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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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| 2004-07-16 | |
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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 Rockin" the much ridiculed " My Ding
A Ling " "Nadine" "Memphis Tennessee" and the
finale of a dozen girl fans on stage having a
bop around for a few mins .No encore but thats
Chuck .Great stuff.
01 July 2004 Elton John Band ,Wembley Arena ,
London.First of 3 London shows by Elton with a
huge 108 piece orchestra and 50 piece choir so
not surprising tickets down the front are priced
at £100 each.Most of the 2 hours 15 mins set was
geared to lesser known Elton songs that suited
tonights orchestral sound .Towards the end the
hits came along like " Sorry Seems To Be "
"Philidelphia Freedom " "Saturday Nights Alright
For Fighting " a stunning "Dont Let The Sun Go
Down On Me" and an emotional " Your Song " but there was no "GYBR " "Rocket Man" "Candle In The
Wind " "Daniel " or " Benny And The Jets "It was
a unique show but i feel a lot of the crowd and
myself could have done with more of the big hits
played just by Elton and his band.
Highlights for July will include shows by
Elton John Band , Edwyn Collins ,Chuck Berry ,
Patti Smith And Television, Polyphonic Spree ,
Lenny Kravitz ,Wu Tang Clan ,21st Century Doors,
Marillion, Todd Rundgren ,Simon And Garfunkel,
Stray Cats ,Bryan Ferry , Guildford Festival
with headliners Blondie ,Simple Minds and UB40,
Alarm,Dr John, Brian Wilson, Cheap Trick ,Roots
Manuva and Rose Tattoo.
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31 July 2004 Glen Matlock ,The Plough Inn ,Wood
Street ,Walthamstow ,London E17.Sex Pistol
legend did a really good solo acoustic show in
this packed East London pub.Fantastic mix of
Sex Pistols ,Rich Kids ,some covers and solo
material in the 65 mins set .His new solo album
comes out on EMI on 4th Oct called " On Something" and he played a few great tunes from it. Mega versions of " God Save The Queen " and
"Pretty Vacant" .The crowd sung along to most
tracks esp encores of " All Or Nothing " and
"Steppin Stone " .Excellent evening.
30 July 2004 Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall ,
London.Back yet again to see this great legend .
Brian Wilson has played 18 shows at The Royal
Festival Hall since his amazing comeback gigs
in Jan 2002 and have been to 13 (yes 13) of them.
28 July 2004 Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall ,
London.Back again to see this show for a second
time in this 6 night stint .The Beach Boys
are touring later in the year but that is like
going to see the current Thin Lizzy live
without Phil Lynott .Its nowhere as good.
Everyone should see Brian Wilson at least once.
27 July 2004 Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall ,
London.Brian Wilson and band back again for
their 4th set of shows at this vennue in the
last 3 years .He was here only 6 months ago but now has a new album " Gettin In Over My Head "
to promote which has had some mixed reviews.
Brian looks more frail than last time and his
voice is not 100% but his amazing band just
make every song sound fantastic .Two sets of 70
mins each. First set was 20 mins acoustic then a
couple of pretty good new album tracks and then
some hits like "California Girls " "God Only
Knows " "Sloop John B" etc .Second set was all of
the lost album " Smile " followed by hits galore like "Good Vibrations" "Help Me Rhonda " "Fun
Fun Fun" "Barbara Ann " " Surfin Usa "etc and a
superb finale of the ballad " Love And Mercy ".
A stunning show just like all the other BW gigs.
21 July 2004 Cheap Trick ,Shepherds Bush Empire ,
London.Last date in a 5 month world tour for
this band who were massive in USA and Japan in
late 70s/early 80s. Like last years Royal Albert
Hall show lots of balcony seats remained unsold .
The first half of the set was pretty average
then it upped a gear with oldies like " I Want
You To Want Me "and "California Man" .Rick
Neilson got his famous 5 necked guitar out for
a superb " Surrender " and showered the crowd
with dozens of guitar picks .Great encore of
"Dream Police " ,a good show but nothing special.
19 July 2004 Alarm ,Camden Underworld ,London.
Deemed so uncool by the music industry The Alarm
released a single "45rpm" under a different name
and a younger image a few months ago
and it made the Top 40 chart.This was a superb
90 mins set in a hot n sweaty little club venue .
Lashings of Les Paul guitar by James Stevenson
and truly amazing vocal passion by Mike Peters
to songs hes sung so many times. Loads of catchy
rockers like " Where Were You Hiding " "68 Guns "
"Rain in The Summertime " etc uncool they may be
but a great live rock band is a great live rock
band and thats what The Alarm are.
18 July 2004 8pm The Stray Cats ,Shepherds Bush
Empire ,London.Great to these cats reformed again
for their first UK dates in 12 years .
All 3 original members all looking super cool
in 1950s rock n roll gear and a lot of the crowd
are dressed up as well .Slim Jim plays his drum
kit standing up which looks great fun and Lee
Rocker plays a mean stand up double bass .Loads
of great tunes like " Rumble In Brighton " "Stray
Cat Strut " "Runaway Boys " " Rock This Town "
and some encores of rock n roll classics like
"Thats Alright Mama " and " Oh Boy " .Great stuff.Also see the aftershow page .
18 July 2004 1pm to 6pm Midge Ure + Space Ritual+
Eddie And The Hot Rods ,Guildford Festival .
Barry Masters looks little rough these days but i
always like seeing EATHR .A good little set inc
"Quit This Town " " Life On The Line " and a
spine tingling " Do Anything You Wanna Do " .
Space Ritual feature Nik Turner Hawkwind and are surprisinging entertaining with their jamming
mix of cosmic rock and pair of wild semi naked dancers.Midge Ure spends most of his set tuning
up or talking about losing his hair but does
a decent set of acoustic songs ,mainly solo
material but he plays " Vienna " " Dancing With
Tears In My Eyes" from Ultravox days .I left
before headliners UB40 and Ocean Colour Scene
came on so i could get back for The Stray Cats
big gig at The Shepherds Bush Empire .
17 July 2004 Simple Minds + Katie Melua + Tim
Booth + Rolf Harris + The Alarm + Mohair ,
Guildford Festival.Odd line up for sure today.
Openers Mohair look the part and mix a bit of
The Darkness and The Faces.The Alarm did an
excellent set of their rousing anthems and a
couple of new tracks .The legend that is Rolf
Harris is very entertaining and goes down a storm
thanks to his on stage banter and novelty tunes.
Tim Booth plays a set of mainly solo material
along with a couple of James hits.Its good stuff
but its hard to follow Rolf Harris for any band.
Katie Melua is another youngster with a fantastic
voice but it does not do anything for me .Mike
Batt who is in charge of her career is on keys
and plays a few bars of " Wombles Of Wimbledon".
Simple Minds big songs are perfect as headline
act and we get a great bouncy 80 mins of it .
Superb encore of " Waterfront " "Alive And Kicking " and " Sanctify Yourself" .
16 July 2004 Blondie + Stranglers + Damned ,
Guildford Festival .The Damned are a letdown as
they do not play the right material for a festival but its great to hear "New Rose " and
" Neat Neat Neat" .Stranglers have loads of fans
here and go down well with tracks like "Peaches"
"Golden Brown " "Duchess" "Grip " and "No More
Heroes" .Blondie do a really good greatest hits
set that everyone can sing along to. Not often
you see these 3 bands on the same bill ,if ever.
Guildford Festival is a cosy smallish festival
that caters for mainly "older types and families"
and is sponsored by Radio 2 .General rule of
thumb is anything "Whispering " Bob Harris one
of the djs here tells you about a must see act or
highlight of the day i avoid them at all cost.
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20 August 2004 Athlete ,Shepherds Bush Empire ,
London.Warm up show for V Festival .Athlete get
the crowd singing to all the songs on their neat
debut album and the hit singles go down a storm
in the 70 mins set. A few new ones from next
album out early 2005 are given an airing .
Nice radio friendly tunes but hardly rock n roll.
19 August 2004 Madonna ,Earls Court Arena ,
London.Back again to see Madonna here.Thankfully
i have another good view near the front .There
are lots of couples here from Madonnas large and
loyal gay following .Another really good show .
Madoona in a kilt at the end dancing with a
bagpiper is great fun.
18 August 2004 Madonna ,Earls Court
Arena,London.
First of 6 sell out London shows at Earls Court/ Wembley Arena for Madoona .Ticket prices are not
aimed at those that shop at Lidl as its £150 for
front block seats and £25 for a programme .Kylie
Minogue and Geri Halliwell are in the guest area
and as Madonna is late on stage Kylie is spotted
and is mobbed by fans. Earls Court is a terrible
venue but tonight i have a fantastic view 4 rows
from the stage .Madonna looks fit and great for
her 46 years and does lots of energetic moves
to compete with her dozen dancers . The poor
backing band play second fiddle to all the giant
video screens here ."Vogue"was stunning and you
could not keep your eyes off Madonna as the show
was lively and colourful. I was not keen on
the war images on "American Life" or the
cover of "Imagine". A couple of songs inc "Die
Another Day " looked like she was miming them.
Thankfully there a lot more hits tonight than on
the previous tour and she finished the show with
her hit from 1984 "Holiday "with confetti cannons
covering the front rows .So yes 3 or 4 dodgy
songs but overall a huge enjoyable event.
17 August 2004 Lou Reed,Hammersmith Apollo ,
London . One off UK show by Lou Reed and band.
A remix of "Satelite Of Love" was just in the charts and Lou has another greatest hits cd out
but tonight he opted for mainly lesser known
material in the 2 hour set .Overall it was not as well balanced as last years Barbican show .The
crowd got on its feet for the encores of
"Satelite Of Love " "Perfect Day " and "Walk On
The Wild Side" but he should have played a few
more oldies .
14 August 2004 Dio ,Astoria ,London. Yet another
totally sold out classic rock show at this venue.
Dio do a superb 1 hour 45 mins set feat the best
of his solo material mixed in with some Rainbow
and Black Sabbath classics."Mob Rules " "Man On
The Silver Mountain " "Long Live Rock n Roll"
"Rock n Roll Children" "Holy Diver ""Last In Line" .Great encores of " Rainbow In The Dark"
"We Rock " and a stunning " Neon Nights " .
Ronnie James Dio is still one of rocks best
vocalists i reckon. Excellent show.
12 August 2004 Trextasy ,Yacht Haven ,Cowes,
Isle Of Wight .This was a great day out . During
the day we watch all the sailing then it was a
Red Arrows display then a massive outdoor crowd
to see one of my fave tribute bands .Trextasy
do an excellent mainly greatest hits 80 mins set
that gets this crowd dancing .So many great Marc Bolan tunes.The singer is fantastic.
08 August 2004 Finn Brothers ,Open Air Theatre ,
Regents Park ,London. Wow what an amazing venue
to watch a live band .In the summer it is the
venue for Shakespeare but tonight this 1000
seater amphitheatre with trees and woodland
around the stage and fake grass covering it
makes a quite unique place for live rock n roll.
A bit like a smaller version of the The Greek
Theatre in Los Angeles.
This show was a special warm up to generate
publicity for their new album and the Autumn UK
tour which includes Hammersmith Apollo so there
are loads of media guest list .Finn Brothers
were in NZ bands Crowded House and Split Enz
and played a few of their hits as well as the
new album material .Plenty of on stage banter in
the 1 hour 45 mins set and an enjoyable night.
04 August 2004 Chas And Dave ,Olympia Beer
Festival ,London.The perfect combination really.
A massive hall full of real ale beer drinkers and
those cockney pub rockers Chas And Dave . They
played their 3 Top 10 hit singles "Rabbit "
"Snooker Loopy " and "Aint No Pleasing You " as
well as others like "London Girls " "Margate" and
"Gercha " .It was a good fun evening.
03 August 2004 Air ,Royal Festival Hall ,London.
Sold out show from these French purveyors of
dreamy ,hypnotic chill out tunes. Their last 2
albums have not done as well as their big album
hit " Moon Safari" but the fans are still here.
Best tunes " Cherry Blossom Girl " and Moon
Safari hits " "Kelly Watch The Stars " and
encore " Sexy Boy " were superb but some of the other songs were a bit too chilled .The 90
mins set was good but nothing special .
01 August 2004 Twisted Sister ,Astoria ,London. This was their first London show for
18 years (i was there at Hammersmith Odeon in 1986) .Not in their wildest dreams could
they have hoped for such a great reception as they took the stage .Tonight the venue is
a rammed full sold out sweaty rock n roll cesspit .The band all look very Spinal Tap
as the big hair and dodgy outfits are visually all very 1980s .Dee Snider is very
entertaining with his over the top vocals and corkscrew hair .A lot of the songs are
pretty average rockers but they have a few catchy shouty gems like "The Kids Are Back"
"We're Not Gonna Take It " and "I Am ( I'm Me) ".Tonight is being recorded for a live DVD and the band are keen to point out that the band include all 5 original members.
The crowd loved it and it was great to see them back on stage in this country again.
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| 2004-08-27 | |
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Off to The Reading Festival so check back here
Monday or Tuesday for a full review .
Bring proper clothing as much rain is forecast .
26 August 2004 Madonna ,Wembley Arena ,London.
This was her last London show of 6 and the touts
are making a fortune .For the other 5 shows you
could buy tickets outside for less than face value
from desperate touts trying to offload.
There was a great hot and humid last UK gig
atmosphere tonight .This was my 4th Madonna show
on this tour and with slightly different seats
you get the show from different angles ."Vogue "
must go down as one of the best openings to a
concert ever .Madonna gets a bit emotional during
her usual speech after " Papa Dont Preach " and
the tears are flowing.Another great show.
25 August 2004 Les Gray Memorial Show,
Hammersmith Apollo ,London.A near sell out for
the lead singer of Mud who died recently.
A massive glam rock event feat 8 acts doing 3
songs each .First up were The Tremeloes and Racey who were both average then The
Ruebettes came on with their white suits and
berets to brighten things up with "Juke Box Jive"
and "Sugar Baby Love ". Dave Dee ,Dozy ,Beaky ,
Mick and Tich brought out the whip for "Zanadu "
and " Bend It " and were good fun. After the
interval the quality level upped a gear as Slade
came on with Dave Hill and Don Powell but Noddy
sadly refuses to play live anymore .They play
"Cum On Feel The Noize " "Coz I Luv You " and the
best song of the night " Merry Xmas Everybody "
(no one cared it was the middle of August).
Sweet have had 2 members die in recent years so
just Andy Scott on guitar is here tonight but
they play great versions of "Blockbuster" "Fox
On The Run " and "Ballroom Blitz " for this they
joined by Shane Richie .Les and his Bay
City Rollers were rubbish .Suzi Quatro looked
great but her band were messy as they stumble
through " Can The Can " "If You Cant Give Me Love" and "Devil Gate Drive " .Finale had the
3 remaining members of Mud with members of all
the bands tonight for a fitting version of
" Tiger Feet " .A nostalgic fun evening was had
by all .I saw many of these bands in their 1970s
heyday inc Slade at Hammersmith Odeon so all these glam rockers all mean a lot to me.
23 August 2004 Madonna ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Queen Of Pop moves her mega bucks production to
Wembley Arena for 4 shows after last weeks 2
shows at Earls Court Arena .This was her first
ever batch of shows indoors at Wembley as she
was a regular at Wembley Stadium in her heyday.
Another stunning show full of great songs and
visually superb that made The Strokes ,The Pixies and all the other bands at the weekends
V Festival look very average indeed.
22 August 2004 V Festival ,Chelmsford feat Strokes + Pixies + Black Rebel Motorcycle
Club + Starsailor + Badly Drawn Boy +Snow Patrol + Thrills + Zutons + Stands .
Spent the afternoon in the Virgin Radio tent with free cocktails and BBQ and sand pit
complete with deck chairs .Nice one.Saw a host of bands playing 3 of their best songs
for the radio to this small invite only crowd of about 300.First it was Badly Drawn Boy
The Thrills , The Zutons ,The Stands ,Snow Patrol ( They went down the best and "Run "was stunning ),Starsailor .Black Rebel Mootorcycle Club did a good rocking
set on the second stage then easily the highlight of the festival the return of The
Pixies whose Brixton shows were the hottest tickets so far this year.A really good
70 mins set feat "Where Is My Mind" "Here Comes Your Man ""Monkey Gone To Heaven "
"Debaser" and "Gigantic" .The Strokes are not really worthy enough to headline big
outdoor events like this but they did a good set of all their best stuff with a
cover of The Clash "Clampdown" ,the singer still has pretty blurry vocals though.
Overall a much better day than yesterday and no rain either day .Bring on Reading.
21 August 2004 V Festival ,Chelmsford feat Muse + Dido + Charlatans + Embrace .
As per normal got parked up a couple of hours later than expected .
Charlatans did a good hour of greatest hits but are stuck in the Ash area of
always turning up at festivals halfway down the bill. Got into Virgin Radio tent for
some free booze and watched Embrace do a good 3 song set .Dido is the girl next door
who just happens to have sold millions of albums ."White Flag" and a couple of others
were good but the rest just all sounded pretty forgettable. Muse had a proper light
show for their 80 mins set and were nice and rocky but the singers Thom Yorke style
vocals started to grate after a while. A good day but nothing really special.
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| 2004-09-19 | |
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18 Sept 2004 Blondie + Glen Matlock And The
Philistines ,Southend Cliffs Pavillion.
Here we are at the seaside and its raining but
its always nice to go to venues outside of London.Glen and band do their full set as Blondie
are late arriving at the venue so we get all the
great solo material tracks and 2 extra songs of
"Steppin Stone" and a stunning "Pretty Vacant ".
Blondie have sound problems from the start where
the PA just appears very quiet . The songs are
there but real gig atmosphere is missing .All
of a sudden all the power cuts out and the band
go off for 5 mins .They come back again and do
" One Way Or Another" and the power goes again.
In total frustration drummer Clem Burke gives up
and gives his cymbals to the crowd .The 2 hour
Bush Empire set is reduced to 90 mins with no
encore and as a band this was a gig that Blondie
will want to forget.
16 Sept 2004 Blondie + Glen Matlock And The Philistines,
Shepherds Bush Empire ,London. Glen and his band did
a really good 40 mins of only solo material with songs
like "Piece Of The Action " and "Ok Kiddo " from the soon
to be released album "On Something" .All of them are
great catchy rockers. Glens fellow Sex Pistol Paul Cook
was in the crowd tonight . Blondie back yet again in the UK.
i think this time its for press related to new DVD out
"Blondie Live By Request ".They did a 2 hour set full of
well known hits mixed in with lesser known stuff.Deborah
Harry looks great and they also played 2 Ramones songs
as a tribute to Johnny Ramone who died yesterday .
Great first encore of "Union City Blues" ,"Rip Her To
Shreds " and "Heart Of Glass " but the 2 songs played in
the second encore were a bit shaky shall we say .
Overall a really enjoyable evening.
15 Sept 2004 PJ Harvey ,Hammersmith Apollo,
London. For an artist like PJ who has little radio play
or tv exposure it is quite heart warming her loyal
fans can still fill a decent size venue like this one.
She looks fab in a sexy short dress and the songs
are all well crafted but her 90 mins set did not
really grab me . Like a Nick Cave show i came away
thinking it was just a pretty average show .
14 Sept 2004 Make Trade Fair Concert ,Hammersmith
Apollo, London. I missed Razorlight and Jamelia
so first up for me was actress Minnie Driver who is
fronting her own alt country band who did 20 mins of
slow tempo tracks inc a version of Springsteens
"Hungry Heart " pretty average to be honest .
The Thrills did a really impressive 35 mins with great
tracks like "Big Sur " " Corey Haim" "One Horse Town"
"Santa Cruz" ,excellent. Ricky Gervais did a very
funny 10 mins stand up comedy routine even though
i had seen him do most of this material before.
REM did a 7 song 40 mins set feat 3 new songs inc
"Leaving New York " .Opener "Losing My Religion"
was great and for a stunning "Man On The Moon"
they were joined by Coldplays Chris Martin on vocals.
On Sept 15 REM play a small invite only show
for their fan club that i think will be put out on
Radio 2 in a couple of weeks.
11 Sept 2004 ,Glen Matlock And The Philistines ,Plough Inn ,Walthamstow ,London.
This was a warm up show for Glens new band before their dates next week with Blondie .
The bulk of the set was from Glens new album "On Something " which comes out on EMI
on 04 October with great tracks like "White Knuckle Ride " "Piece Of The Action " and the
album title track .The band seemed slightly under rehearsed tonight but it was great to hear
Glens stuff with a full band behind him again .Great encores of "Steppin Stone " and "Pretty
Vacant ".
08 Sept and 09 Sept 2004 ,Rush ,Wembley Arena ,
London. I went to both these great shows by Rush
these Canadian rock legends
who last played the UK 12 years ago . This was part of
their 30th anniversary world tour . On stage for nearly
3 hours over 2 sets they are amazing musicians and
drummer Neil Peart must be one of the worlds best .
He has a huge drum kit that spins around and he got a
standing ovation on both nights for his amazing drum solo.
Most songs were 10 mins long with superb classics like
"Spirit Of Radio " and "Zanadu" .A couple of tunes were
a bit muso heavy but there were plenty of lasers and fire
columns in this big production show to look at .
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28 Sept 2004 Ray Davies And His Band , The
Bloomsbury Theatre ,London. First of 5 London gigs
to celebrate 40 years since "You Really Got Me " was
released by this songwriting legend . A 2 hour set of
acoustic and electric songs that mainly have North
London in the 1960s as their common theme.
Rare songs from "Village Green Preservation Society"
were played near the start and there were plenty of
classics like "Sunny Afternoon" "Dedicated Follower
Of Fashion" "Tired Of Waiting For You ""All Day And
All Of The Night "and of course "You Really Got Me ".
Great encore of "Waterloo Sunset " "Thank You For
The Days " and "Lola " and parted by saying we will be
changing the set by a couple of songs each night .
Lots of little stories as well made it a good show.
24 Sept 2004 Fender Strat Guitar 50th Birthday
Concert ,Wembley Arena ,London. Massive event
featuring a dozen well known guitarists.Superb
backdrop with a dozen giant Fender guitars either
side of the stage and a huge video screen that
has clips of Fender players not here tonight inc
Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt and some great old
footage of Rory Gallagher in between breaks.
First up is Buddy Hollys band The Crickets who
are joined by Brian May and Alvin Lee for a pair
of songs before Ronnie Wood comes on and joins
them for "That'll Be The Day".Hank Marvin does a
few instrumental tunes that have his great guitar sound.Mike Rutherford and Paul Carrack featured
"How Long" and "I Cant Dance" in their 4 songs.
Gary Moore is the first to really play proper
rock guitar solos and goes down really well.
After the interval a couple of youngsters Jamie
Cullum and Amy Winehouse try to get involved but
not many are interested . This is a concert by
old codgers for old codgers. Paul Rodgers does a
great "All Right Now " and " Cant Get Enough "
but for some reason has to bring his son and
daughter on to play a track from their album .
Joe Walsh does 4 really good songs inc "Lifes
Been Good " "Life In The Fast Lane " and a mega
"Rocky Mountain Way " .Dave Gilmour brings on his rare and battered 1954 Fender serial number
0001 to play pristine and stunning versions of
Pink Floyds "Coming Back To Life "
"Shining Light " and " Division Bell "
that get the most cheers of the evening.
Ronnie Wood comes on for " I Wish I Knew " and
"Stay With Me " and everyone comes on stage and
does a short solo which was great fun. The show
lasted for 3 and a half hours and had a couple of duff
momemts but overall it was a very good event.
See aftershow section for this gig too.
23 Sept 2004 Dead Men Walking ,The Anvil ,
Basingstoke. Hardly a proper rock n roll venue but
its nice to have cosy seating every now and then.
DMW back again for their annual month long tour
of the UK .A stella star line up feat Glen Matlock
on bass ,Slim Jim Phantoum on drums and Mike
Peters ,Kirk Brandon and Bruce Watson on guitars.
A near 2 hours set of their best hits mixed in with
new material this was a great night out as always.
So many classic songs "Spirit Of 76 " "Burning Sounds"
"Rumble In Brighton" "Chance " "Westworld " "Rock
This Town""God Save The Queen""Rescue Me "
"In A Big Country " "45rpm" "Runaway Boys"
"Stray Cat Strut " and rockin encores of "Pretty Vacant"
and "Steppin Stone" . If the tour comes to your town
you really have to go along. as its a great night out.
