Mark Knopfler - Thursday 29th May - Royal Albert Hall

A very short comment for this one. We were lucky enough to be in a box (with butler!) for this one (thanks to some friends kind generosity) which made the whole evening a fun one. I wasn't expecting too much from the setlist, but whilst disappointed they're weren't a few more Dire Straits songs that I might have known in the set, there is no doubt about Mr Knopfler's talent as a guitarist. It just all seemed a bit "safe" if you know what I mean.

Dan Baird / Quireboys - Monday 26th May - Borderline

As I said, you can't go wrong with these, so it was back to the Borderline for day 2, with the headline acts swapped around. The Quireboys repeated their excellent set from last night with just one minor change and once again it was very good.

Dan Baird on the other hand changed the set entirely with nearly everything different except for "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" and the excellent new track, "Two For Tuesday". Over the years, this is something he has always done really well. The evening ended with a rendition of "Battleship Chains" with Spike on vocals and a raucous crowd singalong.

Marvellous!

If you want the new CDS:-
http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/product.php?pType=1&pId=10002967
http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/product.php?pType=1&pId=10002966

Quireboys / Dan Baird - Sunday 25th May - Borderline

This show was moved from the Garage in Highbury & Islington due to ominous "health and safety" reasons. That meant a packed Borderline for the first of a 2 night "double header" of The Quireboys and Dan Baird & Homemade Sin.

The latter opened the show with a solid selection of their new album, Baird solo favourites and Georgia Satellites hits. Having seen Dan a number of times, he never fails to deliver a fun set and this was no exception.

Next up were the Quireboys. Again, a favourite act of mine and they gave a solid set of hits and selections from the new CD, "Homewreckers & Heartbreakers". We'd already seen the 2 guitarists in the pub pre-gig, but there was noticeably less "on stage" drinking than normal - maybe a sign of how seriously they are treating the new record.

As Spike always likes to remind us - "We're the Quireboys and this is Rock and Roll!". All in all for £17.50, you couldn't go wrong.

XCom - Friday 9th May - The Peel, Kingston

So are they "XCom" or "Bad Company 2008"? Neither if Mr Rodgers gets his way, dubbing them a "tribute band falsely using the Bad Company name" and threatening legal action. Either way, Mr Ralphs and co were coming to South London and it seemed a good opportunity to see what they could do.

This was my first gig for ages and the first whilst recuperating from a recent op. Therefore I needed to take things easy and was grateful for the relatively short set. This consisted of a smattering of Bad Company songs, "Can't Get Enough", "Feel Like Making Love", "Movin' On" et all and, bizarrely, 2 Free songs - "Wishing Well" and "All Right Now". Both classic songs of course, but a little strange given that none of the band played on the originals. All in all, whilst they are clearly not Bad Company with Paul Rodgers, I enjoyed the bands performance with Robert Hart up front and a fun time was had by all.

All quiet !!

A stunningly slow start on the 2008 gig front. Can't afford the Eagles, and can't make Roger Daltrey/ Thunder for the Childline O2 show, so next up is XCOM (Bad Company) and that's not until May 9th..!!

Jackie Lynton - Sunday 27th January - Scratchers, Farncombe

A Sunday evening jaunt to Farncombe in Surrey for a free pub gig by Jackie Lynton. He specialises in blues based rock and the small pub hosting the venue is one of my favourites - a friendly country local with Oranjeboom on draft. Farncombe would appear to be the worst-lit village in Surrey, so we stumbled through the dark to a couple of other pubs on the way to the venue. The first - The Cricketers seemed a pleasant enough place, but was so tucked away it was no surprise to find only half a dozen people inside.

The next, The Freeholders, was a strange old place. It was full of very drunk patrons and was arranged in such a way that even with only 20 people in the pub, it was almost impossible to sit or stand anywhere without intruding on others. At this juncture, I should point out that Godalming/Farncombe run a "name and shame" policy whereby they display names and pictures of people banned from the pubs and they tend to get banned from all the pubs in the vicinity. With this in mind, maybe we shouldn't have been surprised when the landlady announced to the whole pub that "for the sake of quelling malicious gossip", that she had banned a girl the week before for "completely inappropriate" behaviour. We didn't get to find out what she'd done! Certainly one of the patrons playing pool seemed to have a "completely inappropriate" low cut top for playing pool! Before we left, an elderly gentleman came in, caught my eye and tipped his hat with an "Evenin' Guv" greeting. Classic - I haven't had that happen to me for 20 years or so! What a bizarre place. 

Anyway - the gig. Standard fare from Mr Lynton. He's now in his late 60's, but delivers a quality show with his excellent band. Lots of Blues and Rock covers in the style of Chuck Berry and contemporaries and a few of the bands own gems. Throw in a couple of amusing anecdotes and it makes for a fun evening, although the 2hr journey home wasn't much fun. Just resisted the temptation to lock-in the female smoker who was in the train toilet for 45 mins - I was deterred by the overhead camera.

http://www.thescratchers.net/ http://www.onlineonair.com/jl/ http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/12/12244/Freeholders/Farncombe http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/59/5955/Cricketers/Farncombe

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. Believe it or not, I've got no gigs scheduled at all for this year at the moment. If that remains the same, this blog will be very quiet!!

2007 - The Best and Worst

A quick look back over the year from a "best of" and "worst of" perspective. 

Best Gig 2007

1: The Scorpions - Hammersmith A long show at London's Best Venue - Great Fun 

2: Status Quo - Brighton The best Quo show I've been to for ages 

3: Paul McCartney - Roundhouse Legend - Up close and personal and a cheap ticket! 

