Johnny Warman - Monday18th May - Bull's Head, Barnes

This "Total Who Show" to celebrate 50 years of the Who was billed as "unplugged". The venue is the rear stable-type room at the rear of the excellent Bull's Head in Barnes. When seated, the capacity looks to be less than a hundred and the usual Monday evening events are of the blues and jazz variety.

The evening started with a young female singer - songwriter (sorry I can't remember her name) who, armed with an acoustic guitar, sang some of her own material interspersed with some covers including a very nice version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". All very pleasant.

Caught out by the very quick turn-a-round, I was at the bar when the band opened with Baba O'Riley. Acoustic it was not. Returning to our front table seat, we then enjoyed 100 odd minutes of classic, ear shattering versions of Who classics. Phil Spalding was guesting on lead guitar and his effortless playing was spot on. Bass, Drum & Keyboard duties were more than competently filled too and Johnny Warman's usual excellence enthralled the small crowd, some of whom politely heckled about "when is the unplugged bit?".

Actually, that does raise a semi-serious point. I was looking forward to hearing the Who songs in an acoustic setting and had bought tickets and travel on that basis. I really enjoyed the evening as it was played, but what if I hadn't? The show had been especially billed to highlight the unplugged aspect.

Anyway, a moot point for me as it was excellent anyway. I shall be back for more - with volume or without.

Elio Pace - Thursday 7th May - Epsom Playhouse

Having seen Elio previously in Sutton, we knew that Richard would enjoy his "Billy Joel Songbook" show and dragged him along to this. The show is a fine run-though of classic Billy Joel material, interspersed with stories about the songs and the musical make up of them. The band had changed a bit since our last viewing, but provided excellent backing to Elio's piano skills and fine voice.

We had decent seats and the only disappointment was that the venue wasn't fuller. Maybe the fact it was Election Night put people off?

If you are a fan of the Piano Man, you should do yourself a favour and check this out in a theatre near you.

http://www.eliopace.com/

Status Quo - Thursday 30th April - Royal Albert Hall

Back for more Quo? Why? Well one, I know it'll be good and two, there were some amazingly good tickets came online well after the front blocks had sold out.

We'd always wondered what it would be like to be in the 2 seats at the front row of the stalls, next to the stage. Well the answer is that you are effectively on the stage and almost feel part of the band. And for an acoustic show like this there are no sound issues either.

You won't be surprised to know that the setlist was the same as on Sunday, but the band seemed quite relaxed - I think they are getting used to playing the material in this way.

My personal highlights in this format are Rock 'n' Roll, All The Reasons, Reason For Livin' and the brilliant Nanana.

Setlist
And It's Better Now
Break the Rules
Again and Again
Paper Plane
Mystery Song / Little Lady
Rock 'n' Roll
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Softer Ride
Down Down
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Down the Dustpipe
All the Reasons
Reason for Living
Rollin' Home
Don't Drive My Car
Claudie
Rain
Marguerita Time
Nanana
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Rock 'til You Drop
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)

Status Quo - Sunday 26th April - Hammersmith Apollo

Whilst enjoying the debut "Aquostic" gig at the Roundhouse last year, I wasn't certain I could justify the high price for seats this time around. That little issue was solved by the availability of rear-stalls standing tickets at a much fairer price, so we opted for those. I remember doing the same for Chuck Berry tickets years ago and (depending on the gig and security attitude), you are sometimes allowed to stand at the side of the venue rather than really at the back. That's what we did here.

The show was good, but in typical Quo style, they made zero changes to the setlist. Yep, all the same songs, in the same order as last year. Now that I could understand if it hadn't been for the fact that the new record is a recording of that show - the same songs in the same order. C'mon guys, throw us a curve ball - swap 2 songs over! Would it have been too much to ask that they learn another song?

Still - there's probably only a fraction of us that moan about such things. The sound was good, the songs were good and I really enjoyed the evening. Just as well, as I'm going again next week!

Setlist
And It's Better Now
Break the Rules
Again and Again
Paper Plane
Mystery Song / Little Lady
Rock 'n' Roll
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Softer Ride
Down Down
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Down the Dustpipe
All the Reasons
Reason for Living
Rollin' Home
Don't Drive My Car
Claudie
Rain
Marguerita Time
Nanana
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Rock 'til You Drop
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)

Quireboys - Sunday 19th April - Esquires, Bedford

Spike, Keith & Paul

A sort of "hometown" gig for the Quireboys (well, Griff anyway!) at Esquires in Bedford. Now that's actually a fair trek from south of London, but as we missed out on seeing the boys at the end of last year due to a clash of dates, it seemed a worthwhile jaunt to see them in a tiny venue.

The handful of pubs nearby seemed functional and very quiet (some were suffering from a power cut). In the Ship, I managed to win the pool 3-2 on the final black. I was also quite pleased to find a chippy open on a Sunday.

The venue itself had 2 rooms - a nice bar and small stage in one and the "Holy Moly" room where the boys were playing. Social media from the boys had promised a prompt 8:30 start - predictably this slipped to 8:45. Spike appeared to be particularly "refreshed" after a spending time with Phil Mogg apparently the night before. The show was acoustic again - no drummer or bass - and the songs strangely missed nearly all the material from their new album. That meant we knew most of them and an enthusiastic sing-a-long was had by all. The late start meant we had to leave before the encore, but catching the fast train meant being home at a civilised hour at least.

Nice to see rock and roll being kept alive in Bedford! Yee-ha!

Setlist to follow.

The Who - Monday 26th March - Royal Albert Hall

It's been an expensive week of Who shows, averaging a little under £100 a ticket. This one was well into 3 figures, but at least a top charity - The Teenage Cancer Trust - get to benefit from the proceeds. This is the 15th year that Roger Daltrey has been arranging shows in support of them and probably marks my 25th or so patronage.

We had decent seats to the side of the stage. Maybe because of that, I personally thought this was the best of the 3 shows this week. Others thought PT took quite a while to get going. You Better You Bet was a highlight for me with its first appearance this week.

I've now got a few Who-free months before Hyde Park in the Summer. Shame, as (costs aside), I'd be happy to see them every week!

Setlist
I Can't Explain
Substitute
The Seeker
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
I Can See for Miles
Pictures of Lily
My Generation
Magic Bus
Behind Blue Eyes
Join Together
You Better You Bet
I'm One
Love, Reign O'er Me
Eminence Front
A Quick One (While He's Away)
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me
Listening to You
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again

The Who - Monday 23rd March - O2 Arena

The Who pt 2. On the floor with a decent view in the back row of the front block. We were able to get these pretty good seats as a result of the postponement of these shows from December (I couldn't make the original date due to the darts!), so it all worked out well.

Certainly, being on the floor you felt more part of the show and had an excellent view of the large visuals behind the band. Daltrey was in good voice (incredible for a man of 70 actually) and Townshend's between song patter was amusing and slightly different from last night. His playing was good (as with all the band) and there were windmills a-plenty!

Shame I've still yet to hear "Long Live Rock" live in 50+ Who shows, but I enjoyed this evening. Better than last night I felt, despite the inclusion of the dreadful "Eminence Front". Some friends who we met at the show assumed the 'oo might be on their last legs - I think they were pleasantly mistaken judging from the positive comments afterwards!

Setlist
I Can't Explain
Substitute
The Seeker
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
I Can See for Miles
Pictures of Lily
My Generation
Magic Bus
Behind Blue Eyes
Join Together
You Better You Bet
I'm One
Love, Reign O'er Me
Eminence Front
So Sad About Us
A Quick One (While He's Away)
Amazing Journey
Pinball Wizard
Sparks
See Me, Feel Me
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again

The Who - Sunday 22nd March - O2 Arena

The first of a big Who week. Up in the "Gods" for this one. Despite that, sound quality was good (although arguably not loud enough) and we where able to enjoy the show. An eclectic setlist ranging from the normal brilliance to the slightly bizarre (A Quick One...) and the slightly tiresome Join Together and Magic Bus.

Great to hear "So Sad About Us" which is an early contender for my most heard live song this year. Pete Townshend was at his sarcastic best/worst with the between song comments. I suspect this makes him an acquired taste for some, but I found it amusing. I also liked his brief "Live At Leeds" intro to My Generation.

If this is to be the start of the "long goodbye" as Roger has described it, let's hope they linger around for a good while yet.

Setlist
I Can't Explain
Substitute
The Seeker
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
I Can See for Miles
Pictures of Lily
So Sad About Us
My Generation
Behind Blue Eyes
Join Together
I'm One
Love, Reign O'er Me
Slip Kid
A Quick One (While He's Away)
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me, Feel Me
Listening to You
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Magic Bus

Thunder - Saturday 14th March - Hammersmith Apollo

The return of Thunder to mainstream shows is much welcome in my book (perhaps less welcome at home as even when they've been in retirement there seem to be several "Thunder related" shows that I attend).

Reef are the support at London's premier music venue (that place in Putney has surely lost the copyright on that phrase!), We caught the last part of their set and they were a fair bit heavier than I'd envisaged.

Thunder came on to an excellent 70's montage on the giant video screens. They are supporting the marvellous new album, "Wonder Days" which is one of the highlights in their now extensive back catalogue. Danny Bowes vocals and enthusiasm were in evidence as normal and the band as solid as ever. Of course it was great to see Ben Matthew's looking so well after his recent health issues. I did wonder if he was being eased back in with the shorter than normal set, but he more than played his part.

As you now come to expect from Thunder, a great night out.

Hopefully a fuller tour is on the cards later in the year.

Setlist
Wonder Days
River of Pain
Black Water
Resurrection Day
Broken
The Devil Made Me Do It
Empty City
Backstreet Symphony
I'll Be Waiting
The Thing I Want
When the Music Played
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll
+
Low Life In High Places
Higher Ground
Dirty Love

Rhino's Revenge - Friday 6th March - 100 Club, London

Reverting to the Rhino's Revenge moniker (from Woodedz) in support of their new CD, an entertaining evening at the 100 Club started with Quo tribute band "State of Quo" delivering a brief but fun set of Quo classics and obscurities.

Rhino with family and friends then took the stage to showcase their new CD which meant the set had a few less covers and Quo songs than normal. All were delivered well - as mentioned on these pages before, Rhino must know he's no vocalist, but that sort of misses the point of the band. People were here for a good time and in the main that's what they got. There are a few duds in the set - the perennially awful "Secretary" always grates with me personally, but some fun light hearted ditties such as "Stan The Man" provide balance with the rockier numbers. The band do a good version of Jam Side Down which is much heavier than the Quo version for example.

So, all in all a good night. The Quo collector in me was tempted to buy the CD - signed copies of what looked like a CDR were available, but they were £15 - about the same as the price of the show. In a rare moment of reasonableness, I weighed up spending the cash now on a CD which is likely to enter my CD player approximately once against waiting and picking up a bargain bin version at some time in the future. The cash stayed in my pocket.

That sounds harsher than it should, as I enjoy seeing the guys play and will happily spend money to see them again (and on a different night may have a different view on buying the CD - especially a factory produced version), but when it comes down to it will I pick "Piledriver" or "Rhino's Revenge 2" off the shelf when I next listen to some classic rock at home? I'll leave you to ponder.