Dan Baird - Sunday 4th July - Borderline, London

A "double header" today - Twenty20 Cricket at the Oval (Surrey losing badly to Middlesex) and Mr Baird at a hot, sweaty and packed Borderline. And combined with a few "new" pubs too, a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

You know what you are going to get with Dan and his Homemade Sin band and they were on good form as always with a selection of solo, band and Georgia Satellites material. Only downside was once you went to the gents or the bar, you couldn't get back to near the stage! Somewhere a bit bigger next time would be good!

The Mods - Saturday 26th June - Half Moon, Putney

A trip to Putney for one of our regular bands - the Mods. A good selection of the normal covers with emphasis tonight on The Who which was good. Singer Johnny Warman promised a full version of Quadrophenia on the next visit - that will be worth a listen!

Cher - Wednesday 23rd June - Caesars Palace Forum, Las Vegas

"Ladies and Gentlemen"... Cher!

Yes, yes - Cher. Not my normal thing of course, but this is Vegas! In the cheap seats (a "bargain" $90 plus the obligatory US "convenience charge"), Cher's multi-million pound extravaganza wasn't quite what I'd expected. Rather than purely a concert, this was a collection of mini-plays / musicals acted out to Cher singing backed by a live band who played mainly in the wings.

There were a few surprises - she opened with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and included Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" (last heard a few weeks ago by Mr Rossi!). What was no surprise was the costume change after every song. Unfortunately this led to much too much video footage which did detract somewhat from the actual show. All in all, a 7/10 for me - but an experience none the less.

Setlist

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

The Fire Down Below

Old Time Rock and Roll

The Beat Goes On

All I Really Want to Do

Half-Breed

Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves

Dark Lady

Don't Leave Me This Way

Take Me Home

Love Hurts

The Way of Love

After All

Walking in Memphis

If I Could Turn Back Time

+

Believe

Bachman & Turner - Sunday 6th June - Relentless Garage, Islington

Randy Bachman and Frank Turner together in London for the first time in about 34 years. So, why was the Relentless Garage (stupid name!) so empty? Seriously, there can't have been more than 200 people - stunned!

Well, they missed a decent gig. I've never seen either of these before and I'm not particular familiar with much Bachman Turner Overdrive material beyond "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" and "Takin' Care of Business", but I did enjoy the majority of what was played. I've heard Mr Bachman sometimes isn't the most sociable of musicians, but he was on good form here. Hope they come back soon!

Setlist:
Let It Ride
Rock Is My Life
Hold Back The Water
Hey You
Moonlight Rider
Looking Out For #1
Not Fragile
Stayed Awake All Night/American Woman (Medley)
Four Wheel Drive
Slave To The Rhythm
Blue Collar
Sledgehammer
Rollin’ Along
Takin' Care Of Business
+
Roll On Down The Highway
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

Francis Rossi - Sunday 16th May - Her Majesty's Theatre, London

OK, hands up all those who thought this was going to be an evening of pleasant, but dullish country-tinged pop tunes from "that bloke from Status Quo". Wrong!

It's fair to say that those in our group (all Quo fans) were treating this with a bit of trepidation. We needn't have worried. From the opening bars of a bluesy "Caroline", the audience were on their feet and the excellent band reeled through a selection of material from Rossi's new solo offering "One Step At A Time" and Quo obscurities. The real joy was hearing those delights which Quo never or rarely play. I've moaned often enough about their static setlist and yet here is the man who many believe to be the main architect of that policy, deliver a great selection. It just shows what can be done when some thought is given to it. Of course, it helps when the band are as solid as they were here.... Rossi jnr on one guitar and the annoyingly good Freddie Edwards on another perfectly complementing FR himself (well, I'm guessing he helped teach them both to play!).

All in all well above expectations and probably more enjoyable as a result than some of the times I've seen Quo. Let's hope there is more to come!

Setlist
Caroline
Claudie
All We Really Want To Do (Polly)
You'll Come Round
Crazy For You
Old Time Rock 'N' Roll
Strike Like Lightning
Tallulah's Waiting
Here I Go
Tongue Tied
Blessed Are The Meek
My Little Heartbreaker
Electric Arena
One Step At A Time
Marguerita Time
Rolling Down The Road
Diggin' Burt Bacharach
Sleeping On The Job
Twenty Wild Horses
Can't Give You More
+
Don't Waste My Time

Band of Skulls - Friday 14th May - Electric Ballroom, Camden

Well, well well - another new London venue for me (yes, yes, I know the Electric Ballroom has been around for years - I've just never been here). Richard signed me up for this one based on the debut CD which he then lent to me. First play - not impressed. Second play, ditto. Forced myself into a third play and it wasn't improving - hopefully it would be better live I thought.

Anyway, I liked the venue and got a good spot fairly near the front. As showtime arrived, the place was heaving with a relatively young audience. The band came on and did their stuff and the crowd was enthusiastic. Set was only an hour and a bit. As we shuffled out at the end, Richard asked me what I thought. "A fair reflection of the CD" was my reply!

Belinda Carlisle - Tuesday 4th May - Jazz Cafe, Camden

Went with Mrs B for this one and sat up in the restaurant overlooking the stage. Very civilised and an excellent view away from the crush below. Food wasn't bad either!

 

This was another acoustic evening and Ms Carlisle performed a good selection including most of her solo and Go Go's hits. It was really rather good. The band had to walk past our table to get to and from the stage - Di couldn't believe how attractive Belinda remains at 51.

Ian Hunter - Sunday 2nd May - Barbican Centre

'allo, 'allo, 'allo, 'allo!

New venue for me - very posh! Mr Hunter played material almost exclusively from his last 3 albums for the first hour, which by his own admission sold a handful of copies. Still, there were some good tunes none the less.

Things livened up a bit for the encore with the predictable Mott The Hoople material ("All The Way From Memphis" remains a personal favourite) and the even more predictable guests - daughter Tracey and Mick Ralphs. A decent evening.

The Quireboys - Friday 23rd March - Jazz Cafe, Camden

Having arrived at an absolutely packed Jazz Café (late as it turned out and missed the first 4 songs), we squeezed to the back for an evening of Acoustic Quireboys. Yep, that's right - acoustic! Many have expressed doubts on how that would work based on the loudness and excitement of their normal shows, but augmented by numerous musicians, it did. What was weird was how Spike would slur and ramble his way through song intros and then sing them perfectly in tune. How does that work?

We stood near Luke Morley and Peter Shoulder (from the Union who we saw earlier in the week). Afterwards had a decent chat with Luke in the bar who, as always, game across as a very genuine and likeable guy.

The Union - Wednesday 21st March - O2 Academy, Islington

A 2nd London outing for the Union and not surprisingly (as their first album isn't out yet), the set was broadly similar to the show at the end of last year. I'm still not quite convinced that the material is as strong as recent Thunder stuff, although it's probably not fair to make direct comparisons. I shall reserve judgement for now.