Johnny Warman (British Invasion Show) - Friday 28th July - Half Moon, Putney

One Line Review: The normal solid show from Johnny and the boys with a great range of 60's and 70's British Rock classics.

Lee Aaron - Sunday 16th July - Underworld, Camden

Tonight a new record for me. Longest gap between me seeing an artist again now goes to Lee Aaron - a month short of 30 years! Having seen the Canadian songstress at the 1987 Reading Rock Festival (and very much enjoyed her set), it has taken this long to get another chance to see her again. In the meantime, she has released a number of CDs - including venturing into Jazz based material, but has recently return to her hard rock roots.

And I for one am glad she has. Vocally an excellent set, aided and abetted by decent musicians - this was a really fun evening. From the powerful opener from the new album - "Fire and Gasoline" through the classic Powerline and via a Deep Purple cover ("Mistreated"), this was rock and blues at its finest. The only disappointment was that the venue was only half full - possibly the normal "Sunday Night in London" syndrome - and a lack of a few classics from her eponymous album (I would have loved to hear "Number One" & "Only Human")

Lee appeared after the show, graciously chatting with fans, signing CDs and having photos taken. Her career appears to be on an upwards curve and with a couple of excellent tracks from the next album previewed here, hopefully it will be a much shorter gap until I see her again.

Setlist
Tom Boy
Hands On
Rock Candy
Fire and Gasoline
Diamond Baby
Powerline / Lady Of The Darkest Night
I'm A Woman
Baby Go Round
Some Girls Do
Sex With Love
Mistreated
Whatcha Do To My Body
Barely Holdin' On
Metal Queen
+
Hot To Be Rocked



Video
As you know, I don't normally record or post video, but here's 2 minutes of "Powerline" from the show. (Visuals heavily compressed to meet Blogger's upload limit). Enjoy!

Brian Setzer - Tuesday 11th July - Forum, Kentish Town

Brian Setzer plays a solo show in Kentish Town. Nearly a faux pas by me as I almost wore a Ben Sherman "target" T-Shirt. I may not have got out alive with the packed house wearing altogether different styles and fashion! As it was, the torrential rain outside meant there were some very soggy "cats" inside.

Still, an enjoyable show - very busy on the floor (think it was sold out as it was the only UK date) and a decent amount of Stray Cats material to keep the very casual fan (me!) happy.

Brian's guitar playing was excellent - as were the rest of the band. We did speculate on where else a double bass player can find employment these days - especially as Imelda May seems to have changed musical direction.

Go cats go!

Setlist
Put Your Cat Clothes On
Rumble in Brighton
Vinyl Records
Stray Cat Strut
Nothing is a Sure Thing, Baby
Stiletto Cool
Cry Baby
'49 Mercury Blues
Whathsername
Drive Like Lightning
Slow Down / Folsom Prison Blues
Gene and Eddie
Blue Moon of Kentucky (Instrumental)
Runaway Boys
Jump, Jive an' Wail
Fishnet Stockings
Let's Shake
+
Sleep Walk
Rock This Town

Ian Hunter - Wednesday 29th June - Student Central (ULU)

The fantastic Mr Hunter - coming around again quickly on tour - and a new venue for me at the Student Bar / Hall of the University of London. As you might expect, it was pretty cramped on the floor. What you might not expect was the outrageous £6 for a beer - they are taking advantage of the audience demographic somewhat!

Ian was in fine voice and a decent choice of setlist made for a very enjoyable evening, even if the people near us decided that the quiet ballad of "Irene Wilde" was a perfect time to have a chat. The 2 girls from the support act added pleasant backing vocals to "I Wish I Was Your Mother" and the excellent Rant Band complemented Ian as always.

A really enjoyable evening.

Setlist
That's When The Trouble Starts
Once Bitten Twice Shy 
Fatally Flawed
When I'm President
Saint
The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nuthin' but the Truth 
Morpheus
Just Another Night
Fingers Crossed
All American Alien Boy
Irene Wilde
All the Way From Memphis
Ghosts
Roll Away the Stone
I Wish I Was Your Mother
23A, Swan Hill
Bastard
Sweet Jane 
+
Dandy
Long Time
Life / All the Young Dudes / Goodnight Irene

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin - Monday 19th June - Boom Boom Club, Sutton Utd FC

A Monday night - never the best time for a gig, but this is one of my favourite artists and kind enough to play 15 minutes from home! Therefore on a very warm summer evening it was off to an indoor gig.

Unfortunately the venue was not as packed as the band deserve, but predictably we got a hot and sweaty romp through a mixture of Dan's material from across the years. I do get what he says about "New Is Good", but feel like the older material (especially Georgia Satellites stuff with which he made his name) is relegated slightly too much into the set and I would be among the minority who see him enough to recognise the more obscure material. Certainly by the number of GS T shirts in the crowd, and the fact that it's a venue he hasn't played before, I would have thought a few more well known older songs would have been appropriate.

That said, it was nice to hear Warner E Hodges take the vocals for "Don't Pass Me By".

Dan is legendary for cutting from the set any songs that are requested from the crowd. I am considering using this to my advantage next time I see him by calling for those I don't want to hear!

