie Marsden]
Let It Burn [with Bernie Marsden]
Tied & Bound
Going Home
+
The Dirty Truth

An Evening of Who Music - Tuesday 11th November - Shepherd's Bush Empire

This show, in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, featured the Who's current touring band (including Zak Starkey, Pino Palladino, Simon Townshend & Billy Nicholls) and a host of guest vocalists. Hosted by Chris Evans, the event has been described as the a stars karaoke evening, but it turned out to be more than that with some excellent vocal performances, a moving charity film and some hilarious moments from Johnny Vegas and Rich Hall adding to some fine musicianship from one of the World's top bands. Oh, and Roger Daltrey sang at the end too!

Sadly there was no Pete Townshend. "I think Pete would rather do anything rather than have his songs played back to him by others" quipped Roger at the start of the evening. there then proceed to be a number of acts who I'd heard of, but not seen. Most surprisingly good were Rizzle Kicks, who's rap inspired version of "Who Are You" worked fantastically. I bet it was the most atypical audience they'd ever played to! Rich "I'm so far out of my depth here" Hall rasped his away through You Better You Bet, claiming it has the song "that had got be barred from karaoke bards across North America". Johnny Vegas sang some of Dr Jimmy and The Real Me acapella with the crowd, saying that the Quadrophenia album "saved his life".

Ricky Wilson was good, albeit with song sheets. Sheila Ferguson forgot the words to Acid Queen, which didn't really matter. Liam Gallagher snarled his way through a fine My Generation in a particularly dodgy looking mac and Eddie Vedder sounded better than I'd ever heard him before.

Roger Daltrey ended a fine evening with Substitute and an appropriate Young Man Blues. A very expensive evening, but a worthwhile one in every sense.

Setlist
I Can't Explain (with Andy Burrows)
The Kids Are Alright (with The Strypes)
Getting in Tune (with Tom Odell)
Behind Blue Eyes (with Amy Macdonald)
Who Are You (with Rizzle Kicks)
You Better You Bet (with Rich Hall)
5:15 (with Ricky Wilson)
Bell Boy (with Ricky Wilson)
Love, Reign O'er Me (with Joe Elliott)
The Acid Queen (with Sheila Ferguson)
The Seeker (with Geddy Lee)
Baba O'Riley (with Leslie Mendelson)
My Generation (with Liam Gallagher)
Naked Eye (with Eddie Vedder)
Won't Get Fooled Again (with Eddie Vedder)
See Me, Feel Me (with Eddie Vedder + ensemble)
+
Substitute (with Roger Daltrey)
Young Man Blues (with Roger Daltrey)

https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/

Paul Rodgers - Monday 3rd November - Royal Albert Hall

The sole UK appearance for Paul Rodgers this year is not in an industrial estate in Chichester, but the more impressive arena of the Royal Albert Hall. In aid of the same charity as last year, Paul has assembled the Memphis based backing band who played on this years "Royal Sessions" album - a collection of soul and blues songs from Paul's formative years.

Now, I would normally be very much in the "rock" camp when it comes to Paul's material, but to be fair, the guy can sing anything. Great vocals, excellent backing from the band and even "Can't Get Enough" & "The Hunter" thrown in for good measure.

A rule of thumb says never to leave a show until the house lights come up and the backing tapes start. Even if you followed that rule this time, you could well have missed the final song (a 2nd encore where at least 1/3 of the crowd had left!). this enabled us to get right down to the front amongst the others who had swapped the T shirt attire for a thick coat! If a DVD comes out, look for the crowd changes at the end!

I was touch and go whether to buy a ticket for this show due to the high cost and expected material, but I'm glad I did.

Setlist
Down Don't Bother Me 
Shake 
That's How Strong My Love Is 
Any Ole Way 
I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) 
I Can't Stand the Rain
It's Growing 
Champagne and Wine 
Walk In My Shadow 
I Thank You 
Born Under a Bad Sign 
The Hunter 
Can't Get Enough 
+
Walk On By 
Wonderful World 
I've Got Dreams to Remember 
+
Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)

Status Quo - Wednesday 22nd October - Roundhouse

So this is a bit different - Status Quo acoustic (or "Aquostic" if you go by their new album). A trip to the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm and he were not quite sure what to expect having not yet heard the album. Predictably, the "hardcore" on the Quo message boards had been ripping the concept to shreds without even hearing anything, but a full house turned up to watch a performance being beamed around the country on Radio 2 and the via BBC red button service.

The venue was pretty packed, so we settled for a spot under the moving camera arm - controversially on the right (but with no electric bass, this wasn't really going to be an issue!). And guess what? It was a really enjoyable evening. I think 99% of the people there seemed to enjoy it. Some songs worked really well - I particularly enjoyed "Na Na Na", "Reason for Living" & "Rolling Home" and to be fair some didn't - "Mystery Song/Little Lady" springs to mind!

As a one-off project I think it works. I can't see it being a sustainable change of direction - I can't see fans turning up show after show if Quo shy away from their high tempo electric shows (although an acoustic section in the main electric set could work). I would imagine sales of the album cover T-Shirts (with Francis and Rick semi-naked) would count as the lowest ever!

An 8 out of 10 for me as a unique event.

