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 | 2002-10-07 |  |
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After his one off UK show this year at Wembley Arena on 27 October
2002 that sold out in minutes and are currently £200 each
on the black market Bruce Springsteen And The E Strret Band
will return to the UK in the Spring for more dates once he has
finished the second leg of his American tour.
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| 2002-11-11 | |
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A couple of months ago i did a 30 mins interview
with BBC 2 TV about my experiences of being a
Sex Pistols fan while the band were signed to
EMI in 1976 .The transmission date has been
confirmed as Wed 27 November 2002 at 9pm .
Hopefully they have picked out the best couple
of minutes footage for the programme called
EMI and me . This is one of the 6 that deals
with iconic British brands such as Marks And Spencers , The Sun , Ford cars etc which is
currently showing each Wednesday .
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| 2002-11-15 | |
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Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros 15 November 2002
low key show at Acton Town Hall , London
it was enough to make grown men cry .
Joe and the band do a great 60 mins set and come
back on for the encores with Clash guitarist
Mick Jones and do 3 Clash anthems
Bankrobber , White Riot and Londons Burning .
As far as i know it is the first time they have
played together for over 15 years . Superb.
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| 2002-12-23 | |
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Joe Strummer has died aged only 50 of a
heart attack at his home in Somerset,England.
Joe as singer with punk legends The Clash who
along with The Sex Pistols changed everything
musically in their 1976/1977 early days .
Mixing rock with politics and reggae was their
strength and he leaves behind some of the
greatest music ever recorded . I was lucky enough
to see the Clash 19 times before Mick Jones left
(see search on raysgigs.com for more details)
and was also at his last 2 London shows .
10 Nov 2002 when Joe And The Mescaleros did a
5 song benefit set at The Royal Opera House of
all places and finished off with White Riot
which in that building was just unreel .
After the show i chatted to Joe and said that to
hear White Riot in that building was amazing ,he
answered "Well it had to be done " which pretty
much sums up his whole attitude .
15 Nov 2002 when Joe And The Mescaleros did a
benefit show for striking firemen at Acton
Town Hall which even before his death had gone
down in legend as Mick Jones came on for the 3
Clash songs encore. The first time they had
played together for over 15 years .This year
should have been a great year for punk as it was
25th anniversary of the summer of 1977 with punk
in every magazine and countless books on punk
coming out including Bob Gruens great collection
of classic Clash photos but Joes death really
has stunned everyone i have talked to .
Joe was an icon of punk who still had a voice
and he will be missed by so many .
The cremation was held on Monday 30 December and
after we all raised a glass or three for Joe at
the wake reception at a pub in West London 3pm to
11pm .Gazs Rockin Blues was the DJ and he did a
great job of playing reggae ,blues , ska and old
rock n roll tunes mixed with a few by The Clash
and The Mescaleros . Joe would have loved it .
there were loads of Joes family and friends with
Mick Jones , Paul Simonon ,Glen Matlock , Mark Lamarr , Don Letts , Patti Palladin ,Rat Scabies,
Chrissie Hynde , Keith Allen ,Ten Pole Tudor ,
Victor (The Parkinsons),Bob Gruen (Clash photographer 1970s).
Mick gave a very emotional speech in the evening.
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| 2003-01-04 | |
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HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL .
Well 2002 was another great year for live music
with Brian Wilson ( Royal Festival Hall )
Iron Maiden (Brixton Academy ) Sex Pistols
(London and California ) The Who (London RAH and
Los Angeles) , Foo Fighters (ULU and Wembley )
David Bowie ( Royal Festival Hall and Hammersmith
Apollo ) Prince (all 3 Hammersmith Apollo shows)
and Bruce Springsteen (Wembley Arena ) my
highlights of the year .
In 2002 i went to a staggering 172 gigs,concerts
etc including a few music events such as
BRIT Awards + KERRANG Awards + Q Awards +
The MOBO Awards which were all really good .
2003 will see full European tours by The Rolling
Stones , Bruce Springsteen , REM and others.
Two shows that have certainly got everyone in
London buzzing are just around the corner .
Audioslave (feature members of Soundgarden and
Rage Against The Machine )play The Astoria
on 17 Jan 2003 and Zwan (feature Billy Corgan
from The Smashing Pumpkins) play Shepherds Bush
Empire on 12 Feb 2003 . Both bands have barely
played a dozen shows each in America but still see
a big London show as an important career move.
Needless to say both sold out very quickly .
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| 2003-01-18 | |
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WATCH OUT THERE ARE FAKE TICKETS ABOUT .
Last night for Audioslave at The Astoria there
were about 100 fake/forged tickets sold outside.
The sight of 2 teenagers crying their eyes out
after paying £60 each for fakes has prompted me to
say a few words on buying tickets from "strangers"
It is bad enough paying £60 for a genuine ticket
to see your fave band but to pay £60 for one
that will not get you in is something else.
If you present a forgery the door security will
not feel sorry for you and let you in . They will
take the ticket off you and escort you off the
premises .How can you avoid buying forged tickets?
The forged tickets usually only turn when there
is massive demand for downstairs standing tickets.
In London forgeries were at Astoria (David Bowie)
Shepherds Bush Empire ( Oasis) and Brixton
Academy ( Jamiroquai ) and Bruce Springsteen
(Wembley) and others . Because of computers the
forged tickets can be of high quality but the
counterfoil security strip is not as prominent as
a genuine ticket.This is the real difference.
1.Most fake tickets are sold before the doors are
open to the public so what happens is fan buys
ticket at 6pm gets in the queue to get near stage then doors open at 7pm the door security spot the
fake and you are put outside in the street , by
which time the person that has sold you the ticket
is long gone .
2.If you have to buy a ticket before 7pm all
you have to do is compare it closely with a fan
in the queue with a genuine ticket .
3.If you are buying a ticket from a stranger when
the doors are open just ask a door security guard
to verify it is real .Someone who is selling a
real ticket will not mind you doing this .I know how hard it is when you really want a ticket
for a sold out event to just shell out the dosh
but stick to the above and avoid being ripped off.
You have been warned .
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| 2003-01-28 | |
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Rolling Stones extra show at Twickenham Rugby
Stadium on 24 August 2003 . Tickets will go on
sale Friday 31 Jan 2003 at 9am .
Support act for both Twickenham shows will be
Starsailor.
The Rolling Stones who are currently on a major
tour of North America are about to officially announce a huge UK and European tour for 2003 .
Most likely London locations are Wembley Arena
indoors , but maybe just the one show there and
an outdoor show at Twickenham Rugby Stadium as
Wembley Stadium is still being re developed .
Like the American tour they plan a low key club show similar to previous shows at Brixton Academy and Shepherds Bush Empire.
The most likely venue this time will NOT be any
of the two small venues mentioned.
check back here for the latest details.
Rolling Stones London shows update 02 Dec 2002 =
23 August 2003 Twickenham Rugby Ground +
27 August 2003 Astoria +
29 August 2003 Wembley Arena +
The Twickenham show will be a greatest hits set
with the other 2 shows featuring lesser known
material. Tickets go on sale Friday 06 Dec 2002
at 9am .
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| 2003-02-22 | |
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See Aftershow section for BRIT AWARDS event and
aftershow party review .
Well at last the second half (years 1988 to 2003)
of my concert and gig listing is now finished and
will be loaded on to the site over the next couple of weeks . This will mean that the site
will hold a staggering 80,000+ words on bands ,
venues ,dates and reviews to all 3800+ shows that
i have been to over the last 30 years .
The site is by no means finished as a few of the
shows will get extended comments and reviews on
them but all the bands , venues and dates will
be up to date .
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| 2003-02-25 | |
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Baddiel And Skinner Show on ITV 26 FEB 2003.
Yours truly is on the show for a couple of
minutes talking about raysgigs.com , going to the
BRIT Awards and seeing The Sex Pistols in 1976.
Programme starts at 10.30pm and is
repeated on Saturday evening 01 March 2003.
As the show used only 30 mins of the 60 mins
that was recorded the mention of my sites name was
sadly cut from the end result.
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| 2003-02-28 | |
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Robert Plant TV Show London 28 Feb 2003 .
As mentioned on this site a couple of months ago
Led Zep legend Robert Plant gave a very rare TV
appearance for BBC Recovered Show to an invited
audience of only 250 people .With the stop and
starts of TV recording he was on stage for 45
mins .He played an Arthur Lee song 3 times and
Tim Buckleys " Song To The Siren " 2 times before
giving a great 15 minute interview where he told
of his love of Arthur Lee And Love songs , his
passion for Wolves FC and hoping this year is
their year for promotion and stating that Steve
Bull was his fave ever player . He said he loved
karoke singing with Elvis Presley his fave artist
to sing along to .He spoke fondly of his trip to
play in the desert in Jan 2003 where he
heard so many amazing Eastern sounds .He also
confirmed their would be no Led Zep reunion but
there would be a DVD out in the summer that would
feature live tracks from Earls Court , London
shows from 1975 .He said that of all the current
groups Primal Scream were his favourites.It was
great to see him up close no more than 5 yards
away as he chatted between takes .This show will
be on BBC3 in April and then repeated on BBC2 .
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| 2003-03-30 | |
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Teenage Cancer Trust Concerts Royal Albert Hall.
Mon 24 March 2003 . Coldplay and Richard Hawley .
Coldplay did a superb 90 mins set feat all the
best songs from their two albums .They are now so
confident on stage . Support Richard Hawley did
a pretty boring 45 mins set .
Tues 25 March 2003. Eric Clapton and Nigel Kennedy.Eric Clapton did a 90 mins set with drab
pub rock blues and r n b for the first hour before
he got stuck into " Cocaine " " A Whiter Shade Of
Pale "(with Gary Brooker singing ) and Layla.
Nigel Kennedy did an interesting 60 mins set with
his Polish jazz outfit .
Wed 26 March 2003. Richard Ashcroft and Roger
Daltrey .Richard Ashcroft was a lot better than
expected with loads of great songs and a stunning
finale of " Bitter Sweet Symphony " without the
strings but with more of a dance feel to it .
Roger Daltrey Allstars included Gem ,Noel and Liam from Oasis , Kelly Jones (Stereophonics )
Paul Weller and Roger himself with everyone
having a go on vocals .
The Kids Are Alright - Roger Daltrey,
Dont Wanna Talk Tonight - Noel G,
Shadow Of The Sun - Paul Weller,
One Way Road - Noel G,
Butterfly Collector - Paul Weller,
Size 9s - Kelly Jones,
Traffic - Kelly Jones,
Songbird - Liam G,
Magic Bus - Roger Daltrey,
Liam also came on for one song with Richard
Ashcroft.
Thurs 27 March 2003.The Doves and Asian Dub
Foundation .Doves are more concerned with writing
quality songs than actually looking and dressing
like rock stars thats for sure but they do have
some really good tunes and Roger Daltrey came on
with them at the end to sing Whos " The Seeker" .
Asian Dub Foundation did a really lively set but
got a bit of stick for their non stop anti war
rantings .
Friday 28 March 2003.Supergrass and Ash .
Supergrass did a good 80 mins set with loads of
catchy tunes but they appeared a bit jaded after
their recent American tour . They made great use
of the giant screen behind them that they used
on their last tour which mixed video clips and
live footage of the gig taken by mini cameras
on their equipment.
Ash did a good 70 mins set
which included 2 brand new songs .
Saturday 29 March 2003.Madness and Aswad .
Fair to say Madness fans created a better
atmosphere than all the other 5 nights together .
