Woodedz - Kensington Orange - Saturday 7th April

A pleasant evening in Kensington (if you exclude Richard's karaoke version of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize" in the pub up the road). We were actually greeted at the door by Rhino which was nice. A good set by the Quo bassist and his sons and a bit busier than last time around. 

2 songs - Gravy Train and Bad News were featured, which should be on Quo's next album.

The Who - Royal Albert Hall - Saturday 31st March

Early evening start for a trip back to the RAH for the Who. Got to Victoria Station and were greeted by several hundred riot police with baying Alsatians. Why? Well, apparently Sheffield Wednesday fans (happy from their with at Palace) were arriving to pass through to the tube. As to the level of threat they offered we were unable to tell. Anyway, attempts to find any pub showing the second half of Watford v Chelsea on PremPlus proved fruitless. Finally managed to find one south of Sloane Square with Sky Sports News to find that Chelsea sneaked a lucky 92nd minute winner - arghh! 

After a swift one in the Gloucester Arms, we met Mick in the Queen's Arms for a couple of decent beers (Staropramen, Kirin and Kuppers Kolsh) and then off to the hall. As normal, we were able to stroll in with little security checks and it was only when we realised we had gone the wrong way (towards the dressing rooms) that we encountered some guards who directed us down more stairs to get to the floor. We were given a plain white wristband and found our seats in the back row of the arena. Still, not too bad, the floor is pretty small compared to most venues. 

As expected, the Who were excellent (when are they not?). Daltrey's voice was strong and good, despite recent illness and Townshend's playing spot on, coupled with the normal rambling/ranting between songs. Didn't hear a "get on with it" from Gary, but I'm sure it was there! The only disappointment was no "Substitute" or "Kids Are Alright" but this was more than made up for by a storming "My Generation", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and an excellent "You Better, You Bet". In fact, the only duff track in my view, was "Eminence Front" - I've never liked that! 

For the encore we wandered down to the front and enjoyed the Tommy encore from near the stage (taking extra care not to impede the paying customers at the front!). Richard managed to snag a setlist and we decamped happy to the "Prince of Wales" off Kensington High Street for a nightcap. Un-remarkable pub, but stunningly attractive barmaid! 

Slow journey home, livened up by a petite girl throwing a non-paying rider off the bus when he'd refused to leave. Cue round of applause from other passengers! Last chance to see the Who for a while - I'm refusing to pay the 70 odd quid for the summer Wembley shows... ditto the £150 + fees for the Rolling Stones!!!

Setlist

I Can't Explain

The Seeker

Who Are You

Behind Blue Eyes

Baba O'Riley

Eminence Front

A Man in a Purple Dress

Black Widow's Eyes

You Better You Bet

My Generation

Cry If You Want

Won't Get Fooled Again

Pinball Wizard

Amazing Journey

Sparks

See Me, Feel Me

Tea & Theatre

Noel Gallagher - Royal Albert Hall - Tuesday 27th March

It's Tuesday, it's the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Royal Albert Hall - that means Noel Gallagher. Warm up beers in the excellent "Hereford Arms" (some nice outifts on display!), the Gloucester Arms and the hard-to-find Queen's Arms (via the mews) and we were in the venue (with the normal lack of ticket checking) to see the support who were the Coral. They were OK - nothing more, nothing less. Then followed a small bout of accidental "blagging" whereby what we thought was a bar, turned out to be corporate hospitality. Still, they offered us free beer without any questions and we thought it rude to ask if we should actually be there!

Anyway, the show... well, if was good. Noel choose a selection of Oasis songs to play acoustically and a selection of cover versions. Paul Weller joined him for a few too. From our view in the Choir seats, we suspected that the strings section had been chosen for looks as well as playing ability! Richard pointed out he would do the same in Noel's position. Anyway, here's the setlist:-

'(It's Good) To Be Free'
'Talk Tonight'
'Fade Away'
'Cast No Shadow'
'Half The World Away'
'The Importance Of Being Idle'
'The Butterfly Collector' (with Paul Weller)
'All You Need Is Love ' (with Paul Weller)
'Don't Go Away'
'Listen Up'
'Sad Song'
'Wonderwall'
'Slide Away'
'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out'
'Don't Look Back in Anger'
'Married With Children'

Unfortunately, we didn't get 'Strawberry Fields Forever' which had been played the night before, which actually meant there was "booing" at the end. A bit harsh, as it was a good show. Sound for the music was good, but the pre-song intros were very muffled.

Who's Who - Half Moon, Putney - Saturday 17th March

As I left home, checked the venue on-line... tickets available. Got there... "sold out" !! Argghhh!

Consoled ourselves with trips to a couple of Putney pubs and enjoyed watching Ireland beat Pakistan in the cricket.

The Answer - Bloomsbury Ballroom - Friday 9th March

Friday night and it's a bumper group of us for the Answer with Paul, Chris and Mark joining Richard and myself for a trip to the grand sounding "Bloomsbury Ballroom". Dave had double-booked, so we had a spare ticket and took the chance to wind him up by saying "Jimmy Page" was bound to be special guest !! (not true, unfortunately). 

