Sutton Folk Festival (Del Amitri, Nick Lowe) - Sunday 19th August - Manor Park, Sutton

Brief review:  Manor Park in Sutton (popular hangout at school lunchtimes!) for a folk festival. Definition stretched - we are here for Nick Lowe and Del Amitri - who’s show T shirts have the tagline of “Drunk In Glasgow Since 1982”! All good, apart from the bar queue.

The show made me realise that I don't own any Del Amitri albums or CDs - that anomaly was put right very soon after this excellent perfomance.  

Venue and View:  Capacity crowd of 2,000. 2 easily accessible stages - we went "front right" for both.

Setlist
Nick Lowe
Man That I've Become
People Change
Long Limbed Girl
Lately I've Let Things Slide
I Live on a Battlefield 
Lay It On Me Baby
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
Tokyo Bay
Heartbreaker 
Love Starvation
Far Celestial Shore 
Cruel to Be Kind
Trombone
Heart 
I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)

Del Amitri
Musicians and Beer
Always the Last to Know
Not Where It's At
Kiss This Thing Goodbye
Nothing Ever Happens
Mockingbird, Copy Me Now
Driving With the Brakes On
Missing Person
Move Away Jimmy Blue
Roll to Me
You Can't Go Back
Here and Now
Spit in the Rain
Stone Cold Sober
+
Be My Downfall

Who's Next - Sunday 13th August - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Decent Who tribute band with a reasonably "hardcore" set. The guitarist especially stood out, but a rocking performance from all the band.

Venue and View:  Central view a couple of rows back.

Dani Cox ("Gobby Holder") Acoustic - Sunday 13th August - Marquis, Covent Garden

Brief review:  Acoustic performance from Dani in a small London pub. Her performance was delayed slightly by a bloke running in to grab a chair to try and attack someone outside whilst shouting "I am not a f***ing p***phile!". He was apprehended by the bar staff and presumably the police called. 

With typical humour the incident was mentioned during Dani's set of largely Slade and glam covers.

Venue and View:  At the bar, but very much to one side.

The Who - Sunday 23rd July - Sussex CCC, Hove

Brief review:  Sunday evening in Hove with the legends that are The Who.  Already had 2 of the CSI triolgy in the fantastic middle band-only electric section. Quadrophenia to come, but for now enjoying the fantastic Won’t Get Fooled Again. Awesome!

Venue and View:  Central pitch seats - about 20 rows back

Setlist
Part 1 (with Orchestra)
Overture
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
The Acid Queen
Pinball Wizard
We're Not Gonna Take It
Who Are You
Eminence Front

Part 2 (Band Only)
The Kids Are Alright
You Better You Bet
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Substitute
I Can't Explain
My Generation
Cry If You Want 
Won't Get Fooled Again
Behind Blue Eyes 

Part 3 (with Orchestra)
The Real Me
I'm One
5:15
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me
Baba O'Riley

Texas - Tuesday 11th July - Pryzm, Kingston

Brief review:  Greatest Hits (and nominal Q&A) from Texas. Very good so far even if singer Sharleen is giving Motley Crue a run for their money in the profanity stakes!

Venue and View:  Front right (very right!) on the floor by the speaker.

Setlist
After All
Summer Son
Keep on Talking
Let's Work It Out
Black Eyed Boy
Inner Smile

Halo

Billy Joel - Friday 7th July - Hyde Park, London

Brief review:  Billy Joel at Hyde Park as part of the British Summertime shows. We naively assumed this would never sell out at the high prices bearing in mind his demographic (70,000 standing tickets at £100 minimum a go? "No chance!") - and of course it did! That meant a late scramble for resale tickets and luckily a mate had a spare!

Despite skipping most of the support acts (I caught the end of Daryl Hall who sounded... errr "rusty"), the headline show was predictably excellent. Joe Jonas joined for Uptown Girl which was slightly underwhelming compared to other guests who occasionally play with Billy, but he performed more than adequately.

Venue and View:  In a slightly different postcode from the stage, but in the front 20% to the left. Apparently impossible to find for those friends bringing back beer!

Setlist
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
The Entertainer
Vienna
Zanzibar
Start Me Up (Snippet)
An Innocent Man
The Longest Time
Don't Ask Me Why
New York State of Mind
Allentown
She's Always a Woman
Sometimes a Fantasy
Only the Good Die Young
The River of Dreams (With River Deep Mountain High interlude)
Nessun Dorma 
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Piano Man
+
We Didn't Start the Fire
Uptown Girl (with Joe Jonas)
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Big Shot
A Hard Day's Night 
You May Be Right (with “Rock and Roll” interlude)

My Life (with “Ode to Joy” intro)

Slim Jim Phantom - Wednesday 21st June - West Hampstead Arts Centre

Brief review:  We’re gonna rock this town… with the town in question being errm… West Hampstead. Earlier, we heard there was a Rumble in Brighton tonight. And we will most definitely be doing a Stray Cat Strut back to the tube. 

Yes, it’s Britt Ekland’s ex hubby - Slim Jim Phantom in between his “Let’s Rock…” festival dates.

The set was basically as you'd expect - a mix of Stray Cats and rockabilly standards. And none the worse for it - unlike our view of the stage!

Venue and View:  Long, Narrow and Thin. We were at the back with a very limited view indeed.

Setlist
Matchbox
C'mon Everybody
It's All Over Now
Say Mama
Oh, Boy!
That's All Right
Honey Hush
Runaway Boys
Stray Cat Strut
Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll
Summertime Blues
Stood Up
+
Rock This Town

Rumble in Brighton

John Coghlan (Jazz) - Sunday 4th June - Half Moon, Putney

Brief review:  Sunday evening Jazz in Putney. Really? I hear you cry. Well, yes - with a twist. John Coghlan is on drums, so the set is largely Quo classics reimagined in the Jazz style. Nice!

Ben Holder is on vocals and his Jazz passion and violin playing add much to the occasion. If I tell you that everyone at the interval I heard talking about it at the bar were saying things along the lines of "it is much better than I expected" then John and the boys should take that as a complement from a crowd of largely non jazz enthusiasts.

Venue and View:  Pretty much central - half way back, with room to move around

Balham Music Evening - Tuesday 30th May - Bedford, Balham

Caitlin & Ollie

Brief review:  We went to this on the basis that Ilo was on the bill, but unfortunately she had dropped out at short notice. Thankfully, Tony Moore's set was OK and the duo called Caitlin and Ollie Clark were pretty good too. 

There was a brief interlude from an unlisted pair, photographed below, but I didn't catch their names.

Unfortunately, we couldn't hang around for the evening headliners, Arden.

Venue and View:  Seated table towards the rear - near the bar

Unlisted Act

Mud - Saturday 27th May - Cavern, Raynes Park

Brief review:  Well, That’s neat, that’s neat, that’s neat, that’s neat. We are enjoying a classic 70’s night with the legends that are Mud. This, of course, means the mate I've gone with recounting many a tale around the band and demonstrating obscure knowledge. I feel Mastermind is beckoning. Oh boy!

The show itself was excellent. All the hits and more.

Venue and View:  Front left - a bit to the side.

Setlist
to follow...