Madness did a great 90 mins set similar to the
December 2002 UK tour with the screen behind the
stage showing clips of Ian Dury and Madness videos.RAH has never seen so much dancing.
Aswad did a pleasant 60 mins pop reagae set .
Roger Daltrey confirmed that The Who would be
playing at next years show.
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| 2003-05-15 | |
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The Premiere Of The Led Zeppelin Double DVD At
Leicester Square Empire , London on 15 May 2003.
Tonight there was an edited 2 hour version of
the 5 hour double DVD that will hit the shops on
26 May 2003 . It features footage from classic
gigs such as Royal Albert Hall 1970, Madison
Square Garden 1973 , Earls Court 1975 and
Knebworth 1979.This cinema is huge and there must
be 800 people here inc Bruce Dickinson, Nico
McBrain, Janick Gers (all Iron Maiden ) The
Curbishley Brothers, Luke Morley (Thunder ),
all the members of Feeder, DJ Gary Crowley ,
promoter Harvey Goldsmith but most important all
3 remaining Led Zep members appeared together
which nowadays is a very rare sight indeed.
Jimmy Page , Robert Plant and John Paul Jones
stood at the front of the cinema to a standing
ovation and said a few words .They then watched the film from the back .After the film we
somehow blagged the Jimmy Page VIP room where it
was close family members only (no members of Led
Sep or any other band) .We had a couple of drinks
and had a chat with him (he remembered us from the
Brighton Whitesnake show ) and we got him to
autograph our film invites.Years ago Jimmy Page
was a bit wild and moody but these days he is
friendly , funny and a total gent .Great night.
Some of the DVD footage is superb and tonight
the end of each song was greeted by applause
and cheers.
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| 2003-07-15 | |
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I have just came back from an amazing week in
Paris , France catching The Rolling Stones .
I caught 2 of their 3 shows there as well as both
their aftershow parties which were mega .
More details in the aftershow news page.
After a stunning performance on Later With Jools
The Darkness continue their amazing rise up the
rock n roll tree by announcing a full UK tour
in Oct that includes a major London show at the
Hammersmith Apollo on 22 Oct 2003 .
The Download Rock Festival was a total success
A huge crowd 60,000+ on the hottest day of the year.
Some great new bands but it was Iron Maidens 2
hour full production show that did it for me.
Marilyn Manson did a really good hour set.
Sat 31 May 2003 Iron Maiden + Marilyn Manson +
Deftones + Ministry + Inme + Murder Dolls .
Sun 01 June 2003 Audioslave + Zwan + Less Than
Jake + Disturbed + Stone Sour + The Darkness.
(Metallica played an 4pm Sunday secret show here)
Lets hope it comes back next year .
i was also at Paul McCartney show
at Sheffield Hallam Arena on Thurs 29 May 2003.
Paul McCartney at Sheffield was great but i was
lucky enough to be at the Liverpool Docks Show
on 01 June 2003 for the last night of his world
tour and in his home city as well . His 3 hour
set was fantastic and the atmosphere in the
city was very special and Macca choked back the
emotion as the crowd sand "Hes coming home , hes
coming home , Maccas coming home " In the
hospitality tent i saw soccer legends Peter Reid
and Kenny Dagliesh and comic Frank Skinner.
On Tuesday 13 May 2003 at Sothebys , London i
attended the auction of The Who bass player
John Entwistle collection of guitars and items
which ranged from jackets and gold discs to
trumpets and painted casts of various fish .
This auction was not for the faint hearted with
200 Who fans and collectors in the room and a
dozen more on the phone bidding .Three of his
guitars went for £ 42,000 , £52,000 and a very
rare 1958 Gibson Explorer went for £ 80,000 and
the buyer pays 20% auction fees on top of that .
Two framed posters of 1963 West London gigs as The
Detours went for an staggering £15,000 each.
Average price of gold discs was £1,200.
There were nearly 400 items which included an
amazing collection of nearly 200 guitars.
One of bidders today was another great bass
player Peter Hook from New Order .
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| 2003-09-14 | |
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Well 11 Sept 1973 was my first ever gig so what
better way to celebrate 30 years of gig going
by booking a trip to see the legends The Sex
Pistols on the last few dates of their USA tour.
It was a very hectic trip that went like this
Sept 1 Arrive San Diego then drive to San Fran.
Sept 2 Chuck Prophet + Jonathan Richman at Slims
in San Francisco. Sept 3 Sex Pistols at Warfield ,
San Francisco .Sept 4 Drive to Las Vegas.
Sept 5 Sex Pistols at Hard Rock Hotel,Las Vegas.
Sept 6 Sex Pistols at Greek Theatre,Los Angeles.
Sept 7 Sex Pistols at Street Scene ,San Diego.
Sept 8 Sex Pistols at Marquee,Tempe,Arizona.
Sept 10 Beach Boys at America West Arena , Phoenix
Arizona .
Then back to London for Rolling Stones shows at
Wembley Arena. The Sex Pistols were fantastic.
Short 60 mins set of the finest rock n roll ever.
Everything from "Never Mind The Bollocks" etc.
Well worth the trip , that band and those songs
mean so much to me even today . While i was there
a few people helped me out so big thanks to
Memphis Linzy , Helena , Mick , Simon and of
course The Sex Pistols esp Glen Matlock.
(See aftershow page for the aftershow news.)See
www.sex-pistols.net for full reviews and some
of the photos that i took at all of the shows.
A few of these photos also appear in the
December 2003 issue of MOJO music mag which has
done a 2 page article on the Pistols tour.
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| 2003-10-01 | |
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David Bowie killed off " Ziggy Stardust " 30 years
ago at this venue on 03 July 1973.
There was a number one album named after it by
Motorhead called " No Sleep Til Hammersmith"
In the 30 years i have been going there the
venue has never had a stalls standing option.
It was the first venue i ever went to as a 14
year old and later i spent over 10 years there on
front stage security so it is hardly surprising
that it is my fave ever live concert venue but
the legendary Hammersmith Apollo ( ex Ham Odeon)
is about to get a summer makeover .Fed up with all
the decent bands using stand up venues like
Shepherds Bush Empire,Brixton Academy , Astoria
the new owners Clear Channel Entertainments are
putting in new seats that can be taken out as and
when required in the downstairs stalls area.
This will also mean that for standing shows they
can sell 5,000 tickets as opposed to the usual
4,000 for a sitdown show.The venue closes for
6 weeks and reopens in early September .This
sounds like a perfect way to get back the bands
and promoters that once used to love the place.
Motorhead,Def Leppard , Bob Dylan ,Simple Minds,
Darkness ,Janes Addiction and David Lee Roth
are amongst the acts to play soon and there is a
one off show by rock legends AC/DC confirmed for
21 October 2003. AC/DC played here often in late
1970s /early 1980s .Ticket details will be in
The Evening Standard paper dated 10 October 2003.
They last played shows at this venue as part of
their "For Those About To Rock " tour in Oct 1982.
I was at all 4 of those fantastic shows.
On 17 September 2003
the honour of being the first band to play with
stalls standing was American soft rock singer John
Mayer so it was a shame that he gave one of the
most boring shows i have seen all this year.
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| 2003-12-28 | |
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Check out www.ticketbank.co.uk for all your
ticket needs .Tel 01702 345050 or 07808 078000.
They can get any ticket for any event even when
it is completely sold out.Also 07961 301346.
Well it is late October 2003 and at last all the
shows and dates have been entered in the main
year listing for all the gigs from 1990 onwards.
Sorry for the delay and now just 2003 to be put
up there so for the time being i will list the
gigs i have been going to since coming back from
my recent 2003 Australia trip so here goes,
April 20 + 21 Status Quo ,Coolangatta ,Australia.
May 3 Craig David , Royal Albert Hall, London.
May 4 Showaddywaddy,Andy Scotts Sweet ,Ruebettes,
Palladium , London.
May 5 Simply Red ,Wembley Arena .
May 6 Skin , Scala ,London.
May 8 Stereophonics , Hammersmith Palais .
Virgin Radio 10th Birthday Party.
May 9 Melanie C ,Shepherds Bush Empire, London
May 10 Tom Jones ,Wembley Arena .
May 12 Whitesnake + Gary Moore + Ynt ,Brighton
Centre.
May 13 Blur , Astoria , London .
May 14 Faster Pussycat , Underworld , London.
May 15 Led Zeppelin DVD Launch , London.
May 16 Ray Davies , Royal Festival Hall , London.
May 17 Whitesnake + Gary Moore , Wembley Arena.
May 18 Neil Young , Hammersmith Apollo , London.
May 21 + 22 Peter Gabriel , Wembley Arena .
May 23 Thunder , Astoria , London.
May 24 Radiohead , Shepherds Bush Empire,London.
May 26 + 27 Bruce Springsteen And The E Street
Band , Crystal Palace Sports Arena , London.
May 28 Lou Reed , Barbican , London.
May 29 Paul McCartney , Sheffield Arena .
May 31 Iron Maiden + Marilyn Manson + Deftones
Donington Download Festival .
June 1 Paul McCartney , Kings Dock ,Liverpool.
June 2 Blue Oyster Cult , Stables , Milton Keynes.
June 3 Murder Dolls ,Kentish Town Forum,London.
Metalhammer Awards Party .
June 4 Joe Jackson Band , Shepherds Bush Empire,
London.
June 5 Queensryche , Astoria , London.
June 6 Counting Crows , Royal Albert Hall,London.
June 7 Annie Lennox , Sadlers Wells , London.
June 8 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds , Hammersmith
Apollo , London.
June 10 Public Enemy , Royal Festival Hall,London.
June 12 Suggs play " Our House " and dinner with
Suggs after in the West End.
June 13 Sly and Robbie , Royal Festival Hall ,
London.
June 17 Audioslave , Astoria , London.
June 19 Ari Ups Slits , Underworld , London.
June 20 Damned + Adicts + Boys + Ari Ups Slits +
UK Subs + Vice Squad , Morecambe Arena .
June 21 Cocksparrer + Slaughter And The Dogs +
Anti Nowhere League + GBH + 999,Morecambe Arena .
June 22 Deep Purple + Lynyrd Skynryd , Birmingham
NEC.
June 23 Eminem + Cypress Hill ,Milton Keynes Bowl.
June 24 REM Brixton Academy , London .
June 25 Har Mar Superstar ,Virgin Megastore,London
June 26 Kool And The Gang , Hammersmith Apollo ,
London.
June 27 Macy Gray + Lee Scratch Perry , Royal
Festival Hall , London .
June 28 Bon Jovi , Hyde Park , London .
July 1 George Benson , Royal Albert Hall,London
July 2 Yes , Hammersmith Apollo , London.
July 3 Tony Bennett , Royal Albert Hall, London
July 4 Alice Cooper + Arthur Lees Love + The
Wildhearts , Guildford Festival .
July 7 Rolling Stones + Stereophonics ,Bercy
Indoor Arena , Paris , France.
July 8 Stereophonics , Cafe De La Danse, Paris ,
France .
July 9 Rolling Stones + Stereophonics , Stade De
France , Paris , France.
July 13 James Brown , Royal Albert Hall , London.
July 17 Dead Men Walking ,Underworld , London .
July 18 Dead Men Walking ,Jailhouse ,Coventry .
July 20 Status Quo ,Grand Prix Party ,Silverstone.
July 23 Zodiac Mindwarp + Vice Squad + Dragster,
Borderline , London
July 30 ZZ Top ,Brixton Academy,London.