Anyway, after discovering it was a late start, there was far too much time for a few too many beers at various venues, including the Polish bar behind Holborn Station. Managed to sell Dave's ticket for pretty much face value and get in with lots of time to spare. 

Didn't care for the venue (nowhere near as grand as it sounds) and the sound was muffled. The "newbies" in our group enjoyed it, but Richard and I didn't feel it was as good as the times we've seen them previously. Still quite enjoyable and the band should be destined for bigger things.

Jimmy Barnes - Borderline - Wednesday 7th February

An unexpected treat - a chance to see Mr Barnes relatively soon after his last UK appearance. A "warm up" to the Charity show the next day, this acoustic show certainly entertained the primarily Australian audience.

A good choice of hits, album favourites and covers led for a giant singalong. Richard made a new friend (that hair is a pulling machine, I tell you!) and everyone went home happy. Compared to everyone else there, we felt very, very sober.

Jimmy!

Thunder - Rock City, Nottingham - Wednesday 20th December

The Thunder Christmas Party. Brief summary - great show, crap venue (a third of the audience can't see the stage when it's this full). Please move it next year (ideally to London!!). Looking forward to the CD of the show.

Setlist

[Semi-acoustic]

Stand Up

Don't Wait Up

All I Ever Wanted

Meet Me on the Corner

Shake the Tree

My Brother Jake

Illogical

Don't Wanna Talk About Love

My Darkest Hour

Band on the Run

Starman 

+

[Electric]

She's So Fine

The Devil Made Me Do It

Behind Blue Eyes

It's All About You

Sail Away 

Tumbling Dice 

China Grove 

Today the World Stopped Turning

Fly on the Wall

River Deep, Mountain High 

Robert Johnson's Tombstone

+

Play That Funky Music

All the Way From Memphis

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Status Quo - Brighton Centre - Friday 15th December

An afternoon off work for a crawl of Brighton - very pleasant. Got to the venue early (didn't want to miss the start like at Croydon - and then hung around for ages!! Typical. Indeed they were so late, we had to leave during "Bye Bye Johnny" to get the last train!

Setlist

Caroline

Something 'bout You Baby I Like

Don't Waste My Time

Forty-Five Hundred Times

Rain

Paper Plane

All Stand Up (Never Say Never)

The Oriental

Creepin' Up on You

What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Little Lady / Red Sky / Dear John

Big Fat Mama

Gerdundula

Drum Solo

Roll Over Lay Down

Down Down

Whatever You Want

Rockin' All Over the World

+

In the Army Now 

Mystery Song / Railroad / Most of the Time / Wild Side of Life / Rollin' Home / Again and Again / Slow Train

Junior's Wailing

Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Spike & Friends - Kingston Peel - Sunday 2nd December

Spike is Spike Gray, vocalist from the Quireboys. The "Friends" are basically the Quireboys and a different drummer !! For those that don't know the "Peel", it is a slightly rough 'n' ready pub on the outskirts of Kingston-upon-Thames. However, it was perfect for a raucous and occassionally drunken evening of good time rock 'n' roll. 

The evening had started well with Manchester United beating Middlesbro 2-1 at the Riverside (dive, what dive?) and we caught the X26 (ex-726 for those old enough) to Kingston. A quick phone call to the venue suggested that Spike wouldn't be on stage until 9.30, so we had a bit of time to kill, which was spent in the Fighting Cocks, Kingston Tup and the Honest Cabbage before finding the bar in the Peel. Keith Weir, the keyboard player could be seen on the pool table, enjoying a couple of pre-show beers and this was the theme of the evening (it was the last night of their tour) - Spike as usual encouraging the audience to buy him a "pint of JD and Coke" constantly during the show! 

As could have been predicted, the 9.30 turned into a 9.45 start! Anyway, the music - mainly based around Spikes "new" (well, recently released anyway) solo effort, was good enough for first part of the show, with a few ballads and a Frankie Miller cover. The end of the show (and several encores) was basically the best of the Quireboys and excellent. Shame the crowd was so small (about 80ish?), but a good fun evening - band on until past 11.20, and good connections for us on the buses home.

Status Quo - Croydon Fairfield Halls - Wednesday 22nd November

Same as last night... except we got there on time!

Setlist

Caroline

Something 'bout You Baby I Like

Don't Waste My Time

Forty-Five Hundred Times

Rain

Paper Plane

All Stand Up (Never Say Never)

The Oriental

Creepin' Up on You

What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Little Lady / Red Sky / Dear John

Big Fat Mama

Gerdundula

Drum Solo

Roll Over Lay Down

Down Down

Whatever You Want

Rockin' All Over the World

+

In the Army Now 

Mystery Song / Railroad / Most of the Time / Wild Side of Life / Rollin' Home / Again and Again / Slow Train

Junior's Wailing

Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny