Ilona & Friends - Wednesday 9th May - The Bedford, Balham

Rich and I had caught the end of Ilona's set supporting Bucket & Co a few months ago and she sounded really good. So, the opportunity of a few never before visited pubs around Wandsworth & Balham and a free show was one not to be turned down.

The support band - will need to look up their name! - were very pleasant and a decent crowd applauded warmly.

On that previously mentioned occasion at Raynes Park, Ilona had performed solo - here there was a full band. No surprise that I knew none of the material, but it was all very good with band and vocals excellent. We were lucky enough to be given a free 1 song charity CD afterwards  and the band were all easily accessible if you wanted a chat.

Found myself humming "Money's out the door, love's out the window" the next day.

Good enough that a return visit will definitely be on the cards!

Wayward Sons - Wednesday 25th April - Islington Academy 2

Toby Jepson - ex front man of the "Little Angels" has a new band and they are playing a sold out show at the Islington Academy 2 (the small 250 standing only venue upstairs). I don't know any of the material, but I like Toby, so it seemed too good to miss.

We were slightly late arriving and the band had just come on, meaning we could barely get through the door. Our "normal spot" (front and left) was out of the question, but with a few friendly smiles, managed to squeeze to the far right of the venue near the emergency exit and a partial view of the stage without blocking anyone else.

The band were very good and it was one of those shows where it didn't matter that I didn't know the new songs. I did enjoy the snippets of Blondie's "Union City Blue" and a very short end part of "Bohemian Rhapsody" too. The Wayward Sons have been getting rave reviews in the music press and so I'm sure they'll be playing bigger venues sometime soon. Predictably, a couple of Little Angels covers went down very well and I'm glad things are looking up for Toby.

Setlist
Alive
Ghost
Don't Wanna Go
Give it Away
Killing Time
Crush  / Union City Blue (snippet)
Small Talk
Standby Heart
Be Still
Radio Denial
Something Wrong
Kicking Up Dust 
Until the End
+
Backslide
Young Gods 
Bohemian Rhapsody (end part only)

State of Quo - Friday 20th April - Boom Boom Club, Sutton United FC

A choice of 2 local Quo tribute bands this evening. John Coghlan's Quo were at the Hhalf Moon in Putney or "State of Quo" in Sutton. Partly due to an early start on Saturday to go to France, I opted for the most local option without the former Status Quo drummer.

The venue was busier that I expected and the band were decent. The instrumentation was spot on and a varied setlist should have catered for all tastes. As the lead singer stated, they "don't come down south very often", but hopefully they will again soon as I will certainly be returning.

Setlist
Caroline 
Backwater
Mad About The Boy
All Stand Up (Never Say Never)
Creepin’ Up On You
Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Two Way Traffic
Rain
Forty Five Hundred Times
+
Whatever You Want
Paper Plane
In My Chair
Softer Ride
Roll Over Lay Down
Big Fat Mama
Junior’s Wailing
Mean Girl
Don’t Waste My Time
Down Down
+
Rockin’ All Over The World
Bye Bye Johnny

Rhino's Revenge - Friday 13th April - Half Moon, Putney

The second Rhino's Revenge show of the year and it's quite a different set from their support slot warm up show. It's also much busier in the Half Moon. The band are in playful mood and Freddie Edwards joins the 3 piece "for one night only".

A selection of material across both Rino's Revenge albums is punctuated with the normal array of Quo obscurities. The 2 non-Quo covers (Bob Seger & Steppenwolf) were excellent and somehow I won the bet with Richard on "Born To Be Wild" as a random cover that could be played. Where in my subconcious that had come from, I have no idea!

The evening was also notable for visting a few new places in Putney. Revolution has now taken over the Wetherspoons by the station, the Lost & Co bar had Paulaner on draft in their happy hour and the Boma Bridge had a nice "Tunnel Bar" heading off toward the Thames.

Setlist
One Note Blues
Secretary
Belavista Man
Republican
Jungle Love
Gravy Train
Spacemaker
Two Way Traffic
Mine All Mine
The Stranger One
Lucinda
Busy Doing Nothin'
Bad News
Old Time Rock & Roll
My Name Is Stan
Jam Side Down
+
Born To Be Wild

Def Leppard - Sunday 25th March - Royal Albert Hall

Brief Review: More TCT at the Royal Albert Hall and this time we are in the affordable seats for Def Leppard. It's their debut at this venue and they are on good form. Lot's of chat from Joe Elliott and Phil Collen even managed to keep his shirt on! (RAH rules?). Seeing them at the O2 later in the year and looking forward to that.