Aug 1 Robbie Williams ,Moby,Ash at Knebworth Park.
Aug 2 Robbie Williams ,Moby,Ash,Kelly Osbourne,
Darkness at Knebworth Park.
Aug 5 Darkness at Virgin Megastore , London.
Aug 7 John Otway Band ,Olympia Beer Festival.
Aug 8 Rolan Bolan + Reagan ,Camden Barfly.
Aug 11 Patti Smith Band , Shepherds Bush Empire.
Aug 16 Coldplay + Foo Fighters + Hives + Cardigans
+ Killing Joke ,V Festival Chelmsford .
Aug 17 Red Hot Chilli Peppers + David Gray +
Queens Of The Stone Age + Inspiral Carpets +
Tim Burgess + Skin ,V Festival Chelmsford .
Aug 19 Rolling Stones + Starsailor , Ajax Arena ,
Amsterdam .
Aug 22 Linkin Park + Placebo + Darkness + Staind ,
Reading Festival .
Aug 23 Blur + Black Rebel Motorcycle Club + Beck
+ Streets + Libertines ,Reading Festival.
Aug 24 Metallica + System Of A Down + Primal
Scream + Good Charlotte + Raveonettes ,Reading
Festival .
Aug 26 Jet , HMV Megastore , Oxford St ,London.
Aug 29 Rolling Stones , Wembley Arena ,London.
Sept 2 Chuck Prophet + Jonathan Richman ,Slims ,
San Francisco.
Sept 3 Sex Pistols + Dropkick Murphys + Rev
Horton Heat , Warfield ,San Francisco.
Sept 5 Sex Pistols + Dropkick Murphys , The Joint,
Hard Rock Hotel , Las Vegas.
Sept 6 Sex Pistols + Dropkick Murphys ,The Greek
Theatre , Los Angeles .
Sept 7 Sex Pistols + Dropkick Murphys , Street
Scene Festival , San Diego.
Sept 8 Sex Pistols + Glass Heroes , Marquee ,
Tempe , Arizona .
Sept 10 Beach Boys , America West Arena , Phoenix,
Arizona.
Sept 13 Rolling Stones , Wembley Arena, London.
Sept 14 Dixie Chicks , Royal Albert Hall,London.
Sept 15 Rolling Stones + Darkness , Wembley Arena
London.
Sept 17 John Mayer + Clarksville , Hammersmith
Apollo ,London.
Sept 19 Deftones + A Perfect Circle , Wembley
Arena ,London.
Sept 20 Rolling Stones + Primal Scream ,
Twickenham Stadium,Middlesex.
The Stones at Twickers was superb. I have seen
them 7 times on this tour in Paris ,Amsterdam and
London and they have played a slightly different
set every night and changed song order as well.
2 hours of pure rock n roll.For this show Angus
Young and Malcolm Young of AC/DC came on for a
blues jam halfway through the set.
Their tour of theatres, arenas and stadiums has
been very special.
Sept 21 Small Faces Convention , Ruskin Arms,
East Ham ,London.
Sept 25 MOBO Awards and Party ,Royal Albert Hall,
London.
Sept 27 Dead Men Walking ,Civic Centre, Aylesbury.
Sept 29 Rolf Harris 50 years in TV , Royal Albert
Hall , London.
Oct 2 Q Awards , Park Lane Hotel , London.
Oct 3 Stiff Little Fingers ,Garage ,London.
Oct 7 Stiff Little Fingers ,Zodiac ,Oxford.
Oct 9 Dead Men Walking ,Princes Theatre,Aldershot.
Oct 10 Chic + Tavares + Shalamar + Alexander
O'Neal + Rose Royce + Real Thing + Kid Creole And
The Coconuts ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Oct 14 Duran Duran ,Kentish Town Forum,London.
It was great to see all 5 DD original members on
stage together in London for the first time since
1985. They played a mainly greatest hits show.
Oct 15 Fashion Rocks , Royal Albert Hall,London.
The Fashion Rocks event at the Royal Albert Hall
was a superb evening . Hosted by Liz Hurley and
Denis Leary it featured 150 of the worlds top
models on a catwalk with a stage in the middle
where a host of big names did one song each .
Beyonce,Duran Duran,Blue ,Bjork,Janes Addiction,
Grace Jones ,Robbie Williams,JK , Skin, Bryan
Adams,Kelis , Sheryl Crow and best crowd reaction
of the night went to Bryan Ferry for a great
version of " Lets Stick Together" which went down
even better than Robbies tune.Also there were all
the top designers in person like Dior, Armani ,
Dolce And Gabbana,Alexander McQueen ,Julien
MacDonald,Stella McCartney ,Tommy Hilfiger etc.
Guests in the crowd included Bob Geldof , Nick
Mason ( Pink Floyd) Roger Taylor (Queen),
Jimmy Tarbuck,Micheal Stipe(REM),Tamara Beckwith.
Actors Dolph Lungren and that French bloke with
the big nose and of course HRH Prince Charles.
Liz Hurley changed into at least 16 outfits on
the night .Great night.
Oct 16 REM ,Shepherds Bush Hall ,London.
Amazing to see REM play this great little venue
for only 250 fans.Short lunchtime show lasting
50 mins and 10 songs with my highlights
Man On The Moon and Losing My Religion.
Oct 18 Motorhead + Wildhearts , Hammersmith Apollo, London.
Motorhead were fantastic . That great wall of
noise. Their first show at this venue for 11 years.They still play Sex Pistols GSTQ .
Oct 19 Dead Men Walking ,Shepherds Bush Empire,
London.Really enjoyable night out and Clash legend
Mick Jones came on for encore of Pretty Vacant
and Stray Cat Strut.
Oct 20 AC/DC ,Hammersmith Apollo, London.
raysgigs.com was one of the 50 guests and comp
winners who watched these rock legends do a 4 song
rehearsal prior to the main show tomorrow night.
Amazing to be so close up and with full light show.The songs were
If You Want Blood You Got It ,Gone Shootin,
Hard As A Rock, TNT.
Oct 21 AC/DC at Hammersmith Apollo, London.
Superb 90 mins set from these Aussie rock legends.
Encore of Highway To Hell and For Those About To
Rock with cannons blasting away was perfection.
Although i have seen AC/DC over a dozen times at
this venue in the late 70s/ early 80s this was
there first show back here for 21 years.
Oct 22 Darkness + 3 Inches Of Blood,Hammersmith
Apollo , London.
Justin the singer gets his voice back and the
band do an excellent 75 mins rock set.
Oct 23 Jake Burns (SLF)acoustic set and book
launch , Borders ,Oxford Street,London.
Oct 26 Def Leppard , Acadamy , Birmingham.
They did a brilliant 1 hour 45 mins set.
Joe Elliot the singer was telling me how much the
band are looking fiorward to playing Hammersmith.
(i will miss that show as i will be in Madrid,
Spain to see Iron Maiden.)
Oct 27 Flock Of Seagulls ,Scala ,London.
Oct 28 Alarm ,Scala , London.
These 2 shows were part of the new VH1 series to
be called "Bands Reunited".
Flock Of Seagulls played a 30 mins greatest hits
set .This was the first time since 1983 that all
4 original members have played on stage together.
Also The Alarm who broke up in 1991 on untidy
terms but here are all 4 original members on
stage together to play a blinding 55 mins set.
Nov 02 Iron Maiden, Vistalegre ,Madrid ,Spain.
Maiden came on at 9.30pm and did their excellent
1 hour 45 mins show in this round arena that held
about 6,000. The Spanish fans loved it .The band
actually flew back to London after the show to be
at home for a day before Tues show in Frankfurt.
Nov 03 Flaming Lips ,Hammersmith Apollo,London,
Visually its a stunning night out with non stop
giant balloons , confetti ,fake blood , mirror
balls and 20 people in animal costumes with some
top tunes as well.
Nov 04 Flaming Lips ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
Back to see them again after last nights great
show.
Nov 05 Christina Aguilera,Wembley Arena, London.
She looks great and has plenty of costume changes.
A very strong voice that sometimes is just too
loud. Give me Kylie over Christina anyday.
Nov 06 Simply Red ,Wembley Arena,London.
Not everyones cup of tea these days but Mick
Hucknall still has a fantastic voice and the
1 hour 40 mins set was full of great songs.
Nov 08 Dashboard Confessional ,Shepherds Bush
Empire ,London.
Sold out show that the fans loved but to be honest
i thought DC 65 mins was pretty average stuff.
Nov 10 Dexys Midnight Runners ,Royal Festival Hall
,London. What a great show this was ,full of
soul ,passion and a great band playing slightly
different versions of Dexys classics.
Nov 11 Darkness , Astoria ,London.
Even better than the Hammersmith Apollo show.
Another rockin 75 mins set but they dropped the
Radiohead cover and played the Christmas single.
Full on stage show with lots of lights etc.
Nov 12 Janes Addiction ,Hammersmith Apollo,London.
Some great songs in the 80 mins set but to honest
i enjoyed The Darkness show last night more.
Nov 13 Finlay Quaye ,Shepherds Bush Empire ,
London .There were a few good songs here but the
band were acting as if it was a rehearsal room
and not a gig in front of paying punters .
New single "Dice" was superb, just too lacklustre.
Nov 15 Kylie Minogue ,Hammersmith Apollo,London.
One off show for ITV recording so its a shorter
set than normal ,13 songs in 70 mins. Kylie looks
lovely in all 5 of her costumes.Like The Darkness
show all the competition winners are downstairs
with all the guests upstairs.Mainly songs off the
new album with a few old hits like "Cant Get You
Out Of My Head " and " Spinning Around".
A dozen dancers and a full stage production.
Nov 17 Meat Loaf ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Bit of a odd one this as after 45 mins Meaf Loaf
collapses to the floor and needs oxygen from a
roadie to carry on . The thing is most people
think its just part of the stage show and then
10 mins later he says he cannot continue as flu
and exhaustion have got the better of him. A lot
of disgruntled punters as he only played 55 mins
of a 2 hour 15 mins set. Great to hear some of those big anthems again and full credit to Meat
Loaf for giving 100% knowing he was unwell.
Will be interesting what happens now.Another
show later ? A full refund? or no money back?
Nov 18 David Essex ,Royal Albert Hall ,London.
When i was age 16 in 1975 a lot of teenage boys
wanted to be David Essex.He had hit singles ,
he drove motorbikes and women loved him. Some of
those same women are hear tonight as they all
rushed the stage like they did in the old days.
We put up with all the songs from new album
"Sunrise" but most of the old hits is what most
are wanting. Such simple lyrics but good fun.
Nov 20 David Bowie + Dandy Warhols,Birmingham NEC.
Dandy Warhols did a mixed set of good pop tunes
and some pretty weird stuff too. David Bowie was
on stage for 2 hours 10 mins and was superb.His
band were great as they mixed the new with the
old like Rebel Rebel ,Fame ,All The Young Dudes,
Man Who Sold The World,Heroes,Under Pressure,
Life On Mars ,Changes ,Five Years ,Ziggy Stardust.
Nice use of screens above and behind the stage.
David presented Gail Ann Dorsey a cake as it was
her bithday .DB looked great even in jeans and
sneakers.A really excellent show.
Nov 22 Linkin Park + Lost Prophets ,Wembley Arena,
London . Support did a good rockin set .Linkin
Park look like college kids but they just
really do rock big time .Fantastic 80 mins set.