21 Sept 2004 Tom Jones With Jools Holland And The
R n B Orchestra ,Hammersmith Palais ,London.
This was an invite only show for 1500 comp winners
and guests of Radio 2 .Tom and Jools have an album
of covers out paying homage to Jerry Lee Lewis ,
Soloman Burke and other country ,rnb and blues acts.
Jools is a great piano player and Tom can make any
song sound fantastic.Only well known Tom Jones
track played was "Green Green Grass Of Home " .
Plenty of good time boogie woogie covers played.
Rockin versions of "Great Balls Of Fire ' and "Whole
Lotta Shakin Goin On " got the crowd dancing and it
was an enjoyable 90 mins set.
19 Sept 2004 Tickled Pink Concert For Breast Cancer, Royal Albert Hall ,London.Big colourful event
with the stars being picked up and dropped at the venue by a pink cadilac and a pink
rolls royce before the show to be paraded down a "pink carpet" for loads of photographers.
Most of the girlie crowd are dressed in shades of pink and it looks like half of sponsors
Asdas check out girls are here .Nine music acts did a couple of songs each and 3 very
good comedy acts did a turn .There were a few boos when news broke that headliner
George Micheal had pulled out due to an attack of laryngitis .Darius did " Colourblind "
Rachel Stevens did "LAX " in a lovely oufit .Natasha Bedingfield and Beverley Knight
both have got great voices.Tom Jones And Jools Holland got the crowd dancing to a
couple of boogie woogie cover versions as 20 pairs of knickers were thrown at the stage.
Lemar did a stunning r n b version of The Darkness "i Believe In A Thing Called Love"
Lisa Stansfield choose a pair of boring songs .Geri Halliwell got the dancers out for
"Its Raining Men" and " Look At Me " and was entertaining enough .Last on was Ronan
Keating with a pink ticker tape and balloon explosion dropping from the ceiling.Overall
nothing really mega musically but a good mix of music and comedy and all for a good cause.
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17 Oct 2004 Scissor Sisters + Le Tigre , Royal Albert
Hall , London. Support Le Tigre are a trio from New
York who are promoting their album "This Island "
but their shouty synth pop was more novelty than
anything fairly decent. Scissor Sisters have had an
amazing past 9 months in this country where they
have risen to be the trendiest party band around with
a debut album selling over 500,000 and topping the
charts over here and being virtually unknown back
home in New York.
This is mainly due to their huge gay following and
other fans willing to get dressed up and have a good
time and a band who clearly like to have fun on stage .
First song was a superb version of hit "Laura " .
With only one album out they made the set last 80
mins with lots of chat before each song. Other
highlights were "Mary " and their mad disco cover
of "Confortably Numb" complete with mirror balls
(i wonder what Pink Floyd fans would hink of that ?).
Their very gay and camp singer changed into another
shiny outfit for the mental encores of F.F. "Take Me Out"
and their own anthem "Take Your Mama Out" with a
dozen fancy dress bods dancing on stage with them.
Very enjoyable and they return to play 4 more
London shows at Brixton at the end of Oct. See the
aftershow page for news of the big party after.
15 and 16 Oct 2004 ,Siouxsie And Budgie With
Orchestra ,Royal Festival Hall ,London.
Siouxsie story is quite amazing . In 1976 she was
the girl at The Sex Pistols tv interview that Bill
Grundy asked on air to "meet him for drinks after the
show" .The Pistols laid into him with a volley of swear
words and overnight punk rock outrage was born.
So here we are 28 years later and we here as she
gets some well overdue proper recognition.
Friday show was 2 sets of 60 mins each .
Sat show was 2 sets of 60 mins and 90 mins .
Gary Numan was paying his respects at the Sat show.
(long set as DVD cameras where there for this show) .
Nearly all the 100 Club songs were here amd more.
There were 22 people on stage due to the orchestra
set up here .There were a few too many of the
Creatures songs and more recent stuff like "Godzilla"
that sounded great but were a bit samey.
A few oldies got the crowd dancing down the front
like "Dear Prudence " "Kiss Them For Me " "Happy
House" "Face To Face " and great encores of
"Cities In Dust " and "Spellbound " . The extra songs
played on the Sat night inc " Christine " and "Peek A
Boo" .Both nights Siouxsie complained about how
cold it was on stage and started getting pretty vexed
about it . On this big stage she had to dance more than
usual but she is a complete natural at doing that . Easily
one of my fave female singers she has sadly been
overlooked by all the main music awards .
A well deserved standing ovation on both nights.
Sadly no " Hong Kong Garden " at either night
13 Oct 2004 Rod Stewart With Orchestra ,Royal
Albert Hall ,London. Amazing that this was Rods
first ever show at this venue .A massive stage
with a grand staircase and neon lights
production that will look great when its shown
on BBC TV in a couple of weeks .From the start
the whole crowd sings loudly along to each song.
There are a few of them dressed in tartan too.
He did two sets of 65 mins each and was introduced by Dame Edna for both of them .
The first set had plenty of great songs
"You Wear It Well " "Handbags And Gladrags"
"First Cut Is The Deepest " "Youre In My Heart"
"Hot Legs " were some of the hits performed .
Ronnie Wood came on for "Stay With Me " .For the
second set Rod came on dressed in a posh tux with
a 60 piece orchestra to sing tracks from his
"American Song Book" albums like "Blue Moon " and
"What A Wonderful World " .Chrissy Hynde came on
for "As Time Goes By " and Dame Edna even joined
him for " Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered".
Amy Bell from Glasgow joined him for one as well.
Ronnie Wood came back on for " Maggie May " and
for the finale of "Sailing " The London Community
Gospel Choir came on. Rod looked great and his
voice is still fantastic . Down the front tickets are £125 so the crowd were up for a good
time.As usual he kicked out a dozen or so signed
footballs to the crowd .A very enjoyable show .
Still going strong after more than 30 years.
Amazing to see Formula 1 Racing Driver David
Coulthard in the box next to us as he was in
Japan only a couple of days ago racing around
at the Grand Prix there .Must have a private jet.
10 Oct 2004 Nazareth ,Camden Underworld ,London.
Great to see these 1970s Scottish rockers on stage again.
Now feat 2 original members Pete on bass and Dan on vocals
who still has that amazing rock n roll voice. Great mix of old
and new tracks inc "Miss Misery" "Bad Bad Boy ""Razamanaz"
"Turn On Your Reciever ""This Flight Tonight" "Love Hurts"
"Hair Of The Dog " and great encore of their first hit single
"Broken Down Angel" .Really good 85 mins of classic rock.
09 Oct 2004 Stiff Little Fingers + Youth Of Britain + Neck ,The Ocean , Hackney ,London.
First band up Neck did a good set of Pogues type
fiddly diddly which was much more fun that the
racket made by next band on Youth Of Britain.
Stiff Little Fingers are still promoting last
album " Guitar And Drum " and tonight is being
recorded for a live DVD . This was the last date
in a two month tour of USA and the UK so the
band were really tight .Lots of fast and sharp
songs bursting with energy .The moshing crowd
down the front are loving it. Plenty of the
old classics like "Nobodys Heroes" "Barbed Wire
Love" "Fly The Flag" "Tin Soldier" "Wasted Life "
"Suspect Device " and the final song a stunning
"Alternative Ulster" .A great live band and
well worth the trek over to East London.
07 Oct 2004 Siouxsie With Budgie ,100 Club ,
London.This was the last of her 3 gigs here at this famous club on Oxford Street before her shows next week at Royal Festival Hall Oct 15+16.
She last played here in Sept 1976 as part of the Punk Rock Festival headlined by The Sex Pistols
and The Clash (i was there by the way).She is
now 47 but looks great as she enters wearing a
kimono and feathers in her hair .The band include
a kodo drummer and a couple of backing singers .
Funny how recently the 100 club has put in some
air conditioning as part of its refurbishment
but Siouxsie has asked for it to be turned off
because it makes her voice " go funny"
so for the 300 or so here its a sweat box again.
Budgie is fantastic on drums with his extensive
use of tom toms .There is a great mix of old and
new . " Dear Prudence " a rarely heard but totally stunning version of their 1978 debut
single "Hong Kong Garden" and the brilliant
"Kiss Them For Me " and " Happy House" .On stage
Siouxsie is mesmeric as she glides across the
stage .No barriers down the front so its a
close up "in your face " show that was superb.
Even after all these years still trying new ideas
and reworking versions of older songs.
Speaking to some die hard fans after the show who
said tonight was easily the best of the 3 nights
as only tonight did we get the full 90 mins set
inc encores as on other nights it was a short set
with no encore and no "Hong Kong Garden" .
Wed was a great night as i went to 2 events on
the same evening related to my fave band The Sex Pistols .
06 Oct 2004 6pm to 8pm "Punk - A True And Dirty
Tale " The Hospital Gallery ,Covent Garden .
This was the drinks reception preview of an amazing
collection of Sex Pistols t shirts ,posters ,clothing and
other rare items that is worth thousands of pounds .
It is a must see for any Sex Pistols fan . If you can get
past the fact that The Hospital is a very trendy
upmarket gallery totally opposite to what punk rock
originally stood for its well worth a visit and as a bonus
you can also see my face on the "Dance To The Sex
Pistols " Pretty Vacant poster they have on display .
06 Oct 2004 9pm Glen Matlock And The Philistines ,
Metro Club , London. The was the launch show for
Glens great new album out this week called "On
Something" on EMI .A lot of the crowd from the
exibition earlier are here so the venue is packed and
its great to see Glens Sex Pistol chum Paul Cook
here . The band do a great 50 mins set of Glens
solo material .Again i think most of the crowd would
have liked :Steppin Stone " and "Pretty Vacant " at
the end but really tonight was all about the new album.
05 Oct 2004 Lionel Richie ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Back again to see this MOR legend for his second of
3 wembley arena shows(he returns here on 6 Nov).
Every seat is sold even those dodgy side view blocks
in the top corners. Another really good 2 hour show .
Highlights again included "Three Times A Lady "
with all the crowd singing every word out loud .
Plenty of mega ballads and hits from 1980s and his
time with The Commodores in the 1970s .
Well Monday was quite an amazing day where i went
to the Q Awards in the afternoon and Lionel Richie
at Wembley Arena in the evening so read on for full
review of the day .
04 Oct 2004 Noon to 5pm Q Awards at The
Grosvenor House Hotel ,Park Lane ,London.
Very impressive turn out of rock stars in this lovely
plush 5 star hotel .There are about 500 people here
with 45 tables of 10 and we are part of the 50 or so
with standing tickets .Plenty of booze and food too.
Here today were all of U2 ,Elton John,Elvis Costello ,
Mick Jones (The Clash ), Shane McGowan , Pet
Shop Boys ,Human League , Razorlight , Keane ,
Nancy Sinatra ,Roger Daltrey ,Gary Numan ,Feeder ,
Bernard Sumner (New Order) ,Kasabian ,Sugarbabes,
Roxy Music ,Amy Winehouse (who looked stunning),
Emma Bunton, Don Letts ,Goldie Lookin Chain,
Jamelia ,Muse and a few others . Host was Jonathan
Ross who was excellent with his usual piss takes
and one liners in between the 12 awards . Best
moments were Elton John slagging off Madonna for
being nominated for best live act when she mimes
half her show (there were 3 or 4 songs mimed at
least when i saw here ). To be honest Madonna live
in concert is still much better than Elton John is
Bryan Ferry was a bit of a plonker as he picked up the
Roxy Music award and dedicated it to his brave ???
son Otis (recently involved in the pro hunting lobby)
which resulted in a lot of boos from the crowd. Also
the legend that is Shane McGowan who picked up
his award from Bono mumbled a few words got a
standing avation stumbled off and was unsurprisingly
the last celeb to leave . Others here included
well known DJs and comedians and musiz biz
legends like John Giddings and Harvey Goldsmith .
An excellent afternoon .We could have used our invites for the aftershow booze fest at The Rouge club but
to be honest we had already had enough and very
few of the celebs would bother with that so we went
over to Wembley .
04 Oct 2004 8pm Lionel Richie ,Wembley Arena ,
London. This was his first show in this country since
news of that massive divorce case was confirmed .
There is a real affection for him from the UK crowd .
Lionel has sold over 90 million albums .Incredible .
The poor bloke sweats so much on stage its unreal.
The 2 hour show was very enjoyalble . The tracks
from new album "Just For You " were pretty bland
but thankfully there are plenty of golden oldies like
"Running With The Night " ,"Easy ","Three Times A
Lady" ,"Sail On ","Dancing On The Ceiling" "Hello" ,
"Brickhouse " and encores inc "Still " and "All Night
Long" .Just one of those feel good shows i suppose.
30 Sept 2004 MOBO Awards ,Royal Albert Hall
,London. Even though its the UKs top awards
show for Black Music the organisers of this event have had a nightmare as half a dozen names
have pulled out with american acts like Kanye West ,Kelis and NERD deciding to stay away
and British acts like Dizzie Rascal ,Beverley Knight and Mis-teeq doing other things as they see
the event as "too americanised:" Outside the venue there are least 200 police and security with
barriers and metal detectors everywhere . There are also 100 protesters who are here to
complain about MOBOS banning of reggae artists with homophobic lyrics . Inside its very nice
with most blinged up and we have kindly been given a couple of seats with free booze and food.
In the row in front of us is Myleene Klass (ex Hearsay) in a totally stunning dress and sitting a
couple of seats away in the same row is the lovely Natasha Kaplinski from BBC News and Come
Dancing fame who also looks amazing . The show started off in the worst way possible
with the winners of The Dutch MOBO s and was hit and miss for the next 2 hours. The star of
the night was Jamelia who won 3 awards and sung a song and Kenye West also won 3 awards.
Brandy did a good track but there were a few rubbish acts of 3rd raters in between.
There were some big names Mary J Blige and Jay Sean did a song each . Newcomer Estelle got a lot of
cheers for her award and song. Nice to see Janet Jackson ,Anita Baker and Bebel Gilberto all
here to collect their awards. Most of the other guests went over to the main aftershow event at
The Ministry Of Sound but we just got trashed at the venue until midnight . Overall a good night
but way down compared to something like The BRIT Awards.
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31 Oct 2004 ,HIM + Cathedral ,Hammersmith Apollo ,
London .Cathedral do an ok set which has a nice
Black Sabbath 1970s feel to it . As its Halloween lots of fans
are dressed up for HIM. Blimey how come there is so
many screaming girls here to see this Finnish
Goth Metal band? . The front of stage is a heaving mass of
bodies and security are earning their money tonight.
The songs like " 666" and "This Fortress Of Tears "
rock along nicely but its not anything that special .
The crowd however love the entire 90 mins set.
29 and 30 Oct 2004 , Bryan Adams ,Wembley Arena,
London. The Canadian rocker back on tour to
promote his first new album for a few years called
"Room Service " .As always the band are all dressed
in t shirt and jeans The tracks from new album are
very average so no wonder it has not sold that much.
Loads of his great simple pop rock oldies were played
like "18 Til I Die" "Lets Get This Thing Started"
"Kids Wanna Rock" "Summer Of 69" "Everything I Do"
a brilliant "Cuts Like A Knife" " Run To You " "One Night
Love Affair " "I Need Somebody" "Straight From The
Heart " "Heaven " Its Only Love " " The Only Thing
That Looks Good On You Is Me" etc in a 2 hour set.
Lots of teenage girl fans here tonight who were not
even born when "Reckless " album came out 20 years
ago .A highlight of his show is when he picka a girl
out to sing "Baby When Your Gone " with him on stage .
Both the girl from Stanmore and the girl from Spain
the following night really got it to it and did a good job.
Overall a very enjoyable evening . Mutt Lange
produced both Bryan Adams and Def Leppard albums.
The production is so alike most of Bryan Adams album
"Walking Up The Neighbours " sounds like Def Lepp.
If you have this album play it and you will agree.
What a shock .BBC Radio DJ legend John Peel has died
of a heart attack aged 65 while in Peru . No one has
done more for new music and new bands than him
over his incredible 37 years at Radio 1 .
26 October 2004 . 7pm .The Sex Pistols legend lives on.
Tonight was the drinks launch do of yet another book on
them "Only Anarchists Are Pretty " by Mick OShea out on
Helter Skelter books . Nice to have a chat with TV Smith
(touring Germany in Nov and UK in Dec) and Gaye Advert
(surprisingly a big metal fan of bands like Slipknot and
Murder Dolls ).Left Russell Square 9 pm to catch the
second half of The TV Awards at The Royal Albert Hall
and the aftershow party across the road 9..30 pm to 1am .
Not really interested in TV celebs to be honest but Ozzy
and Sharon Osbourne were here and hats off to Simon
Cowell . He was picked up in his brand new 100k Bentley with uniformed driver .What a poser. Good bash though .
24 October 2004 .Goldie Lookin Chain, Astoria ,London.
GLC round off a fantastic 6 months with 3 sold out shows
at The Astoria .These comedy rappers from Newport ,
Wales are flying at present .You knows it .There are 17 of
them on stage but not an instrument in sight and half of
them are just dancing without even a microphone but who
cares? Its all about having a good time . Stage set consists
of a couple of podiums and a couple of sofas ( all that
jumping around is tiring stuff .you knows it.) Taking it in
turns to dish out the lyrics to tracks like the singles
" Guns Dont Kill People Rappers Do " and "Your Mothers
Got A Penis " its all good lively fun and the crowd love it.
Its all over after 65 mins as the balloons fall from the
ceiling .Looks like GLC are having the last laugh.
23 October 2004 Dead Men Walking ,Martletts Hall ,
Sussex .The thought of seeing DMW playing in a small
hall that holds only 300 was well worth the 50 mile drive
each way in the rain. As i have said before some acts are
worth seeing 2 or 3 times on a tour .The crowd are not as
up for it as last nights London show and the band are not
sweating as much as the London show but its still superb.
22 October 2004 Dead Men Walking ,Mean Fiddler ,
London. DMW consist of Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols ) Mike
Peters (The Alarm ) Slim Jim Phantoum (Stray Cats ) Kirk
Brandon (Spear Of Destiny) and Bruce Watson (Big Country).
They played a fantastic 1 hour 40 mins set to a crowd that
were really up for it .A mix of classics and solo material got
everyone jumping and the band really sweated tonight.
"68 Guns" "Ghosts Of Princes And Towers " "Chance "
" Stray Cat Strut" "On Something" "God Save The Queen "
"Rumble In Brighton " " In A Big Country " "Rock This Town"
"45 RPM " amongst others . Stunning encores of
"Runaway Boys " "Pretty Vacant " and the Beastie Boys
"Fight For Your Right " .Great show .See aftershow too.
21 October 2004 Sarah McLachlan ,Royal Albert Hall,
London. In America she is massive with album sales
over 22 million which is amazing. Loads of them here
tonight have made it a sell out show . She is here
promoting her latest album " Afterglow " but despite
having a great backing band and nice melodies the
Cranberries style songs just washed over me . It just
felt so boring but her fans were pleased to see her.
20 October 2004 Whitesnake + Quireboys , Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
A great double bill of Classic British Rock . Quireboys do a neat 30 mins set of blues tinged
rock n roll and finish with great versions of " Hey You " and "Its 7 Oclock ".
Whitesnake are now a mix of UK and Americans in the band . They look and sound great.
David Coverdale still has that stunning voice .
Yet another show being recorded for a live concert DVD . They did an excellent greatest hits
set lasting 1 hour 50 mins. Loads of great songs "Is This Love" "Crying In The Rain" we got a
superb drum solo too , "Aint No Love In The Heart Of The City " was the great singalong it
always is ."Fool For Your Loving" and "Here I Go Again " are both great rockers that finished
off the main set nicely .They encored with " Still Of The Night " and then David Coverdale came
back for a solo version of "Soldier Of Fortune " .A great rock n roll show .Fact.
Also see aftershow party page for who was there.
18 October 2004 Chris De Burgh ,Royal Albert Hall ,London. First of all i must state i would
never pay for a ticket to see this old codger but somehow you have to respect the fact that he just
does his own thing for his own fans and has been doing so for 30 years. A long set of 2 hours
40 mins was hard work when most of it was bland rubbish . Just him with his guitar and piano.
His best songs were "Lady In Red" "Dont Pay The Ferryman" and encore of "High On Emotion".
He went on a couple of walkabouts thru the crowd which went down really well. A little known
fact is that his daughter is the current Miss Ireland and Miss World and is quite a stunner so
Chris thinks he is a bit of a sex symbol although hes more of a cross between Daniel ODonnell
and Terry Wogan but there were plenty of middle aged women giving him pressies . Pleasant
enough show for those that dont get out much i presume.
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09 November 2004 .Glen Matlock And The Philistines
+ Smashing Time ,100 Club , London.
Support band feat someone from Grange Hill tv prog
and did a neat 40 mins of mod pop songs..
Glen and the band did a superb 60 mins set of catchy
rockers with loads from one of my fave albums of
2004 the just released "On Something " . He threw in
"Steppin Stone " as well . Stunning encore of "Open
Mind" .Glen must be given full respect for sticking to
his solo material for these shows . Remember if you
want Sex Pistols and Rich Kids songs go along to
see Dead Men Walking play live as for now its about
the new band and the new songs.
08 November 2004 .Rufus Wainwright + Martha
Wainwright , Shepherds Bush Empire , London.
Nice to have your sister support at your gigs.
Martha has a great voice and is kinda a bit kooky which is a nice combination. Over the past
few months there has been a healthy buzz about
Rufus .I saw him support Sting while most where
still in the bar but tonight he is in his element with a full band and his own vocal fans .
His pretty boy looks and his amazing unique voice
make this 95 mins set rather special .He floats
between the piano and guitar and beautiful songs
like " Vibrate " and " Oh What A World " just
knock you out .He has been around longer than
people think but for Rufus the only way is up.
I often get asked which of the 4000 plus shows i have seen
since 1973 was the best one . The 1970s punk shows by
the Sex Pistols and The Clash stick out but the best as in
terms of event and stella line up was easily the Live Aid
concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985 . It was an 11 hour
show with over 20 of the biggest acts in the world inc
Paul McCartney ,Queen ,U2 ,David Bowie , Status Quo , Elton
John ,The Who ,Bryan Ferry ,Wham ,Spandau Ballet and others.
Released this week is a 4 DVD package of that mega day.
06 November 2004 Lionel Richie ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Lionel back again at Wembley after a month in Europe .
The same 2 hour hour but still just so many good songs. .
You can hear every word Lionel sings and the crowd end up
singing half the song like at a Rod Stewart show . "Three
Times A Lady " " Still " "Dancing On The Ceiling " All Night
Long " and others . A really enjoyable night out.
05 November 2004 Placebo + Har Mar Superstar ,
Wembley Arena , London. Har Mar Superstar did his best
but his material is more suited to a club than this big arena.
This was a sold out one off show to promote Placebo " The
Singles" album release . Brian Molko is clearly delighted
that this is their biggest headline show ever in the UK.
The 95 mins set is brilliant because we get all the singles .
Superb versions of "Pure Morning" and "Special Needs" .
Also excellent was "Every You Every Me " and "Taste In Men".
Great surprise for the encore when Robert Smith from The
Cure came on for "Without You Im Nothing " and The Cures
"Boys Dont Cry" . Last song was a mental "Nancy Boy" .
It was without doubt the best show i have seen them play.
04 November 2004 .Paul McCartney Book Launch ,
Proud Gallery ,Camden , London. This was an invite only
party for Maccas excellent new book " Each One Believing"
which features some superb photos from his 2002/2003
World Tour . Very busy event with about 300 and free
booze for all . Event was 7pm to 9.30pm and Paul
McCartney and Heather Mills were there for 90 mins .
Also here were a couple of the members from his band .
No other big names but a few D List like the twat with
the dodgy beard and the spiky haired bloke singer from
TV show The X Factor. Paul and Heather were very chatty
when they stepped out of the VIP area . I had a quick
word with him .I asked" is there any chance you will be at
any of 2 big events next Thursday (Trevor Horn tribute at
Wembley Arena or Hall Of Fame Awards at Hackney Empire)"
he replied "Unlikely But You Never Know " . Very good event
and the book is a must for any McCartney fan.
The photo exibition runs at the gallery until Nov 27.
Velvet Revolver have added a fourth London show .They
will now play Hammersmith Apollo on Jan 9 which now
will be the opening date of their UK tour .
Support band for the tour will be The Datsuns.
