David Essex - Sunday 20th November - Drury Lane Theatre

View from the Gods

David Essex announced that this would be his "farewell tour", so it seemed like a good opportunity to see the 70's superstar again before he bows out. This is the 3rd time I've seen David and I seem to be getting higher and higher in each venue I see him! This despite paying (well) over £10 for the first time for his ticket! 😆 The show was effectively a greatest hits sing-a-long, with Richard and I very much towards the lower age range for the audience. The view was OK(ish), but the sound was clear, vocals good and the material as expected.

I would put myself very much in the "casual fan" bracket regarding Mr Essex, but the passion of his true fans really showed - hundreds even standing out in the rain by the stage door afterwards to get a glimpse or photo.

Setlist
Beautiful Day
If I Could
Lamplight
All the Fun of the Fair
Hold Me Close
Me and My Girl (Nightclubbing)
Oh What a Circus
A Winter's Tale
Dangerous
Stardust
Picture This Sky
On and On
Rock On
Imperial Wizard
Ships That Pass In The Night
Gonna Make You a Star
Silver Dream Machine
+
Here We Are All Together
It's Gonna Be Alright
I'll Be Missing You

Ian Hunter - Friday 11th November - Shepherds Bush Empire

Ian Hunter and the Rant Band

I had been looking forward to seeing Ian again and was even more pleased when I remembered that we had decent floor seats for this one. Support came from Graham Parker and Brinsley Schwarz who were pleasant enough - but somehow I expected that I'd recognise at least a couple of their songs. I didn't! Still, it was fine and Graham came across well with some self depreciating humour to the fore.

Mr Hunter has been touring for a good few years now with his Rant Band and the set tonight was a good mixture of old classics and newer favourites. Ian was in fine voice and effortlessly switched between guitar and keyboard. The crowd lapped it up (after almost being dragged to their feet initially by 2 somewhat overexcited fans - who presumably wanted to get "down the front"). If I do have one reoccurring issue with Ian's shows, it is the front of house sound. Now, it could be mitigating that we were in the 4th row, but it took several songs before the vocals and in-between speech became clear (and lifted above the instruments). Also when special guest Paul Cuddeford joined in for "All The Way From Memphis", it took an age for the desk to realise that he was playing a solo and to turn him up so the audience could hear it. I'm sure being the sound man is a far from easy job, but there are few recurring shows I go to these days where the vocals start so muffled.

Despite those reservations, I really enjoyed the show and it was nice to be able to hear "All The Young Dudes" in London without a stage invasion by Joe Elliott!

Setlist
That's When The Trouble Starts
Once Bitten Twice Shy
When I'm President
Saint
The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nuthin' but the Truth 
Cleveland Rocks 
All American Alien Boy 
Fingers Crossed
Honaloochie Boogie 
Dandy
Just Another Night 
Bow Street Runners 
Shrunken Heads 
American Spy 
Michael Picasso 
Ghosts
23A, Swan Hill 
Sweet Jane 
+
Irene Wilde (Snippet)
All the Way From Memphis (with Paul Cuddeford)
Life
All the Young Dudes 
Goodnight, Irene (Snippet with Graham Parker)

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin - Saturday 5th November, Bush Hall

Who's Got The Hat?

The now (at least) annual London show from Dan and the boys. Back to Bush Hall, where a slightly stressful 5-modes of transport journey got us there slightly after nine. Thankfully proceedings seemed to be running a bit late and we caught half of the main support act with Warner E Hodges on guitar. They had a couple of catchy numbers, but the main vocals were a slightly acquired taste.

The late start and strict curfew meant a reduced headline set. Dan prides himself on choosing the set each night (and mixing it up on the fly). In general, this works really well, but tonight it didn't quite have the desired effect for me - probably the weakest show I've seen from the guys for a while. Quite a lot of similar songs and too many elongated. Surely a 12 minute version of Railroad Steel to finish was not the best use of limited time especially when it followed a lengthy "Dan Takes Five" (which is basically the same song!)

Still, "Mon Cheri", "Sheila" & "I Love You Period" were great. "Two for Tuesday" was a sad omission, but to be fair, even a slightly under-par show from this band is still good.

