Status Quo - Friday 9th September - Union Chapel

Acoustic Quo as a warm up for Sunday's Hyde Park show. Rick still not well enough to perform, so the "Aquostic" Quo are a man down. They've decided to stand for this one in the most intimate venue they've played for years. A good choice of up tempo numbers for a festival set seems a good choice and we get the bonus of hearing the "new" songs twice. It works - just.

Setlist
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Paper Plane
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Claudie
That's a Fact
Hold You Back
Rollin' Home
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Burning Bridges
+
That's A Fact (repeat)
Hold Ya Back (repeat)

Kenney Jones & The Jones Gang - Friday 26th August - Under The Bridge

Back to Stamford Bridge for a rare outing from the former Small Faces / Who drummer. With the fantastic Robert Hart on vocals, this was an enjoyable romp through some classic rock of the 60's and 70's. It was good - but far too short. Surely it would not have been much to ask to sneak in another 4 or 5 Small Faces and Who Tracks.

Dave "Bucket" Colwell joined in for the 2nd Bad Company song and the "Free" encore. Last saw him with Jim Cregan at Sutton United - perhaps he only plays football grounds these days!

Interestingly, besides the time I saw Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, I have not seen less interaction between the named act an the audience - Kenney did not utter a word in our direction. can only assume he is shy.

So, good, but was hoping for more.

Setlist
Can't Get Enough
The Time of Your Life
Maggie May
Substitute
Feel Like Making Love
All Or Nothing
Tin Soldier
Mr Brown
Angel
Itcthycoo Park
Stay With Me
Won't Get Fooled Again
+
All Right Now

Bryan Adams - Sunday 14th August - Brighton Centre

And here it is - yet more Bryan Adams (it has been a vintage year!). Down at the seaside again - another solid show (surprisingly not sold out) and the bonus of an acoustic "Hearts On Fire" plus a view "down the front". Bryan and the band (including the bassist from "The Feeling") have been on great form this tour - hopefully his next album will build on the success of "Get Up" and be a real rocker.

Setlist
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Don't Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin'
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of '69
When You're Gone [solo acoustic]
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Back to You
We Did It All
Somebody
I'll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 'Til I Die
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
+
Brand New Day
C'mon Everybody 
All Shook Up 
She Knows Me [solo acoustic]
Hearts On Fire [solo acoustic] *
All for Love [solo acoustic]
Remember [solo acoustic]
Straight From the Heart [solo acoustic]

* Hearts On Fire might not be in the precise setlist location

Bryan Adams - Thursday 4th August - Sandown Park

A nice evening of racing in the sun (with sadly very few winners) followed by a sold out concert. They could have done with a few more speakers towards the back as the light wind affected the sound badly. As the children were in tow, we spent most of the show miles away and although from what we could here sounded good, it did detract from the normal enjoyment I normally get from Bryan's shows. Still, that aspect will be put right again very soon!

Setlist
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Don't Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin'
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of '69
When You're Gone [solo acoustic]
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Back to You
We Did It All
Somebody
I'll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 'Til I Die
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
+
Brand New Day
C'mon Everybody 
All Shook Up 
She Knows Me [solo acoustic]
Straight From the Heart [solo acoustic]
All for Love [solo acoustic]
+
Remember [solo acoustic]

Status Quo - Wednesday 13th July - Rochester Castle

A trip to deepest Kent to see Quo in summer festival mode. Sadly Parfitt-less following his recent heart attack (get well soon Rick!), Freddie Edwards (son of Rhino) proved an able substitute and the band were on good form. Francis seemed to enjoy the event so much that he bizarrely threw his trainers out into the crowd afterwards.

Earlier, Steve Harley had warmed up the crowd with a good selection of material - including the inevitable sing-a-long for his last number.

And before that, I had won the "Kent Open" in the only bar we could find with a pool table. Sadly, by the time we found a dartboard it was nearly showtime.

Setlist - Steve Harley (approximate!)
Here Comes the Sun 
Judy Teen
Mr. Soft
All in a Life's Work
The Lighthouse
Journey's End
Ordinary People
A Friend for Life
The Best Years of Our Lives
Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)
Sebastian
+
Come Up & See Me (Make Me Smile)

Setlist - Status Quo
Caroline
The Wanderer
Paper Plane
Hold You Back
Beginning of the End
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad (Medley)
Don't Waste My Time
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
Gerdundula
In the Army Now 
Drum Solo (The Caveman)
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World 
+
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)
Bye Bye Johnny 

Metal Hammer Golden God Awards - Monday 13th June - Hammersmith Apollo

We booked up for this on the basis that:-

• It cost £6.66 !
• It was at Hammersmith
• Saxon were playing a tribute to Motorhead
• There must be someone else decent on

In the run up to the show - and having seen the other announcements - I was fearing the old adage that "you get what you pay for"! Wrong! What a fun evening!

First up were Amon Amarth. I had not seen "Norse Metal" before. And my, did it make you smile. Extras dressed as warriors beating their shields. Fire (dry ice) breathing giant dragons. And an 8 ft hammer. Wow!

Gojira were up next. Not my scene at all here, although they seemed popular amongst the younger audience members. Just a lot of noise and shouting for me - I must be getting old!