02 November 2004 .Divine Comedy With 15 Piece Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall ,London.
After selling out The Palladium earlier in the year Neil
Hannon and chums are back at another posh venue .
The show starts great with Neil giving out flowers and
straight into an excellent "National Express" .The show
was over 2 sets lasting 2 hours. .Neil is a bit quirky with
plenty of funny on stage remarks and stories. First set
ended with a brilliant "Something For The Weekend ".
Plenty of great lyrics to all the songs here tonight.
They dedicate a song to John Peel which was a stunning
version of Joy Divisions "Atmosphere" .He also did a song for his parents who were in the house tonight. Also played
was "Frog Princess " . Good encores of "Songs Of Love "
and "Sunrise ". A good show and some of the tunes sounded amazing with the orchestra on them .
Exclusive news direct from the promoters . After all the rumours U2 concert tour tickets will go on sale from
Friday 12 November 2004 at 9am although there should be a pre sale for those of you who are reg with
www.u2.com .Dates confirmed include Dublin Croke Park on June 26 and 27 ,
Twickenham Stadium on July 2 and 3 and Paris Stade De France on July 12 .
Wembley Arena will be closed from Jan to Sept 2005 for a full refurbishment which will include moving the
stage area to the opposite end to where it is now . For this period they will use a "supertent " called The
Pavillion which will hold 10,000 punters. This is fine for the likes of Westlife and Blue but a lot of the
rock bands will not play in a tent and will play multi nights at smaller venues like Brixton Academy and
Hammersmith Apollo .This is starting to happen already as the Velvet Revolver and Green Day arena
tours for Jan will both call at Brixton and Hammersmith which is great news . Also if you are visting Wembley
Arena and are fed up off getting ripped off by overpriced programmes with crap pictures you must buy
a copy of " 70 Years Of Wembley Arena " book which has been reduced to a bargain price of only £2.50 .
Great sections of decade by decade and top 10 lists of who have played the most gigs over the years .Lots of
colour photos and an excellent vfm item.
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Tonight (Thur)at London Camden Underworld is the first date
of a rare 3 week tour by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band .
Even though Alex is sadly no longer with us it will be great
to see them again .You must get to see one of these shows
as it is billed as a proper farewell tour . For dates and info
check www.sahb.co.uk Tour finishes in Scotland on Dec 5.
Those of a certain age will remember their 1970s classics.
17 November 2004 .Lost Prophets + Eighteen Visions ,
Hammersmith Apollo, London. California support band did
a good set . The venue is packed and sweaty tonight .
After a superb set at The Reading Festival Welsh rockers
Lost Prophets are now playing to sold out theatres . It has
taken a few years but all the hard work has paid off .
They remind me of Linkin Park in places tonight .
Loads of energy with great songs like " Last Summer"
"Last Train Home " and " Start Something " .Good show.
16 November 2004 .Anastacia ,Wembley Arena , London. Another American female singer with a
big stage production and dancers .She dealt with
breast cancer a couple of years ago and now is
more popular than you think .Her new album got to
number 1 ,2 sold out nights at Wembley Arena and
shes coming again in a few months such is demand.
She looks great and has a powerful voice but the
first half of this show was hardly exciting.
Average songs along with a couple of funk covers
and overlong introduction of her band and backing
singers felt like she just padding the set out.
Later there were some great songs like " One Day
In Your Life " " Left Outside Alone " and the
encore " Im Outta Love " but in a dragged out
set lasting 1 hour 45 mins it lacked something .
I know a lot of you love punk rock so check out this
great website www.punkoiuk.co.uk
15 Nov 2004 .Europe + Hurricane Party , Hammersmith
Apollo ,London.
Support band Hurricane Party do an ok rock set but i cannot
see them ever headlining a place like this . The balcony is
half empty but its still a good crowd for Europes first UK
show for about 12 years. Yet another band recording a DVD
here for future release. Apart from the bald drummer the
other 4 members have overdosed on the conditioner as they
all have dodgy Laurence Llewelyn- Bowen hairstyles. Joey
still has the teeth but the hair is darker. They have plenty of
good rock tracks like " Wings Of Tomorrow " " Wake Up Call "
an acoustic " Carrie" and "Yesterdays News" but only a couple
of real stand out tracks which were their 2 big hits " Rock
The Night " and the encore of "Final Countdown " which love
it or hate it is a tune and a half complete with fireworks and
explosions . A good enjoyable show overall .
13 November 2004 . Deep Purple + Peter Frampton
+ Thunder ,Wembley Arena ,London. Excellent 3
band package of British rockers. Thunder came on
early and did a very short but good set finishing with
new single " I Think I Love You More Than Rock N Roll"
The sound for Peter Frampton was just perfect . A
really great 60 mins set feat all his classics like
"Show Me The Way " "Baby I Love Your Way " and
"Do You Feel Like I Do" . The crowd loved it and he
got a deserved standing ovation. Deep Purple were
great tonight ,much better than last years arena gigs
over here. Ian Gillan was on top form on vocals and
Steve Morse is just a totally superb guitarist . All the
faves were played tonight along with a few off the
latest album " Bananas" .Classics like "Woman From
Tokyo " "Highway Star" "Smoke On The Water " and
"Speed KIng " .Don Airy was on keyboards for this
tour but great to see Jon Lord turn up for last song
"Black Knight " .A really good night for all those here
that remember vinyl albums . See aftershow page.
11 November 2004 . Trevor Horn Tribute Concert ,Wembley Arena , London.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood(without Holly ) + Seal + Pet Shop Boys + Yes + Tatu +
Propaganda + Art Of Noise + ABC + Belle And Sebastian + Grace Jones + Dollar + Buggles.
The show was on for 2 hours 30 mins spread over 2 sets with a massive band and orchestra.
Very impressive collection of acts to celebrate one of the UKs top record producers
25 years in the music biz.All the acts above have been produced at one time by Trevor
Horn . Even Prince Charles and Camilla are here which explains the queues to get in
for body searches and armed police are everywhere .Prince Charles watched all the show .
Each act played a max of 3 songs .First up were Trevor Horns early creation Buggles with
"Video Killed The Radio Star" which was good then Dollar came on and were rubbish.
Grace Jones strode on with a huge cape and long legs for a great "Slave To The Rhythm".
Nice to see indie kids Belle And Sebastian here .Trevor Horn produced their 6th album.
ABC were the highlights of the first half with stunning versions of " Poison Arrow "
"All Of My Heart " and " Look Of Love " from the Trevor Horn produced "Lexicon Of Love".
Martin Fry even wore his gold lame suit to wild cheers.Art Of Noise did a neat version
of their hit "Close To The Edit" .Propaganda were crap . Yes (minus Jon Anderson and
Rick Wakeman of course ) did " Cinema " and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart " .Nice to see
Trevor Rabin on guitar and vocals. Pet Shop Boys did a couple inc " Left To My Own
Devices" and were good. .Lisa Stansfield was drowned out by the band basically .
Trevor Horn has produced her latest album out soon. Russian duo Tatu came on holding
hands for a decent version of their mega hit. Seal was superb as he went down into the
crowd and really worked them up with great versions of " Killer " "Kiss From A Rose"
and " Crazy ". Frankie were still great even without Holly due to pounding anthems
thay played tonight " Welcome To The Pleasure Dome " " Two Tribes " and " Relax " .
This was Frankies first show together since 1987.
I was trying to see if Prince Charles was singing along to the chorus in Relax !!.
So for me the best acts tonight were ABC , Seal and Frankie Goes To Hollywood .
A mixed bag of good ,average and bad but overall a really enjoyalble one off event.
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02 December 2004 .Casbah Club ,Mean Fiddler LA2 ,London.
This band featues Bruce Watson from Big Country on guitar ,
Bruce Foxton from The Jam on bass and the singer from
1980s Scottish rockers The Silencers .Shame then that The
Silencers have not got any well known songs . Thankfully
they play some great Jam tunes like "Town Called Malice "
"Down At The Tube Station" a stunning "Butterfly Collector "
and " Going UNderground " .There were a few good Big
Country songs like : In A Big Country " and "Chance" etc .
Great encore of " Thats Entertainment " . A decent show then
with a mix of some good tunes and a few average ones but
the evening felt like a second rate Dead Men Walking gig.
30 November 2004 . Beta Band , Shepherds Bush Empire ,
London. I have always admired the way The Beta Band have
just ticked along nicely doing their own thing so i was very
surprised that this was to be a farewell tour because they are
a massive million pounds in debt to their record company
and the only way to get out of it is to split up for good.
The band and crowd are pretty subdued for the first half of
the show considering tonight is their last ever London gig.
A couple of songs near the end were very good but most
of their brand of psychedelia was just not that exciting.
29 November 2004 . Will Young , Wembley Arena , London.
While his Pop Idol rival Gareth Gates resides in the where are
they now? file Will Young goes from strength to strength .
With a sold out arena tour including 3 nights at Wembley and
his album "Fridays Child " the second best selling album of the
year in the UK after Dido its not surprising he is in a confident mood. A massive production with multi video screens , a
staircase and 21 people on stage including the 8 dancers so
there is plenty to look at. Sadly a lot of the material is pretty
average but " Evergreen " and "Stronger " are the highlights of
the ballads section in the middle. For some reason he wears
trilby hats for the entire show . A couple of covers like "Love
The One Your With " and "Light My Fire " were nice enough .
His fans clearly love him but not much here tonight for me.
28 November 2004 .KD Lang ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
Her first London for a few years so not surprising well sold
out . With her is the 30 piece Philharmonic Orchestra .
KD arrives on stage barefoot and gives a dazzling vocal
display of covers and original material . She was in a very
playful mood as she danced across the stage and made some
amusing remarks.Highlights inc " Crying" " Constant Craving "
and the encore of "3 Cigarettes" .The set was a bit short at
only 80 mins in length but it was total quality.
27 November 2004 .Motorhead + Sepultura , Hammersmith
Apollo ,London .Fantastic sold out rock n roll evening.
Brazilians Sepultura rock hard but their singer has that nasty
grunting vocal style that i hate. Motorhead are on fire tonight.
90 mins set from the band that forever (like i do) call this
venue The Hammersmith Odeon.Loads of great rockers like
"Metropolis" "No Class" "RAMONES" and a stunning " Killed By
Death" . Great encore of "Ace Of Spades " and :Overkill " with
ex guitarist Wurzel joining them on stage . Excellent stuff.
25 November 2004 .Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel ,
Bloomsbury Theatre , London. Here is another 1970s legend
still playing regular UK tours . There are 8 on stage inc Steve
and they play a long 2 hours 30 mins over 2 sets full of old
and new songs with a few great Steve Harley stories as well.
The older stuff of course goes down the best " Judy Teen"
"Here Comes The Sun" "Best Years Of Our Lives " "Mr Soft"
"Sebastian" and brilliant encore of " Come Up And See Me "
(Steve introduced it as his pension song) .Enjoyalble show.
23 November 2004 .The Darkness , Brixton Academy ,
London. Things just seem to get better and better for The
Darkness .A couple of days ago they were featured on a
ITV Southbank TV Special with Melvyn Bragg and here they
are at Brixton treating it as a "warm up" show for the arena
tour that starts the following day . The sound is superb
with Gibson Les Pauls and Marshall amps on to the max.
They set lasts 85 mins by playing all of "Permission To
Land" album and some new tracks .Plenty of explosions too.
Great encore of " I Believe In A Thing Called Love "
an extended version of " Love On The Rocks " with a front
of stage walkabout with Justin on a roadies shoulders
(as well as stealing bits of AC/DC sound they are also
copying their stage show). They finish off with their own
Christmas single from last year as the confetti comes down.
Excellent show . They play Wembley Arena Dec 10,11,12.
22 November 2004 . Embrace ,Hammersmith Palais ,
London. Well if Morrissey gets the gold medal for 2004
comeback of the year then surely Embrace get the silver
medal . Amazing what one song can do. "Gravity " has put
the band back on the map along with a platinum selling
number one album and sold out everywhere live dates.
I must admit i am not the biggest fan of the Embrace/
Keane/Snow Patrol etc music style but Embrace have got
loads of good songs and their fans love them. Opening
songs "Ashes" and "All You Good Good People " were fab.
"Gravity " of course was stunning. Also good were
"Come Back To What You Know" and "Save Me" .
Encores inc "One Big Family " and " Wonder " . The set
lasted nearly 2 hours which felt a bit too long but then
again they have had four albums out .Good but not great.
Velvet Revolver have added a 5th London show to
their UK tour at Hammersmith Apollo on Jan 10.
Monday sees the long awaited release of the new
U2 album with a couple of the big shops in the
West End opening at midnight(Sunday) to sell it.
Also out Monday is the DVD from those amazing
reunion shows by The New York Dolls in June
at The Royal Festival Hall.
Tuesday sees one of the hottest tickets of the
year by Tom Waits .His first London show for
17 years that sold out in an hour .His refusal to
add extra shows has meant tickets selling for
over £200 on the black market.
18 November 2004 . Sensational Alex Harvey Band , Camden Underworld , London.
19 November 2004 .Sensational Alex Harvey Band ,
The Green Room At The Doctors Tonic Pub,
Welwyn Garden City ,Herts .
Great atmosphere as it was a sell out gig and cameras are here for a live DVD recording.
First London show for a few years by these legendary Scottish rockers.We all knew it
would be a good show but this was just bleeding brilliant . For nearly 2 hours they
played classic tunes from their 1970s heyday . On vocals playing his first gig with the
band was Max Maxwell and he did a great job of recreating the style and vocal
delivery of the sadly missed Alex Harvey . All four other members are originals inc
the guitar legend that is Zal Cleminson. How did they open the show ? with a totally stunning
version of " The Faith Healer " followed by other gems like " Next " " Framed" " Give My
Compliments To The Chef" "Amos Moses "
"Swampsnake " and many others.
For " Gang Bang " they were joined by a lovely looking blonde girl
fan who jumped on stage for some sexy dancing with the band in her bra. A fantastic
encore of "Vambo " "Boston Tea Party " and "Delilah " complete with the funny dance
that Chris Glen and Zal Cleminson did in the old days . Too good a show to see just the once
so tonight Friday we will be at sunny Welwyn Garden City to see them again.
Check out the bands website www.sahb.co.uk to see where they are playing near you.
Blimey the venue in Welwyn Garden City is less
than half the size of the Underworld .
Cannot remember ever seeing a band in this town
which is just outside the North London area.
The stage is only about 6 inches raised off the
floor so half the crowd can only see heads and
shoulders . The same set list as last nights show. Another really great night . Speaking to
guitarist Zal Cleminson after the show who said
he enjoyed tonights show more than the London
show because the band played tighter and there
was no stoppage to change the dodgy snare drum
like there was in London. Well worth the drive.
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www.o-donnells.com has now gone live so we have a great selection of cds ,dvds and
books in our 4 for £20 section. www.o-donnells.com get those credit cards out for the Christmas period.......
Well thats more or less it for 2004 so all of you out there
have a great Christmas and Rocktastic New Year.....
20 December 2004 . Wet Wet Wet ,Wembley Arena , London.
First of all thanks to our chums at Clear Channel for giving
us 50 free tickets to give to customers and friends of our
website www.o-donnells.com for this show. .Cheers.
Safe to say i would not be here unless i had a free ticket .
Wet Wet Wet are a nice bunch of lads but hardly exciting rock
n roll if you know what i mean .This was their first tour for 7
years which includes an impressive 15 UK arena shows . A few
years ago i was well surprised when singer Marti Pellow came
out with his "my drink and drugs hell ". Nice to hear "Sweet
Little Mystery " and "Angel Eyes " but they are so MOR they
make Will Young sound like Iggy Pop in places . The mainly
women crowd still adore Marti Pellow for sure .The last song
was their mega hit "Love Is All Around " with Marti in a skirt.
There were no video screens of the band and they played as if
in a theatre as opposed to this big venue which was crap if you
were not in the first half of the venue.On stage for 2 hours .
Also it was one of those gigs where you buy a live cd of the
show straight after for £15 and quite a few were sold......
18 December 2004 . Morrissey , Earls Court Arena , London.
Comeback of the year easily goes to Mozzer what his album
"You Are The Quarry " selling over 500,000 in the UK and now
his biggest ever London show which is sold out with around
18,000 punters inside on a very rainy Saturday evening.
It starts great as he opens with The Smiths classic " How Soon
Is Now " and as early as the second tune he plays ' First
Of The Gang To Die " . He has his priest dog collar on like on the pic cover of his current single .The band sound great in
front of the huge MORRISSEY logo." There Is A Light That
Never Goes Out " and "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" were
both excellent. A mega" Irish Blood English Heart " got the
crowd really moving. Very good show but with only a one song
encore and only 80 mins onstage it did not feel quite as
special as those RFH shows in June earlier this year.........
17 December 2004 . Elton John And His Band ,Hammersmith
Apollo ,London. Third of four shows at this venue .
Despite more wealth and fame than most can dream of Elton
John continues to be one of our hardest working musicians.
Back at Hammersmith to the scene of so many amazing shows
i watched him play in the 1970s.The first 6 or 7 songs were
all from the new album " Peachtree Road " and a couple had
a lovely country bluegrass feel to them. Then it was hit after
hit in a fantastic set lasting 2 hours 15 mins ." Daniel " was
great but an extended version of " Rocket Man " was superb.
"Tiny Dancer " "Are You Ready For Love " then "Philadelphia
Freedom " got the crowd up dancing along with " Im Still
Standing " ." Dont Let The Sun Go Down On Me " was brill.
"Bitch Is Back " had Elton dancing on his piano. Stunning
encore of " Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting " then he
spent 5 mins signing stuff for all those down the front then a
magical " Your Song " .Fantastic as always...........
16 December 2004 .1980s Show ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Midge Ure + Kim Wilde + Belinda Carlisle + Nik Kershaw +
Bucks Fizz + Living In A Box + Limahl
These shows are a great idea . Get half a dozen acts and each
play a 20 mins of greatest hits .Problem is Midge Ure or KIm
Wilde are not real headline acts so the venue is only half full.
Everyone is in good spirits for Christmas and Limahl is pretty
good to be honest with " Too Shy " and " Neverending Story "
getting a decent reception .Next up Living In A Box are
faceless useless rubbish . Bucks Fizz have all four original
members and are great fun but mainly for their dodgy dance
routines. Shelley Preston still looks stunning .Their set inc
" My Camera Never Lies " and of course " Making Your Mind Up" complete with the pulling off the skirts routine. Poor old
Nik Kershaw is so tiny you can just see his head above the
stage monitors .He plays " I Wont Let The Sun Go Down On Me"
and "Wouldnt It Be Good " . Next up Belinda Carlisle plays a few inc " Circle In THe Sand " "Leave A Light On For Me " and
"Heaven Is A Place On Earth " and is pleasant enough . Kim
Wilde has changed from her gardening gear into a 2 piece
leather suit and looks like she is really enjoying herself.
Nice set inc " You Keep Me Hanging On " and " Kids In America ". Last up was Midge Ure who had a slightly longer set than
the others . He played Visage " Fade To Grey "as he wrote it.
Also "If I Was " " No Regrets " "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes"
and of course " Vienna " pretty good . Highlight of the evening
was the mega encore where all the acts came back together
to sing Band Aid " Do They Know Its Christmas " with other
1980s stars Paul Young and members Of Heaven 17 and
Spandau Mallet joining in .A good night but they need a couple
of bigger headline acts next time ......
15 December 2004 .Buzzcocks + Neville Staple , Kentish Town
Forum ,London . The support act used to be in the Specials
and for some reason he changed his surname from Staples
to Staple . His voice is not very convincing on the new material
but he does get the crowd going by throwing in some gems
from his Specials days like " A Message To You Rudy "
"Monkey Man" and brilliant versions of "Gangsters " and
"Ghostown" in his 40 mins set. The Buzzcocks are one of those
original punk bands that are always great live .The older tunes
like " I Dont Mind" and " Harmony In My Head" are great even
though a few of the songs in the middle are a bit patchy .
Guitarist Steve Diggle is in great form and even when he gets
showered in beer it cannot wipe the smile off his face.
The second half of the show was perfect punk poptastiic with
tunes like " Breakdown " and " Ever Fallen In Love " followed
by mega encores of "Fast Cars " "What Do I Get " "Boredom "
" Orgasm Addict " . Great gig and good aftershow party too.
12 December 2004 . Punk Festival at The Astoria featuring
The Damned , Sham 69 , Hazel OConnor + Avengers +
TV Smith + Ten Pole Tudor + UK Subs+ 999 + Chelsea.
Excellent line up of punk and new wave bands who were
all around in the late 1970s .First up Chelsea were pretty
average as usual but finished off with good versions of
"Urban Kids" "I Fought The Law " and "Right To Work " .
Tony Barber from The Buzzcocks was playing with them
and he had to race to Wolverhampton that same night to
play with his own band . 999 were brilliant with
great tunes like "Emergency " "Nasty Nasty " and "Homicide".
UK Subs pulled the biggest crowd of the day apart from the
2 headliners starting with " CID " and finishing with a
rampant version of "Warhead " that had the floor shaking .
Ten Pole Tudor did "Swords Of A Thousand Men " and a
couple of crap ones. TV Smith was good as always with
" Gary Gilmores Eyes " and "One Chord Wonders " .
Avengers are best known for being the support band for
The Sex Pistols at their famous last show in SF Winterland in
1978 . They play loud and rocky tunes inc a version of The
Professionals "1,2,3 " but her vocals are not very good.
Hazel O Connor is pleasant enough but it is the wrong event
for her and a lot of people stay in the bar to avoid her .
Next up and the highlight of the day for me a rare live show
by Sham 69 . It is 45 mins of mayhem as they launch into
"Angels With Dirty Faces " "Borstal Breakout " " If The Kids
Are United " " Hersham Boys " and "Hurry Up Harry " .etc
Jimmy Pursey is on fine form and the crowd love them .
The Damned play for 90 mins but it feels like 3 hours .
Perhaps they should have trimmed it to a neat 60 mins.
They have got some great tunes but there are plenty of
boring bits like Captain Sensible guitar solos and on stage
antics that lose the moment. However "Love Song " " New
Rose " " Neat Neat Neat are all brilliant as is the encore
of " Jet Boy " and "Smash It Up " .I was at this event for 8
hours and it was long day but well worth it .........
10 and 11 December 2004 . Darkness + Ash , Wembley
Arena , London . Ash did a good warm up set with great
tunes like "Kung Fu ""Girl From Mars " "Shining Light " and a rockin version of Thin Lizzys "The Boys Are Back In Town " .
I first saw The Darkness nearly 2 years ago supporting Def
Leppard then seeing headline shows at The Astoria and
Hammersmith Apollo as well as their dodgy Reading Festival
show in the summer . So here they are now with 3 shows at
Wembley as part of their UK arena tour. They stil only have
the one album and a few new songs but its a superb show.
A big entertaining classic rock show all night long.
There is enough fireworks ,explosions and flames to grace
any Guy Fawkes party . Lots of great tunes like "Growing
On Me " "Black Shuck " "Friday Night " " I Believe In A Thing
Called Love " .There are a couple of annoying time wasting
bits as Justin somehow drags the set out to 1 hour 40
mins . For the encore Justin flies over the crowd astride
a huge fluffy white tiger then the Christmas trees are
brought out for full versions of The Band Aid single " Do
They Know Its Chritmas " and their own Christmas dittie
from last year " Dont Let The Bells End" . Only difference in
the 2 shows i saw was that on Friday Justin mentioned that
a burglar had been caught at his home just as the band
were due on stage ........
09 December 2004 .Manic Street Preachers
+ Razorlight , Wembley Arena , London. Support
Razorlight are flying at present with the album " Up All
Night " loved by the critics and the punters . Some
great songs like " Golden Touch " " Rip It Up " and "Vice" . No doubt that 2005 will be even better for them.
The Manics have always been a great live rock band
with or without Richey Edwards so here they are out on
the road again having to prove themselves after
mixed reviews of their " Lifeblood " album which does
include decent songs like " 1985 " and " Richard Nixon"
.A great light show and superb use of video screens
bring the songs to life . Plenty of mega oldies like
"If You Tolerate This " " You Love Us " "Australia"
"You Stole The Sun " " Tsunami" and the last 2 songs
were stunning versions of " Motorcycle Emptiness "
and "A Design For Life " .A long set with no need for
a fake encore . The Manics still rock .........