Nov 24 Bob Dylan ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
Sure hes a legend and when i saw him in the 1970s
he was great but now BD just seems to mumble his
way through a mainly unfamiliar set .Boring .
Nov 25 David Bowie ,Wembley Arena , London.
I had a fantastic seat 15 rows from the stage.
A superb set that like Birmingham lasted 2 hours
10 mins . From start to finish just brilliant.
Nov 26 David Bowie ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Another fantastic show .He dropped a couple of
numbers inc All The Young Dudes and added a
couple inc Jean Genie compared to yesterdays gig.
Nov 27 Four Tops + Temptations ,Royal Albert Hall,
London . Enjoyable double bill of Motown legends.
Nov 28 Jools Holland and his Orchestra , Royal
Albert Hall , London . Pleasant enough boogie
woogie but the highlight was 3 songs sung by
Paul Rodgers inc My Brother Jake and a superb
encore of Alright Now.
Nov 29 Fleetwood Mac , Earls Court Arena ,London.
Back again with the classic line up . A long set
lasting 2 hours 25 mins .A mix of great , average
and boring songs but i was surprised by what a
great guitar player Lyndsay Buckingham is .
Nov 30 Echo And The Bunnymen ,Shepherds Bush
Empire ,London .25th Anniversary Show .Loads of
great oldies in the set with " The Cutter " my
fave of the night .
Dec 01 Frank Black And The Catholics + Serafin,
Shepherds Bush Empire ,London.
Recently The Pixies have been name checked by
the likes of David Bowie and Placebo so it seemed
a good time to see their singer play live. A
dirty noisy rock n roll band who were pretty good.
Great versions of "Monkey Gone To Heaven" and
"Where Is My Mind."
Dec 02 Blur ,Brixton Academy ,London.
Damon was glad to be back in London telling the
crowd that they first played this venue as first
band on the bill supporting The Cramps .Loads of
great songs from their entire career.Really good.
Dec 03 UB40 + Stranglers ,Wembley Arena,london.
Stranglers did a good 45 mins set and ended with
a superb "Grip", "Duchess "and "No More Heroes"
UB40 did a nice soft reggae set and the old hits
were great with a mega encore of the Rugby song
" Swing Low " which is rereleased next week.
Dec 05 Simple Minds ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
The first half was a bit average but the second
half was full of those big anthemic rockers.
The set was a bit too long at 2 hours 10 mins.
Dec 06 Simple Minds ,Hammersmith Apollo,London.
Back again for more of the same .Why did they
leave the stalls seats in for these shows ??
Dec 07 Nickleback ,Brixton Academy ,London.
They were much better than expected .Sure most of
the songs sound the same but they put on a real
entertaining gig with a huge light show,fire
columns, fireworks,explosions and giving loads of
beer out to the crowd.
Dec 08 Madness ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Loads of great pop ska hits .The crowd as usual
were totally up for having a real knees up.
Dec 09 Sheryl Crow + Clarksville ,Shepherds Bush
Empire,London .Started off badly with a piss
taking 55 minutes gap between bands.Sheryl Crow
is now aged 41 but looks fantastic and she plays
guitar and piano .Nice to see Rolling Stone
Ronnie Wood come on and play 3 songs with her.
Some good tunes like "All I Wanna Do".Good show.
She was running late as she came straight from
a recording of The Graham Norton TV Show.
Dec 10 Buzzcocks ,Electric Ballroom,London.
This more like it .Non stop punk rock classics.
They played over 25 songs in the 75 mins set.
Fantastic.
Dec 11 Doors Of The 21st Century ,Wembley Arena,
London.With 2 original members and Ian Astbury
from The Cult on vocals the crowd are well up for
this one .A long set lasting 2 hours 35 mins meant
have the set was really good and the other half
a bit average but saved by great video projection
behind the band . Ian Astbury even has a Jim
Morrison haircut . Great encore where they
finished the last song " Light My Fire " and
turned the houselights on and said goodbye .Half
the crowd were out of the building on the way
home when the band came on for another song which
caused a mini riot down front of stage.
Dec 12 Iron Maiden + Funeral For A Friend ,Earls
Court Arena ,London.Hotly tipped support FFAF
were pretty average i thought.Iron Maiden really
put on a fantastic rock event.Even though the
show was in a venue more than twice the size of
the Madrid show i saw 6 weeks ago it was still
superb .Big stage production and all the band
running and rockin all over the place.Excellent.
Dec 13 Suede ,Astoria ,London . The atmosphere is
electric as this could be Suede's last ever show.
They play 2 sets the first is called the "funeral"
session which is full of b sides and lesser
known stuff and the second is called the
"celebration " session which is a superb greatest
hits set . On stage for over 2 hours they are a
great live band and i will miss them.
Dec 14 The Music + Fran Healy(Travis) + Cooper
Temple Clause + McAlmont And Butler + Graham
Coxon ,Astoria ,London. First 4 acts did 20 mins
each and The Music did 45 mins.Graham Coxon did a
great version of "Revolver ". McAlmont still has a
sweet voice.CTC started well but faded a bit .
Fran Healy played acoustic with a nice version of
"Rain" . The Music were surprisingly good with
loads of stomping dance rock tunes .
Dec 15 Human League + John Foxx , Watford
Colosseum .Great to see John Foxx out playing
again and he still does " Underpass" .
Human League were superb. They have brought back
the all white staging from a few years ago.
All those great synth pop tunes from the 1980s
and the female blonde singer is a total babe and
is sexier than any of those girls half her age
in groups like Girls Aloud/Atomic Kitten etc.
Dec 16 Stereophonics ,Earls Court Arena ,London.
This show should have been a lot better .Credit
due as this massive venue is sold out but the
band sounded tired and jaded . A badly paced set
that put most of the familiar songs at the start
and lesser known ones at the end . Ronnie Wood
from the Stones came on for 3 songs but even
that could not muster some real excitement.
Dec 17 Shed 7 ,Shepherds Bush Empire ,London.
Their final London show before they split up
on Sat with a hometown gig in York .The venue is
sold out and there is a great atmosphere.They
have a few really good songs but they feel the
band has run its course. Next split?The Bluetones?
Dec 19 Paul Young + Kim Wilde + ABC + Five Star +
Howard Jones + Heaven 17 + Nick Heywood + Tpau +
Curiousity Killed The Cat +China Crisis ,Wembley
Arena ,London . An impressive press release
stated that tonight would feature 10 acts from the
1980s with 44 Top 10 hits beteen them.For me ABC
and Paul Young were the tops with all the others
playing pleasant short sets with fast changeovers.
The crowd is in a dancing mood for Christmas .
Dec 20 Metallica ,Earls Court Arena ,London.
Last night of their European Tour. They were on
stage 2 hours 15 mins . The set was pretty much
the same as Reading Festival with the fireworks,
bangs and fire columns near the end . St Anger
material still only gets a luke warm reception.
Plenty of superb older material that really
rocked.Great stuff.
Dec 27 Salford Jets + Pork Dukes + Bleach Boys +
Knox(Vibrators),The Verge,Kentish Town ,London.
4 acts that were all on the fringes of punk circa
1976 to 1979 .Pork Dukes stole the show with their
sleazy rude lyrics and it was a good night.
The live music scene goes to sleep now for most
of the big acts as they fly off to warmer places
before starting up again in mid Jan .I will be
away in Orlando with my 2 boys Jan 2 to Jan 16.
Despite record sales falling again the concert
scene is still growing . 2003 was a fantastic
year where i spent nearly 200 nights at music gigs
and events . 2004 looks like it will be just as
good .Thanks for checking out this site .
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28 Feb David Lee Roth + Quireboys ,Hammersmith
Apollo ,London. Quireboys started a bit slow but
got better and better . This was DLR first London
show for 10 years and as usual he was the perfect
frontman .His hair is shorter but the big smile is
still there .A superb set of solo and Van Halen
classics inc "Just Like Paradise" ,"Aint Talkin
Bout Love","Running With The Devil" ,"Jump" etc
27 Feb Brian Wilson,Royal Festival Hall,London.
This week of shows will be one of the best of 2004
This was my 4th show out of 6 .As this was the
last night he was presented with flowers at the
end by his 2 daughters i think.
26 Feb Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall , London.
Brian is a bit frail but rarely have i been to a
show with so much love for the artist playing.
25 Feb Keane + Ordinary Boys, Islington Academy,
London. Both bands hotly tipped by NME .Support
were ok and Keane were full of radio friendly
songs but do we really need another keyboard led
warm melodic rock band??
24 Feb Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall ,London.
Back again to see this fantastic show for a
second time.Paul McCartney and Beatles producer
George Martin were here tonight.Pure class.
23 Feb Amen + Eighties Matchbox B Line Disaster,
Islington Academy,London.Great double bill of 2
pretty wild bands.EMBLD did a cool Cramps/Damned
style set and Amen were just great .Casey Chaos
always gives 100% and trashing the equipment but
he will need to make the vocals a bit better.
22 Feb Motorhead , Vilar Floral Hall ,Royal Opera
House,London.Totally surreal venue to see rock
legends Motorhead play. Invite only event for
the Totally London week .Motorhead take the stage
at 7.45pm and play a superb 75 mins set for the
400 here.Great to hear " God Save The Queen" and
"Killed By Death" amongst others in these posh venue.They also gave everyone a couple of free
drinks as well .Excellent stuff.
21 Feb Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall,London.
This was his 2nd of 6 sell out shows here.After
the success of "Pet Sounds" shows in 2002 he is back with a set that featues the "Smile" lost
album and loads of Beach Boys classics . A totally
stunning 18 piece backing band and a great show
lasting 2 hours 10 mins.
20 Feb Peter Frampton ,Shepherds Bush Empire ,
London.Back for his first London show in 9 years.
Most of the crowd are hear to hear the classics
from his 17m selling 1970s live album which he
mixes in with newer material .Really enjoyable.
17 Feb BRIT AWARDS ,Earls Court Arena ,London.
Always a great evening .Tonights live guests
were Duran Duran ,Darkness ,Beyonce,Muse ,50 Cent ,Outkast who were all really good and a
couple of others who were not so good.Darkness
won 3 awards and it was their night really.
A year ago to the day i went down to Portsmouth
to see a hotly tipped band supporting Def Leppard.
Who was it ?? The Darkness .
Among those giving out awards included Justin
Timberlake with lots of big names here tonight.
See aftershow page for aftershow party info.
16 Feb Shania Twain + Bjorn Again ,Wembley Arena,
London .Bjorn Again did a nice enough set of
Abba tunes but the novelty is wearing a bit thin.
Shania Twain is a huge country star. Great to see
a huge "in the round" stage production with lots
of fireworks but apart from 3 or 4 songs it all
felt a bit boring to me.
12 Feb Libertines + Jet + Josh Homme + Franz
Ferdinand + Scissor Sisters ,NME Awards,Hammersmith Palais ,london.
All the above bands played one or two songs in
this great night of the best new bands etc
For more details check the aftershow page.
05 Feb Gene Serene ,Madame Jo Jos ,London.
The " nu electro " scene is starting to take off
and its great to see so many glammed up .Gene
looked foxy and her 30 mins set was good stuff.
A great version of Clash "Should I Stay" .
30 Jan Funk Brothers ,Royal Festival Hall ,London.
Sold out show from these guys who played on loads
of Motown soul classics in the 1960s .This was
like The Commitments but with class .One great
tune after another that had everyone dancing and
smiling.Sadly only 2 guest vocalists who sung 4
songs each Billy Preston and Steve Winwood .The
band recieve a Grammy Award next month in USA
for Lifetime Achievement.
