Simply Madness (Feasty Fest) - Sunday 12th September - Cheam Park

View from the back

Brief review:  Feasty Fest features a number of bands - mainly doing covers or tribute acts within Cheam Park. Simply Madness are (unsurprisingly) a Madness tribute band. And if you like Madness, you'll probably like them as they sounded pretty authentic to me.

Venue and View:  Seated under a tree, 100 yds from the stage.

Fratellis - Saturday 11th September - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  An excellent Banquet Records show (buy the CD and get a ticket for next to nothing), this was an enjoyable full set from the Glaswegian stars. The sound was a bit muffled to start with but improved. The cover of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" provoked some moshing (!) as did Chelsea Dagger later which was more predictable. Richard rightly pointed out that I would have been one of very few in the venue to have seen the last song, Runaround Sue, played live by the original artist (Dion, at the Town and Country in 1990)

Venue and View:  Front right, by the speaker and pop-up bar! Fairly full, but room to breathe on the floor.

Setlist

Henrietta
Baby Don't You Lie to Me!
Impostors (Little by Little)
Whistle for the Choir
Need a Little Love
Yes Sir, I Can Boogie 
Flathead
Stand Up Tragedy
Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes
I've Been Blind
Six Days In June
Creepin' Up the Backstairs
Baby Fratelli
Too Much Wine
We Need Medicine
+
Lay Your Body Down
Chelsea Dagger
Runaround Sue 

Cregan and Co - Friday 3rd September - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review: Jim Cregan, Pat Davey, Harry James, Ben Mills and Sam Tanner were in excellent form as always for an evening of mainly Rod Stewart covers. There were (to our surprise), 2 new original songs, which were fine (guest Val Cowell adding some bluesy vocals on the first), but basically the rest of the show was a big sing-a-long. Just as you'd expect!

Venue and View:  Standing about half way back to the left. Pretty full!

Setlist

Downtown Train 
Forever Young
Hot Legs 
The First Cut Is the Deepest
The Wild Side of Life
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
I Was Only Joking 
Best of The Bad Boys [with Val Cowell of Bad Influence - Live Debut]
Anyone Who Knows Her [Live Debut]
Young Turks
Handbags and Gladrags 
Blondes (Have More Fun) 
Baby Jane 
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Maggie May 
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Have I Told You Lately

Francis Rossi - Monday 16th August - Dorking Halls

Brief review:  "An evening with" show - along similar lines to last year. Slight variation in stories and questions, but not much. Still good fun, but there could be much more varied material covered from Francis's career. Does anyone really care about the band being on "Coronation Street"?

Venue and View:  Front-right seats - good view.

Björn Again - Saturday 14th August - Hampton Court

Brief review:  The Hampton Court Festival always brings some eclectic performers and this show looked the best of the bunch this year (I was slightly surprised it went ahead!). As always, all the ABBA favourites performed well and with humour. The cover of Van Halen's "Jump" added a bit of variety to the proceedings.

Venue and View:  Pre-show drinks in (expensive!) gazebo, thanks to friends. Seats well back on the right hand side (just under cover), but unobstructed view and sound. Fussy stewarding about stepping forward from our seats when standing!

Jamie and the Jets - Friday 13th August - Boom Boom, Sutton

Brief review:  Local show with recommended Elton John tribute act. The recommendation was a good one and a fun evening was had by all. Excellent vocals and musicianship and even a few "hardcore" album tracks thrown in for good measure.

Venue and View:  Seated about half way back, so view partially obstructed by standing punters (photo is from the other side when standing). Reasonably busy in the seats, but plenty of standing room.

Alter Eagles - Friday 6th August - Boom Boom , Sutton

 
Brief review:  Excellent local tribute show with a full range of hits by the Eagles, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh

Venue and View:  Standing in the middle. Plenty of space.

Spike - Thursday 15th July - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Spike enjoyed his May dates here so much that he's back for more. Pretty similar set, but good fun as always. Shared a table area with Dave "Bucket" Colwell, his Bad Company manager and their wives/girlfriends. I was asked to take a photo of them, so I am now claiming I am the official Bad Company photographer :) - move over Ross Halfin! Dave got picked on from the stage for a couple of the stories, but unfortunately didn't guest on any music.

One Geordie guy had been enjoying the hospitality a little too much and was getting very annoyed with the sound of a game of pool in the back room. He was gently removed during the interval.

Venue and View:  Side view, seated with rock royalty. Socially distanced venue limited to 50 people.

Setlist
Similar, but not identical to previous show. Also included "The House of The Rising Sun"

Spike - Sunday 30th May (Afternoon Show) - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Back to the Cavern which is one of the few venues showcasing live music current. Spike from the Quireboys performing an acoustic set of favourites, across many genres. I must admit that I didn't even know Spike played guitar. A fair few amusing stories were thrown in for good measure, and I understand that this afternoon show was a fair bit longer that the evening one that followed.

Venue and View:  Decent view near the front, seated. Socially distanced show limited to 50 people and made to feel welcome as always by Noel and the team.

Setlist

The Cadbury's Flake Advert Jingle [Soundcheck]
+
Run For Home
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Darlin' 
Pearl's a Singer
Fortune 
Raining Whiskey 
Seven Spanish Angels 
Little Ole Wine Drinker Me 
The First Cut Is the Deepest 
+
Ode to You (Baby Just Walk) 
How Come It Never Rains 
I Don't Love You Anymore 
There She Goes Again 
Roses & Rings 
Let Me Down Easy 
First Song 
Streets of London 
Wild Horses 

Jim Kirkpatrick - Thursday 20th May - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  I've normally seen Jim as part of Rhino's Revenge and his "day job" is playing guitar for rockers "FM". But he is at the Cavern tonight in a postponed show to promote his new solo album and play some of the songs acoustically. He is a fine player and decent singe, so despite not knowing the material, this was a good evening. I especially enjoyed the cover of Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well.

Venue and View:  Decent seat near the front. Socially distanced show

Setlist

Ballad of a Prodigal Son
Heavy Weather
61 & 49
Malted Milk 
Ain't Goin' Down Alone
Always on the Road
+
No Such Thing as a Sure Thing
Guitar Noodle
Oh Well
Oh Well [Part 2]
Won't Daydream No More
Heart of Blues
Got to Know
Out on the Western Plains
What Did I Drink Last Night
Guitar Noodling
She's Not There 
+
Walkin' Blues 
Hey Hey