08 December 2004 .Concert For Darfur Refugees With
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ,Royal Albert Hall ,
London. About a dozen guests from the world of pop,rock ,
opera , tv and film sing a couple of songs each for this
very good cause .Most songs were covers of Cole Porter .
Best were Mick Hucknall , Chrissie Hynde ,Alison Moyet
and a rare performance by Cat Stevens ( now Yusef ???? ).
Other acts inc Jocelyn Brown ,Ruthie Henshall , Antony
Costa from Blue singing Van Morrisons " Raindance" .
Neat finale of everyone on stage for versions of " Imagine "
and "With A Little Help From My Friends " .Pleasant enough .......
06 December 2004 . The Tubes Wild West Show , Shepherds
Bush Empire ,London. All the band arrive on stage in
cowboy outfits and play a couple of western theme tunes .
Singer Fee Waybill comes on in his first of 8 or 9 costume
changes that make this 2 hour show visually fantastic.
Great oldies like "Dont Touch Me There" and "What Do You
Want From Life " were superb and for their disco cover of
"Do The Hussle " they changed lyric to " Do The Russle"
which was just one of many fun elements to this show.
The ballad " Dont Wanna Wait Anymore " was a corker.
Fee Waybill stuck his head in a television set for " TV Is
King" and a big highlight was the 7 foot tall Quay Lude
rock star character in tottering stack heels for stunning
versions of " Stand Up And Shout " and their anthem that
is " White Punks On Dope " Encore of " Mondo Bongage "
had Fee in full leather garb with 2 leather glad women
getting stuck in so to speak (the blonde one was punk
singer Beki Bondage of Vice Squad ) .
"Talk To You Later " was the
finish to an very entertaining show and the DVD of it will
be out next year .Great night .......
05 December 2004 . Blink 182 ,Wembley Arena ,London.
Tonight there are so many teenagers here i really do feel
a bit old .Blink from California are now an arena band
in the Green Day ,Sum 41 school of pop punk. While they
have a couple of decent songs like "Feeling This " and
" I Miss You" and a neat drum solo on a podium in the
middle of the venue i left the gig feeling pretty empty .
What the hell am i doing here? Not my cup of tea at all.
After the show hordes of mums and dads in cars waiting
for their kids .Call this punk rock? ........
04 December 2004 . Status Quo + The Alarm ,Wembley
Arena ,London. At last a great support act . The Alarm
did a superb 40 mins of top tunes like " Where Were You
Hiding " " Absolute Reality " " 68 Guns " and their hit
single from earlier in the year " 45 RPM " . The Quo are now
more of a rock band for all the family than the out and out
rock band they were in the 1970s but their 2 hour set was
really all about enjoying yourself and having fun. Plenty of
jumping on the spot and heads down boogie . Incredibly
this was their 39th show at Wembley Arena . Every winter
they now go on a huge 6 week UK tour . They have had
over 50 Top 40 hit singles like " Rain" "Roll Over Lay Down"
" Caroline "
"Down Down" "Whatever You Want " and " Rockin All Over
The World " which were all played tonight .More jumping
around for encores of " Paperplane " and " Bye Bye Johnny
B Goode" .The band were enjoying it as much as the crowd.........
Altogether 2 great live bands and very enjoyable.
A great classic rock double bill are doing a 2005 UK tour.
Judas Priest and The Scorpions play Hammersmith Apollo
on March 16 and 17 . They will be mega shows.
Also despite trying to play down the rumours i can tell
than you Motley Crue will reform and play a short UK
tour inc a London date at Wembley Arena on 19 June
after they have completed their American tour.
Special guests on the UK tour will be Killing Joke.
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| 2005-01-04 | |
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Well 2004 was another amazing year for great live concerts so as everyone else is doing
best of 2004 reviews here is another one .I went to a staggering 207 shows in 2004
and my grand gig total since 1973 has gone over 4200 .This year i attended 5 music award
events .NME Awards ,BRIT Awards ,MOJO Awards , MOBO Awards , Q Awards . I went to the
following music festivals Download , V2004 Chelmsford and Reading Festival.
Sadly only one overseas show that was Social Distortion in Orlando ,Florida Jan 2004...
Lets start off with shows that were real events mainly because some bands had not played
together for a good few years .New York Dolls played their first shows anywhere for
over 25 years at The Royal Festival Hall .Duran Duran did their first UK your with all
5 original members for over 15 years. Iggy Pop And The Stooges played their first UK dates
together for over 20 years. Motorhead played The Royal Opera House .Morrissey had his
amazing comeback .Siouxsie played the 100 Club for first time in over 20 years.
Simon And Garfunkel played the UK for the first time in over 10 years.
Rush played their first UK tour for over 10 years . The Stray Cats reformed for their
first UK tour together for over 10 years.Metallica played that incredible show at
Download Festival where their drummer Lars went AWOL and with a couple of hours notice
got replacement drummers and played a blinder .Mick Jones of The Clash got back on stage
for the first time in years with his own band Carbon Silicon.
The best 20 live shows of 2004 as seen by me were ....
As you can see the best shows were always worth seeing more than once ...
1.Madonna - Earls Court Arena and Wembley Arena - August 2004(i was at 4 shows)....
2.Duran Duran - Wembley Arena - April 2004 ( i was at 4 shows)....
3.Brian Wilson - Royal Festival Hall - Feb and June 2004 ( i was at 7 yes 7 shows)...
4.The Who - The Forum and Royal Albert Hall - March 2004 + Birmingham June 2004 (3 shows)
5.New York Dolls - Royal Festival Hall - June 16 and 18 ( i was at both and Reading Fest)
6.Linkin Park + Iggy Pop And The Stooges - Download Festival - June 2004....
7.Metallica with guest drummers - Download Festival - June 2004 .....
8.Motorhead - Royal Opera House Feb 2004 and Hammersmith Apollo Nov 2004 ....
9.David Lee Roth - Hammersmith Apollo - Feb 2004 ...
10.Simon And Garfunkel - Hyde Park Outdoors - July 2004 ...
11.Rush - Wembley Arena - Sept 2004 (i was at 2 shows)....
12.Elton John And His Band - Hammersmith Apollo -Dec 2004 ...
13.Dead Men Walking - Mean Fiddler - Oct 2004 ...
14.Diana Ross - Wembley Arena - March 2004...
15.Kraftwerk - Brixton Acadamy - March 2004 ...
16.Whitesnake - Hammersmith Apollo - Oct 2004 ...
17.Sting - Royal Albert Hall - May 2004...
18.UFO - Astoria - June 2004 ...
19.Peter Gabriel - Wembley Arena - June 2004...
20.Lionel Richie - Wembley Arena - Oct 2004 ...
Although i have seen great shows by most of this
years hottest bands such as Franz Ferdinand ,
Scissor Sisters ,Razorlight ,Keane etc because
they only have the one album out its hard to
compete with some of the acts above who have had
loads of classic material out over the years.
Alas there were a few pretty boring headline acts that did not rock my boat so here are
the 10 worst shows i saw this year in no special order Norah Jones, Evanescense,
Incubus , Korn , Sum 41 , Chris De Burgh , Sarah McLachlan ,Rasmus , Beta Band ,Blink 182.
The hottest tickets of the year where the touts made loads of money were
1.Tom Waits - Hammersmith Apollo - Nov 2004 ...
2.Velvet Revolver - Hammersmith Apollo - Sept 2004...
Best aftershow party of 2004 would have to be
those amazing New York Dolls shows in June at
The Royal Festival Hall where all the punk rock
old school inc Glen Matlock and Paul Cook from
The Sex Pistols and Mick Jones from The Clash
and many others turned up to say hello to them.
Looking forward to 2005 and even January has some great acts playing live shows.
Velvet Revolver play a full UK tour including 5 sold out London shows .
Duran Duran play a one off show for the BBC at Hammersmith Palais.
Green Day play a full UK tour and Julian Cope and Gang Of Four play shows .
Feb sees German rockers Rammstein play shows , also The BRIT Awards and NME Awards .
March sees a great classic rock double bill of Judas Priest and The Scorpions .
Also huge arena tours by Kylie Minogue and Rod
Stewart and even Motley Crue are putting the fact that a couple of members hate the sight of
each other and are reuniting for a world tour
with some UK dates in June .
In the summer the big guns of REM ,Oasis and U2 will play huge outdoor stadium shows.
Also lets not forget those who have passed away
this year John Peel ,Johnny Ramone ,Ray Charles ,
Arthur Kane , Dimebag from Pantera /Damageplan ,
Rick James and others .
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| 2005-02-02 | |
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01 Feb 2005 . Feeder , Islington Academy , London.
Invite only show for XFM Radio for their guests and XFM
competition winners. This was one of the first shows of a
huge 6 month tour that Feeder are embarking on in support
of new album : Pushing The Senses : out this week. Nice to
see them in this small venue . The songs from new album
are very in the Coldplay / Snow Patrol style as opposed to their
Foo Fighters type rockers that i like them for . Plenty of
oldies as well like " Comfort In Sound " " Just The Way Im
Feeling " and a mental " Buck Rogers " . Encore was a great
version of " Just A Day " .Set only lasted for 55 mins as it was
a recording for radio but they are always good to watch......
31 Jan 2005 . Kyle Eastwood , China White , London .
China White is probably Londons coolest and trendiest
after hours hang out so seeing a band here up close with their equipment on the dance floor felt like someone was
actually playing a gig in your own front room. Very cosy.
This was an invite only show for 200 guests to promote
Kyles new album on Columbia Records " Paris Blue " . Like his
famous actor father Kyle has a real passion for all things
jazz .His band play a really enjoyalbe 80 mins set of jazz and
jazz funk material that grooved along nicely . Kyle himself
plays a mean jazz bass guitar as well . Jamie Cullum was in
the crowd clearly enjoying what he saw and heard .......
28 Jan 2005 .Gang Of Four , Shepherds Bush Empire, London. GOF back together again for a few shows with all four original
members after splitting up over 20 years ago .
A lot of current bands like Franz Ferdinand have
name dropped this group from Leeds recently and
guitarist Andy Gill has done some quality
production duties including the superb last
Killing Joke album and new boys The Futureheads.
Tonight the amazing angry guitar sound of Andy
Gills Fender steals the show for me as in every
song it seems to dominate .Best tunes were
"At Home He Thinks Hes A Tourist " and "Anthrax" along with a superb " Damaged Goods" as
part of the encore . Set was a bit short at 70
mins but great to see them play live again .....
Eric Clapton And Cream shows at The Royal Albert
Hall have been confirmed as May 2 ,3,5 ,6
All four Cream shows sold out in one day .......
Too frazzled after the three Velvet Revolver
shows over the weekend to catch Green Day at
Brixton so i will see them when they play Ham
Apollo on Feb 6 and 7 .....Looks like Black
Sabbath will headline The Donington
Download Festival on June 11 and 12 with
special guests Velvet Revolver and System Of A
Down .....
News just in that Billy Idol has just signed a
new record deal with Sanctuary Records so
expect some UK live shows in the summer .....
21/22/23 Jan 2005 .Velvet Revolver last 3 shows
of UK tour ,Brixton Academy and two Ham Apollo .
Velvet Revolver back in London after their two
shows here in London a couple of weeks ago .In
the end i ended going to all five London shows.
Each night though the band turned up late at
the venue which meant there were a few boos in
the far too long gap of 60 mins between the end
of The Datsuns set and start of the VR set.
The shows this weekend were much better than the
warm up shows a fortnight ago . The band were
tighter and the crowd were the hard core fans who
were the first to buy tickets when they went on
sale.Pretty much the same set as a couple of weeks ago .Plenty of great songs like " Fall To
Pieces " and " Big Machine " " Slither " and
some Stone Temple Pilots and
Guns And Roses tunes ( see previous review ).
The Brixton show was the best of the bunch and
tonight was the only night on the tour they
played Sex Pistols " Bodies " and dedicated it
to Pistols bassist Glen Matlock who was in the
crowd tonight .The following two nights at
Hammersmith Apollo were excellent as well .
The Sunday show was finished off with The Doors
track " 5 To 1" .The band themselves were
totally blown away by how popular they are here.
They are a great live rock n roll band
Check aftershow news for Velvet Revolver .......
Be ready as after a couple of false starts the
U2 tickets will go on sale soon . Looks like
London shows will be two nights at Twickenham also
Manchester , Cardiff , Dublin and Glasgow .......
13 Jan 2005 . Duran Duran , Hammersmith Palais ,London.
This was an invite only show that will be broadcast on
BBC Radio 2 on 29 Jan. Downstairs there are 1000 comp
winners from Radio 2 and Duran Duran websites .
Upstairs are 300 guests from the BBC ,the band and media .
Pretty amazing to see this great band up close in what for
them is a smallish venue . They did a great 18 song set
lasting 95 mins that leaned towards the promotion of
their last album " Astronaut " .Even back in the 1980s DD
were always a superb live band . Plenty of women here as
usual . A technical hiccup after the second song held
things up for a couple of minutes but
otherwise the sound was perfect . Simon Le Bon dedicated
"Ordinary World " to those caught up in the Asian Tsunami .
The golden oldies went down the best of course and the
crowd went mental for encore of " Girls On Film " and " Rio" .An excellent show .
Set list was Finest Hour - Hungry Like The Wolf - Hold Back
The Rain - Want You More - Union Of The Snake- What
Happens Tomorrow - Chains - Astronaut - Ordinary World - Save A Prayer - Bedroom Toys - Notorious - Reflex -
Nice - Sunrise - Wild Boys - Encores - Girls On Flim and Rio
..........
12 Jan 2005 .The Queen Musical-We Will Rock You ,
Dominion Theatre , London. Of course i would not
usually put a musical up as a real gig but this
was a special event to celebrate the 1000th
performance of this excellent West End musical.
I had seen it a couple of times already but
tonight Queen members Brian May on guitar and
Roger Taylor on drums joined the cast and house
band (which still includes Neil Murray ex of 1980s rockers Whitesnake classic line up )
for three fantastic songs for the grand finale .
"Bohemian Rhapsody" " Tie Your Mother Down" and
"The Show Must Go On " .A superb taster for the
long awaited Queen shows with Paul Rodgers that
will start in London on March 28 and Paris March
30...........
09 and 10 Jan 2005 , Velvet Revolver + The
Datsuns ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London .
The Datsuns did a good 30 mins of uptempo rock but i
feel they have blown their chance of hitting the big time.
Velvet Revolver have 5 London shows on this UK tour .
They are a proper rock n roll band thats for sure .
Feat members of Guns And Roses and Stone Temple Pilots
with more visits to drug rehabs and tattoos between them
than most bands. Their debut album " Contraband " has
been voted album of 2004 in Classic Rock mag .They play most of the album inc great versions of
" Slither " , "Big Machine "
and " Set Me Free " along with the superb "Fall To Pieces" .
There is a great atmosphere in the house both nights.
Singer Scott Weiland looks more like Suedes Brett Anderson than your typical long haired rock singer . They perform 2 Stone
Temple Pilots tracks "Crackerman" and "Sex Type Thing: "
but Scotts vocals are muffled to say the least or maybe
just drowned out by all the loud distorted guitars on stage .
They throw in 3 Guns and Roses tunes that the crowd go
mental for " Its So Easy " ," Mr Brownstone " and " I Used To
Love Her ".
The Sunday show was slightly better as it
lasted for 1 hour 40 mins and had one extra song to the
following nights set which was a cover of Aerosmiths
"Same Old Song And Dance " . So a good show but i would
still say i prefer Whitesnake , Motorhead etc ...
Some bands i tip for big success in 2005 are
The Kaiser Chiefs , The Bravery , The Editors and Towers Of London ( another great little
band mixing the rock of early Motley Crue with the attitude of The Sex Pistols) .Their great debut
single " On A Noose" comes out on Feb 14 .
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| 2005-02-16 | |
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15 Feb 2005 . Elle Style Awards 2005 , Old Spitalfields
Market , London . Every now and again the website gets
invited to stuff that is more an event than a gig . This was
a massive evening for this top selling mag with a top totty
guest list from the worlds of fashion , film and music.
Over 50 well known names in the 500 here including
models Helena Christensen ,Rachel Hunter ,
film stars Cate Blanchett , Daniel Craig ,
pop stars Kylie Minogue , Danni Minogue , Louise Redknapp,
Rachel Stevens , Will Young , Jamelia , Estelle ,
comedy duo Little Brittain were here with other tv and radio
faces like Cat Deeley , Jo Whiley and Sara Cox .
The event was hosted by Dermot Oleary . We are in the media
area as they arrive with 30 photographers snapping away .
9pm Everyone sits down to a 3 course meal .10pm
After each award the winner comes into media area and its a
bit surreal chatting to the likes of Cate Blanchett , Kylie
Minogue and Rachel Hunter on a one to one but great
fun. 11pm one of the sponsors of the event AUDI have laid a
fleet of cars on to take everyone to the aftershow party even though its less than 5 mins away at 2 Rooms in Brick Lane .
There is about 1000 here with a few of the celebs from earlier
and waiters are dishing out the champers all night . Some
great DJ sounds and plenty of dancing and stuff until after 2am .Must have cost a fortune to put on but
it was a pukka glam event .......
The Download Festival on June 10, 11, 12 promises to be a
great weekend of rock .For up to date ticket info and bands
check out their website on www.downloadfestival.co.uk......
Scottish rock legends Nazareth tour the UK this week and
next .The London show has been postponed to August
however they will play Croydon Ashcroft on Friday 18 Feb.
More info on www.nazarethdirect.co.uk.......
11 Feb 2005 . Snoop Dogg , Hammersmith Apollo , London.
Snoops first London show for around 10 years was the hottest
hip hop ticket in ages and touts are doing good business .
The atmosphere inside was great . Snoop breezed on wearing
an England football shirt and what did this bad boy rapper do
first ? he asked the crowd to switch their camera phones on
and hold them in the air .What a naff start .By the way can
somebody ban camera phones at concerts pleeeeease .
Opener " Murder Was The Case " was superb as were most of
the great tracks from his "Doggystyle " album that were played
tonight. Hovering like Bez around the back and side of the
stage doing funny little dances without introduction was my
mate from the BRIT awards .Yes it was Snoop Doggs dad .
From the stoned smile on his face it looks like he has been
sharing his sons wacky backy .There was also a drummer on
stage as well .For the last two songs Snoop was joined by
Pharrell Williams for recent superb tunes "Drop It Like Its Hot "
and " Lets Get Blown " which went down great but overall like
many hip hop shows it was had average songs as well .
After only 70 mins it was all over . At the end a couple of
members of the band asked if any of the ladieeez wanted to
party with the band .A hundred put their hands up with a
dozen chosen .Bearing in mind Snoop is currently being sued
regards another rape charge it still amazes me how being in
a band makes people forget about your bad points..........
09 Feb 2005 . BRIT AWARDS , Earls Court Arena , London.
Still the biggest and best of the awards shows .The scale
of the stage and catering is immense . No wonder it has
taken a week to put it all together . This is how my day
went . We turn up at the venue at the same time
as model Jordan who was followed by Robbie Williams
on the red carpet for the hordes of photographers .
We get a red carpet as well but separate to the artistes.
5.30pm to 6.30pm champagne reception then 6.30pm to
7.30pm its a nice three course dinner at your table with loads of free booze and a spare box
of booze on the floor for each table.
There are 300 tables of 10 so 3000 are all fed together .500 pit standing are let in at 7pm.
This year we have been given platinum table tickets but
our table is a bit too far from the main action for us .
Awards are on from 7.40pm to 11.10pm (over 3 hours) .
There are 12 acts playing Scissor Sisters , Franz Ferdinand ,
Natasha Bedingfield With Daniel Bedingfield , The Streets ,
Green Day , Joss Stone , Robbie Williams and Joss Stone ,Jamelia
With Lemar , Gwen Stefani , Snoop Dogg With Pharrell ,
they all played a song each with best being Scissor Sisters "Take Your Mama ",
Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out " and Green Day
"American Idiot " .Bob Geldof And The
Boomtown Rats end up playing two songs at the end
'I Dont Like Mondays " and " Rat Trap " . Halfway through the three hours plus event
after Joss Stone we manage to get into the main VIP front table award winners
area and sit down between those lovely girls from Girls
Aloud and the boys from Snow Patrol . A fantastic view
with a real buzz as most celebs are standing and mingling .
Chris Evans guest soccer stat Gazza is on the next table with Billy Piper .
I was having a chat to rap DJ Tim Westwood and
he introduced me to this old black guy smoking a
joint who was Snoop Doggs Dad .
From Robbie Williams onwards we are in the middle of it all.
Hats off to Scissor Sisters for winning the most awards with
three when everyone thought Franz Ferdinand would walk
off with the most awards .Great to see Siouxsie Soiux
present them with one of their awards too. Other
winners inc Keane and Joss Stone with two each.
Other good bits included the visably shocked
look on Robbie Williams face when his
old band mates from Take That Gary Barlow and Howard
Donald took the stage to present him with his award but on
closer inspection it was the Little Britain duo dressed up as them for a
bit of fun. The awards finished quite late but there is always a few aftershow parties going
but even though we had invites for The
Sanctuary Records bash at The Embassy Club the huge
event at the Earls Court looked and was much more fun.
There was a 70s disco , a mini funfair with dodgem cars
and other fairground attractions and a karoke . After a
few drinks the karoke could not be resisted so we got up
to do Bon Jovi "Livin On A Prayer " and Sex Pistols " God
Save The Queen " also doing some karoke was recent
X Factor winner Steve doing a neat version of Luther
Vandross "Never Too Much " . A bit more dodgy dancing and
drunk driving on the dodgems and then we staggered out
at after 2am . The BRITS was the usual mix of great , good
and crap but overall it was a fantastic evening .........
06 Feb and 07 Feb 2005 . Green Day , Hammersmith
Apollo , London. This was a great example of a band
making an effort as we got two different shows . The
Sunday show was the usual set with Billie Joe and his
giant water pistols stint and the fun bit in the middle where
they get 3 members of the crowd up on stage to play
drums , bass and guitar for a couple of mins and again
the guitarist got to keep the guitar then the following
night Billie Joe said as it was the last night in London they
would play track by track the " American Idiot " album then
do the other stuff which meant no water pistols or band
from the crowd bits but we did get 3 or 4 extra songs .
Green Day are flying at the moment .A UK tour that sold
out in hours and two massive open air shows at Milton
Keynes Bowl in June 05 . Their brand of pop punk is easily
outselling the likes of Blink 182 , Sum 41 etc and fans love
live wire singer Billie Joes on stage passion. They have
got a few pretty average songs but they have a some great
corkers like " American Idiot " " Basket Case " "Minority"
"Boulevard Of Broken Dreams " "When I Come Around "
and a stunning finale with Billie Joe and just his guitar
singing " Time Of Your Life " where he was more or less
drowned out by all the crowd singing it . Entertaining show
with a good mix of tunes , comedy , pyrotechnics ,crowd
participation , confetti and giant water pistols.......
05 Feb 2005 .Rammstein + Apocalyptica , Brixton Academy, London. Caught some of the Finnish
support band who had four celloists and a drummer
for some metal cover versions . The crowd loved
them and their version of " Enter Sandman " rocked.
Anyway had to see Rammstein again for a second
time . This time watched it from the front circle and
still you felt the heat from all the stage fire stunts .
The kids are singing along and its visually another
mad superb show .This is what we want . Bands who
do not make an effort should be dragged along to a
Rammstein show to be shown how its done .......
04 Feb 2005. Thin Lizzy , Shepherds Bush Empire ,London.
Even though the legend that is Phil Lynott died over 15
years ago Lizzy are now name checked non stop by The
Darkness and last years Greatest Hits album got into
the UK Top 5 so there is still plenty of interest in them.
This line feat Scott Gorham (long time Lizzy member )
and John Sykes (short term Lizzy member ) .The set had the
typical Lizzy set list and although John Sykes did his best
on vocals and the guitars sounded fab without Lynotts
stage presence they just sound like a glorified Thin Lizzy
tribute band . Best tunes were "Cowboy Song/Boys Are
Back In Town " and the last encore " Rosalie " . A Friday
night out with your mates and a couple beers and this lot
makes a decent night but its nothing special ......
03 Feb 2005 . Rammstein , Brixton Academy , London . Who would have thought that a
rock band singing totally in German would ever sell out three nights at Brixton??
Well based on a reputation for amazing stage shows thats what Rammstein have done.