Dan was kind enough to sign a copy of the new Live DVD/CD - "Live At The Sweden Rock Festival" for me which was much appreciated.

I didn't note the exact set, so if anyone did - could they please post?

Jasmine Rodgers - Friday 28th October - Slaughtered Lamb, Clerkenwell

A very quiet October means this is my only show - and another new venue for me, downstairs in the Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell. Rich and I have seen Jasmine Rodgers before, but only backing her famous dad (along with various other family members!)

Here, she was showcasing her solo material in front of friends and a dedicated group of fans. Probably a bit different from the next evening when she was supporting Bad Company at the O2! It won't be any surprise to anyone familiar with her dad's work to know that she has a fantastic voice. Some of the songs were pretty catchy - although a number very short! A more than competent backing band supported and thankfully pretty much drowned out the alarm that was ringing on the door for the latter part of the show. Sadly Paul didn't make a special guest appearance, but this was a fiver well spent.

Simon Townshend - Friday 30th September - The Islington, Islington

Show 2 on this Friday night. Getting towards the front of the queue for autographs / photos earlier at the JST show meant we didn't have to rush too much to get across town to Islington and allowed time for a pint in the Camden Head. Quite bizarrely, there are now 2 pubs called "The Islington" within about 150 yards of each other and it turned out that the gig was in the second of those.

A nice, but small music room with easy access to the bar provided an excellent view, although was possibly undersized for the amplification from the band! Simon and the guys provided an excellent set with a fair bit of between song chatter. Phil Spalding was great on bass (I last saw him on guitar with Johnny Warman when I was deafened in Barnes!) and with Simon's son - Ben - on bass and Mike Wilton on lead guitar, this was a good quality outfit.

Probably because I've seen Simon a few times over the last year or 2, I recognised most of the songs (but didn't note the setlist). Perhaps the only disappointment was the lack of the classic "The Way It Is" and a sparser than deserved crowd, but otherwise an excellent second gig of the evening.

Back towards home in Ganley's (Morden), we finished the evening with a pint listening to a third act who may or may not have been called the DB5's playing some solid Mod & Rock hits of the 1960's.

Joanne Shaw Taylor - Friday 30th September - HMV Oxford St, London

JST @ HMV 363 *

The first of 2 shows tonight - this one a freebie upstairs at HMV's flagship store. Entry for around 300 people was secured by getting in early online for a ticket and purchasing Joanne's new CD/Vinyl "Wild" (which is rather good if you like bluesy rock).

A six song, 25 minute set was very enjoyable (although view not great due to low stage/ceiling and flat floor) and followed by a meet and greet where Jo signed the album and posed for photos. An excellent start to the evening's entertainment.

* credit: photo shown is from the official HMV Facebook Page.

Setlist
Dying To Know
Wicked Soul
No Reason To Stay
Wanna Be My Lover
Wild Is The Wind
Going Home

Elton John, Madness, Status Quo - Sunday 11th September - Hyde Park, London (Radio 2 Festival In a Day)

I'm sure I've mentioned in these pages before abut being "done" with Hyde Park and that I won't be going to any more shows there. Well, this turned out to be the show that broke that promise with the attraction of Status Quo (before they announced their warm-up last Friday) and the fact you don't really get to see Elton John for £45 these days anywhere!

And to be fair, with no "Golden Circle" and a reasonable capacity (55,000) we were able to turn up during Gregory Porter's set and get a good spot for Quo near the front. Madness were also quite good fun and we could even move forward further for Elton. I couldn't have coped with the full 11 hours, but it was a good afternoon.

After a tiring, but excellent, 3 gigs in 3 days, I think I'm due a rest.