24 Jan Meat Loaf, Wembley Arena ,London .
As this looks like his last UK tour i went back
for another look. Still slurs his words on songs
like " Mercury Blues " but overall its a very
entertaining mix of theatre and rock n roll.
23 Jan Primal Scream ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
Sold out show for these dance rockers.As usual
they had plenty of strobe lighting going.Some
great songs that really got the place jumping.
"Rocks" "Loaded" etc in the 90 mins set.
22 Jan Meat Loaf ,Wembley Arena ,London.This was
the replacement show for the gig here on 17 Nov
where Meat Loaf collapsed on stage.Great entrance
as he is wheeled in on a strecher pushed by 2
nurses . Sure his voice is not as good as when i
first saw him live at Hammersmith in 1978 for
The Bat Out of Hell tour but hes still a great
showman . Loads of over the top rock anthems and
a few crap ones in the 2 hours 30 mins set .Mega
encore of " I Would Anything" and " Bat Out Of Hell".
21 Jan White Stripes ,Alexander Palace,London.
Their biggest London headline show to date .Just
the 2 of them and a few lights in front of around
7000 punters.A great overall noise with some great
songs in the 80 mins set.
17 Jan 2004 Dream Theater ,Hammersmith Apollo ,
London .They are great musicians but their 10 mins
plus workouts in the 2 hours 50 mins set got a bit
boring but the amazing drummer and his gigantic
drumkit still steal the show.
10 Jan 2004 Social Distortion ,Hard Rock ,Orlando,
Florida ,USA .These Californian punk rock legends
played a good 75 mins free show for 2000 people
that was sponsored by Oneill clothing.
The December 2003 issue of monthly music mag MOJO
has a 2 page spread on Sex Pistols 2003 tour of
America with some photos taken by me.
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28 March 2004 Travis + Keane ,Hammersmith Apollo,
London.A perfect double bill of Warm Melodic Rock.
Keane will headline this place within the year .
Travis are hardly exciting but they do write
catchy pop songs that everyone sings along to.
26 March 2004 Stiff Little Fingers ,Kentish Town
Forum,London.New album Guitar And Drum has a
couple of great tracks but most are wanting those
classic oldies Tin Soldiers ,Barbed Wire Love,
Alternative Ulster etc .Really good lively gig.
25 March 2004 Who ,Kentish Town Forum,London.
Back again for a second time to see this great
band play at this small venue .Started off brill
then Roger said It is ironic we are playing
benefit shows for cancer yet half of you are
smoking and my voice feels weaker .They ended up
finishing 25 mins earlier and leaving out 6 songs
inc Pinball Wizard and the 2 new tracks .Still
a cracking show with Baba OReilly and Wont Get
Fooled Again just stunning and plenty of on stage
banter between Pere and Roger.
24 March 2004 Earth Wind And Fire ,Hammersmith
Apollo,London.This disco funk band were massive
in the 1970s .They still have 3 original members
inc Philip Bailey and livewire bassist Verdine
White .Thankfully its a greatest hits set feat
Fantasy ,Boogie Wonderland ,Lets Groove Tonight,
September etc Very enjoyable show.
22 March 2004 Who ,Kentish Town Forum , London.
Their first ever show at this 2000 capacity.
First UK show since death of John Entwisle and
Pete Townsend police investigation.Roger Daltrey
is now age 60 and looks great .A fantastic 2 hour
show from one of our greatest rock bands .First
3 songs were "Who Are You " ,"Cant Explain" and
"Substitute" and it was a mainly hits set but with
2 totally new songs included.Pete was doing a few
guitar windmills and the encore included a mega "Pinball Wizard" .Excellent stuff.
20 March 2004 Kraftwerk ,Brixton Academy,London.
I went to the second show at midnight.
First UK shows for over 10 years from these
German electronica pioneers .The show was visually
stunning with a huge backdrop that covered the
entire stage with film clips and cool graphics .
They came on stage at 12.30 and played for just
over 2 hours. Older hits like Autobahn and The
Model got the most cheers. The 4 members of the
band stood motionless behind laptops on lecturns.
How much was actually playing and how much was
taped was hard to see but for one of the encores
Robots they were replaced by robots.Great show.
18 March 2004 Diana Ross ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Her first London show since her drink driving
arrest but the sold out crowd love her .She still
has the big posh frocks(5 or 6 tonight) and even
bigger hair but so many great songs from this
Motown legend.Her voice was best on the Billie
Holiday song section and there was some great
walking through the crowd for Im Still Waiting .
Loads of uptempo classics in the excellent 2 hrs.
17 March 2004 Tony Hadley And Peter Cox ,Watford
Colosseum .A huge UK tour by these 2 1980s pop
stars on the back of the success of the Reborn
In The USA tv show .The sung 2 or 3 songs at a
time each in a show lasting over 2 hours.Plenty
of on stage humour but far too many covers.
In a 24 song set it was 5 Spandau ,4 Go West and
15 covers of Robert Palmer ,Billy Paul ,Tom Petty
etc entertaining show but should have played more
Spandau.Loads of adoring females down the front.
16 March 2004 Libertines + Buzzcocks + Eighties
Matchbox B Line Disaster ,Astoria ,London.
Totally rammed out LOVE MUSIC HATE RACISM show.
EMBLD did a good 30 mins of scuzz rock.Buzzcocks
did a great 50 mins set of mainly greatest hits
punk classics.Libertines were messy and shambolic
as ever .65 mins set .They have a couple of great
songs but still far too many average songs .Sadly
Pete Doherty did not sing his superb solo single.
Clash legend Mick Jones came on for the 3 song
encore and he sung the Clash tune Should I Stay
which was highlight of the evening.
15 March 2004 Bill Wymans Rythm Kings ,Royal
Albert Hall ,London.Special charity show feat the
cream of 1960s British Blues with guests Paul
Carrack,Roger Chapman,The Zombies,Geno Washington,
Jools Holland,Eric Clapton, Peter Green ,Bob
Geldof ,Gary Brooker .Everyone did 2 or 3 songs
each.Eric was highlight with 3 blues songs and
Geno Washington was good fun.Everyone on stage
for the encore but not Eric Clapton.Good show.
14 March 2004 Lulu ,Her Majestys Theatre, London.
During the week this posh venue has P.O.T.Opera.
This was Lulus first UK tour for around 20 years.
For a women in her mid 50s she looked fantastic.
She did an 80 mins set with a great mix of solo
hits,cover versions and a few tracks from new
album"Back On Track" with a great finale of "Shout" .Very enjoyable evening.
12 March 2004 Stranglers + Goldblade ,Shepherds
Bush Empire ,London .Great sold out atmosphere for
this tour to promote current EMI album Norfolk
Coast.Plenty of the superb old hits like Peaches,
Something Better Change and No More Heroes.The
band have finally buried the ghost of Hugh Cornwall and the singer is due some credit for that.
11 March 2004 John Lydon + Starsailor ,BBC TV
Studios ,Shepherds Bush ,London.Sex Pistols punk
legend John Lydon gave a very entertaining 20 mins
interview mainly discussing his Im A Celebrity
stint a few weeks ago .Starsailor performed track
Four To The Floor.John signed autographs and posed
for photos after the show.Check my full review on
www.sex-pistols.net Shown on TV the next evening.
08 March 2004 Steve Winwood ,Shepherds Bush
Empire,London .Mainly an over 40s crowd for this
1970s Hammond Organ player from Traffic.2 sets
lasting a lengthy 2 hours 30 mins but the first
2 hours were pretty boring and then it kicked in
a bit for his best tunes in the last 30 mins.
The band got into some Santanaish muso old tosh.
06 March 2004.999 + TV Smith + Pyschodrama ,
Kings Arms Pub ,Acton ,London .This was a sweaty
hot pub punk rock gig just like the old days.
Psychodrama did a good set with a wise crackin
singer .TV Smith did a superb passion full 30
mins punk rock acoustic set.999 did a manic 50
mins that had everyone jumping around down front.
Amazing i first saw them in 1977 and they are
still loving it .Best track for me was Homicide.
05 March 2004 .Gary Numan ,Shepherds Bush Empire,
London.Even though he plays London every 6 months
these days his loyal fans have packed the venue.
Really good 95 mins of industrial rock with a few
hit singles thrown in as well.
01 March 2004.The Alarm , Scala ,London.
Special St Davids Day show DVD recording .The band
played 2 sets for their loyal fans .Loads of
great Alarm classics mixed in with a few newies.
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30 April 2004 Duran Duran ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Back again for my 4th time to see Duran at Wembley
on this tour.Still a really good night out.
27 April 2004 Britney Spears ,Wembley Arena ,
London.Some would say i only went back to see
Britney for all her sexy outfits (Britney in tiny
pink bra,knickers ,stockings and heels wow).A much
better crowd but again the songs are just too
weak even though its a visual treat.
26 April 2004 Britney Spears + JC Chasez ,Wembley
Arena ,London.JC is Justin T old mate from NSYNC
and he was just total rubbish .This was opening
show of her first UK tour for 4 years . Britney
has taken a more grown up sexy image . It looked
promising with the full american stage production
with chrome everywhere ,fire columns and dancers
but the backing band were too loud and drowned
out Britneys voice on most of the songs. Her 2
big early hits Hit Me Baby One More Time and Oops
were done in a jazzy style that went right over
the heads of her teenage girl fans here tonight.
Too many stop starts for 8 costume changes . My
whole feeling was it should have been much better.
25 April 2004 Norah Jones ,Hammersmith Apollo ,
London.Five years ago Norah was singing for tips
in the bars of Dallas,Texas and now she has had
2 albums that have sold over 20 million between
them.She has a great voice and plays the piano
but i was just pretty bored for most of this show.
Her band play great but just not my cup of tea.
24 April 2004 Duran Duran + Scissor Sisters ,
Wembley Arena ,London. This was the third Duran
show i have seen at Wembley . Again a really good
mainly greatest hits 2 hour set to a great crowd.
Only saw 15 mins of Scissor Sisters but they
looked like good fun.
23 April 2004 Cliff Richard ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London .Back to see Cliff for a second time.
This was number 13 of 14 sell out RAH shows .
His loyal fans give him pressies at the end of
every song which leads to fun stage banter .
Tonight he was given a 4 foot tall teddy bear.
Same set lasting over 2 hours with a good mix of
old hits ,covers and new material .
14 April 2004 Duran Duran + Goldfrapp ,Wembley
Arena ,London.Back again for a second dose of DD.
Alison from Goldfrapp wore the same naughty outfit.
Good glam synth pop set. Some bands when they
play are worth seeing 2 or 3 times on the same
tour and the current Duran Duran show is one of
them .The same set as yesterday but so many great
catchy pop rock songs with a wild crowd make it a
great night.There is a real buzz about this tour.
13 April 2004 Duran Duran + Goldfrapp ,Wembley
Arena ,London.This was the first of 5 Wembley
shows for DD on their first UK tour with original
members since mid 1980s.The merchandise is selling
loads and for the first time ever i saw them
selling it in the guest area backstage.Goldfrapp
did an ok short set but they never played recent
hit Black Cherry which was a shame .Alison looked
fab in shiny shirt ,hot pants and boots and got a
bit naughty with her soundwave machine.A wall of
noise greeted Duran Duran for the start of their
fantastic 2 hour show .Opening song was a
bit dodgy then it was hit after hit ,,Planet
Earth ,View To A Kill , Hungrey Like The Wolf etc.