Chrome and black everywhere for the very impressive stage production. There are loads of lights ,
fireworks , explosions and tons of fire coming from the
numerous fire cannons and members of the band who
wear fire breathing masks on their faces as well as
robotic arm and leg attachments that omit fire during
nearly every song. Their industrial
goth metal had some great chugging riffery but a whole 1 hour 40 mins of it did give
me a bit of a headache but visually you will not get many better shows than this ."Reise Reise" " Feuer Frei"
" Du Hast " "Rammstein" and " Amerika " were the songs that stood out. The keyboard
player was a geeky fella doing some very dodgy comedy dancing which the crowd loved . For the encore the
bass player surfed over the heads of the crowd in a rubber dinghy ( honest) .
The only English words said all night were " Thank You " at the very end .Great show .....
Rock legends Motorhead are to play a one off
show at Hammersmith Apollo on 16 June 2005 .
This is a special 30th anniversary show at the
venue they have played so often over the years .
They will be bringing out the " Bomber " rig as
well and past Motorhead members and other special
guests are promised on the night .
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| 2005-03-08 | |
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07 March 2005 .Kaiser Chiefs , HMV In Store , London.
Another one of these wristband only gigs after the shop has
closed. Even when i saw Kaiser Chiefs at last years Reading
Festival in a tiny tent playing to 100 people i knew they would
be massive . Anyway here we are on the day their album
"Employment " has come out to great reviews everywhere.
They play a stunning 6 song 25 mins set which includes
"Oh My God " and "I Predict A Riot" .Even though its only an
in store the sound is fantastic indie pop rock.
Over the next 12
months i can see this album selling a million copies and the
band collecting BRIT and NME Awards in Feb 2006 for sure ....
05 March 2005 . Erasure + Client , Hammersmith Apollo ,
London. Client did 30 mins of 80s electro pop boredom.
Erasure have been pretty quiet recently after dodgy reviews
of their last couple of albums but tonight it is sold out .
Erasure were massive in the early 90s and on their UK tour
of 1992 they played 15 nights yes 15 shows at this venue.
Singer Andy Bell last year admitted he had AIDS . Their loyal
gay following seems to be 50% of the crowd here tonight.
Andy of course is OTT when it comes to his 4 or 5 stage outfits which started with white angel wings with white lurex
trousers to the smallest pair of sparkly hotpants that were
straight out of a sketch from Little Britains : Only Gay In The
Village. From start to finish it was camp disco pop .
Some good tunes like " Ship Of Fools " , "Oh L'amour",
"Blue Savannah " , "We'll Be Together Again " and
great versions of "A Little Respect " and encore "Sometimes"
A good show that the crowd loved but i just felt there was
too many pretty average songs as well ......
This Rod " will he turn up or not " Stewart at The Ronnie
Wood event has taken another twist as a good pal of
mine has been speaking to keyboard player Ian McLagan who
has said Rod is NOT doing anything for the show .
Although he has not been confirmed as yet it
seems certain to me that Rod Stewart will be turning
up for a long overdue Faces reunion on Mar 13
at The Drury Lane Theatre . Rod is currently in
London and he has no live shows booked until the
week after The Ronnie Wood And Friends gig......
Looks like the smaller shows at Hyde Park will be coming
back again this summer after a year away as Queen and
Keane are soon to announce shows there........
Lenny Kravitz will be playing Hammersmith Apollo on 21
July .......Towers Of London great debut single " On A Noose"
finally comes out on Monday 7 March .....
Dressed To Kill the Number One KISS Tribute Band play
Walthamstow Standard on Friday 11 March ......
Megadeth have been added to the Download Festival for
June 10 . They have confirmed this will be their last ever UK
show as they will be splitting up after their USA summer tour.....
28 Feb 2005 .The Bravery , HMV In Store Show ,
Oxford Street ,London. This was a free show for
a few hundred fans to promote their second
(and soon to be hit) single "An Honest Mistake ".
This New York band were one of my hot tips for
2005 and everything is looking great for them
with the album sure to do well when it comes out
soon. They open with brilliant first single
"Unconditional" and of course play the new single in the short but sweet 6 song 25 mins set.
The band all got into it by jumping into the
front rows of fans .With tunes based on catchy
bass and synth riffs they will be massive.....
26 Feb 2005 . Crosby And Nash , Royal Festival Hall,
London.The last time they played this venue
was 32 years ago they said on stage. For once
most of the crowd are older than me . They were
on stage for nearly 3 hours spread over 2 sets .
David Crosby back in the day was a bit of a
crazed hippy and tonight there were loads of
on stage banter regards his blurred past of
girls , drugs ,booze and guns.The set was a
bit too laid back at times but the great vocal
harmonies are all still intact.Golden oldies
" Marrakesh Express " and " Guinnevere " go
down a treat . They slip in a few tracks from
their new album out on Sanctuary Records .
For the first of three encores they play a superb
old fave " Our House " as the crowd run down the
front and they finish in style . Both band and
crowd are delighted how the show went ....
25 Feb 2005 . MC5-DKT + Sun Ra Arkestra ,
Royal Festival Hall , London.
One of Sun Ras albums was recently voted the
second " maddest " of all time by MOJO mag.
Sun Ra are a Funkadelic type dozen black
fellas in shiny capes and headwear who play an
hour of cosmic jazz with just six tunes lasting
ten mins each . Pretty mad it was too.
Gilby Clarke from Guns And Roses is on stage
the whole time for the MC5 set.
MC5 have lost their lead singer Rob Tyner(dead)
so now they get a few guest vocalists each time
they tour .First up is Handsome Dick from
The Dictators (another similar band from the
1970s ) who sings the vocals for the first 45
mins inc " Sister Anne " and " Kick Out The
Jams" .Then the next 30 mins its the female
singer from Bassment Jaxx who lends her big
voice to this Detriot garage rock . For the
finale they are joined by David Thomas (Pere
Ubu) and Sun Ra for a mad ten minutes where there
are 20 people on stage .A good gig . After, all
MC5 and guests sign autographs in the foyer bar
which was a nice touch .....
24 Feb 2005 . Killing Joke , Shepherds Bush Empire , London . Pretty amazing this lot
are still going . I saw them playing with Joy Division around 25 years ago .
Singer Jaz Coleman still looks as crazy as ever as he walks on stage in devil red
face paint carrying a giant cross .Their sound is still heavy and intense but a
bit thrashy for me . Some great tunes like " War Dance" , " The Pandys Are Coming"
"Empire Song " and "Asteriod " that all feat lots of wild hard drumming .
A good show but not one that really excited me to be honest.
23 Feb 2005 .U-Turn Launch Party , Shoreditch
Town Hall , London. A charity event for homeless
and prostitutes in the East End .The acts who did
3 or 4 songs each inc Martha Wainwright ,Black
Madonnas, Ed Harcourt , Black Rider and Sarah
Jane Morris but they all were all just background
music as most here were more interested in
knocking back the free booze and food and
chatting to bother with what was going down on
the stage .Will Young was here and our chums
from BBC TV comedy The Mighty Booosh Noel
Fielding and Julian Barrett are here.A good bash though but not really if you were an act .....
22 Feb 2005 .Comic Aid ,Hammersmith Apollo ,
London. A massive event feat over 20 of the top
comedy acts in the country all doing 7 or 8 mins
each .Shown on BBC TV on Sat 26 Feb .Some top
acts like Eddie Izzard , Jack Dee , Julian Clary,
Dawn French ,Derren Brown , Alistair MaGowan ,
Jo Brand , Lily Savage etc but the night belonged
to Johnny Vegas and his pissed up aggressive
comedy act and Lee Evans who came to the venue
straight from his hit show The Producers.....
21 Feb 2005 .Wild ,Cirque-Hippodrome ,London.
Wild are a new act in the classical pop area .
This was their first ever show for the public.
Five lovely looking girls from London and
Belgrade in short skirts so think Girls Aloud
with violins and pianos . They have a band with
them to give it a nice dance feel . A decent 70
mins set but not my cup of tea really but all our mainland Euro friends love this stuff .
Mel Bush is promoting them and he has done ok
with Bond and Vanessa Mae so you will hear more about them in a couple of months when their debut album comes out . We are upstairs in a big
press area for 200 where they were dishing out the free booze and food all night .....
19 Feb 2005 .REM ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.
REM are on a huge year long world tour and this
was a small London show to help publicise the
open air UK summer shows which include
a massive London show at Hyde Park on July 9.
The first 30 mins of the two hour show was lesser known material then it was a mainly
greatest hits set inc " Everybody Hurts ",
"Orange Crush ", " The One I Love " , " Whats
The Frequency Kenneth " and a superb " Man On The Moon " .Micheal Stipe is always a great front
man and Peter Bucks guitar always rocks ......
18 Feb 2005 .Nazareth , Ashcroft Theatre ,
Croydon. A crap Friday afternoon drive through
South London but these 1970s Scottish rock
legends are worth it . The venue is half empty
but Dan still has that great voice and play
old classics like " My White Bicycle " , "This
Flight Tonight " ," Hair Of The Dog " , "Love
Hurts " and " Broken Down Angel " .Great stuff.....
17 Feb 2005 . NME Awards , Hammersmith Palais ,
London. After the mainstream BRIT Awards last
week its the turn of NME Awards which always
has the best of all the new bands . There are
50 tables of 10 here with 100 more standing .
Food and drink for all as well . All of the cool
new bands are here like Bravery , Kaiser Cheifs ,
Bloc Party , Ordinary Boys and many more along
with some older acts like Oasis and New Order
and even Paul McCartney is here . New Order
win Godlike Genuis Award and play four songs at
the end inc " Love Will Tear Us Apart " and
" Blue Monday " .An excellent event as usual .....
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30 March 2005. Garbage , The Scala , London.
Garbage return after a couple of years away
to promote their fourth album " Bleed Like Me " .
Considering this is only the second date on the
world tour the band sound fantastic even if
singer Shirley messed up the lyrics to a couple of the songs.You kinda forget they have written
great tunes like " Stupid Girl " , "Only Happy
When It Rains" and "When I Grow Up" which were
all played tonight.New single "Why Do You Love Me " went down well as did encores "Cherry
Lips " and another newie " Sex Is Not The Enemy".
A really good gig and see aftershow page .....
29 March 2005.
Finn Brothers , Royal Albert Hall ,London.
An impressive 3 nights at this venue for these
brothers from New Zealand whose history includes
being in Split Enz and Crowded House .Just a
couple of days before this show the original
drummer from Crowded House committed suicide
so they kindly dedicated the show to him.
They have lots of acoustic based songs that tick
along nicely with the best in the main set being
"Anything Can Happen" and " Natural "
and their great between song fun banter
on stage really keeps the crowd happy .The
encore was the highlight where they played
"Sister Madly "
"Dont Dream Its Over " ,"Fall At Your Feet",
Led Zeps " Whole Lotta Love " ,"Gentle Hum "
and ending with their massive worldwide hit
"Weather With You " .Good show......
28 March 2005 .Queen With Paul Rodgers , Brixton
Academy , London.This was a hot ticket a month ago but tonight so many people had spares you
could have got a £55 ticket for only £10 outside.
Queens timeless songs are as popular as ever .
Their stage musical " We Will Rock You " has
now gone past the 1000 shows done and bearing in
mind that is at the large Dominion Theatre that
is quite amazing.Queen have not played a tour
together for at least 10 years . They were the
first ever band that i saw in 1973 at Hammersmith
Odeon when they supported Mott The Hoople so i am
one of the lucky ones that saw Queen with Freddie
more than a few times in their career.
Of course Freddie Mercury is impossible to replace.Paul Rodgers seemed a surprise choice
but his solo career has not done anything for
10 years so he has the time on his hands to do it.The set lasted two hours but Paul Rodgers
was only on stage for half the time as Brian
May and Roger Taylor sung a few songs and
although Brian Mays guitar sound is still superb
i am not sure why he included such a long guitar
solo tonight when there were so many classic
Queen songs left off the setlist tonight.
Highlights included a brilliant " Hammer To Fall " ." Radio Ga Ga " sung by Roger was great.
Paul Rodgers sang Bad Co " Cant Get Enough Of
Your Love " . " Its A Kinda Magic " was great.
For Bohemian Rhapsody Freddie appears on video
screen to sing the first half of the song which
was very moving and worked great before the
band rocked out the second half of the song.
Finale of " The Show Must Go On " .All the
encores were fab Bad Co " Feel Like Making Love ",
Free " All Right Now " and of course "We Will Rock You " and "We Are The Champions" . It was
a great night but it could have been better.
Overall i feel Paul Rodgers did not put enough
effort into the Queen songs and he will really have to shift up a couple of gears for when they play the big summer show in Hyde Park in July
or maybe they may get in a couple of extra guest vocalists in for that one......
25 March 2005 . Stiff Little Fingers + Suffrajets,
Kentish Town Forum , London. Nice to see an all
girl band rocking away as the support act .
SLF seem to be touring every six months these
days .They did a 90 mins set full of brilliant
songs .Opening with " Nobodys Heroes" and then
other goodies like " Barbed Wire Love " ,
"Strummerville" ,"Fly The Flag" , "Wasted Life " ,"Tin Soldiers " .Great encores of
" Guitar And Drum" and " Aternative Ulster " .
Plenty of jumping around down front although
there were a couple of twats spitting which
got the security wound up as well .Good gig.
See aftershow page for aftershow stuff.....
Couple of big rumours about like Clear Channel Ents have put in a bid to buy The Mean Fiddler
Group . Considering they are both the Coca Cola
and Pepsi of the live music scene that is a
good one to keep an eye on.....
Looks like Bruce Springsteen
will be playing a couple of solo shows at The Royal Albert Hall at the end of May....
24 March 2005 .Tony Hadley And Martin Fry ,
Hexagon , Reading . A great double bill of two
singers who were very popular in the 1980s .
With a big band behind them they sung on their
own and together for over two hours. However to
pad the set out half the songs were cover songs
and they left out a lot of their own hits .
We had only 9 Spandau / ABC tunes in a 20 plus
song setlist but there were some great tunes.
"Tears Are Not Enough" , " True" , "Through The
Barricades" , " Poison Arrow " .The highlight
of the show were three songs on the bounce by
Martin Fry "All Of My Heart " ," When Smokey
Sings" , " Look Of Love " . Tony Hadley sung
" Instinction" and " Gold " and all the middle
aged women here swooned . A good night but they
should play more original material before their
extensive UK tour hits The Royal Albert Hall
on 12 April.....
23 March 2005 . Dave Goodman - A Life In Music ,
100 Club , London. For The Sex Pistols community
this was a great loss . Dave died last month .
He recorded loads of great Sex Pistols demos
before the band signed to EMI and recorded with
Chris Thomas. A really good turn out and a few
punk band members here like Steve Diggle and
Tony Barber (Buzzcocks ) , Captain Sensible
(Damned) , Glen Matlock ( Sex Pistols ) , Poly
Styrene (X Ray Spex ) and a few others from back
in the day inc Sex Pistols roadies and Ron Watts
who was 100 Club promoter in 1976 for the famous
Punk Rock Festival .Dave would have loved it ...
Up north for 3 days for Judas Priest /Scorpions..
21 March 2005 . Judas Priest + Scorpions ,
Manchester Apollo , Manchester . Incredibly this
was the first time i had been to this historic
bastion of live music in Manchester . Smaller
than Hammersmith Apollo but larger than Bush
Empire or Astoria .Holds about 3000 .Great venue.
Scorpions again go down great and tonight encore
is " Still Loving You " and "Rock You Like A
Hurricane" . Judas Priest set is the same every
night and is very well rehearsed . Sure some of
it is heavy metal panto but its still great.
Their very loud wall of sound is awesome.....
19 March 2005 . Judas Priest + Scorpions ,
NEC Arena , Birmingham .Just like Hammersmith
everyone is here early to catch all of the great
Scorpions set .Encore was " Dynamite " and
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" .I had to be at this
homecoming show for Judas Priest . The venue is
twice the size of Hammersmith Apollo and the
sound is loud distorted guitar metal heaven .
Tonight they use explosions , flames and video
screens that are not used in smaller venues on
the tour .Excellent stuff......
16+17 March 2005 . Judas Priest + Scorpions ,
Hammersmith Apollo ,London. I must admit i was
really looking forward to this great double bill
of classic rock.German rockers Scorpions played
a great 60 mins set and it was neat they changed
the set by 2 or 3 songs each night .Classics like
"Blackout" ,"Big City Nights " and " Rock You Like
A Hurricane" were superb and on the first show
we got "Bad Boys Running Wild" and "Still Loving
You " which were swopped for "Wind Of Change"
and " Dynamite " the following night .
Judas Priest are reunited with singer for their
first UK shows for over 10 years.Judas
Priest played a two hour show .Singer Rob Halford
is wearing a long black leather coat with chains
on which is suitably Spinal Tap .The sound is very
loud and Rob sometimes has to yell rather than
sing . A few songs off the new album " Angel Of
Retribution " were pretty good .It is 25 years
since they released their classic album " British
Steel" so it was great to hear "Metal Gods "
and " Breaking The Law " from that album. A nice
big stage production with loads of lights ,
backdrops and staircases.The Harley Davidson
was brought out for encore " Hell Bent For Leather" .A stunning " Living After Midnight "
and " You Got Another Thing Coming " .As expected
a great night of three hours by two of the best
classic rock bands around......
15 March 2005 .Dizzee Rascal + Tony Allen ,Royal
Festival Hall , London. Support from Nigeria
was surprisingly pretty boring stuff . Seeing
top UK rapper Dizzee in the all seated RFH
makes for a very interesting show . Of course as
soon as he comes on the crowd all stand up .
Just Dizzee with a rapper chum and a DJ on the
decks makes it a sparse stage visually .
Dizzee did a 70 mins set taken from both his
albums . His style is certainly fast but i
prefer the lyrics of Roots Manuva .He was hard
to follow at times so a good but not great show .
Damon the singer from Blur was here but sadly
did not join Dizzee for any of the show.....
Just been to four good shows on the bounce .....
13 March 2005 .Ronnie Wood And Friends , Drury
Lane Theatre , London. A one off show that sold
out in a day from this Rolling Stones guitarist.
This lovely theatre was covered in the drawings
and paintings of Ronnie Wood for all to see.
His band involved a rotation of a dozen or so
people on the night like old muckers Kenney
Jones and Ian McLagan ,the guitarist from The
Charlatans , Leah Wood , percussionist Ray
Cooper and the current Rolling Stones bassist .
The first few songs had shared vocals with
Ronnie and Rolling Stones backing vocalist
Bernard Fowler .Then the guest vocalists
appeared Andrea Corr did a couple of songs then
Beverly Knight did a couple but the highlight
was when Mick Jagger turned up for one song
as the place erupted. The encore was a great
" Stay With Me " .The sound was fantastic.
Some of the crowd felt a bit miffed as the set
only lasted 85 mins and rumoured guests like
Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck did not turn up but
overall it was very enjoyable and Ronnie Wood
was in great form.....
12 March 2005 . Mercury Rev + Duke Spirit ,
Hammersmith Apollo , London.
The support band were pretty crap to be honest.
A big London show for these New Yorkers
to support the recent "Secret Migration " album.
A fairly static band on stage it was a good idea
to have a giant screen showing filmed images.
Dreamy psychedelia is their chosen style but
too many of the songs sounded the same . Best
tunes came from their great 2001 album " All Is
Dream " .Best tunes of the night were the encores
of " Spiders And Flies" , " Goddess On A Hiway"
and the incredible " The Dark Is Rising" . So a
good show but not enough special bits.....
11 March 2005 . Paul Weller , Hammersmith Apollo,
London. Another sold out UK tour for the
Modfather and his last night of three shows at
this venue .I have never seen so many people in
the upstairs bar getting boozed up .
A brilliant setlist spanning his entire
career .Stunning versions of Jam classics " Thats
Entertainment " and " Town Called Malice " .
Style Councils "My Ever Changing Moods " and
"Shout To The Top" and great PW solo stuff like
"Wild Wood " (complete with disco mirror balls ),
"You Do Something To Me ","The Changingman" ,
and encore " Broken Stones" . All in all a great
show and much better than all the Royal Albert
Hall shows i have seen in recent years.....
10 March 2005 .What a great evening if you are a
big fan of punk legends The Buzzcocks like i am .
8pm.Steve Diggle Band , Metro Club , London.
Buzzcocks guitarist plays a launch party for his
new album out next week on EMI "Serious Contender"
with a 45 mins set before he rushes over to
Camden to play with The Buzzcocks. His own set
started with " Harmony In My Head " a Buzzcocks
classic which was followed by most of the tracks
on the album . A dash for all down to the Electric
Ballroom for the 10.30pm show for the Camden
Crawl event where The Buzzcocks were special
surprise guests and they did a stunning 45 mins
of greatest hits Boredom, Fast Cars, I Dont Mind,
Love Battery , Autonomy , Harmony In My Head and
others before the superb finale of " Orgasm
Addict " and " Ever Fallen In Love " . Nice to
see this packed younger crowd really enjoying it
as opposed to Buzzcocks normal older crowd....
Check back this week for reviews of Judas Priest with Scorpions shows at Hammersmith Apollo
which will be fantastic .....
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Blondie drummer Clem Burke will be drumming with
Nancy Sinatra at her Shepherds Bush Empire show
this Sunday 01 May .........
27 April 2005 .Robert Plant And The Strange
Sensation , The Scala , London.
This was an invite only show for 500 competition
winners and 200 guests of BBC Radio 2 , Sanctuary
Records and the media .Great packed atmosphere
to see the Led Zep legend up nice and close .
The 95 mins set was pretty much the same as the
Royal Albert Hall show 3 weeks ago with a fair
amount of material from new album " Mighty
Re-arranger " . Robert still has that amazing
rock n roll blues voice that works well on old
and new material . Again they finished with a
stunning " Whole Lotta Love" . The show will be
edited to a 60 mins special to be broadcast on the evening of 21 and 24 May on BBC Radio 2
see aftershow page for this show................
23 April 2005 .Sex Pistols Experience ,Kings Arms
Pub , Acton , London. First of all chatting with
the band before the gig they tell me that their
original Sid cannot get the weekend off work to
do the gig so tonight they use a stand in Sid
replacement which of course is not as good but
he does a decent job. Its a hot and sweaty
St Georges Day atmosphere . The SPE do a superb
90 mins set of all the Pistols best known songs.
The Johnny singer is on top form tonight .
A stunning encore of " Silly Thing " , " God Save
The Queen " ,"Pretty Vacant " and " Public Image"
was just mega . Like i said if you like the
Pistols you MUST go and check this lot out......
22 April 2005 . Searchers + Merseybeats + Gerry
And The Pacemakers + Swinging Blue Jeans ,Royal
Albert Hall , London. Nice package of four acts
who were popular in the 1960s era .This was the
main show of their 3 month UK tour.Each band did
around 40 mins each with lots of fun on stage
banter.First up Swinging Blue Jeans set included
"You're No Good " and "Hippy Hippy Shake " (They
played this on the first ever Top Of The Pops).
Gerry And The Pacemakers were high on scouse
humour and their set inc "Ferry Across The
Mersey" ,"I Like It " and everyone swaying their
arms for " You'll Never Walk Alone" . Merseybeats
did too many cover versions for my liking but
"Hi Ho Silver Lining " went down really well.
Last on The Searchers were the best musicians of
the night and their set included " Sweets For My
Sweet" , "When You Walk In The Room " and
"Needles And Pins " .A pleasant night and quite
impressive seeing so many 60 year olds in the
crowd still keen on watching live music........
More and more bands are being added to the Download Festival on June 10, 11, 12 with over
50 acts over the weekend .Daily tickets and
weekend tickets are available from the usual
outlets. The Friday line up features Billy
Idols first UK show for a few years along with
Feeder and Garbage ....Sat headliners are
Black Sabbath and Velvet Revolver and Sunday
headliners are System Of A Down and Motorhead ,
more info www.downloadfestival.co.uk and tel
ticket sales on 0870-400-0822............
Dead Men Walking will be going on a month long
UK tour in October with the London show at The
Shepherds Bush Empire on Sat 29 October .....
As expected Bruce Springsteen two shows at The
Royal Albert Hall sold out within two hours ....
20 April 2005 . See aftershow page for a review
of The Loaded Mag relaunch party ............
18 and 19 April 2005 .Manic Street Preachers +
Delays , Hammersmith Apollo , London.
Delays were ok and finished their set with a
couple of their best known tunes.
The Manics completed a UK arena tour only four
months ago but here they are back again for a UK
theatre tour .Even early on the songs are great
"A Design For Life " , " Faster " ,"1985 " ,
"Everything Must Go ", "You Love Us ", " Stay
Beautiful" , " If You Tolerate This " .
The last album " Lifeblood " did not sell that
well and tonight they only played three songs
from it.The 10th anniverary re release of " The
Holy Bible " at the same time did not help .
A great acoustic version of "The Everlasting"
then superb versions of " You Stole The Sun From
My Heart " and " Motorcycle Emptiness " .
Finale was a neat Guns And Roses " Paradise City"
and a mental " Motown Junk " with the usual no
encore policy .Always a great live band . On the
last night we got a couple of extra songs inc
Johnny Thunders " Cant Put Your Arms Around A
Memory " dedicated to Richey Edwards their
missing presumed dead guitarist .Also on the
last night Nicky Wire smashed his bass guitar up
and gave it to a couple of loyal female fans
down the front..........
15 April 2005 . Sex Pistols Experience , Standard
Pub , Walthamstow , London. At last the countrys
top Pistols tribute band play a London show .
They play an 80 mins set that was just superb.
All the classics "EMI " , " God Save The Queen " , "Bodies" ,"Pretty Vacant " , "Holidays
In The Sun " with all the sneering vocals and
wall of sound just like the originals . If you
are a Pistols fan they are a must see band .
You will be surprised at just how good they are .
They play in Acton on Sat 23 April 2005 and
they play a special River Thames Boat gig on
Sat 11 June 2005 . See you at both of them......
......www.sexpistolsexperience.co.uk .........
14 April 2005 . Tony Bennett, Royal Albert Hall,
London. Now that Mr Sinatra has left us Tony
Bennett has stepped up to take his position as
the worlds top crooner . Incredibly his first
hit records were some 50 years ago . He is well
into his 70s but shows no sign of slowing down.
Some good laid back tunes like " For Once In My
Life" , "The Good Life " , "If I Ruled The World"
and of course "I Left My Heart In San Francisco".
A stunning version of " Fly Me To The Moon "
without a microphone got a standing ovation and
flowers galore from admiring ladies . Yep the
boy from Astoria , New York has done good ......
12 April 2005 .Tony Hadley And Martin Fry ,
Royal Albert Hall , London. The big London
show of their lengthy 3 month UK tour . Pretty
much the same show as Reading a month ago but the
crowd were a bit more into it. Spandau classics
like " Gold " , " True" "Instinction" and Tonys
fave " Through The Barricades " and ABC classics
like " Poison Arrow " , "When Smokey Sings" ,
"The Look Of Love " and a superb " All Of My Heart" . Again loads of crowd pleasing covers
with the best coming at the end with Roxy Musics
"Let Stick Together" and David Bowies
"Suffrajette City " . This older crowd just got
into party mode and it was a great night out.....
The Sex Pistols will be playing two London shows
this month . Well not the real thing of course
but the countrys best SP tribute The Sex Pistols
Experience play The Standard , Walthamstow on
Friday 15 April and The Kings Arms ,Acton on Sat
23 April ( St Gerges Day) see you there........
08 April 2005 . UB40 + Goldie Lookin Chain , Royal
Albert Hall ,London. GLC are reduced to only 10
members tonight . They are good fun but more in
a novelty way .They play "Guns Dont Kill People
Rappers Do " and go down pretty well tonight.
Last show of the five Teenage Cancer Trust gigs
here and like last year with Madness they closed
the week with a good time dance party band.
Incredibly i saw UB40 supporting The Pretenders
25 years ago in 1980 and they are still going
strong . In fact all eight original members are
still playing in the band. For nearly two hours
they got everyone dancing and swaying to their
brand of pop reggae .With over 20 Top 40 his
the set was full of familiar tunes." If It Happens
Again" , "One In Ten " , " Food For Thought" ,
"Please Dont Make Me Cry" were all excellent .
As stated on the ticket Eric Clapton came on for three songs including EC singing a brilliant
" I Shot The Sheriff" along with his new chum
John Mayer ( guitarist from across the Altantic).
Sadly Roger Daltrey did not come on as stated.
A couple of new UB40 tracks also get an airing.
Then it was back to more UB40 hits "Rat In The
Kitchen " and their two number one hits " Red Red
Wine " and " I Cant Help Falling In Love With You"
which went down a storm .As did encores of
"Dont Break My Heart " and " Cherry Oh Baby" .
A good time was had by all ............
07 April 2005 . Keane ,Royal Albert Hall, London.
Keane had the second best selling album in the
UK in 2004 with " Hopes And Fears " which sold a
cool 1.5 million . With not a guitar in sight
their radio friendly Coldplay type tunes appeal
to the masses with a wide range of people here
singing along loudly to all the words . They
have come a long way together as the singer pointed out that himself and their headbanging
keyboard player used to paddle naked as toddlers
together and now they are selling out this great
venue . The three or four big hit singles from
the album go down a storm but their brand of
warm melodic rock is not my cup of tea really....
As revealed on this site a couple of weeks ago
Bruce Springsteen has confirmed two solo shows
at The Royal Albert Hall on May 27 and 28. Tickets
on sale sometime next week ........
6 April 2005 . Peter Kay And Guests , Royal Albert
Hall , London. Just to prove PK is the Robbie
Williams of comedy this TCT show sold out quicker
than all the big music shows here this week.
A long 2 hous 30 mins show over two sets with six
guest comedians doing 15 mins each including
Noel Fielding and Ed Byrne . Peter Kay did comedy
for about an hour off and on but it was not as
good as his own solo tour last year .Most
of the crowd i felt expected to see more of
Peter Kay but overall a fun evening........
5 April 2005 . Franz Ferdinand + Graham Coxon + Kaiser Chiefs , Royal Albert Hall , London.
Wow what a cracking 3 band line up this was .
They are tagged as this years Franz Ferdinand but
Kaiser Chiefs did a 7 song 30 mins set that was
just incredible . Perfect indie guitar tunes like
"Na Na Na Na Naa " , "Everyday I Love You Less
And Less " , "Oh My God " and " I Predict A Riot"
all from their superb debut album " Employment".
They were confident and just totally stunning.
The crowd gave them a deserved standing ovation.
Graham Coxon and his band failed to match the
power of The Kaiser Chiefs set although the
last song the NME Award winning single " Freakin
Out " was superb . Franz Ferdinand had the crowd
on its feet from the start and were brilliant.
This was their first UK show since they picked
up BRIT and NME awards earlier this year .
Opening with " Micheal " and including "The Dark
Of The Matinee" and a mental " Take Me Out " .
The drums and guitar just sounded perfect .
Even with four new songs included that all
sounded as good as first album material they
only played for 65 mins but overall this was
a quality night out........
04 April 2005.Robert Plant And Strange Sensation
+ The Bees + Rooster . First of the five shows
here this week at what is a great annual event.
Up first are Rooster who usually play to hordes
of screaming girls but their set was full of nice
rockers and i actually liked them which is more
than can be said of The Bees whose take on
country rock bored me silly . Robert Plant and
his great band did a neat set that featured half
a dozen Led Zep classics like " No Quarter " ,
"Morning Dew" , " Heartbreaker " and "Black Dog"
as well as tracks from his soon to be released
album " Mighty Rearranger " .His voice still
sounds great and newies " Freedom Flies " ,"All
The Kings Horses" and " The Enchanter " went down
well .A stunning encore of " Whole Lotta Love "
sent everyone home happy...........
02 April 2005. Pink Martini , Royal Festival Hall ,London.Just two weeks ago i had
never even heard of this band but there has been a very healthy buzz about them over
the past fortnight that has snowballed into a must see event .The buzz must be
spreading as the venue is totally sold out . This 10 piece big band from Portland ,
Oregon, USA play a musical style mix of salsa , jive, swing and others and half
the set is sung in French,Greek, Turkish and Portugeese. Their debut album "Sympathique "
has sold over half a million copies worldwide and this first ever UK show was to
promote the new album " Hang On Little Tomato " . The band were all fantastic musicians
and this crowd of mainly Guardian / Independent reading newspaper types loved it and
gave them a full on standing ovation .It was a very enjoyable night and unique in many ways but really nothing more than background music to a middle class dinner party .
This event was part of La Linea - Londons Latin Music Festival that runs to April 28.............
01 April 2005 . Feeder , Brixton Academy , London. Feeder are on a European Tour
to promote new album " Pushing The Senses" which is full of Coldplay type radio
friendly songs . I much prefer when they rock out like a UK version of The Foo
Fighters with that great bass and drums section really going for it . 85 mins set
inc " Stumble And Fall ", " Just The Way Im Feeling " and a mental version of
"Buck Rogers " . Really good encore of " Forget About Tomorrow " and "Just A Day " .
Always a good live band to watch.............
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19 May 2005. Glen Matlock live at Filthy McNastys
Pub , Islington, London. About 60 people squeezed
into this small pub for a 60 mins set by this Sex
Pistols legend and its free to get in for all.
Solo and acoustic versions of solo material ,
Rich Kids and a couple of Sex Pistols classics
" God Save The Queen" and " Pretty Vacant "
made it a really good up close in yer face
excellent little gig...........
16 May 2005 . Alison Moyet live at The Royal
Festival Hall , London. This Essex girl is still
much loved with a sell out show here at the end of her UK tour.Her set focused mainly on her
last two albums " Home Time " `and her covers
album " Voice " .Problem for me was there were
too many slow torch songs in her set . The voice
is still there and she there was fun banter
between songs but i did not really get into it.
She left out most of her 1980s hit singles .
"That Ole Devil Called Love" and "Love Letters"
were good enough but there were too many in
that style.Encores of " Only You " and " Alfie "
were great but the crowd clearly enjoyed it
more than i did............
13 May 2005 .Bryan Adams live at Earls Court
Arena , London. Despite the fact his last album
"Room Service " did not sell that many this
Canadian rocker who has lived over here in
Chelsea for 16 years can still play large venues
like this .Its easy to see why with a set that
lasted over 2 hours full of catchy simple pop
rockers mainly from his 1980s magastar days.
He stll has a load of female fans too here.
Lulu is here sitting in the row in front of me.
All the band as usual are dressed simply in black
t shirt and jeans including Bryan himself.
Songs like " 18 Til I Die " , "Cant Stop This
Thing We Started " , "Kids Wanna Rock " ,
"Somebody " , "Summer Of 69 " , "Everything I Do", " This Time " , " Cuts Like A Knife " ,
"Baby When You're Gone " feat Fay from Teddington
who was picked from the crowd for a fun duet.
" Heaven " , " Its Only Love " and encores inc
" There Will Never Be Another Tonight " ,and
" Run To You " . He may have zero credibility
these days but the most important aspect really
at a live concert is to enjoy yourself and at
Bryan Adams shows everybody does........
Roxy Music are planning a London warm up show
before their big show at Isle Of Wight Festival
on June 11 ...........
11 May 2005 . Queen With Paul Rodgers live at
Wembley Arena Pavillion, London. While Wembley
Arena is out of action this year as they rebuild it they have built a supertent in the car park
which even Brian May described as a "shithole" .
He was being polite . Thankfully we were down the
front in block A but at the back with no video
screens the view must have been real crap.However
this show was much better than the Brixton gig
six weeks ago . It was the same two hour set but
the band were more together and the overall sound
was much better and they used a walkway out from
the centre of the stage that was not used at
Brixton which worked very well . Loads of great
songs again like "Tie You Mother Down" , "Wishing
Well " , "Another One Bites The Dust " , "Under
Pressure " , "Love Of My Life " ,"Hammer To Fall",
"Feel Like Making Love" ,"Radio Ga Ga " " Cant
Get Enough Of Your Love " , "Its A Kind Of Magic"
and " Bohemian Rhapsody " .Great encores of
"The Show Must Go On " , " All Right Now " ,
"We Will Rock You " and "We Are The Champions" .
Again Paul Rodgers was not on stage half the time
but he seemed more into it than at Brixton .
A really good show . See aftershow page..........
They have not played the UK for a few years but
The Psychedelic Furs return on June 23 to play
Londons Shepherds Bush Empire.........
10 May 2005. Sex Pistols DVD launch party for
25th anniversary release of "The Great Roch n Roll Swindle " see aftershow news page........
After playing Download Festival last summer and
this years Reading Festival Iggy Pop And The
Stooges play their first proper London show for
many years at Hammersmith Apollo on 30 August
with tickets costing £25 each.........
09 May 2005 . Soul Sirkus live at Shepherds Bush
Empire , London. This is the side project of
Neal Schon of Journey fame with three known
rockers inc bassist Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake
and Thin Lizzy ) . Hardly known over here has
meant the venue is less than half full .They
play a 1 hour 40 mins set that is a bit funkier
and harder than Journey . A good set but nothing
really that great . They play most of their debut album as well as a couple of Journey hits
and a couple of odd cover versions Seals "Crazy"
and Prince " Purple Rain " . Neal Schon still is a great guitarist but Marcos bass solo was naff.
So nice to see Neal Schon play live in London again anyway..........
After months of rumours it looks certain Live Aid 2 will be confirmed soon. It will be
at Londons Hyde Park on Sat 02 July 2005 to
80,000 fans. Headliners wil be The Rolling Stones
with Paul McCartney as special guest .........
05 and 06 May 2005 . Cream live at The Royal
Albert Hall , London. Here we are again for Cream
which meant i was at all four of their shows here
at this great venue . The sets on both nights were the same. " White Room " was a stand out
track on both nights. On the last night most
were expecting a special guest on stage for the
encore or an extra song but the only difference
was the crowd surged the stage at the start of
Ginger Bakers drum solo instead of at the end of
it. The merchandise was expensive but the fans
here were buying up everything that was on sale .
As expected a wide range of celebs were
here to watch it over the four nights . These are
the ones i spotted Brian May , Gary Moore ,Bryan
Adams, Paul Morley (NME journo from 1970s),
Matthew Wright (Chan 5 TV presenter ) ,Noel
Edmunds (ex Radio 1 DJ and Mr Blobby fame etc) ,
Ringo Starr , Dave Gilmour , Leonard Nimmoy,
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet ) , members of Iron
Maiden , Sean Penn ( A List American Actor) ,
Paul McCartney , Kirk Hammett ( Metallica ) ,
Neil Schon( Journey and Soul Sirkus ) ,
Mick Taylor ( ex Rolling Stones ) but perhaps the
best sight was the dozen or so over 50s females
outside the venue with their sleeping bags and
tents camping out for 12 hours to get best seats
for Irish crooner Daniel Odonnell now thats what
i call rock n roll............
04 May 2005 .Kylie Minogue live at Earls Court
Arena , London .Back again to this crap venue
to see Kylie and her lavish Las Vegas style
production. I enjoyed it more tonight because
i had a great view near the front.Of course
everything is the same for the two hours as the
show i saw four days ago . Very entertaining
with a mainly greatest hits set .Highlights
again were fantastic versions of " I Should
Be So Lucky " and " Cant Get You Out Of My Head " but she should stop asking the crowd to
do a mexicon wave at the end which was totally
naff and not needed.............
02 and 03 May 2005 . Cream live at The Royal
Albert Hall , London.Well here we are at the
hottest live concert ticket of the year . I feel
a bit guilty being here as the 1960s era was
before my time and i do not own any Cream albums.
It was a tale of two shows for me. First night I
was up in the balcony but the second night was
down on the arena floor 14 rows from the stage in
amongst an impressive amount of American Cream
fans who have come over for the week . It was 37
years ago in 1968 that these three members had
played together .(Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and
Ginger Baker ).The atmosphere is amazing and the
band come on to a standing ovation. The stage is
very minimal with just a film projection in
Cream colours in the background . An excellent
set lasting nearly two hours feat most of Creams
best tunes. Eric Claptons fantastic guitar playing still dominates but Jack Bruce was full
of great bass runs and Ginger Bakers 5 minute
drum solo brought the house down. The best tunes
"Sweet Wine ", "Badge ", "Stormy Monday ",
"Politician" , "Crossroads " , " White Room " and
a great encore of " Sunshine Of Your Love " .
A real event it certainly was . A live DVD of the concert will be out for Christmas .........
01 May 2005. Nancy Sinatra live at The Shepherds Bush Empire , London. She must be in her 60s but
Nancy looks 20 years younger . Her band tonight
includes Blondie drummer Clem Burke.They played a very enjoyable 90 mins set with plenty of her
hits from the 1960s included like " Sugar Town"
and " These Boots Were Made For Walking " which
featured a neat meet and greet walk through
the stalls crowd which was all seated tonight.
" Did You Ever " was also really good.
She dedicated a couple of songs to her dad Frank
including " Something Stupid" .Support Richard
Hawley joined her for a couple of songs .
Encore of film score " You Only Live Twice ".
Enjoyalble show and a good aftershow party......
30 April 2005. Zutons midnight show at Brixton Academy , London. Mad dash after Kylie to catch
this show which was part of the Carling Lager
Live Music day which had half a dozen shows in
London starting from 7am .Yes 7am .The Zutons
played a 65 mins set from their hit album.
These lads from Liverpool clearly love playing
music although live they were second place to
their lovely female sax player Abi Harding.
Hits like " Dont Ever Think " and " You Will"
made it a good show .........
30 April 2005 . Kylie Minogue live at Earls Court Arena , London. This was the first of seven
Kylie shows at this massive venue that holds
16,000 punters and on this UK tour she is playing
to over 300,000 . Everyone loves Kylie it seems.
Opener " Better The Devil You Know " was great
with all the costumes and feathers and colour.
A dozen male and female dancers kept it lively.
Kylie looks fantastic as always and her fans
clearly adore her.She played a wide range of her
material . The middle section dragged a bit as
was full of slower paced songs like " I Believe
In You " .A jazzed up " The Locomotion " was good
and Kylie suspended in the air for " Somewhere
Over The Rainbow " went down great with her many
gay fans." Shocked " was excellent as was " I
Should Be So Lucky ".Of course " I Cant Get You
Out Of My Head " was the fantastic anthem it is.
A cheesy swaying of arms and a massive crowd
singalong for " Especially For You " was naff .
A very entertaining show but there were problems . Kylies voice and synthetic band were
not built for big arenas like this and her stint
of shows at Hammersmith Apollo a few years ago
were much better than this show . Put it this
way she was not a patch on Madonnas show at this
very same venue last summer ............
Things are really hotting up in London with MAY being a totally superb month for quality live
events . Just look at the big names playing
London in MAY Kylie Minogue , Cream , Little
Richard , Nancy Sinatra , Tears For Fears ,
Jack Johnson, Damned , Rod Stewart , Queen ,
Oasis ( 4 London theatre shows) , Bryan Adams ,
Danzig , Alison Moyet , Van Morrison, Moby,
Avril Lavigne , Coldplay show for Radio 1 ,
Eels , Ian Hunter , Mark Knopfler , Neil Diamond
and of course Bruce Springsteen ......
Sex Pistol Glen Matlock plays an acoustic show
at Filthy McNasties Pub, Islington on
Thursday 19 May at 8pm.
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06 June 2005 .Black Sabbath ,The Civic Centre ,
Aylesbury. Of the 200 shows i see each year only
a few hit the 10 out 10 mark but this was one of
them. Black Sabbath with all four original
members playing a low key warm show for 800 fans
in this venue up the road from Ozzys mansion.
After this it is all outdoor festival shows inc
this weekends Download Festival on Sat 11 June.
Ozzys wife Sharon takes her seat in the balcony
and Ross Halfin gets ready with his camera and
the lights go down .The roadie brings on a set list that has the song titles in one inch type.
Is Ozzys sight failing ?? has he succumbed to
being an MTV Hollywood coach potato?? no chance.
A couple of swigs of Red Bull and he is off and
running .The Ozzy of old with squat jumps,
chucking buckets of water over the crowd and the stage security clearly really enjoying himself.
Tony Iommis guitar riffs are amazing and Geezer
rattles the speakers with thundering bass .
"War Pigs" , "Dirty Women" , "Fairies Wear Boots", "Iron Man", "Black Sabbath " , "The Wizard" , and a mental " Paranoid" finale.
Encore was a mega " Children Of The Grave " .
Around 15 classic Sabbath tunes in this 90 mins
set that was just amazing in this small venue .
You will not get many gigs this year as good as
this one.........
05 June 2005 . Todd Rundgren + Joe Jackson live
at Hammersmith Apollo, London. Very interesting
double bill but sadly it has only sold 2000
out of 4000 tickets but there you go.
Both acts did an hour each then 20 mins on stage
together for the finale. Joe Jackson looked
as odd as usual (has he had plastic surgery?) .
Just him and the piano for a mix of newer songs
and great oldies like "Steppin Out " , "Different
For Girls" and a superb "Is She Really Going
Out With Him" .Then Todd did an hour set. His
hardcore fans seemed to love it but i am not a
big fan athough his somewhat English style
was great . The song with the ukelele was fab.
Todd played guitar and piano but like with
the recent Bruce Springsteen shows both would
have been better with a full band behind them.
For the finale they were on stage together for
four songs with Ethel (a mini orchestra ).
This was the highlight for me with some nice
strings added to "Sad Song" , "I Stood Up Too"
and a couple of others . So good in parts but
nothing really special.
See aftershow news dor this concert............
04 June 2005 .System Of A Down live at Brixton
Academy , London. SOAD really have gone massive
recently to the stage where they can sell out three nights at Brixton and headline the Sunday
night at this weekends Download Festival.
"Mezmerize " the bands
current album has had great reviews everywhere
including indie bible the NME.They have become a
bit more political with RATM type lyrics.
They play stunning versions of "Chop Suey "
and " Sugar" but it is still a bit too thrashy
for me although the crowd here loved it all.
So a good but not great show really..........
02 June 2005 .Destinys Child live at Earls Court
Arena , London. Another show that started great
then dipped in the middle and finished strongly.
Destinys Child are a teenage girls perfect band
judging by the huge crowd tonight.All screaming
and using their bleeding mobile camera phones.
All three girls look fantastic esp Beyonce with
loads of great outfits , big hair and wind
machines. It starts great with "Say My Name"
and "Independent Woman" and then the material
goes a bit flat and each time they change costumes we have to endure their naff dancers.
The girls sung together and on their own.
Near the end " Crazy In Love " and "Survivor "
were fantastic and encore "Lose My Breath "
went down well . A good show visually but they
need a few more bigger songs ..............
31 May 2005 .Neil Diamond live at Earls Court
Arena , London. Pretty amazing how Neil Diamond
can play huge arenas like this over here but the
UK really does have a soft spot for him.The
crowd are old but are keen to get up and dance
to any uptempo song they can.Some good tunes
like " Its A Beautiful Noise " ," I Am - I Said",
"Love On The Rocks" ,"You Dont Bring Me Flowers".
For about thirty mins of this two hour show
things veered into MOR boredom but it came back to life with " Sweet Caroline" ,"Im A Believer"
and "Red Red Wine "(with a nod to UB40) .
Encore featured a great " Crackling Rose " .
Overall a good night out ............
31 May 2005 .1pm to 4pm .Live 8 Press Conference
at The Grosvenor Hotel , London. About 500 media
types and a hundred camera crews are here to
announce this massive event . The seven man panel
include Harvey Goldssmith , Elton John, Midge Ure
and the main man himself Bob Geldof who really is
the most passionate person vocally i have ever seen. The press conference lasts an hour .The
main bits are July 2 in Hyde Park over 20 of
the worlds top bands will play a show to 150,000
text/phone ballot winners to support www.makepovertyhistory.org
Afterwards in a smaller room Bob Geldof and Midge
Ure speak to twenty camera crews one after
another .Bob Geldof in full flight is amazing.
For another full hour he did not stop ranting.
The concert will be a fantastic event for sure.
..................
30 May 2005 .Mark Knopfler live at The Royal
Albert Hall , London. This was Marks first of
five shows at this venue .We have amazing second
row seats in the arena. Mark looks a bit like
your old Maths teacher these days with grey hair
and glasses but its his way of just letting the
music do the talking.He still is a sublime
guitarist with nearly every song having a neat
little guitar solo in it. Lots of Dire Straits
oldies like "Romeo And Juliet" and "Sultans Of
Swing" . The middle section was a bit average
but a lengthy "Telegraph Road" was great.
Superb encores of "Brothers In Arms" ,"Money
For Nothing " and the "Local Hero" theme
ended off a really good 2 hours plus show.......