Setlists

Gregory Porter (approximate)
Liquid Spirit
Take Me to the Alley
Don't Lose your Steam
Hey Laura
Musical Genocide
Papa Was A Rolling Stone

Status Quo (Acoustic)
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Paper Plane
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Claudie
That's a Fact
Hold You Back
Rollin' Home
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
Burning Bridges (On and Off and On Again)

Madness
One Step Beyond 
Embarrassment
The Prince
Life Has Just Begun
NW5
My Girl
Can't Touch Us Now
Wings of a Dove
Herbert
House of Fun
Baggy Trousers
Our House
Madness 
Night Boat to Cairo
Mr. Apples
It Must Be Love

Elton John
The Bitch Is Back
Bennie and the Jets
I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
Philadelphia Freedom
Looking Up
A Good Heart
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
Tiny Dancer
Levon
Your Song
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
I'm Still Standing
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
Crocodile Rock

Billy Joel - Saturday 10th September - Wembley Stadium

My second Billy Joel show of the year and his only UK date. The vast Wembley Stadium is the venue and my first time on the pitch since it was reconstructed.

The hint of rain meant free ponchos were being given out - sadly plain and not event specific (!). Luckily though, a light drizzle for about one song was all we got. Billy had opted to have no support, so we timed our arrival just about perfectly.

I don't know who Billy's sound man is, but he or she somehow manages to get a fantastic mix whether in a smaller theatre like Hammersmith, a cavernous arena like MSG or a massive stadium like here. It helps to have a decent band to create that sound. And Billy certainly has that. His own voice is seemingly as good as ever and the between song chit-chat kept the crowd amused. I won by personal bet that we'd definitely get a Beatles song - in fact we got two. And we got his Roadie - Chainsaw - belting out AC/DCs "Highway To Hell" - with Billy on guitar.

All in all a long show - but a strict 10:30 curfew meant the encore was slightly rushed - "Big Shot" being a casualty (no problem with that in my book - not a favourite!). Probably my most expensive show of the year, but definitely one of the best.

Setlist
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
Prelude/Angry Young Man
Just the Way You Are 
The Entertainer
Zanzibar 
My Life [with "Rule Britannia" followed by "Ode to Joy"]
Vienna 
The Longest Time [with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"]
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Leningrad 
Allentown
New York State of Mind
With a Little Help From My Friends 
Don't Ask Me Why
Sometimes a Fantasy
Highway to Hell [Sung by "Chainsaw", Billy Joel on guitar]
We Didn't Start the Fire
She's Always a Woman
Keeping the Faith
The River of Dreams / A Hard Day's Night
Nessun Dorma [Mike DelGuidice on vocal, Billy Joel on piano]
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Piano Man
+
Uptown Girl
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Only the Good Die Young
You May Be Right [with "Rock and Roll"]

Status Quo - Friday 9th September - Union Chapel

Acoustic Quo as a warm up for Sunday's Hyde Park show. Rick still not well enough to perform, so the "Aquostic" Quo are a man down. They've decided to stand for this one in the most intimate venue they've played for years. A good choice of up tempo numbers for a festival set seems a good choice and we get the bonus of hearing the "new" songs twice. It works - just.

Setlist
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Paper Plane
Caroline
What You're Proposing
Claudie
That's a Fact
Hold You Back
Rollin' Home
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
+
Burning Bridges
+
That's A Fact (repeat)
Hold Ya Back (repeat)

Kenney Jones & The Jones Gang - Friday 26th August - Under The Bridge

Back to Stamford Bridge for a rare outing from the former Small Faces / Who drummer. With the fantastic Robert Hart on vocals, this was an enjoyable romp through some classic rock of the 60's and 70's. It was good - but far too short. Surely it would not have been much to ask to sneak in another 4 or 5 Small Faces and Who Tracks.

Dave "Bucket" Colwell joined in for the 2nd Bad Company song and the "Free" encore. Last saw him with Jim Cregan at Sutton United - perhaps he only plays football grounds these days!

Interestingly, besides the time I saw Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, I have not seen less interaction between the named act an the audience - Kenney did not utter a word in our direction. can only assume he is shy.

So, good, but was hoping for more.

Setlist
Can't Get Enough
The Time of Your Life
Maggie May
Substitute
Feel Like Making Love
All Or Nothing
Tin Soldier
Mr Brown
Angel
Itcthycoo Park
Stay With Me
Won't Get Fooled Again
+
All Right Now