Anyway, all this is being slightly picky. As is usually the case, this was a great evening of Rock N Roll in suburbia and the merchandise stall seemed to be doing good business afterwards. Come back soon Dan.

Setlist anyone please?

Rhino's Revenge - Friday 12th May - 100 Club, London

Rhino's Revenge (Rhino is Status Quo's bassist) at the famous 100 club on Oxford Street. Rhino gave us the normal mix of Quo tracks (some co-written by him) and a selection from the 1st and 2nd Rhino's Revenge albums. The latter isn't his best work in my view, but the live show is always good fun. Could have done with being able to hear his chat in between songs a bit clearer, but even though the backing band was without the normal family members, the music was loud and clear. Unlike the red lighting which ruined all attempts at a decent bit of photography! He seemed to be enjoying himself as we even got an unscheduled second encore of "Roll Over Beethoven". On the basis the band needed to work out keys and rhythm, I guess this had not been rehearsed!

Setlist (approximate!)
Rocker
My Name Is Stan
Belavista Man 
Two Way Traffic 
Famous
Busy Doing Nothin'
Get Out of Denver 
Obstruction Day 
Spend Spend Spend
Lucinda 
Mine All Mine
Secretary
Bad News 
+
Paper Plane 
Jam Side Down 
+
Roll Over Beethoven

Elio Pace - Thursday 11th May - Epsom Playhouse

Elio Pace plays a local show at the Epsom Playhouse Theatre. This is the third time I've seen his interpretation of the Billy Joel songbook and as previously, the songs are performed with skill and passion plus some interesting background on how they were written and musical influences. It's obvious that Elio is a huge Billy Joel fan and his solid band (including current Queen touring bassist, Neil Fairclough) complement the excellent piano work nicely. Well worth the short trip.

Setlist
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
My Life
This Night
The Longest Time
Vienna
And So It Goes
Leningrad
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
New York State of Mind
Root Beer Rag
She's Always A Woman
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
+
Goodnight Saigon
Allentown
Captain Jack
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Honesty
She's Got A Way
An Innocent Man
Just the Way You Are
Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
We Didn't Start the Fire
The River of Dreams
Tell Her About It
Uptown Girl
+
You May Be Right
Piano Man

Fire & Water - Saturday 29th April - Cavern, Raynes Park

A local show for the excellent Free / Bad Company / Led Zeppelin tribute and a venue I had not visited before.

Personally I could have done with the set having more Bad Co and less Zeppelin, but it was an enjoyable evening. The lead guitarist was particular impressive. It just proves once again that there are some really talented musicians out there and good quality local shows to go to without spending a fortune.

I liked the venue and will look to return soon. Check the the band out too if this is your kind of music, although their online presence is lacking somewhat.

Quireboys - Sunday 23rd April - Islington O2 Academy

More Quireboys and an electric show in Islington. Spike and the boys seem to favour Sunday nights in the capital - assume the venues are cheap then!

Decided to skip the ridiculous number of support acts (please stick to one maximum) and the venue was pleasantly busy enough without being packed. Only downside was not being able to get a phone signal or WiFi to enable the O2 2 for 1 Tubourg offer!

Show was good - with a slight change of set from recently. Loads of old favourites and a vocal audience. A real surprise with Black Mariah being in the encore too.

Setlist
Twisted Love
Too Much of a Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Gracie B
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Breaking Rocks
Tramps & Thieves
Hey You
I Don't Love You Anymore
Roses & Rings
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock
+
I Love This Dirty Town
White Trash Blues
Black Mariah
Sex Party (with support bands)

The Who - Wednesday 12th April - Birmingham Barclaycard Arena

I had not been to Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena since December 2008 when it was the NIA and Elton John described it as the worst venue acoustically he had ever played in. It seems to have been spruced up a bit since then and is set in a nicely regenerated part of Birmingham alongside the canals.

The day hadn't got off to the best start with it taking four and a quarter hours to navigate the 140 miles to the venue. However, after a brisk pizza in Coast 2 Coast, we grabbed our seats. As the show had been moved from last year (when it was due to be at the NEC), we knew we were in the front row on the side tier, but were slightly further back that anticipated. This didn't really matter as the view was excellent, but the legroom very limited! I chose not to go to the bar as the queues for a beer (and the gents!) were massive!

Still, what a difference from the Royal Albert Hall. This was brilliant; much better sound, band clearly enjoying themselves (last night of the tour) and Townshend on exceptional form. Loads of guitar crunching and soloing - even a "knee slide" in Won't Get Fooled Again - who would know he was in his seventies. Likewise Daltrey, back to form vocally with a great performance. I really can't describe how uplifting this was after the disappointment of the other week. The lighting, sound and videos where top notch too.

The only dip was the turgid "Join Together". We got a rare "Relay" at the end - strange choice to finish (very hardcore!), but I was particularly pleased to hear "Bargain" and "You Better You Bet"

Fantastic stuff! Now who wants to give me a few thousand dollars for their Vegas residency?!

Setlist
I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Who Are You
I Can See for Miles
My Generation
Bargain
Join Together
It's a Boy
1921
Christmas
The Acid Queen
I'm Free
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me
You Better You Bet
I'm One
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Relay