Fantastic encore of White Lines ,Rio amd Girls
On Film .
A great stage production and an excellent gig.
10 April 2004 Libertines + MASS ,Coronet ,London.
My first visit to this newish live music venue
that was an ex cinema .South Londons answer to
Astoria/Bush Empire.Libertines on at midnight .
As always they looked super cool with their just
got out of bed look.
Some great songs and some average songs from these
NME faves.We even got a drum solo at the end.
Support band MASS had a good rockin female singer.
09 April 2004 David Bryne ,Royal Festival Hall,
London .He still is very arty and keen to drop
trendy film directors and composers names after
nearly every song. A great band with mini string
section and a cool percussionist who gave it a
nice dance feel when needed.He dropped in a few
Talking Heads classics inc Road To Nowhere ,Once
In A Lifetime ,Lazy .Enjoyable show.
08 April 2004 Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert ,
Royal Albert Hall ,London.Big benefit gig for the
family of this Small Faces bass player who died
in 1997.Loads of guests doing 2 or 3 songs each
Pete Townshend ,Paul Weller ,Ocean Colour Scene ,
Midge Ure ,Kenney Jones ,Steve Diggle but my
highlights were Glen Matlock singing 2 songs
Debris and Youre So Rude with Clash legend Mick
Jones on guitar,they also came back to help out
on finale of All Or Nothing .Ronnie Wood was
really good with a superb Stay With Me .Good gig.
07 April 2004 Cliff Richard ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London.This was show number 4 of 14 sell out
nights at this venue.Show lasted over 2 hours
but it was badly paced. First 40 mins was doo wop
and other ok stuff then it was a really good
trio of No 1 hits Young Ones ,Living Doll
and Bachelor Boy and then after the interval its
40 mins greatest hits with Miss You Nights,Devil
Woman ,We Dont Talk Anymore etc then the last 30
mins was songs from the new album out in Autumn.
He should have played the new songs earlier.
OK show but not as good as the last 'in the round"
production.Still has those loyal fans bearing gifts at the end of most songs and the banter
between Cliff and the fans is great fun.
05 April 2004 Amen live at Virgin Megastore ,
London W1.This was an in store free gig for
todays release of their new album Death Before
Musick .A pretty wild 6 song 25 mins set .Great
last song as Amen are joined on stage by
punk rocker TV Smith(Adverts) and they did a
storming One Chord Wonders.A short but rockin set.
02 April 2004 Tom Jones + Magnets ,Royal Albert
Hall ,London. The last of the 5 shows at RAH this
week for TCT which have superb yet again so
thanks to Harvey Goldsmith for putting them on.
Magnets did a good set of acapella and vocal beat
box trickery that the crowd really liked.
Tom Jones did a great 2 hour set of mainly hits
from his long career . Jools Holland joined him
for 3 songs . The newer stuff recorded with
Wyclef was again a bit average .For a 63 year old
there are still loads of adoring ladies here of
all ages and his voice is still just amazing.
01 April 2004 Jools Holland Orchestra with guests,
Royal Albert Hall ,London.About a dozen big names
sang between 1 and 3 songs in this lengthy 3
hour show over 2 sets .First half was average with
second half a lot better .Highlights were Tom
Jones,Marc Almond ,Ronnie Wood ,Soloman Burke,
Jeff Beck and lowlights were Shane McGowans
mumbling 3 mins that sounded like it should have
been part of last nights comedy event.
31 March 2004 The Rutles + Alan Partridge + Little
Britain + Ricky Gervais + Jimmy Carr + Rich Hall +
Rob Drydon + Noel Fielding ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London .Loads of big comedy names here tonight
who all did good 15/20 sets apart from Rob Drydon
who bombed with his tired Tom Jones routine .
Last on for a very rare showing were Beatles spoof
band The Rutles but by the end of their 20 mins
set half this (we want some jokes) crowd had left which was very embarrassing as it was only
10.30pm and no need to rush for last tube home.
30 March 2004 .Stereophonics + Paul Weller TRUST
Allstars ,Royal Albert Hall ,London.Neat little
supergroup in support Paul Weller (4 songs)Roger
Daltrey (2 songs Kids Are Alright and Magic Bus)
Kelly Jones and James Dean Bradfield (1 song each)
Stereophonics did a really good mainly greatest
hits set.Much better than the Earls Court show
where they looked tired in a crap big venue.
Ronnie Wood joined them on guitar for 3 songs.
29 March 2004 .The Who + The Coral ,Royal Albert
Hall ,London.The Coral do an ok set that has 3 or
4 Top 40 singles in it.Promoter Harvey Goldsmith
made a slight error when he billed this show as
The Tommy Show when it was the same 2 hour set as
The Forum shows last week .As always seeing The
Who at this amazing venue really is special .
Another fantastic show even though Roger Daltrey
had a bit of a cold .So many classic old songs.
Highlights for April will include the 5 Teenage
Cancer Trust shows at Royal Albert Hall with Who,
Stereophonics,Alan Partridge/The Rutles ,Jools
Holland ,Tom Jones.Also in April will be Cliff
Richard,Ronnie Lane RAH Tribute Show,Ray Davies ,
Duran Duran ,Jonathan Richman,Amen ,Britney
Spears .MELTDOWN in June at Royal Festival Hall
is likely to include shows by New York Dolls,
Sparks performing classic album Kimono My House
track by track and a couple of shows by Morrissey.
Look out for a big summer show by The Sex Pistols.
Look out for a big summer show by Simon And
Garfunkel in Hyde Park .This years Download
Festival on June 5 on 6 will include sets by
Metallica,Linkin Park ,Slipknot and the eagerly
awaited by me Iggy Pop and the Stooges.
Isle Of Wight Festival in June will feature
June 11 Stereophonics and Groove Armarda ,June 12
The Who and Manic Street Preachers ,June 13
David Bowie and The Charlatans.
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Godfather of Soul James Brown will the special
guest for Red Hot Chilli Peppers 3 big outdoor
shows in Hyde Park next month.
As part of the Wembley Stadium complex building
plans the Wembley Arena stage area will be moving
to the opposite end of the arena for easier
access from Wembley Way and Wembley Park tube.
This will be done in the summer of 2005 .
2004s first major festival is coming up soon.
Download at Donington will feature 50 rock bands
over 3 stages inc Linkin Park ,Sum 41 , Hives ,
Metallica , Slipknot and a rare show by legends
Iggy Pop And The Stooges .Tickets are 45 pounds
per day and 80 pounds for the two days .Get them
on 0870 400 0822 or 0870 400 0688 and usual agents.
31 May 2004 ,Will Young ,Royal Festival Hall ,
London.I had to go deep undercover for this gig.
Will is promoting his new album " Fridays Child"
with a 20 date theatre tour that sold out in a
couple of days thanks to his very loyal fans.
The good news is he is playing a lot more of his
own material rather than slushy covers .Best
songs tonight were "Evergreen " "You And I " and
encore "Leave Right Now " . The whole evening
felt very average although his fans loved it .
30 May 2004, Ash ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
Ash tour to promote current album " Meltdown" .
Tim Wheeler said it was their biggest ever London
headline show and there lies the problem .Ash are
great on a festival bill always playing a good
50 mins set but a whole 90 mins of distorted
indie guitar meant lots of weaker tracks mixed
with great tunes like "Girl From Mars " "Shining
Light " and "Burn Baby Burn".
28 May 2004 ,Ian Hunter And The Rant Band ,
Astoria ,London. I have always had a soft spot
for Ian Hunter as one of my first ever shows was
seeing Mott The Hoople with support Queen at
Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.Ians band features Mick
Ralphs from Mott and Bad Co .They do a really
good 2 hour set with songs full of passion with
great lyrics and throw in a few stellar oldies
like "Once Bitten Twice Shy""Roll Away The Stone"
"Saturday Gig" Joe Elliot from Def Leppard came
for a emotional "All The Young Dudes" and for the
finale Joe came on with Brian May from Queen for
a rockin "All The Way From Memphis " .The show
was recorded for a live DVD out soonish.
27 May 2004, Alvin Lee + Edgar Winter + Tony
McPhee ,Royal Albert Hall ,London. 3 act bill
of late 1960s blues artists .First on Tony
McPhee did a pretty forgettable 25 mins set.
American Edgar Winter stole the show for me with
his uptempo blues boogie that was good fun and
inc instrumental " Frankenstein" .Alvin Lee was
good in places like " Going Home " but some of it was pretty average .Good night but nothing
mega .Nice to see 1970s hippie legend "Jesus"
down the front at the end banging his tamborine.
24 May 2004 ,Evanescence + Seether ,Wembley Arena, London .Amazing what a big hit single can
do for a bands career ."Bring Me To Life " has
taken off worldwide and this big venue is nearly
sold out .Short 65 mins set was not my cup of tea with screechy female goth vocals .Support
Seether did a rockin Nirvanaish type 40 mins set
that was much better than the headliners.
21 + 22 May 2004 ,Cher + Pam Ann ,Wembley Arena ,
London .I went to both of these Cher shows which
were number 210 and 211 as part of her massive
tour that started 2 years ago .As expected a very
lavish stage production with loads of dancers .
Great entrance as she was lowered from the ceiling dressed as a Russian doll in a cage.
Cher astride a fake elephant ?? Some of it was a
bit cheesy ,naff and 1980s but very entertaining.
There was about a dozen costume changes (and wig
changes ) in the 15 songs played tonight .Cher
has a dressing room for her wigs .FACT .During
the changes Cher showed tv and film clips of her
past which were good fun.Songs were pleasant
enough with the last 2 bringing the house down
If I Could Turn Back Time and I Believe .
Support act Pam Ann did a hilarious 30 mins piss
take comedy set on the airline industry.
20 May 2004 ,Glen Matlock ,Filthy Macnastys ,
London EC1 .Hardly surprising this free show by
the Sex Pistols legend was a full house .A great
sweaty pub gig with a superb crowd up for some
rock n roll . Glen did a similar set to the gig
3 weeks ago with a great mix of Sex Pistols ,
Rich Kids and material from his solo albums.
15+16+18 May 2004, Sting ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London .I went to see 3 of the 6 Sting shows at
this venue .A 2 hour set each night with mainly
Sacred Love new album tracks in first hour and
second hour was loads of his greatest hits .
A really good show and neat use of video screens.
The best night was the Sat night when everyone
got up from the start and i had a great view in
front of Stings superb guitarist Dominic Miller.
Different support acts was a nice touch but the
amazing voice of Joss Stone was much better than
the droning voice of Rufus Wainwright .
13 May 2004 ,Carbon Silicon ,Zodiac Club,Oxford.
This was the new band from punk rock legends
Mick Jones (Clash + BAD ) and Tony James (Gen X
+ SS Sputnik ) really great to see them both
back on stage .Songs were all new electro dance
rock in a BAD style.Good stuff.
06 May 2004 Zucchero ,Royal Albert Hall ,London.
Star studded turn out for one of Italys biggest
rock stars Eric Clapton,Brian May , Pavarotti,
Ronan Keating ,Paul Young and a few others all
did one or two songs with him.
04+07+11 May 2004 ,Eric Clapton + Robert Randolph
And The Family Band, Royal Albert Hall ,London.
I went to see 3 of Erics 6 night stint here .The
main set featured mainly old blues songs before
he did all the big hits in the last 45 mins .He
still gets a fantastic sound out of his coloured
Fender guitar.Support played some cool pedal
steel guitar.