Setlist

And It's Better Now

Break the Rules
Again and Again
Paper Plane
Mystery Song / Little Lady
Rock 'n' Roll
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Softer Ride
Down Down
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Down The Dustpipe
All The Reasons
Reason For Living
Rollin' Home
Don't Drive My Car
Claudie
Rain
Marguerita Time
Na Na Na
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Rock 'til You Drop
Burning Bridges

Ian Hunter - Friday 3rd October - Brighton Concorde 2

Every now and then something really special happens at a gig and you just can't put your finger on what. I've seen Ian Hunter a few times over the last decade and it's always been good. For a reason I can't pinpoint, this was extra special.

Was it the venue? (a first for me) and its intimacy? Was it the disregard for the other setlists from this tour? Was it the appreciative audience or the fine set of musicians on stage? Who knows, but this was a great show.
We had a decent spot towards the front on the left. Sound quality was excellent and this was really evident on fine versions of "Flowers", "Irene Wilde" and "23a Swan Hill". Ian told a brief story about Lynsey De Paul (who sadly died this week) and how she came up with the "Ariel Bender" name - originally applied to Mick Ralphs!

And for the first time in seemingly ages, I got to hear "All The Young Dudes" without Joe Elliot singing on it! All in all, a truly inspiring evening.

Setlist anyone please?

Bryan Adams - Wednesday 10th September - Brighton Centre

No shows in August means it's been a while since the last updates. This was the first of 3 anticipated trips to see Mr Adams this year - this one an acoustic outing as part of his long-standing "Bare Bones" tour. I'd found out earlier in the week that some friends of ours were going too, so we met in a pub in the Laines. Unbelievably, it turned out that they had 2 row G tickets right next to our 2. Bizarre coincidence!

The show was good. the only downside was the number of ballads played - but I guess that's always likely with an acoustic show. The up-tempo numbers were better received - Run To You, Summer of '69, When You're Gone etc together with the new song "She Knows Me". There were some amusing anecdotes between tunes too. It was a good evening, but I predict the full band shows coming up will be better!

Setlist *

Run to You

It's Only Love

I Thought I'd Seen Everything

Here I Am

When You Love Someone

This Time

I Finally Found Someone

Can't Stop This Thing We Started

If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You

Cuts Like a Knife

Flying

Summer of '69

She Knows Me

Heaven

All for Love

When You're Gone

18 til I Die

Cloud Number Nine

One Night Love Affair

The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You

You've Been a Friend to Me

+

Somebody

Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?

I Still Miss You... A Little Bit

Straight From the Heart

* I'm not 100% sure this is exactly the set, but it's pretty close. If anything is missing or wrong then please comment.

Beach Boys - Thursday 17th July - Epsom Downs

Another day, another racecourse! And a band of comparable age to last night. The Beach Boys are of course one of the legendary US bands of all time. They do leave themselves open to the age old question of "how many original members do you need to still be called [whatever the name of the act is]". Well in this case they have vocalist Mike Love who at the age of 73 is still touring the World.

To be fair, there are at least a few family connections with other band members as well as a returning guitarist from a previous line-up. The essence of the group though is displayed throughout with the classic harmonies and the surf-style guitar sound that they so helped popularise.

With the left hand side of the stage blocked by what looked like a completely unnecessary fence, the crowd sometimes had to shuffle round to get a good view. The good news at this type of show though is you generally get a bit more standing room than if you were going to a multi-band festival. they are also child-friendly.

Also, when a band has had as many hits as The Beach Boys, you want to hear them. They didn't let us down here, with the shortness of the original songs lending itself to a 28 song set, peppered with classics. Fun, Fun, Fun all the way.

Setlist
Do It Again
Goin' to The Beach
Little Honda
Catch A Wave
Surfin' Safari
Surfer Girl
Why Do Fools Fall In Love 
When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
Darlin'
Don't Worry Baby
Little Deuce Coupe
409
I Get Around
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Then I Kissed Her
California Girls
Pisces Brother
God Only Knows
Good Vibrations
Cotton Fields 
Kokomo
Help Me, Rhonda
Do You Wanna Dance?
Barbara Ann
Surfin' U.S.A.
+
Wild Honey
Fun, Fun, Fun

Status Quo - Wednesday 16th July - Sandown Park Racecourse

Many UK racecourses now do live music events, featuring and evening of Horse racing and a well known band. This one was quite close to home, but the first time I've seen any acts at Sandown Park.

As can be seen from the picture, the stage itself was quite large. What can't be seen is the huge sideways slope where the audience stands. In front of the left hand side of the stage must be several feet lower that the right hand side which makes standing a touch uncomfortable!

Still, after some success on the gee-gees (get in, "Needlessly Shouting"!), we took up a spot about 2/3 of the way back to the mixing desk. We had some Quo "first timers" with us who reported their enjoyment of the show later. For the Quo regulars amongst us, this was a decent performance, without being stunning. It's always a bit more difficult away from your own audience. Quo did their standard "festival set" (the same as at Download a month or two ago). It went down well, but it would have been nice if it was a bit louder! That seems to be the main issue with the race course shows - I think they have strict sound limits in place that aren't quite loud enough for an open air show.

From where we were standing the keyboards were far to high in the mix. This actually highlighted how good Andy Bown's playing is, but there is no disrespect in saying that when you come to see Quo, you want to hear guitars!

Setlist
Caroline
Paper Plane
Hold You Back
Rain
Rock 'n' Roll 'n' You
Beginning of The End
What You're Proposing / Down The Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again
Big Fat Mama
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
In The Army Now
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over The World
+
Junior's Wailing
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny