Paul Heaton - Tuesday 10th December - Hammersmith Eventim Apollo

Brief review:  I had been looking forward to this since seeing the highlights of Paul's Glastonbury show on TV and listening to tracks from his new album "The Mighty Several". And it was great. "New" vocalist Rianne Downey is a star in the making and the set list covered most of the essentials from his solo work and the best of the Beautiful South. In fact it was so good, I am sorely tempted to go to the extra night tomorrow, but probably can't!

Venue and View:  Front Left, Hammersmith (aka the "normal" spot)

Setlist

Just Another Family
Sheep
Old Red Eyes Is Back
Quicksand
Bell Bottomed Tear
The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
A Little Time
H Into Hurt
I Don't See Them
Silly Me
We're Not Deep
Fish 'N' Chip Supper
Song for Whoever
Small Boats
Me and the Farmer
I'll Sail This Ship Alone
Don't Marry Her
Heatongrad
Happy Hour
Perfect 10
Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)
+
One Last Love Song
You Keep It All In
+
Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)
Caravan of Love

Human League - Monday 9th December - Brighton Centre

Brief review:  "The Human League?" I hear you cry! Yes, if you see the other artists on the blog, you will realise they are unlikely to be my "cup of tea". But, ably supported by a brief set from T'Pau, the excellent Sophie Ellis-Bextor, the show was really good. In fact, I'd say the sound and vocals were superior to many of the studio tracks I'd forced myself to listen to (many I didn't enjoy) in the run up to the show. So the lessen of the day is that generally, these famous bands are famous for a reason - they are normally good!

As a bonus, I was able to pick up a live T'Pau CD from the merchandise stand that I had never seen before!

Venue and View:  Seated at the side

Setlist
[T'Pau]
Sex Talk
Secret Garden
Valentine
Whenever You Need Me
Heart and Soul
Bridge of Spies
China in Your Hand

[Sophie Ellis-Bextor]
Crying at the Discoteque 
Take Me Home 
Hypnotized
Ready for Your Love 
Get Over You
Lady (Hear Me Tonight) / Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) / Can't Fight This Feeling / Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Freedom of the Night
Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) 
Murder on the Dancefloor

[Human League]
Hard Times
Love Action (I Believe in Love)
Mirror Man
Heart Like a Wheel
Behind the Mask 
Life on Your Own
The Lebanon
One Man in My Heart
The Path of Least Resistance
Empire State Human
Louise
Soundtrack to a Generation
All I Ever Wanted
Open Your Heart
The Sound of the Crowd
Tell Me When
(Keep Feeling) Fascination
Don't You Want Me
+
Good-Bye Bad Times 
Together in Electric Dreams

Mark Stanway's Kingdom of Madness - Sunday 8th December - Underworld, Camden

Brief review:  Mark Stanway and KOM play classic Magnum. I wasn't sure if I could make this and so only bought a ticket on the night, but was glad I made the effort. The vocalist had changed since last time I saw the band (continuing the heavy rotation of musicians), but the quality was still high. Even as a keen Magnum fan, I struggled to identify a couple of the more obscure songs that started both sets and as the empty spaces in the venue suggested, I wonder if Mark is gong to find an audience for this type of show. I genuinely hope he can. Maybe any night but a Sunday would be a good start.

Venue and View:  Stand wherever we wanted. We chose left of centre, a few yards back.

Setlist
So Cold the Night
Back to Earth
Just Like an Arrow
Vigilante
Wild Swan
The Prize
Need a Lot of Love
Les Morts Dansant
Love's a Stranger
All England's Eyes
+
If I Could Live Forever
Soldier of the Line
Only in America
Drum Solo
Midnight (You Won't Be Sleeping)
Red on the Highway
On a Storyteller's Night
Kingdom of Madness
The Lights Burned Out
Sacred Hour

SAS Band - Saturday 7th December - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  30th Anniversary show for Spike Edney and his All Star band. with a revolving selection of guests each year, you never know for sure who will be appearing. Our "smart money" on Roger Taylor was spot on and it was nice to see a couple of acts we had not seen before with Spike including Jim Cregan (singing!) and Kiki Dee as well as some more regular favourites.

Most amusing was Justin Hawkins renditions of 2 different "Power of Love" songs with a very high version of the Jennifer Rush track morphing into the rocky Huey Lewis & The News song.

Venue and View:  Front left, standing.

Setlist

Rebel Rebel (with Tony Vincent)
Creep (with Tony Vincent)
Don't Stop Me Now (with Tony Vincent)
School's Out (with Toyah + Justin Hawkins on guitar)
Sweet Child O' Mine (with Toyah + Justin Hawkins on guitar)
War Baby (with Tom Robinson)
2-4-6-8 Motorway / "Here Comes the Sun" snippet (with Tom Robinson)
Every Kinda People (with Kiki Dee)
I've Got the Music in Me (with Kiki Dee)
The Power of Love (Jennifer Rush Song) (with Justin Hawkins)
The Power of Love (Huey Lewis Song) (with Justin Hawkins)
Dixie Chicken (with Justin Hawkins)
I Believe in a Thing Called Love (with Justin Hawkins)
+
Mamma Mia (with the FabbaGirls - Zoe Nicholas and Susie Webb)
Dancing Queen (with the FabbaGirls - Zoe Nicholas and Susie Webb)
Over My Shoulder (with Roachford)
Cuddly Toy (with Roachford)
Higher Ground (with Madeline Bell)
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (with Madeline Bell)
Forever Young (with Jim Cregan)
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (with Jim Cregan)
Under Pressure (with Roger Taylor and Justin Hawkins)
These Are the Days of Our Lives (with Roger Taylor)
Radio Ga Ga (with Roger Taylor)
Tutti Frutti (with Roger Taylor)
30 Riff Overture (with Jamie Moses and band)
Fairytale of New York (with Jamie Moses + Fabbagirls on vocals)
Do They Know It's Christmas? (ensemble)
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (ensemble)
All the Way (ensemble)

Quireboys - Sunday 24th November - Islington Academy

Brief review:  A new phase of touring for Spike and the Quireboys. Featuring Thunder's Luke Morley on guitar (as "musical director"), the band whipped through a range of songs old and new. And what good fun it was as you'd expect. Spike seems happy to be free of the noise going on around the split of the band(s) a couple of years ago and hopefully, all parties have moved on and we can enjoy the music we love hearing.

Venue and View:  Front left, standing.

Setlist
Jeeze Louise
Can't Park Here
Misled
Sweet Mary Ann
Raining Whiskey
Whippin' Boy
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
You and I
I Think I Got It Wrong Again
King of New York
Happy
There She Goes Again
Roses & Rings
+
Like It or Not
I Don't Love You Anymore

Rhino's Revenge - Sunday 27th October - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Another matinee performance from John 'Rhino' Edward's 3 piece band with Craig Joiner on guitar and Status Quo's Leon Cave on the sticks. Daughter Mae joined for a guest drum spot, but it was largely as you'd expect with a fun show of largely solo material, with some choice Quo covers thrown in for good measure.

Venue and View:  Standing at the back.

Setlist

Tom Robinson - Saturday 26th October - Hazlewood Theatre, Oxted

Brief review:  A trip to deepest Surrey and the theatre attached to an arts school in Oxted. Torches were required for the walk from the town / station which added to the unique experience. Tom and the band were on excellent form (this was actually billed as a TRB show) and there were a couple of different amusing anecdotes. We had to sneak out during the final song to ensure that the last train home was caught. And, a rarity these days, I actually purchased a tour T-shirt!

Venue and View:  Second Row seats on left.

Setlist

All Right All Night
Bully for You
Too Good to Be True
Martin
Let My People Be
Days of Rage
Ain't Gonna Take It
Grey Cortina
Long Hot Summer
+
Hold Out
The Winter of '79
Blue Murder
Don't Take No for an Answer
Glad to Be Gay
Up Against the Wall
2-4-6-8 Motorway
+
Power in the Darkness
Never Gonna Fall in Love (Again)
War Baby

Mud - Thursday 17th October - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Another Raynes Park date for Mud and it was remarkably similar to last time. And that means it was very good! There were also a couple of covers in the middle of the set sung by Anne Stiles.

Venue and View:  Front left, Standing

Setlist
L'L'Lucy
Crazy
Hypnosis
Dyna-Mite
One Night 
Secrets That You Keep
Shake It Down
Angel Face 
Oh Boy 
Moonshine Sally
Good Rocking Tonight
Johnny B. Goode 
Love Is a Battlefield (with Anne Stiles)
Play That Funky Music (with Anne Stiles)
Cut Across Shorty
Rocket
The Cat Crept In
Lonely This Christmas
Tiger Feet

Scouting For Girls - Monday 7th October - G-Live, Guildford

Brief review:  More Scouting For Girls at Ray's "hometown" gig. They are always well received here and the crowd were in excellent voice. The band were their normal energetic selves and seems to be enjoying themselves as they tread a fine balance on inserting new songs into the set whilst retaining most of the old favourites.

Venue and View:  Front Left, Standing

Setlist
The Missing Part
This Ain't a Love Song
Dancing in the Daylight
Song I Can't Forget
It's Not About You
The Airplane Song
Michaela Strachan
I Wish I Was James Bond
Millionaire (with Kumbaya / The Lion Sleeps Tonight snippets) (Acoustic)
Butterflies (Acoustic)
Posh Girls
Year 3000
Raise a Glass
Heartbeat
Glow
Elvis Ain't Dead / Can't Help Falling in Love
+
Secret Tattoo
She's So Lovely

* This is the likely setlist based on other shows on the tour, but is not 100% certain.

Slim Jim Phantom - Friday 4th October - West Hampstead Arts Centre

Brief review:  The Stray Cat returns to West Hampstead. As the view from the back has pretty restricted last time, we got in early to grab a better spot prior to the support and were able to sit at the side. The support act (solo bloke with electric guitar) was pretty good (and I really enjoyed the punky version of the Scooby Doo theme!). The evening almost got ruined by a slightly strange middle aged gentleman deciding to sweep our (full!) drinks onto the floor because he wanted to steal our seats whilst I popped to the gents. He couldn't see what the problem was, so I suspect he had issues of some sort. I maturely let the matter drop despite a few of the people around us suggesting a more physical approach would have been apt!

The show itself was decent, albeit fairly brief. By his own admission, Jim isn't the best vocalist, but a decent selection of songs (including covers) meant that this didn't really matter. And having Neal X from Sigue Sigue Sputnik on guitar and other vocals was quite left field - he was good though.

Venue and View:  Front Right, standing (once our seats had been stolen!)