 Most Disappointing Gig 2007 

1: Ian Hunter - Pigalle Club Purely down to the venue 

2: Ataris - Mean Fiddler OK musically, visually awful due to lighting

3: The Answer, Bloomsbury Ballroom Great band, awful sound here and a poor venue 

Best Venue 2007 

1: Hammersmith Apollo 

2: Borderline 

3: Fairfield Halls 

Worst Venue 2007 

1: Pigalle Club Not only the worst this year, but probably ever! You can't see unless you book dinner and can't afford to drink! (The toilets are nice!) 

2: Nottingham Rock City Much of the audience can't see the full stage 

3: Bloomsbury Ballroom Like a wedding reception with a rip-off bar 

Good in 2007 

1: The BBC Electric Proms Good artists at sensible prices! 

2: Tuborg At Hyde Park and the Mean Fiddler 

3: Nearly all my late-night return connections from far-away gigs worked out Good planning and more than a little luck! 

Bad In 2007 

1: Drunks A big increase recently in people completely out of it at gigs and being a nuisance (and standing near me!) 

2: Rip-off ticket prices £100+ for Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones, Genesis, Police etc. No thanks! £875 for The Eagles. Yeah, right! 

3: Rip-off prices at bars and merchandise stalls I don't want to pay £4 for a beer thank you. Nor will I pay £15 for a programme. I would buy a T shirt if they were a) good and b) around a tenner instead of poor quality and £16/£20 each ! 

4: People buying tickets for "big artists" purely to flog them on eBay for profit. I never have liked touts and this is what it makes you. 

Well, that's it for 2007. Hope you had a good one and an even better 2008!

Thunder - Nottingham Rock City - Wednesday 19th December

Thunder’s Xmas bash - once again at Nottingham Rock City. Always nice to see how friendly most people are once you get outside London - they actually talk to you and smile in hotels/bars… none of that nonsense at home!

After last years viewing fiasco, we made sure we got in early and got a good spot. The gig itself got off to a slow start - if anything the material was a little too obscure, even for the traditional Thunder “hardcore”. The pace picked up with the arrival of the guests - including the McDonald sisters and Peter Shoulder (who’s guitar solo on Go Your Own Way was fantastic). The 2nd half of the show picked up with a good selection of Thunder originals and some well chosen covers (see setlist). The only downside, as always, was the venue. There are a number of problems with Rock City:-

1) When the band sits down (as in the first half), if you are not in the front few rows (or very tall), you can’t see them.
2) The venue is much wider than the stage. If you are off to the right (about a third of the crowd), you can’t see.
3) If you are on the balcony and not in the front row, you can't see.
4) There is little on no signage to exits, toilets etc and the place is a maize.
5 There is a bloke in the gents demanding cash for napkins/aftershave/lollipops/ turning taps on… this is a rock venue for goodness sake, not some poncey club.
6) Hardly anyone behind the bar, so you don’t get served quickly.
7) When you do, the draft beer has run out, leaving you with a choice of a £3.50 can of (warm) Red Stripe.
8) There is only one guy on duty at the cloakroom = long queues.
9) According to other reports, security is overly zealous.

All in all, it is not a good place for a gig. It’s probably OK as a club (which it is most nights), but for live shows it’s amongst the worst venues I’ve been to. Let’s hope next years show is elsewhere!

Despite that, it was all good fun and we had a nice few hours afterwards in the Cookie Club.

Setlist:

MOMENT OF TRUTH
LONG WAY FROM HOME
ONCE IN A LIFETIME
LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH
DOES IT FEEL LIKE LOVE?
SUBSTITUTE (LUKE MORLEY VOCAL) (THE WHO)
IT’S ANOTHER DAY
ANGIE (ROLLING STONES)
ON A DAY LIKE TODAY
THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE (10cc)
GO YOUR OWN WAY (FLEETWOOD MAC)
+
SPIN DOCTOR
STAND UP
BLOWN AWAY
EVERYBODY WANTS HER
RADAR LOVE (GOLDEN EARRING)
PREACHING FROM A CHAIR
EVERYBODY'S LAUGHING
ROLLING THE DICE
DON'T WAIT FOR ME
ADDICTED TO LOVE (ROBERT PALMER)
CAN'T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN
+
IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL (ROLLING STONES)
DELILAH (SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND / TOM JONES)
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN (SPRINGSTEEN AND LOADS OF OTHERS)

Joe Cocker - Indigo2, London - Sunday 16th December

The evening started with a pleasantly swift trip to London due to engineering works. This had the unexpected bonus of a fast train direct to London Bridge where we caught the 2nd half of Arsenal v Chelsea around Borough Market. A swiftish tube to the Millennium Dome where, unfortunately, The Spice Girls were also playing. Due to Dave’s rubbish information, we were unable to find the “Philpot” pub, either in reality or on-line for directions - mainly due to it being called the “Pilot”. So a quick one in the “Slug & Lettuce” (not normally found in such places by choice) and into the venue. The “Indigo2” holds around 2000 people and must have the highest price gig bar in England (bar the appalling Pigalle club of course). £4 for a pint of Becks Vier! Outrageous and out of principle meant no more were purchased.

Gig was solid - Mr Cocker certainly starting to look his age, but vocally still impressive. All the expected hits were played - I was especially please to hear “When The Night Comes” and “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”. I lost big-time in the bet with Richard on the number of unnecessary “screams”. I went 12 or under - we lost count somewhere around 30!

Once again found ourselves next to a couple (in their 50’s) who were totally legless and unable to stand without supporting each other (just). To avoid getting too annoyed, I moved away - thankfully 10 minutes later they had staggered elsewhere. 2 blokes behind us (also in their 50’s) were in a similar state. That has been one of the bad things this year - people turning up at gigs absolutely slaughtered. As you know from these pages, I’m all for making the gig a social occasion - but surely the idea must be to be in some sort of state to enjoy / remember it!