Next were Halestorm. Fronted by the talented Lzzy Hale, musically this was the best performance of the night for me. Great guitar and some catchy songs.

Final act of the night was "A Salute To Lemmy with Saxon, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee". Whilst I'm not a huge Motorhead fan - I had been due to see them before Lemmy's sad passing. This proved a nice, albeit brief, tribute.

Interspersing all of the above was the awards show. And so what if most of the awards went to modern metal bands I've never heard off and so what if our hair wasn't anywhere as long as 90% of the crowd. There was a moving tribute to the recent victims of a shooting in a gay US nightclub with the message that "metal is non-discriminatory". Here here.

So, against all the odds, a really fun evening.

Setlists

Amon Amarth
The Pursuit of Vikings
First Kill
Twilight of the Thunder God

Gojira 
Silvera
Stranded
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe

Halestorm
Love Bites (So Do I)
Amen
I Miss the Misery

Saxon
Heavy Metal Thunder
Motorcycle Man
Princess of the Night
Ace of Spades [with Mikkey Dee]
Born to Raise Hell [with Mikkey Dee]
Overkill [with Mikkey Dee]

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Saturday 11th June - Hampton Court Palace

So AC/DC one week, The RPO the next, thanks to the generosity of some good friends. A very civilised couple of hours in a Hampton Court pub, followed by a picnic in a Gazebo watching others getting wet and then the concert.

Got to be honest and say it's not totally my thing and thought that the musical selections could have been aimed more at the casual classic music follower for an event like this. Still, excellently played and I did recognise one or two compositions.


Setlist

AC/DC - Saturday 4th June - Olympic Stadium, London

"It's A Long Way From the Top" to see AC/DC

AC/DC are on their 2 date UK tour of taxpayer funded stadiums (London and Manchester) with guest vocalist Axl Rose standing in for Brian Johnson. And standing he was, forgoing the wheelchair from the opening nights of his guest spot.

Our seats, like most in the vast Olympic Stadium were miles from the action (I hope West Ham fans are long sighted!). However, they were comfortable and the volume was more than adequate to reach us and the essential big screens provided a view of what was happening - even with the inevitable time lag. For the first ever concert at the venue (after the Olympic closing ceremony), the sound was pretty good.

Mr Rose performed well - certainly the whole show was better than early YouTube footage I'd seen with him and the standing section of the crowd looked boisterous. I'm not sure if those who returned their tickets made a good call as this was a solid event and Angus Young seemed to revel in his "rock icon" status. The bottom line with AC/DC is you know what you are going to get and they did not disappoint.

Setlist
Rock or Bust
Shoot to Thrill
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
Back in Black
Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
Thunderstruck
High Voltage
Rock 'n' Roll Train
Hells Bells
Given the Dog a Bone
If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
Sin City
You Shook Me All Night Long
Shot Down in Flames
Have a Drink on Me
T.N.T.
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock (with Angus Young guitar solo)

Highway to Hell
Riff Raff
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Magnum - Friday 13th May - Islington Assembly Hall

A quick search back through this blog will show that I have been to see Magnum a lot of times. However, I was aware that it had been ages since I was really close to the front, so determined to put that right and see Tony Clarkin's fine playing up close, we timed our arrival well and got to around the 2nd/3rd row spot on the right hand side.

Credit should be given to the band for always showcasing their new material - the issue that creates of course is a lack of time for some of the older classics. Some seem more undroppable than others and it surprises me that "Soldier Of The Line" and "All England's Eyes" stay in at the expense of say "Sacred Hour" or "Just Like An Arrow". Interestingly on this tour there is no space for any material from their best selling album "Wings of Heaven".

The new album this time around  - 'Sacred Blood “Divine” Lies' is OK - maybe not quite up to the standard of the last 2 or 3, but functional none the less. This meant the show ranked for me as "very good" rather than exceptional. Still, good fun nonetheless.

Setlist
Soldier Of The Line
On A Storyteller's Night
Sacred Blood “Divine” Lies
Freedom Day
Dance Of The Black Tattoo
Crazy Old Mothers
Blood Red Laughter
Your Dreams Won't Die
How Far Jerusalem
Unwritten Sacrifice
Twelve Men Wise and Just
Les Morts Dansant
All England's Eyes
Princess In Rags (The Cult)
Vigilante
+
The Spirit
Kingdom Of Madness

Bryan Adams - Saturday 7th May - O2 Arena

More Bryan Adams with decent front block seats acquired for the O2. As always from Bryan, another decent show - with 2 extra songs from Bournemouth a week ago providing value for money. Quite surprised security didn't stop people moving towards the front, but a relatively friendly crowd meant no issues seemed to be caused.

Already looking forward to next time!

Setlist
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Don't Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin'
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of '69
When You're Gone (Acoustic)
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
On A Day Like Today
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Here I Am
Somebody
I'll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 'til I Die
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
+
Brand New Day
C'mon Everybody / All Shook Up
She Knows Me (Acoustic)
Straight From the Heart (Acoustic)
Into The Fire (Acoustic)
All for Love (Acoustic)
Remember (Acoustic)