01 May 2004 ,Glen Matlock + 10 Minutes With My Dad,Enterprise Bar ,London NW1 . Sex Pistols bassist did a really good acoustic show that got
everyone in this punk rock club buzzing.Superb
mix of Sex Pistols ,Rich Kids and solo material .
Really good punk rock tunes after by the DJ too.
Wild female support duo 10 Minutes With My Dad
made Iggy Pop and Peaches look like Donny and
Marie with their on stage antics.
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Another great month for live music .Check out
below the reviews for 27 events i went to in June 2004.
29 June 2004 G3 Joe Satriani + Steve Vai + Robert
Fripp ,Royal Albert Hall , London. Three guitar
virtuosos sharing the bill to a sold out crowd.
Up first Robert Fripp would call his short set
atmospheric but i would call it total boredom.
Steve Vai still has the showmanship that got him
the gig with David Lee Roth some 15 years ago.
He started his set by coming on stage with a
triple necked guitar with hair and smiles galore.
He stole the show for me tonight. Joe Satriani
also did a 60 mins set but only really got going
in the last couple of songs .All 3 guitarists came on stage together for encore of King Crimson
"Red" and Neil Young " Rockin In The Free World".
28 June 2004 Toto + Bernie Marsden And Micky
Moody ,Royal Albert Hall ,London .Support did a good acoustic blues guitar set of covers and
Whitesnake tunes like " Trouble " ,"Here I Go
Again" and " Lovehunter " .Toto have sold over
25 million albums since their first release
in 1978 .They have a stunning guitarist in
Steve Lukather but vocalist Bobby Kimball seems
to struggle with the high notes .Best songs
were " Goodbye Girl" ,"Africa" ,"Rosanna " and
brilliant encore of " Hold The Line " .There
were a couple of boring muso workouts but
overall a good show .
27 June 2004 Phil Collins ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Looks like this will be the last ever tour and
London show by this massive 1980s star who seems
to be the uncoolest person in rock these days.
The stage set is an impressive huge production
and there are 17 people on stage in all .
There are a few pretty average MOR songs in the 2 hours 15 mins set that thankfully sticks
to a mainly greatest hits collection ." One More
Night " ,"Groovy Kind Of Love "," Missed Again "
the version of " In The Air Tonight " was
stunning with a drumkit appearing for Phil from
beneath the stage for that famous drum break.
" Easy Lover " "Sussudio" and the final song
"Take Me Home " .Not earth shattering a show
but overall it was pretty enjoyable.
26 June 2004 Morrissey + Cockney Rejects ,Royal
Festival Hall ,London. 9pm .Last of 3 Morrissey
shows here at RFH .The atmosphere is again great . He changed the set slightly to the show
2 weeks ago and finished with stunning versions
of " Everyday Is Like Sunday " and "English
Heart " .After in the RFH foyer at 10.50pm was
the end of Meltdown party with original late 70s
oi merchants The Cockney Rejects .Great to see
them in this posh venue and they played a fast
45 mins set of their rowdy anthems like
"War On The Terraces " "On The Streets Again"
and "The Greatest Cockney Rip Off " Good stuff.
26 June 2004 Olympic Torch Concert ,The Mall ,
London . 4pm to 8pm .As The Mall is one long road
it is just as well this is a free concert for
70,000 as 75% cannot see the stage and have to
watch the giant video screens . We got a decent
view near stage . Godfather Of Soul James
Brown did the longest set with a superb 30 mins
of hits and he was joined by Will Young for
"Papas Got a Brand New Bag " .One song each by
Beverley Knight ,Emma Bunton ,Rachel Stevens,
McFly ,Jamelia came and went before Ozzy and
Kelly Osbourne did a fantastic " Changes " with
Sharon and Jack watching in the wings.Headliner
Rod Stewart only did 3 songs inc " Stay With Me "
where he was joined by Ronnie Wood and then the cast of Rod musical " Tonights The Night" came on for a couple inc " Sailing " nice mix of
music and sport with a flypast by Red Arrows at
7pm when the Olympic Torch reached The Mall .
25 June 2004 Red Hot Chilli Peppers ,Hyde Park ,
London. This was the last of 3 massive outdoor
shows at Hyde Park for RHCP where they played to
85,000 people a night .They must be in the top 10
biggest live acts in the world right now.There is
no rain or wind so the sound is pretty good for
their 1 hour 45 mins set . They are tight ,funky
and rocky and play all their best songs . The
problem is even though we are in the front gold
ring area this venue is totally crap and the same set was a lot more enjoyalbe indoors at
Docklands Arena a couple of years ago.
24 June 2004 UFO + Quireboys , Astoria ,London.
Excellent double bill of British Classic Rock .
Quireboys did a really good rocking set and inc
classics "Hey You " and "Its 7 O Clock " .
UFO feature 3 original members from the 1970s
who all look great and Jason Bonham on drums .
Pete Way is from the Steve Harris (Maiden)school
of bass playing as he really gets stuck into it.
They play some tracks from new album " You Are
Here " and a stunning bunch of oldies that go
down a treat ," Only You Can Rock Me " ,"Too Hot
To Handle " ,"Rock Bottom" ,"Lights Out ", and
a great encore of " Doctor Doctor " and " Shoot
Shoot " .Never mind the football you cannot beat
a great night of classic rock like this was.
23 June 2004 Jeff Beck ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London. Mainly an older crowd tonight for this
British guitar legend .Still looks a rocker even
though his age is around 60.The set is nearly all
guitar based instrumentals except when he is joined by a couple of female singers one of which
is the lovely looking Nancy (wife of comedian
Vic Reeves ) .His is still a great guitarist
although there was too much of it tonight.Rolling
Stone Ronnie Wood came on for a couple of songs
which was fun to see .I think he must be after
Queens Brian May place as No 1 surprise guest .
22 June 2004 Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.Funny how
some bands sell loads of records but cannot fill
their local telephone box but others like Ben
Harper do not sell that many records but shift
loads of concert tickets worldwide .A 2 hour
show of blues funk soul with some neat slide
guitar that the crowd loved but it all seemed
pretty average to me even though the band are
great musicians .Good but not great .
22 June 2004 MOJO Awards ,Banqueting House ,
Pall Mall ,London .Noon to 4pm .Very posh old
building a stones throw from Tony Blairs gaff.
Loads of proper rock stars. See aftershow page
for full details of who turned up for it.
21 June 2004 Lonnie Donegan Tribute Show ,Royal
Albert Hall ,London. Near sell out even though
the big England Croatia game is on .His skiffle
band are the house act tonight and include his
young sons .Lots of names turn up to do Lonnie
songs Van Morrison, Roger Daltrey ,Joe Cocker ,
Mark Knopfler ,Chas n Dave ,Rolf Harris ,Joe
Brown and a few others . The Baron Knights of all
people do my fave LD tune " Does Your Chewing Gum
Lose Its Flavour " .Good enjoyable evening.
19 June 2004 Glen Matlock Acoustic Show ,Bar
Lorca ,Brixton ,London. Glastonbury Festival warm
up gig for The Sex Pistols bassist .A good 60 mins set of solo ,Sex Pistols and covers but the
venues layout lacked real gig atmosphere .
18 June 2004 New York Dolls ,Royal Festival Hall,
London.Back again for the second NY Dolls show
here . Again got right down the front 5 yards
from stage .Another excellent set like the one
2 days ago .A lot of people were expecting a
special guest or two to come on for encores but
no one did despite the many musicians here ,see
aftershow section for those who were here.
Credit must go to RFH and Morrissey for getting
the Dolls to reform for The Meltdown Festival .
16 June 2004 New York Dolls ,Royal Festival Hall,
London.Regards major rock n roll events they do
not get much bigger than this . The first show
anywhere in the world for over 25 years by the
1970s glam punk legends The New York Dolls .
They do a fantastic 90 mins set .David Johansen
has shaved off his Harry Smith beard and still
looks ,acts and dances similar to Mick Jagger.
2 Dolls members passed away just over 10 years ago from drug related pasts.
They do a stunning " Cant Put Your Arms Around
A Memory " as a tribute to Johnny Thunders.
Libertines drummer Gary Powell does a great job.
Loads of Dolls classics from the early 1970s like
Mystery Girls, Frankenstein, Babylon, Trash ,
Jet Boy and a superb Personality Crisis .
Great extended encore of Human Being. Excellent .
14 June 2004 Blondie ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
No support band tonight as the planned band MASS
have a young blonde female singer and that was
enough to be dumped off the tour. Blondie
started off great with " Atomic" and "Dreaming " with Debbie doing her funny dancing
and Clem Burke doing his great drumming.
Plenty of other hits like " Tide Is High " and
"Rapture " but because they have left stalls
seating in tonight the unfamiliar songs suffer .
Great encore of "Union City Blues " ,"Call Me "
and "Heart Of Glass " .Good show and party after.
12 June 2004 Sex Pistols Experience ,River Thames
on the original boat as used by The Sex Pistols
in June 1977 this was a great event to celebrate
a legendary day in punk rock history .Plenty of
fun gestures to bemused tourists ,rowers and
passers by as we went down the river . I was on
the afternoon sailing and the evening sailing.
They played 90 mins over 2 sets on both trips.
The band have been playing gigs around the UK
for a year now and the tunes all sound great .
Virtually every song the Pistols have recorded
as well as most of the covers the Pistols did .
Great to be among so many die hard Pistols fans
who had come from all over the UK to be here.
A really enjoyable and totally different way
of going to see a band .
11 June 2004 Morrissey ,Royal Festival Hall ,
London .First night of Morrisseys Meltdown Fest
and i have never seen so many security and crowd
barriers at this venue and this includes the
Bowie show here in 2002. His devoted fans are
screaming for his name long before he arrives on
stage and tears into "First Of The Gang To Die "
one of the best tracks from the new album " You
Are The Quarry " also excellent are " Everyday Is
Like Sunday " and recent hit " Irish Blood
English Heart " .His name is flashed up in huge
neon lights and the encore is a great Smiths
classic "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out "
Really good 85 mins set and a huge success.
10 June 2004 ,Heart ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
First UK tour for a few years from these big hair
1980s female rockers to support new album Jupiters
Darling.The main set was far too laid back with
new album tracks and too much acoustic rock .
They played hits These Dreams ,Barracuda and Alone
but left out a few hits and overall the show did
suffer from that.A nice rocky Led Zep cover for
the encore but the night should have been better.
09 June 2004 ,Brides Of Destruction ,Electric
Ballroom, London. First London date from Motley
Crues Nikki Sixx new band to support debut album.
At Donington they played 45 mins but tonight its
a full 80 mins set .There are plenty of dressed
up rock n roll babes here tonight. The main set is
BOD material but the band are drowning out the
vocals but its a good rocking sound.Most of the
crowd are waiting for encore of Motley classics
Live Wire, Looks To Kill and Shout At The Devil
which all go down a storm.
08 June 2004 ,Peter Gabriel ,Wembley Arena ,
London. Last night of his 2 year long world tour.
A massive in the round production that must have
cost a fortune to put together.Most of the band
act and dress like bald headed baddies in a sci
fi adventure .Same show as last year with Peter
Gabriel singing inside a giant rolling plastic
ball , singing while being dangled upside down ,
cycling around the stage on a pushbike .A couple
of songs lumbered along a bit but he played hits
Solsbury Hill ,Games Without Frontier ,Growing Up,
Sledgehammer and a lovely finale of Father And Son
You could not really take your eyes of the stage
in case you missed something ,a very good show.