29 May 2005 .Charlatans + Countermine live at The
Hammersmith Palais , London. Support Countermine
are managed by a name from the 1980s Rusty Egan
who was in The Rich Kids and Visage .The band
themselves are a very boring 3rd rate Embrace .
The Hammersmith Palais is a perfect size for
The Charlatans and they play a relaxed 90 mins
set that combined neat guitar and keyboards
in the bouncy tunes . "North Country Boy" and
"Love Is The Key " stood out and overall it was
a very enjoyable show.................
28 May 2005 .Bruce Springsteen live at The Royal
Albert Hall , London.Back again to see Bruce again but tonight it is much better basically
because i am nearer the stage . Last night i was
up in the balcony and tonight its a superb stalls
seat in Block O just 20 yards from the boss.
Pretty amazing to see this legend up so close.
The set appeared to be the same as last night.
Again for the encore the fans rushed the stage and Bruce mingled with the lucky ones at the
front as he played his guitar.Very good.
Celebs at the Saturday show spotted by me were
Sting and his wife , Ricky Gervais and Badly
Drawn Boy (he looked just like Bruce did in
1975 = an unwashed bearded tramp).........
27 May 2005 . Bruce Springsteen live at The
Royal Albert Hall , London. Only two UK Bruce
shows here have made tickets like gold dust
fetching 200 quid plus from touts . This was
Bruce on his own playing guitar , piano and
mouth organ to promote his Devils And Dust album.
This 2 hours 20 mins show was more for his
legions of hard core fans as for me it was
just not as good as shows with The E Street Band.
Because it was acoustic based nearly all his big
songs were not played but we did get rare jems .
He looks fantastic .I was at those legendary
Hammersmith Odeon shows 30 years ago in 1975
and he looks better now than he did then.
Best tunes were "Empty Sky" and "The River"
and "Racing In The Street " and "The Rising" .
Plenty of Bruce fun humour during the songs.
Rumour has it he will play with The E Street band next summer so while this was good that
will be much better................
26 May 2005 .Oasis live at Hammersmith Apollo ,
London. This gig was the last of four London
warm up shows to promote new album Dont Believe
The Truth which comes out next week .Needless to
say the atmosphere is fantastic. You cannot
under estimate how big Oasis are as a live act.
In the summer they will be playing half a dozen
outdoor stadium shows to 50,000 punters a night.
They play a few songs from new album but the
crowd are really here for all the classic oldies
from a few years ago .The overall sound seems
a bit muffled and the band look wooden on stage
to say the least but Liam still holds your eye
with his great attitude and swagger . The oldies
are superb Morning Glory, Cigarettes And Alchohol, Stop Crying Your Heart Out , Live
Forever , and amazing versions of Champagne
Supernova and Rock n Roll Star. Equally brill
encores of Wonderwall , Dont Look Back In Anger
and The Whos My Generation were great . I need
to hear the new songs a bit more maybe but Oasis
just have so many great songs to fall back its
easy to make it a really good show ..............
26 May 2005 .Noon to 6pm .Ivor Norvello Awards
at The Grosvenor Hotel ,Park Lane ,London.
The main awards event for songwriters in this
country had a very impressive turn out of big
names at this posh 5 star venue. Downstairs
there are 1000 people on 100 tables of ten
enjoying a three course meal before the awards
and i am upstairs with 100 others in the media
balcony .The free booze is flowing everywhere .
2.15pm to 4.15pm was the awards show itself.
It was hosted by Radio 2 dj Paul Gambachini.
Those here included Tom Jones , Roger Daltrey ,
Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, Robin Gibb
of Bee Gees , Charlene Spitteri of Texas , Tony
Wilson, Cathy Dennis (1980s pop star who co wrote
Britneys Toxic no less) ,Pete Doherty , Lou Reed ,Duran Duran , Sting, The Cure , Feargal
Sharkey , Shaznay Lewis (ex All Saints) , The
Darkness , Bob Geldof , Midge Ure , Estelle ,
Steve Harley ,Keane , Snow Patrol, Trevor Horn,
Tom Robinson, Kevin Rowland of Dexys , Kenney
Jones , Natasha Bedingfield, Steve Winwood and
Marlon Richards ( son of Keith ) Lou Reed got the
best standing ovation of the day .After until
6pm the PRS had a party for 300 in the ballroom
where some of the stars hung around for a few
drinks . Last celeb to leave the party ???
Kevin Rowland of Dexys . Excellent bash........
Great article in Londons Time Out Listings Mag
which has a few pages dedicated to the best 100
London Gigs Of All Time as voted by its critics
and readers . Number One was The Clash + The Jam
+ The Buzzcocks live at The Rainbow ,May 1977.
Needless to say i was there . I voted it number
3 of all time after Live Aid and Sex Pistols at
The Motre Dame in November 1976 ...........
23 May 2005 .Ian Hunter And The American Rant Band live at The Mill , Preston , Lancs.
This Mott The Hoople legend over here for his annual UK tour and this time its to promote
the 30th anniversary release of his debut solo album. This venue in Preston is a great
little rock club holding maybe 300 or so. Ian and band do a really good 90 mins set
feat mainly solo stuff and leaving out the obvious Mott hits like " Roll Away The Stone"
and " All The Way From Memphis " . Best songs were "Lounge Lizard ", " Once Bitten
Twice Shy " and " Cleveland Rocks " .He seemed a bit peeved that people at the bar
chatted too loudly while he was playing acoustic songs. Stunning encores of " Saturday
Gigs " and " All The Young Dudes " . Good one...............
20 + 21 + 22 May 2005 . Wasted Punk Festival live at Morecombe , Lancs. Pretty amazing
to see 3000 punk rockers , skinheads , crusties and other oddballs mingling together
with no hassles or fighting all just intent in having a good time in this sleepy
seaside resort . Over 100 bands indoors over 3 days on 4 different stages .
Friday for me started with a couple of American bands that were around in late 1970s.
The Skulls finished with a rockin version of " Does Punk Rock Pay The Bills" .
Channel 3 played " Ive Got A Gun " .Both were good but nothing special .Then over
to the acoustic stage to see Slaughter And The Dogs Wayne Barratt and JP do a great
little set of cover versions and Slaughter classics like " Youre A Bore" ,"Where Have All
The Boot Boys Gone " and " Cranked Up Really High" .UK Subs still have a massive
following but start very slowly but "Warhead" is splendid . Charlie Harper still doing it. Next up Sham 69 who were in the end the best band of the weekend . A great
atmosphere with some great songs and in Jimmy Pursey the perfect front man.
" What Have You Got " , "Hersham Boys " ,"Borstal Breakout" , " If The Kids Are United "
" Hurry Up Harry" etc .Fantastic set .......
Saturday for me started with 999 who have played at all 9 of these festivals so far.
They were good with great tunes like " Emergency " , "Nasty Nasty " and " Homicide".
Next up was Gary Lammin ex Cockney Sparrer on the acoustic stage . His great lyrics and
punk rock bottleneck guitar playing went down really well and he played a couple of
Cockney Sparrer classics as well.Next was Toyah showning off her recent facial plastic
surgery . For the age of 47 she looks incredible and very sexy in her little black tutu.
I feared she would get bottled off but her friendly stage banter won the punters over.
Of course she played " Its A Mystery " and " I Want To Be Free" and a neat cover
of The Cults " She Sells Sanctuary" .Nice to see Angelic Upstarts again as their shows
are very rare these days . Mensi is still singing with good tunes like " Teenage Warning"
"Im An Upstart " and a cover of Sham 69s " If The Kids Are United" . The Undertones
of course have not got Feargal Sharkey singing so they feel a bit like a tribute band.
" Jimmy Jimmy " , " Teenage Kicks " , " My Perfect Cousin" and others are fun though.
Its gone past midnight when the Stranglers hit the stage . They inflict tracks from
the last album on the crowd when they should have stuck to the just the hits tonight.
Best tunes were " Grip" , " Something Better Change " and " No More Heroes " but i have
seen them do better shows and i am sure they would agree it could have been better.......
Sunday for me started with TV Smith who for this show was playing with a band as
opposed to the usual solo acoustic guitar set . They are brilliant and rock nicely
with classics like " Gary Gilmores Eyes " , "Bored Teenagers " and " One Chord Wonders" .
Chelsea arrive on stage and singer G
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27 June 2005 .U2 live at Croke Park , Dublin.
What an amazing evening this was . The last of 3
sold out homecoming shows in a truly massive
stadium that holds 80,000 punters per night.
There are hundreds outside without tickets.
Things start late in Dublin it appears with U2
not arriving on stage until 9.10pm . Bono
says "as its the last night in Dublin the police
garda have said we can play a bit longer " and
thats what we got.U2 played for 20 mins longer
than any other of their shows so far inc i am
told the two other Dublin shows . They finish
at 11.40pm .All the songs they have been
adding and swapping are played tonight. There
are local tributes with a couple of lines of
Thin Lizzys " The Boys Are Back In Town" and
Shane McGowans " Dirty Ole Town" . The big songs
were all there " Vertigo " , " Elevation"
"Pride In The Name Of Love " and "Where The
Streets Have No Name" . Even at the end where
they always finish with a reprise of " Vertigo"
they did that and came back with "Yahweh" and
"40" . As 80,000 headed for Dublin City Centre
at midnight after the gig most knew it was one
of those special 10 out of 10 shows........
24/25 June 2005 .Wireless Festival ,Hyde Park ,
London. Promoters Clear Channel first attempt
at a 4 day festival in Central London. While the
line up could have been stronger the size and
vibe of the festival is just right and hopefully
with no Glastonbury Festival next year the
20,000 venue will have some sold out days this time in 2006. With a Gibson tent offering
free guitar lessons and a couple of hot tubs
it was a good way to meet some new friends.
On the Friday it rained a bit but The Bravery
did a good set of their catchy synth pop. Next
up Moby did a short 45 mins set of well known
tunes that were perfect as warm up to New Order.
New Order despite some technical problems were
fantastic.New songs "Crystal" and " Krafty "
opened the show before loads of New Order and
Joy Division classics were rolled out.
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" ,"True Faith "
"Temptation" and superb encores of "Shes Lost
Control " and " Blue Monday" .
Hookys bass playing was magic as usual...........
The next day there was more punters it must be
said which is a credit to live dance music.
Stereo Mcs are back on the scene again and are
good with neat versions of "Connected " and
" Step It Up " but the singer seems annoyed
the crowd are not fully into it.Roots Manuva
i like a lot and his South London lyrics go down
a treat ."Witness " is brilliant and last song
"Dreamy Days " is the best song of the day.
Basement Jaxx are headlining and the crowd
love them ." Oh My Gosh" and "Wheres Your Head
At " are pretty good but not really my cuppa
overall ...........
22 June 2005 .The Psychedelic Furs live at The
Shepherds Bush Empire , London. Even though they
have played a few tours over the years in the
States this was their first UK show since 1991.
To a great reception they belted out their best
tunes from their 1980s heyday. "Into You Like A
Train" , "Mr Jones" ,"President Gas " , "Love My
Way" , "The Ghost In You" .The band still feature
three original members inc singer Richard Butler
who still has his Bowie fixation. He struggled
with the high notes to a couple of songs but is
full of stage charisma and is great to watch.
"Heartbreak Beat" ,"Heaven" and "Forever Now"
were all superb and the crowd loved the encores of "Sister Europe" , "Pretty In Pink " and
"India" .Great to see them playing live again.
See aftershow page for this show ...........
22 June 2005 .Brian Wilson live at Hampton Court
Palace ,just outside West London. What a superb
location to watch a band this is . From 7pm to
9pm everyone brings drinks and picnics to have in
the beautiful grounds and then 9pm Brian and his
brilliant band play within the walls of this
famous historic building.Venue holds 2500 and is
sold out. A 1 hour 45 mins greatest hits set
outdoors is just great fun.This was a warm up show for his Glasto gig on Sunday.So many great
songs "Sloop John B" ,"Heroes And Villians",
"Breakaway" ,a superb " California Girls" ,
"I Get Around" ,"Wouldnt It Be Nice" ,"God Only
Knows", "Good Vibrations" . Everyone up and
dancing for superb encores of " Help Me Rhonda" ,
"Barbara Ann" ,"Surfin USA" ,"Fun Fun Fun " and
his usual closing tune " Love And Mercy" .
A really enjoyable evening out .
Our photographer mate www.dannyclifford.com was
there to take some photos so check his website
when you have a few spare mins.........
20 June 2005. Audioslave live at Brixton Academy,
London. First of three sell out shows at this venue to promote release of their second album.
From the moment they came on the bass, drums and
stunning guitar from Tom Morello was supertight
and they really got into a great groove.For
this tour they are playing a few oldies from
their previos groups Soundgarden and RATM.
"Spoonman " fits in nicely next to " Gasoline" .
RATM "Bulls On Parade " and " Sleep Now In The
Fire " were just awesome with some amazing guitar
playing.Chris Cornell has a fine voice and for
the first encore he sung "Black Hole Sun" alone
with an acoustic guitar. The crowd went mental
for RATM " Killing In The Name " and "Cochise" .
A really good show from quality musicians.
A mate spotted Jimmy Page at the Wed Audioslave
show at Brixton............
19 June 2005. Motley Crue live at Wembley Arena
Pavillion , London. Here we are in a bleeding
tent and the heat and humidity inside is nasty.
Motley Cure come on early while lots are still in
the bar cooling themselves down. The all seating
system here tonight means the atmosphere is no
way as good as Manchester earlier in the week.
The show itself again is great fun and some
great uptempo rockers with strippers and dwarfs
on stage is again a visual treat even though
the 10 mins interval still seems pointless.
Mick Mars looks really ill but plays fantastic
guitar.Tommy Lee gets out the " titty cam" and
its clear the girlies love rock n roll bad boys.
Nikki Sixx brings his son on for the encore.
The messy encore of " Helter Skelter " and
"Anarchy In The UK " is great fun but it was
not as good overall as the Manchester show.
See aftershow party area for this show.........
18 June 2005 .U2 live at Twickenham Stadium .
First of two huge outdoor shows here for 55,000
punters a day .After our front stage pit tickets
at Manchester tonight we have some great sears.
Pretty much the same set as Manchester but 5 mins
shorter so they musr have dropped one song.
So many big tunes of pure quality in the ser.
Two songs that realy soared tonight were "Pride
In The Name Of Love" and "Where The Streets Have
No Name" .The whole stadium was rocking .There
are not many bands that can handle big shows like
this but U2 pull it off with ease. Excellent
stuff...................
17 June 2005. Rachid Taha + Carbon Silicon +
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club live at The Royal
Festival Hall , London. This was one of the shows at this years Meltdown Festival which is
currated by New York Punk Icon Patti Smith.
Up first are Carbon Silicon who are fronted by
Clash legend and QPR season ticket holder Mick Jones.The band and songs are getting better and
better and its great to see Mick really just
enjoying playing live music again. Thanks to
Micks Clash royalties there is no real rush to get involved with record companies at present.
Patti Smith herself joins the band for a great
encore of Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe" .Next up is
Algerian Rai music supremo Rachid Taha .While
his band are infectious and get a few dancing
down the front the lack of spoken English and
his stumbling stage manner made it just an ok
show.A lot of it just sounded like what you would
hear as background music to a belly dancing act.
However their encore of "Rock The Casbah"
with Mick Jones and Patti Smith joining them
on stage sent the whole crowd bananas. After in
the foyer BRMC played a low key show .I really
like their dirty rock n roll sound but i feel
they have blown their chance of hitting the big
time. Some of the oldies were great like " Spread
Your Love " and "Whatever Happened To Our Rock n
Roll ". A good night in parts overall.......
16 June 2005. Mojo Music Awards , Porchester Hall,
London. This was the second awards event for
this great monthly music mag dedicated to quality
musicians regardless of record sales etc.
There are about 60 tables of 10 people on each
and another 100 standing. We are guests of our
chums at Cadiz Music who look after Roy Harper
who won an award tonight and they sponsored the
main award of the night when The Edge from U2
presented the Icon Award to Siouxsie Sioux .
We had a lovely meal and plenty of free booze.
A fantastic collection of rockers were here .
Slash from Velvet Revolver , Jeff Beck ,Elbow,
Jimmy Page ,Paul Weller , Ray Davies and Dave Davies , Steve Harley ,Phil Jupitus ,Dr John,
Shaun Ryder and Bez from Happy Mondays, Billy
Bragg, Siouxsie and Budgie (had a nice chat with
Budgie - they have a DVD coming out July 25 from
their Royal Festival Hall and 100 Club shows) ,
Geoff Travis, Joe Brown, Shane McGowan ,Dave
Gilmour , Dizzie Rascal, Roy Harper, Travis ,
Gang Of Four,The Edge(U2) ,John Cale, Robert Cray,Sinead O'Connor,
Bill Wyman ,The Magic Numbers, Chris Hillman
(Byrds) ,Harvey Goldsmith, Steve Earle , Mark E
Smith (The Fall), Robert Wyatt, Sly And Robbie,
and Madness . After the awards at 11pm it was
down to the nearby Cobden Club for the aftershow
party and more free booze.Those who turned up
here included Shane McGowan , Madness , Travis,
Roy Harper, Elbow , The Magic Numbers
and Mojo editor Phil Alexander . This was an
totally excellent evening....................
15 June 2005.Motley Crue + Killing Joke live at
MEN Arena ,Manchester . Despite the hype from
their American shows this 15,000 seater venue
has sold only 9000 tickets. I was told there were
more here last night for SOAD.Support Killing
Joke do their intense rock but leave this crowd
a bit bemused tonight. The Motley Crue show is
over two hours of pure spectacle. The stage is
dressed like a huge circus tent. There are three
sexy female dancers , a dwarf , explosions ,
flames , fireworks ,clowns and more .They play
loads of great catchy rock n roll tunes even
though a few sound pretty much the same.
"Shout At The Devil" , "Shes Got The Looks To Kill", Live Wire " , Strange that after an hour
they decide to take a 10 mins break .Mick Mars
maybe cannot stand up for too long these days.
"Dr Feelgood " and " Girls Girls Girls " are
superb as is " Home Sweet Home" .Drummer Tommy
Lee is fantastic even though tonight there is no
10 mins drum solo with exploding drumkit as
promised but he does get out the " titty cam"
where around 20 females in the crowd get their
breasts out for a bit of fun.The encore was a
couple of covers Helter Skelter and a blinding
"Anarchy In The UK". What Rotten , Matlock ,Cook
and Jones would think of Motley doing this song
with three half naked women and a dwarf on a
unicycle behind them is anyones guess but it was
a great night. Motley Crue play Wembley Arena on
June 19 .See you there..............
14 June 2005.U2 live at the City Of Manchester Stadium. Well here they are at last . U2 on the
opening date of their UK tour which is part of
their huge two month European tour that has some
30 stadium shows at 50,000 punters at each.
Easily the biggest live tour of the year.
Luckily we are in the
front pit area where the two walkways are with
a great view .The first six songs tonight just
blow you away with quality "Vertigo" ,"I Will
Follow" ,"Electric Co" , "Elevation" , "New Years
Day " and "Its A Beutiful Day " .Bono says of
Machester " the city that taught white people to
dance" .They play a few tracks from the good new
album .Bono of course is a perfect front man.
The Edge played some incredible guitar tonight.
"Sunday Bloody Sunday " , "Bullet The Blue Sky "
"Pride In The Name Of Love" ,"Where The Streets
Have No Name " were all stunning .After 90 mins
of their 2 hours 10 mins set the huge stage
production and light show really kicked in.
They finished off by playing "Vertigo " again but
this time in a blaze of red lighting. Yep U2
still are one of the greatest live bands in the
world .....................
13 June 2005. Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards ,
Astoria , London. The mag that supports the
heaviest music and their 3rd annual awards show.
About 800 competition winners downstairs and about 800 media ,vips and guests upstairs .Hot
and humid and the free bar only lasted an hour .
A few bands played a couple of songs each
Shadows Fall , Nightwish, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium and Anthrax finished the show
with four live songs. Others there to present or collect awards included Lost Prophets and HIMs
Ville Valo who both got booed off (not metal enough?). Slipknot ,Chad Smith (RHCP) ,Tony
Iommi and Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) , Lemmy
(Motorhesd) , Zakk Wylde . A good night overall
but not in the league of something like the
BRIT Awards or the NME Awards .................
After a slight delay the fantastic Sex Pistols
film " The Great Rock And Roll Swindle " is in
the shops on DVD from 13 June .A must buy item for sure.......
12 June 2005. Stranglers and Stiff Little Fingers
live at Brockwell Park, London SE24. A nice
relaxed outdoor festival for about 2000 people.
Stiff Little fingers are lively and brilliant.
Loads of great tunes like "Nobodys Heroes" ,
"At The Edge" ,"Strummerville" ," Fly The Flag" ,
"Wasted Life " , "Tin Soldier " . Great encores
of "Barbed Wire Love" and "Alternative Ulster".
Next are headliners The Stranglers who also play
in daylight as the venue has a 9pm curfew.
Again lots of good tunes like "Always The Sun",
"Golden Brown" , "Walk On By" , a superb "Grip" ,
"Something Better Change " and neat encores of
"Five Minutes " and "No More Heroes" .
A really good double bill for those of a certain
age.See aftershow news for this event........
11 June 2005. Sex Pistols Experience Boat Trip
Party , River Thames , London. Even though i had
a weekend ticket to stay at Download to see
Black Sabbath and Velvet Revolver i simply could
not miss this great event . The Sex Pistols number one tribute band hiring out the same boat
The Sex Pistols used in 1977 . On board it is a
150 people sell out and a unique atmosphere .
First up Ten Pole Tudor does a few songs and
goes down really well then the SPE take the stage
for a brilliant 90 mins set of Sex Pistols anthems. The whole boat is rocking in every sense. Ten Pole Tudor joins them for the encore
of "Swords Of A Thousand Men" . There are great
gigs and great events .This was both .See you there on the boat this time next year............
10 June 2005. Billy Idol + Garbage + Dinosaur Jr
+ Megadeth live at Download Festival, Donington.
Here we are at Donington for this years Download
Festival which is bigger and better than ever.
Over 100 bands over 3 days and 3 stages.
Every night had a very impressive line up.
First up were Megadeth. This was to be their
final UK show before splitting up and they draw
a massive crowd. They stil are a bit too speed
metal thrash for my liking though. Next up were
Dinosaur Jr who are on a reunion tour but the
crowd run off elsewhere and they play to a half empty field. They are pretty average to be honest.Next up are Garbage and they are great.
Shirley bounces around the big stage and is
really out to enjoy herself. Great tunes like
"Stupid Girl" , "Why Do You Love Me " ,"I Think
Im Paranoid", "Push It" ,"Sex Is Not The Enemy",
"Only Happy When It Rains" ,"When I Grow Up".
A really good set. Next up the main event .
Ladies and gentleman we present Billy Idol in
his first UK show for 12 years and he still rocks.Aided by Steve Stevens on guitar he plays
an 80 mins set of old and new with a couple of
cover versions as well. Billy looks in great shape.Loads of mega tunes "Dancing With Myself",
"Flesh For Fantasy " , "White Wedding" ,"Eyes
Without A Face " ,Van Halens "Jump" ,"Ready
Steady Go " ,"Rebel Yell" ,and encores of Whos
"Who Are You " and "Mony Mony " . The set also
featured some good tracks from his new album
"Devils Playground" .A really fantastic
show and he promised he would be back in a few
months for a theatre tour of the UK..........
08 June 2005. Roxy Music live at Koko ,Camden,
London . This is the famous Camden Palace which
has been renovated and is slowly getting some decent bands to play there.So tonight Roxy Music
are playing a low key warm up show for this
weekends Isle Of Wight Festival .Inside there
are 1000 punters and 200 guests upstairs.
Its very hot and a bit too packed inside.
Roxy Music are crammed on to the stage as there
is about a dozen in the band now. The first few
songs are a bit sluggish but it gets better and
better. Bryan Ferry still looks amazing.
Loads of great songs like "Oh Yeah Theres A Band
Playing On The Radio" , "Both Ends Burning" ,
"In A Every Dream Home A Heartache" ,"Jealous
Guy " and a stunning " Virginia Plain " .
Chris Speddings guitar solos are superb.
Great encore of " Love Is The Drug " and
"Do The Strand" complete with a couple of
dancing girls.It was a very good show but not as
good as the Hammersmith Apollo shows a couple of years ago.See aftershow page for this gig..........