Setlist
Won't Get Fooled Again (end only)
[after joining the Who studio audio intro tape]
Let's Go
Animal
Let It Go
Dangerous
Foolin'
Love Bites
Armageddon It
Rock On
Man Enough
When Love and Hate Collide
Rocket
Bringin' on the Heartbreak
Switch 625
Hysteria (with "Heroes" snippet in the end)
Let's Get Rocked
Pour Some Sugar on Me
+
Rock of Ages
Photograph

Teenage Cancer Trust Website

Roger Daltrey - Thursday 22nd March - Royal Albert Hall

Brief Review: The first of 2 shows this week for me in aid of the excellent Teenage Cancer Trust charity. Tonight we had front row tickets for the patron - Roger Daltrey. Support was from Beatles tribute "Dr. Pepper's Jaded Hearts Club Band" who include Matt Bellamy from Muse, Graham Coxton from Blur and members of Jets, Nine Inch Nails and the Zutons. They were good fun and played a selection of Beatles tracks primarily from their very early days. Sadly, Mr McCartney didn't guest as he had on one of their rare previous appearances.

Headliner Roger Daltrey treated us to an eclectic set of Who classics and rarities mixed in with some solo material. Overall, it was great - his voice holding up really well and backed by much of the Who touring band including Simon Townshend and Frank Simes. "The Real Me" was a personal highlight and he dedicated "Another Tricky Day" and "How Many Friends" to Mark Zucherberg of Facebook

Setlists

Roger Daltrey 
Overture
Pinball Wizard
Who Are You
Another Tricky Day
Behind Blue Eyes
Giving It All Away
Athena
I Can See for Miles
Days of Light
After the Fire
Going Mobile (Simon Townshend vocals)
How Many Friends
The Real Me
Without Your Love
Baba O'Riley
Young Man Blues
As Long As I Have You
Always Heading Home

Dr. Pepper's Jaded Hearts Club Band 
I Saw Her Standing There
Please Please Me
Bad Boy
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Money
Taxman
Can't Buy Me Love
Helter Skelter

Live Audio (Roger Daltrey full set)

"Dr Pepper" Live

Magnum - Friday 9th March - Islington Assembly Hall

Brief Review: It's 2018 and Magnum are still going strong. That in itself is a reason to celebrate and even if stalwart Mark Stanway and recent collaborator Harry James have moved on, this evening demonstrated the unique appeal of the band from the Black Country. Bob Catley's vocals were better than the last few tours and Tony Clarkin's guitar as effortlessly brilliant as always. Add in the energy that Al Barrow brings to the party and it was clear that the band and crowd were enjoying themselves.

For me, it was a slightly slow burner, but by the end, the whole venue was a sea of swaying arms and mass sing-a-longs. The only downside was the appearance half way through of a greasy haired idiot in front of us who's air punching and headbanging seemed to demand an exclusion zone around him. We always seem to pick them!

Setlist
When We Were Younger
Sacred Blood “Divine” Lies
Lost on the Road to Eternity
Crazy Old Mothers
Without Love
Your Dreams Won't Die
Peaches and Cream
How Far Jerusalem
Les Morts Dansant
Show Me Your Hands
Twelve Men Wise and Just
All England's Eyes
Vigilante
Don't Wake the Lion (Too Old to Die Young)
+
The Spirit
When the World Comes Down

The Fratellis - Thursday 8th March - New Slang @ The Hippodrome, Kingston

Brief Review: Banquet Records in Kingston do a fine job of attracting some decent acts down to a club night in town - usually with the bonus of flogging a fair few copies of their new CD. Tonight it's the Fratellis and it's an impressive showcase of music new and old - and 4 songs getting their live debut ahead of the upcoming UK tour. I was particularly impressed by the cleaness of the guitar sound and the clear vocals. £15 for the new CD and a decent gig - bargain!
And, I wasn't quite the oldest person in the club - result!

Setlist
Baby Don't You Lie to Me!
Stand Up Tragedy
Henrietta
Starcrossed Losers
Impostors (Little by Little)
Whistle for the Choir
Sugartown
Thief
Baby Fratelli
I’ve Been Blind
Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night
Laughing Gas
We Need Medicine
Chelsea Dagger
A Heady Tale

Credence Clearwater Review - Saturday 3rd March - Boom Boom Club, Sutton

Brief Review: We dodged the remains of the snow and ice for a fun evening with this excellent Credence Clearwater Revival / John Fogerty tribute band. All the band are good, but the brilliant Dale Taylor on Vocals and Guitar is clearly the main man. Let's hope that the next time they make the trek down from Cambridgeshire, there are more people to enjoy their performance.

The Ataris - Friday 16th February - The Underworld, Camden

Brief Review: Excellent show from Kris Roe and band celebrating the 15th Anniversary of their classic "So Long, Astoria" disc. Despite me leaving the "print at home tickets" err.... at home... we were able to get into the venue in time, despite the band coming on 15 minutes earlier than advertised. The set included a number of solo performances that didn't seem to make it into many other shows, so we were lucky indeed. I had forgotten how good the aforementioned album was and so, this was a really good evening.

Setlist
In This Diary
Unopened Letter to the World
The Hero Dies in This One
The Saddest Song
Summer '79
All You Can Ever Learn Is What You Already Know
My Reply
The Boys of Summer
Radio #2
Looking Back on Today
+
San Dimas High School Football Rules [Kris Roe Solo]
Oh, Kansas City [Kris Roe Solo]
Broken Promise Ring [Kris Roe Solo]
Takeoffs and Landings
Eight of Nine
So Long, Astoria
+
I.O.U. One Galaxy [Kris Roe Solo]