07 June 2004 ,The Who ,Birmingham NIA .
The first of 2 Who warm shows for this weekends
IOW Festival .(I will not be going as i have seen Who and Bowie 3 times each indoors in the
last year )A great 2 hour show similar to recent
London shows .Loads of big tunes at the start
then it dipped a bit for some acoustic songs and
then loads of big tunes at the end . I had a mega
seat down the front and i now have a plectrum
with Petes name on it. The Who are always great.
06 June 2004 Metallica + Korn + Life Of Agony +
Brides Of Destruction + Drowning Pool + Soulfly.
Download Festival ,Donington Park .
There are a lot more punters here today than
yesterday .Brazilian rockers Soulfly were loved
by the crowd as Max is a metal legend .Drowning
Pool were surprisingly good and were joined by
members of Soil for the top tune "Let The Bodies
Hit the Floor ".Brides Of Destruction feature
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue and brought some old
skool glam rock n roll .They finished their great
set with Motley anthems " Live Wire " and " Shout
At The Devil " .Life Of Agony started off well
but their set was cut short as someone had to be
strechered away in the crowd .It looked bad .
Korn were just total rubbish to be polite .
After a too long 80 mins delay 3 members of
Metallica eventually arrive on stage to say that
drummer Lars is unwell and cannot do the show .
Up stepped 3 guests drummers from Slayer , Lars
drum tech and Joey from Slipknot who did most .
The set had to be cut from 2 hours with pyros to
75 mins without pyros but somehow the band turned
it around to present a unique show with stunning
3 song encore of "Sad But True ","Nothing Else
Matters" and " Enter Sandman " easily the best
moment in todays events.
Download Festival again was a total success full
of people really enjoying live rock music.
05 June 2004 ,Linkin Park + Sum 41 + Iggy Pop
And The Stooges + The Hives + Queens Of Noize DJs. Download Festival ,Donington Park .
The Hives did a great set of garage rock n roll
that was perfect warm up for Iggy Pop .Dressed in
white jackets they mixed great old with good new .Iggy Pop writhed on to the stage ,topless
from the start ,in no time he was diving into the
stage and got some punters on stage with him.
This was first English show as The Stooges for
over 25 years .Both the Asheton brothers are here
but sadly due to a rift there are no "Raw Power"
tracks or other Williamson material .They do 2
versions of I Wanna Be Your Dog and a couple
of Iggy solo tracks and are todays highlights .
Sum 41 look and sound like a Busted cover band
and are rubbish .Linkin Park do a crunching mega
75 mins set with loads of monster tunes from the
Hybrid Theory album which are stunning rock rap.
Queens Of Noize DJ girls did the backstage
aftershow area and were super fun as usual.
04 June 2004 ,Charlatans + Leah Wood Group ,
Hammersmith Apollo ,London.Leah Wood struggled
with The Charlatans fans that were more keen to
booze themselves up than watch a support band.
Charlatans have sold over 10 million albums in
the decade or so together which is impressive
but while they have good songs like " Love Is The
Key " and " North Country Boy " they will never
be known as a great band .Singer Tim Burgess
seems as pissed as the fans in front of him
slurring words and stumbling around . Great encore had Leahs dad Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood
come on for 3 songs inc a mega " Stay With Me" .
02 June 2004 ,Incubus + Hundred Reasons ,
Hammersmith Apollo ,London.Hundred Reasons did
an ok 45 mins set but i think they have wasted
their chance at hitting the big time after
showing early promise.Incubus are huge in the UK
with this tour inc 3 London shows at Wembley and
Hammersmith .The first 30 mins was so boring then
the pretty boy lead singer took his shirt off ,
all the girls started screaming and it got a bit
better .I cannot see any excitement in these these lame American grunge rock bands like Incubus ,Korn, Creed etc but they have lots of
fans here but it all just went over my head.
01 June 2004 ,Paul Weller + The Stands ,Royal
Albert Hall ,London.The first of 3 PW shows at
this venue .PW seems to tour the UK every 6
months these days.The Stands did an ok set of
jangly pop tunes .Paul Weller did a solid set
lasting nearly 2 hours .Fed up with Jam reunion
talk he plays good solo stuff "Ever Changing
Moods " ,"Changing Man" and "Wild Wood " with
some covers " Bang Bang" ,"Wishing On A Star" and
"Its A Family Affair ".The OCS guitarist is still
playing in his band and it was enjoyalbe enough
but not special.
June as always is one of the best months of the
year for live shows and 2004 is no exception.
A stunning bunch of acts are playing inc Paul
Weller ,Incubus,Pixies ,Charlatans ,Download
Festival at Donington with Metallica ,Linkin Park
Iggy Pop And The Stooges etc,Peter Gabriel ,
Heart ,Meltdown Festival with Morrissey ,New York
Dolls ,Sparks etc,Isle of Wight Festival with
Stereophonics,The Who and David Bowie ,Sex Pistols tribute band River Thames Boat Trip ,
Blondie ,Red Hot Chilli Peppers ,Ben Harper ,Toto
Jeff Beck ,Alice Cooper ,Phil Collins ,UFO and
of course the Glastonbury Festival with Oasis
and Paul McCartney headlining.
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News just in Velvet Revolver the band feat Duff
and Slash from Guns And Roses play their first
ever London show on Sept 2 .Tickets £17.50 are
via carlinglive.com .Its at Hammersmith Apollo.
15 July 2004 Simon And Garfunkel + Everly
Brothers ,Hyde Park ,London. A massive outdoor
show to over 60,000 people with those in the
front blocks paying a whacking £100 a ticket.
I think this was first show in London for 20
years .Even though its outdoors the band and the
vocal harmonies sound fantastic.They start with
"Old Friends " "I Am A Rock " " America" then
Everly Brothers come on for 4 of their big hits
inc "Bye Bye Love " .S and G back on for
" Homeward Bound " "Sound Of Silence " " Mrs
Robinson " and a stunning " Bridge Over Troubled
Water " .Great encores of "Cecillia " "The Boxer"
and " Feeling Groovy " .So many songs of total
timeless quality were sung tonight.Great show.
11 July 2004 Beach Boys + Louise Griffiths +
Eddie Jordan Band ,Silverstone Formula 1 Grand
Prix. After event show in the middle of the track. Nice to see Eddie Jordan playing the drums
on his yellow Jordan kit. Material was ok and
Kerry and Bryan McFadden came on for a couple of
songs on backing vocals . Louise Griffiths is the fiance of Jenson Button and was on Fame
Academy but her 4 songs are watery rubbish .
Beach Boys sound was a bit rough for the first
couple of songs but then it was a pleasant hit
after hit and even the sun came out for them .
Nowhere as good as a Brian Wilson show but great
fun.For the encore all the guests joined in on
backing vocals etc Jenson Button,David Coulthard,
Eddie Jordan, Kerry and Bryan McFadden ,Johnny
Herbert ,Murray Walker .See also aftershow page.
10 July 2004 Doors Of The 21st Century ,Wembley
Arena ,London.Back again after the success of
last years world tour .The problem is they were
at Wembley only 7 months ago and that is too
early to come back as tonight only half the
tickets have been sold.However last time it was
a 2 hours 30 mins set and this time they have cut out 30 mins of twaddle and now its a trim 2 hours that was much better . Nearly every song The Doors originally recorded .On vocals Ian
Astbury (The Cult) does a great job and there is
a big screen showing neat video clips. Encore was
a great extended version of "Light My Fire " .
Very enjoyable show.
08 July 2004 Wu Tang Clan ,Hammersmith Apollo ,
London. New York rappers back in town for their
first show for a few years .Great pre gig tension
building up then the 7 or was it 8 of them
RZA , Ghostfaca Killa ,GZA etc come
on and take it in turns for 90 mins while the
DJ spins the backing tracks .The heaving crowd
loved it but to me it did not seem as exciting
as old skool hip hop like Run DMC or Public
Enemy.20 female fans on stage at the end for a
"booty call " was fun and a couple of tunes
sounded good.
07 July 2004 Lenny Kravitz ,Wembley Arena ,
London.First thing you notice at Lenny Kravitz
shows is the amount of good looking women about.
Lenny starts the set in a very funky mood as
he drifts between playing bass and lead guitar.
A neat stage show with plenty of lights as he
slides into " It Aint Over Til Its Over " and the
brilliant new single " California " from the new
album " Baptism" .Lenny has sold over 25 million
albums in his career.Halfway
through the show stumbles as Lenny does a drum
solo then the proper drummer does a drum solo
then Lenny slowly introduces the band all in the
same boring 15 mins of zzzzzzz.Thankfully after
he then launches into 3 big tunes on the bounce
"American Woman" "Fly Away" and "Are You Gonna
Go My Way " .Great encore of "I Belong To You "
and "Let Love Rule " with Lenny completing a
total walkabout thru the crowds down the front.
05 July 2004 Polyphonic Spree + Har Mar Superstar,
Shepherds Bush Empire ,London.Har Mar does a 30
mins set of disco sleaze .For the last 3 songs he
is stripped down to just his underpants and he is
shaking his buttocks ,not a pretty sight but good
fun.The Spree are now all wearing different
colour robes which have replaced the plain white
ones .There are at least 22 of them on stage inc
sax,trombone,violin and even harp.They are a
totally good vibes full of joy live act with the
crowd all jumping as one to most of the songs .
They played the best of the first album with
new tracks from second album Together We're Heavy
A stunning encore of Soldier Girl and Light And
Day .Excellent.
04 July 2004 Elton John Band ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London.Same show as Wembley show 3 days ago with
the massive orchestra and choir .A smaller venue
but our seats in the balcony meant the vocals
were a bit muffled and so we did not enjoy it as
much as Wembley where we were near the front.
Elton has so much money he never has to work again but his desire to keep things fresh while
on the road by playing solo shows ,band shows
and now orchestral shows and playing different
sets at each really deserves utmost respect.
03 July 2004 Midnight Show Carbon Silicon + Pink
Grease + 10 Minutes With My Dad ,SEONE Club,
London.24 hour party to celebrate Hacienda
and New York clubs of the 1980s.Mick Jones CS
did a cool dance rockin 45 mins set . Pink
Grease did a dodgy set of their 1980s NY rock.
(by now i was just too tired it was after 3am)
10 Minutes With My Dad did a wild and trashy but
great 15 mins of sleaze tunes.
03 July 2004 Patti Smith + Television ,Brixton
Academy ,London.Great double bill of 1970s New
York art punk.Television were as cool as ever
and played stunning versions of " See No Evil "
and " Marquee Moon " in their 45 mins set. Patti
Smith opened with title track of her new album
"Trampin" and played a few others from it.Even
at age 57 she still has that fire and desire not
to conform .Nice use of video clips behind her.
Stunning version of " Gloria " as usual .
02 July 2004 Chuck Berry + Jerry Lee Lewis ,
Royal Festival Hall ,London. Excellent double
bill of original rock n roll legends to celebrate
the 50th anniversary of the release of the first
Elvis Presley single in July 1954.First up JLL
did a 50 mins set with his Killer Band .His vocals were a bit slurred ,he stopped songs at
random and walked off stage until his vocals got
turned up but overall was very entertaining.He
played classics inc " Chantilly Lace" "Mean
Women Blues" "Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On " and
"Great Balls Of Fire " .Chuck Berry is looking
great .His 65 mins set inc "Roll Over Beethoven"
"Reelin And R |
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