Well as usual June is a totally amazing month for live music in London and the UK.
The long awaited tours by U2 and Motley Crue finally arrive here and the Festival
season starts with the very impressive line up at this years Download Festival .
Over 50 bands over 3 days .Friday will feature Feeder , Garbage and Billy Idols
only UK show of the summer Saturday features Black Sabbath ,Velvet Revolver and HIM
and Sunday features System Of A Down, Slipknot and Slayer . Day and weekend tickets
are still available from the usual agents and the 24 hour hotline number 0870-4000822
The dates are June 10,11,12.
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15 July 2005. Queen + Razorlight live at Hyde
Park , London. Massive gig postponed for a week due to the London bombings . It was a very
nice touch to give out loads of free tickets to
police and nurses etc but that helped to plug
the empty spaces at the back. Queen sold only
45,000 tickets compared to the 80,000 sell out
from REM the following night at this venue.
Razorlight did an
ok set even though their sound swirled all over
the place in the outdoors. Johnny the singer
again went topless for most of the set.
Comedian Peter Kay did a short set on his
Brian Potter character which was very funny.
Queen with Paul Rodgers did the same 2 hours 10
mins set they have been playing for the last
few months all over the world. Starting with
"Tie Your Mother Down " ."Wishing Well " ,
"Another One Bites The Dust", "Imagine" ,
"Hammer To Fall" , "Feel Like Making Love" .
In the middle things sagged a bit as there were
too many ballads and solos for such a big crowd.
As darkness came down the lights kicked in for
the last few songs "Radio GaGa " , "Cant Get Enough Of Your Love" ,"Its A Kind Of Magic" ,
"I Want It All " . The video images of Freddie
Mercury singing "Bohemian Rhapsody " alongside
the band worked superbly. Fab encores of " The
Show Must Go On" ,"All Right Now" , " We Will
Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" . The mix
of Queen and Paul Rodgers related songs worked
well and it was an enjoyable evening although
Hyde Park is stil a rubbish venue ............
13 July 2005. Al Green live at Hammersmith Apollo, London. Soul legend back in town again after last months sell out Albert Hall show.
The upmarket crowd are hoping his sweet soul
voice is still intact and it is. Tunes like
"Lets Get Married " and 1970s classics like
"Lets Stay Together " and "Here I Am " are superb. He gives out roses to the ladies all night long. Known for his short sets he leaves the stage after a paltry 70 mins and no encore which results in a few boos but every minute he
was on stage was just pure soul quality.........
10 July 2005 .Jools Holland And His Rhythm And
Blues Orchestra + Rick Parfiff Jr live at The
Grand Prix After Race Party , Silverstone.
This was held in the middle of the course after
the Grand Prix and there is about 10,000 here.
Its early start and early finish.4.30pm to 9pm.
Rick Parfitt Jr is the son of the blonde one in
Status Quo . He plays mainly covers like
" Summer Of 69" and " Angels " and is passable
in a Pop Idol way but his introduction on stage
with the immortal line of " Rick is about to sign a major record deal " must be a joke surely.
Jools Holland is someone i can take or leave to
be honest .His boogie woogie bollocks reeks of
outdoor picnic background music so thankfuly
there is a party running as he is playing so
300 or so guests so we can have some lovely free
barbeque grub and booze . He plays for 70
mins and is ok i suppose. At the party is racing drivers Damon Hill , David Coulthard, Johnny
Herbert and Jenson Button but ole boy legend
Jackie Stewart hangs around longer than all of them. I spotted rock stars Roger Daltrey and
Chris Rea at the race but they did not turn up
here . A very good day out overall though.......
09 July 2005. Oasis + Zutons live at The Bowl,
Milton Keynes. The Zutons were a last minute
replacement for Bayshambles who were kicked off
the tour for not turning up at Southampton .
They go down much better than Babyshambles
anyway with their light bouncy tunes. Some forget
that Oasis are still one of the biggest live acts
in the UK with two shows here to 50,000 punters
a night. One thing for sure at an outdoor Oasis
gig is you will get covered by flying beer which
is some sort of tradition at their gigs. The
singing by the crowd to entire songs is why
people love Oasis. In concert they will never be
as good as U2 but they have got great tunes.
"Lyla" , "Morning Glory" , "Cigarettes And
Alchohol" , "Live Forever" , "Wonderwall" ,
"Champagne Supernova" ,"Rock N Roll Star" .
Fantastic encores of " Dont Look Back In Anger"
and The Whos " My Generation" . A really good 95
mins set ...............
08 July 2005 .Lionel Richie + Jaki Graham live
at The Grand Prix Ball,Stowe House , Silverstone.
Wow what an amazing evening this was . This was
a full on black tie event where most had paid
1000 quid a ticket and there is around 2000 here.
The venue was one of those amazing historic
big places in the country with an impressive
entrance.7pm Champagne reception then some celebs like Damon Hill and David Coulthard have a
Dodgem Car Challenge .8pm Fantastic three course
meal supervised by Jean -Christophe Novelli (yes
him from the telly) .9pm Eighties singer Jaki
Graham does a disco based
set of cover versions and a couple of her hits like "Set Me Free " .At first i am thinking
third rate Tina Turner but her smiley stage
personality wins over the crowd. 9.30pm. Some
major auction items inc a Gibson guitar signed
by Jimmy Page .10.30pm. We are ushered out into the plush grounds to see a dozen bagpipers
come out of the woods followed by a huge
firework display .11.15pm Lionel Richie has flown in just for this show at a cost of 250k.
He plays a superb hour set that the crowd love.
"Easy", " Sail On " ,"Stuck On You" , "Dancing
On The Ceiling" ,"Say You Say Me " , " Hello" ,
"Brickhouse" ,"Three Times A Lady" , "All Night
Long" .He was totally excellent. Afterwards
posh djs from Londons Panghea nightclub spin the
sounds until nearly 3am and seven hours of
unlimited booze was now kicking in.
Des OConnor and PR guru Max Clifford were here.
This was a top of the market corporate
event promoted by www.elevationevents.co.uk
If i tell that their Christmas Party in London
on December 12 involves a live show by Robbie Williams you will understand they really do
"elevate " themselves above other promoters......
05 July 2005 .Nine Inch Nails live at Brixton
Academy , London. This was the 2nd of a very
impressive 4 sell out shows at this venue to
promote new album " With Teeth" .There is only
one colour tonight and that is black .All the
crowd and the band are wearing black .Trent
Reznor is still dedicated to the cause with a
set lasting nearly 2 hours of industrial rock.
"The Hand That Feeds" and "March Of The Pigs "
were superb although you need to listen to their
stuff a few times to really get into it.The two
guitarists are flinging themselves across the
stage and both smash up their guitars before
the end of the show.Every song seems to feature
a barrage of strobe lighting.The piano ballad
" Hurt" was fantastic as was " Head Like A Hole" .Good show. See aftershow party page......
04 July 2005. Madness live at The Scala ,London.
Low key show to promote their new album of
ska/reggae cover versions called "The Dangermen
Sessions" .The venue is totally rammed as this is
a small gig for a band of Madness stature.
The lively 60 mins set inc classics from the
album like " You Keep Me Hanging On " and
"Israelites" .Also in there was " Prince Buster"
and "Lola" and for the encores of " Night Boat
To Cairo" and " Madness" i really was thinking these floorboards cannot take all this pressure
as the crowd went crazy . As with anything
Madness related ,to keep still is not an option.
See aftershow party page.........
An amazing two days at Hyde Park for the Live 8 Event and the rehearsals by some of the big bands on the previous evening ........
02 July 2005 .Live 8 Concert At Hyde Park , London. 2pm to Midnight.
Paul McCartney + Pink Floyd + The Who + Robbie Williams + Mariah Carey +
Sting + Velvet Revolver + Scissor Sisters + Joss Stone + Killers + Snow Patrol +
Madonna + Razorlight + Boomtown Rats + Snoop Dogg + UB40 + Annie Lennox + Travis +
Keane + Ms Dynamite + REM + Stereophonics + Dido + Elton John + Coldplay + U2.
An incredible event for the MAKE POVERTY HISTORY campaign . 150, 000 people in Hyde
Park to watch over 20 of the worlds top acts play up to 4 songs each on a day with
perfect weather conditions of not much sunshine but no rain whatsoever. I do not
need to mention everything here as its all over the tv and newspapers. U2 , Coldplay
and Elton John are on early as they all have big gigs elsewhere this evening.
Quite surreal seeing Elton John being joined by Pete Doherty for a messy version
of "Children Of The Revolution".None of the bands had any sound problems and the
revolving stage meant most gaps between acts was only a few minutes. Each act played
a short set of some of their best known songs.
Annie Lennox and Snoop Dogg both went down
much better than i expected.
Bob Geldof got a great cheer when he performed " I Dont Like Mondays" . Earlier before i went in i saw Geldof in Park Lane
with a 12 man security and police walking escort. The first half of the show i was
at the front of general admission area and second half i was in the gold circle area
where 15,000 guests , VIPS and comp winners get the best view of the stage without
any crush.Madonna was fantastic for her three songs and it was a real moment when
they brought out a woman who was a starving child from that Cars video 20 years ago
at Live Aid who thanks to Bob and co is a real living success story. Scissor Sisters were
the only act that dared to air a new song but it went down very well. As darkness fell
i think the day belonged to the last four acts on the bill Robbie Williams , The Who, Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney as they could use the full stage lighting to great effect.
Robbie was superb and his version of "Angels " as he walked in the stage pit near the
fans was a real highlight. The Who were fantastic as well . The real event as such for
the older male was Pink Floyd reunited with Roger Waters for the first time since 1981
after their bitter fued. Their four songs were
stunning but i doubt if the Robbie loving
females in the crowd would agree with that. Paul McCartney closed the show with a rousing
few songs and a grand finale of " Hey Jude " with some of the other acts joining him
although Robbie Williams and Madonna had left the building. Live Aid in 1985 was very special
and although Hyde Park was not a patch on Wembley Stadium as a venue the whole day
was an total success and one of those great " i was there shows" ...........
01 July 2005. Live 8 Rehearsals And Soundcheck at Hyde Park ,London.
Pink Floyd + Madonna + Sting + Paul McCartney .
This was just amazing as the concert the following night . Rehearsals And Soundcheck
for some of the major acts we would see tomorrow 5pm to 10pm.
We missed Annie Lennox and Mariah Carey . In front of a tiny crowd of maybe only 100
guests and event workers to watch Paul McCartney and band do a 45 mins set inc
"Hi Ho Silver " ,"Coming Up" , " Get Back " ,"Drive My Car " (with George Micheal) ,
"The Long And Winding Road " and a couple of others.Next up Sting did four tunes inc
"Message In A Bottle " and " Every Breathe You Take " .Although each act were told
they had an hour each Madonna was on stage for a staggering 90 mins of stop and start.
For her this was a proper dress rehearsal so the whole band , her backing choir and Madonna
are all in the white outfits they used the following night .She went through all her
three songs "Like A Prayer " ,"Ray Of Light" and " Music " 3 or 4 times each.
Double checking dance routines and stuff like that.
She was superb but with three members of Pink Floyd behind me looking at their
watches as she ate into their rehearsal time it was going on too long for them.
Next was a very special event .Pink Floyd with Roger Waters for the first time
since 1981 . By now we are down the very front but still there is only 300 people
here. Nice to see Formula One Champ Damon Hill down the front really excited to be
seeing Floyd who are good mates of his. For ten mins they tune up and chat and then
pow the light show kicks in and they play " Breathe" ,"Money" ,"Wish You Were Here"
and " Comfortably Numb" over the next twenty minutes. Fantastic .........
29 June 2005. Kasabian + Babyshambles live at Wireless Festival , Hyde Park , London.
This was the last night of the four day Wireless Festival and i really hope it
comes back next year. Babyshambles arrive late so their set is cut in half .Its all
messy and half arsed and Pete Doherty is now beyond a joke - What A Waster.
Kasabian have had a great past 12 months and they play a good 70 mins set based
on their debut album. They sound and act like Oasis in parts and the tunes are good
and their fans love it all........................
28 June 2005 .Keane + Supergrass live at Wireless Festival ,Hyde Park , London.
First up Supergrass have a great selection of well known songs but they will never
be as good as they were a few years ago .Keane are the type of band you really only need
to see once and once you have done that it is hard to get excited a second time.
The singer comes on in black shirt and black trousers with a white belt .Now i know
i am getting on a bit but even i reckon thats totally naff. The songs are catchy enough
and radio friendly and the new ones sound just the same but its not rock n roll at all .....
Clear Channel launch www.getlive.co.uk their
new interactive and ticketing site on 29 June........
The Guildford Festival takes place over the weekend of July 15,16,17 with headliners
The Pogues, Alabama 3, Paul Weller , Echo And The Bunnymen , Status Quo and Marillion etc .
Info And Tickets from www.guilfest.co.uk
and 01483 454159.............
Fancy a great festival in a great sunny beach
location ?? well how about the stunning line up
at this years Benicassim Festival near Valencia
in Spain over 4 days Aug 4 ,5 ,6,7 with over 100
acts inc Oasis , Nick Cave, Keane ,Underworld,
Basement Jaxx, Kasabian , Kaiser Chiefs etc.
More info and tickets on www.fiberfib.com
see you there as i will be going to it.......
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25 August 2005. Kerrang Awards at The Brewery ,
London EC1. Mega bash for 600 mainly seated guests with gallons of free booze and a bit of grub. Lots of up and coming bands like Towers Of
London are here and a few big names like
Marilyn Manson , Bruce Dickenson, Killing Joke ,
Foo Fighters , My Chemical Romance ,
Feeder , Placebo, Roger Taylor (Queen) .At 10.30pm the guests and some of the bands moved
to the aftershow at Industry where the DJ played
a great set of metal and rock anthems until 2am.
Excellent rock n roll evening..............
20 and 21 August 2005 . V Festival at Chelmsford.
Lots of bands played here over the weekend.
I watched Oasis , Robert Plant ,Maroon 5 ,
Prodigy , Hives , Music , Tony Christie ,
Kaiser Chiefs ,
Idlewild and a couple of others. Lots of hospitality here. Sat afternoon we spent in the
Virgin Mobile Louder Lounge and Sunday afternoon
was spent in the Virgin Radio tent where we saw
saw short acoustic sets by Franz Ferdinand ,
Embrace and Tony Christie .Great weekend.........
18 August 2005. Scissor Sisters live at the Kentish Town Forum , London.
Warm up show for their headline sets at this
weekends V Festivals .From the start its party
party time as for 80 mins the band play all their
mega selling album tracks inc the singles and a
few from the second album out soon. Really
enjoyable show that the crowd loved...........
11 August 2005. Jamiroquai live at Shepherds Bush
Pavillion ,London. Not to be confused with the
Shepherds Bush Empire 50 yards away this is the
building that looks derelict from the outside
but hosts once a month invite only parties. I have been to a Mick Jagger party here and a Q
Awards party here but they also hold stuff like
the Tory Party Summer Ball . Inside there are
800 guests all knocking back the free booze all
night supplied by sponsors Sony Ericsson and
their new Walkman W800 mobile phone. Jamiroquai
do a funky enjoyable 90 mins set with tunes like
"Space Cowboy " , "Alright" and mega versions of
"Cosmic Girl " and "Deeper Underground " .Also
in there was a cover of Jimi Hendrix "Crosstown
Traffic" and a couple of newies off the just
released " Dynamite " album. Jay Kay is still a cool cat and after being quiet for a year or two
the band will be everywhere promoting this record
and topping up that 20 million album sales they
have sold already .Good show..............
Jamiroquai gig was my 4400th i have been to ...
Coldplay come back to the UK for some arena
shows inc Earls Court on 14 December . I expect
Oasis to confirm some winter London shows once
they have played their V Festival gigs......
This is one of those great music websites.
Check out www.remembertheeighties.com which
features all your fave 1980s acts with links
and news of what they are up to in the future....
06 Aug 2005 . Glen Matlock And The Philistines
+ Paul Collins Beat
live at Plaza De Toros (The Bullring) ,Medina
Del Campo , 80 miles North West Of Madrid ,Spain.
Blimey i have been to some surreal venues but this one is right up there .Due to the heat the
show does not start until midnight as 500 crazy
spaniards party the night away.For Glen Matlock
And The Philistines this was their first show
together this year but they play a great 60 mins
set inc "Piece Of The Action" and " White Knuckle Ride" as well as Sex Pistols classics
"God Save The Queen" and "Pretty Vacant" .
The band are totally rocking and more gigs please
in the UK is my request. Paul Collins Beat feat
an American who is a bit of a cult figure in
Spain with a neat mix of Fender guitar power pop
with catchy lyrics.It was a really enjoyable set.
The evening finished at 4am. Thanks to promoter Pancho and
his assistant Dani for the hotel accomodation and
hospitality over the weekend..........
After their headline show at The Reading Festival
Iron Maiden play a benefit show at Hammersmith Apollo on 2 Sept 2005. Tickets are £40 and go on
sale to the general public 01 August . Full info
on the gig is on www.ironmaiden.com where Rod
Smallwood gives a great mention of how
important the Apollo (Odeon) was in Maidens history. He lists the 21 times they have played
there in their career of which i have seen a
staggering 18 of them.............
30 July 2005 . Glen Matlock Solo show live at
Filthy McNastys Pub, Twickenham . Sex Pistols
legend up close for another acoustic gig.
Really good 65 mins set featuring the best of
his three solo albums as well as Rich Kids/Pistols classics like "Burning Sounds" ,
"God Save The Queen" ,"Stepping Stone" ,"Ghosts
Of Princes And Towers" and a superb " Pretty
Vacant " . Great encore of Small Faces " All Or
Nothing " where he was joined by a girl from the crowd on backing vocals who did a proper job.
Loads of great on stage banter from Mr Matlock.
Really good gig in a neat new venue...........
28 July 2005 . Paul McCartney Solo show live at
Abbey Road Studios , London.We knew it would be
intimate but this was pretty amazing to see the
Beatles legend in the famous home of their album
recordings in the 1960s.We thought it would be for 300 or 400 in the main Studio 1 but its in the much smaller Studio 2 so there are only 50
at max here with most seated on sofas. Paul was
on stage 7.55pm to 9.30pm (1 hr 35 mins) .
He avoided most of his main Beatles or solo hits
for a set that included eight tracks from his new album "Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard"
which is due for release on Sept 5 . This show
was recorded for Radio 2 and will be an hour
special nearer the release date of the album.
Paul was full of great stories and fun banter.
He mixed playing guitar with the piano and bass.
Nigel Godrich who is Radioheads producer and
has produced Maccas new album helped him out
here on a couple of the songs .
Set was " Friends To Go " ,"In Spite Of All The
Danger" ,"Twenty Flight Rock " , "Things We Said
Today" , "Too Much Rain " ," How Kind Of You" ,
"Band On The Run" ,"Fine Line " (at this point he gave out some percussion instruments to the
crowd to join in with him ),"Lady Madonna" ,
"English Tea" , "Heartbreak Hotel " (for this song he brought out the original double bass as
used by Elvis Presley bassist Bill Black) ,
"Jenny Wren" , "Ive Got A Feeling", " Follow Me",
"Blackbird" ,"Mellotron samples inc Strawberry
Fields Forever" , "Anyway " ,"Jamming Track Finale". This was a very ,very special show.
See aftershow news for this show............
After the success of his Donington Download
Festival gig in June Billy Idol plays his first
ever London show for over 10 years at Brixton
Academy on 11 November 2005 .............
21 July 2005 .Lenny Kravitz live At Hammersmith
Apollo , London.Lenny is a true rocker where all
the boys wanna be him and all the girls wanna be
his girlfriend it seems. He played a superb two
hours of funk rock . Cool tunes like " Let
Love Rule " , "It Aint Over Till Its Over " and
"Always On The Run " really got in the groove.
"American Woman" and " Fly Away " were brilliant.
Lenny is a total showman from start to finish.
Last song was the uptempo rocker " Are You Gonna
Go My Way " . Really good show .........
16 and 17 July 2005 . Guilfest Music Festival in Guildford, Surrey with Saturday
show feat Paul Weller + Echo And The Bunnymen + The Others + The Subways and Sunday
show feat Status Quo + Daniel Bedingfield + Lulu + Marillion + Chas And Dave +
Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain ......
I have not been to Glastonbury for a few years
because it has simply got too big .100,000 plus
punters means your car is a mile from your tent ,
your tent is a mile from the stages and there
are too many drug induced crusties rolling around in the annual mud bath. Picture the
opposite which is Guildford , a lovely short
drive down the A3 , you can park your car 2 mins
from the gates and come and go to it as you need.
There is no need for giant video screens here.
Its held in July and gets great weather. A lovely
cosy size of about 20,000 punters a day with lots
to see and do for all the family. Derek The
Dalek , The three Slash lookalikes and Rolf
Harris wandering around were my fave sights.
On the Saturday first are hotly tipped 3 piece
The Subways who were really good with a foxy
female bass player . They played some cracking tunes off their debut album inc the brilliant
"Rock n Roll Queen" .The Others were hotly
tipped a year ago but where The Kaiser Chiefs
have gone up , up and away the Others have
stalled a bit even though they have some great
tunes like " Stan Bowles "(nice to see that huge
QPR flag in the crowd) and "This Is For The Poor".Echo And The Bunnymen like New Order
are eighties legends with credibilty.Singer Ian
still in his trademark shades with fag in hand.
Loads of great songs " Sugar Kisses" , "Rescue
Me " , "Seven Seas" ," The Back Of Love " ,
"The Killing Moon" ,"The Cutter" and great encore
of " Nothing Ever Lasts Forever"and "Walk On The
Wild Side" .Paul Weller and his excellent band
do a really good 1 hour 45 mins set. Early on
he played his cracking new single " From The
Floorboards Up " .He dedicated a song to the
London bombers " Savages" . A great mix of songs from his long career . A superb "Thats Entertainment" nearly caused a riot. Other superb
tracks inc " You Do Something To Me " ,
"Changingman" and "Shout To The Top" .
Superb encore of " Broken Stones" and another
Jam classic " A Town Called Malice" ...........
Sunday started off with a pleasing surprise ,
The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain played
a mad range of covers like "Silver Machine" ,
"Life On Mars " and "Teen Spirit " which mixed
with some great on stage fun banter made sure
they went down really well with this crowd.
1960s legends The Zombies started slow but
fininshed well. "Time Of The Season " and " Shes
Not There " were great as was a couple of Argent
classics like "Hold Your Head Up" and "God Gave
Rock And Roll To You" .Next up were Cockney
geezers Chas And Dave plugging their current
greatest hits cd. "London Girls " . "Gercha" .
"Rabbit" ."Snooker Loopy" and "Aint No Pleasing
You " were all good fun. Next up were Marillion
but their singer comes on dressed all in black like an overweight goth and they just fail to
really make any impression with me. Lulu still
looks great for her age. She plays a mainly
covers set but " Man Who Sold The World" and
"Shout " are mega .Mr Bedingfield has seen
his second album flop badly but there are plenty
of screaming girls here to see him. To be polite
he is not my cup of tea. Headliners Status Quo
are playing more shows than ever these days but
the money must be rolling in as Rick Parfitt
drove to the show in his brand new 250k McClaren
Merc which looks amazing in the backstage area.
Loads and loads of great catchy heads down
Quo anthems inc a few off last album "Heavy
Traffic" and others like " Rain" , "Roll Over
Lay Down" ,"Down Down" , "Whatever You Want" ,
and "Rockin All Over The World" . An excellent
finish to a great festival ...............
Fancy a festival at another lovely location???
Royal Jersey Showground on Sat 03 Sept holds a
day of quality acts and djs inc Kasabian ,
Bravery , Futureheads , Ordinary Boys etc.
More info on www.jerseylive.org.uk
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08 Sept 2005.Glen Matlock And The Philistines
live at The Rhythm Factory , Whitechapel Road ,
London. First UK date of the year for Glen and
his band at this trendy new venue.Loads of support
bands meant that tonights set had to be cut short to just 7 songs in 30 mins
but it was still really good. The band on top
form finishing with stunning versions of "Piece
Of The Action " and " White Knuckle Ride" from
the superb recent EMI album "On Something" ......
06 Sept 2005. GQ Mag Men Of The Year Awards ,
Vilar Floral Hall At The Royal Opera House,
London . Shame tonight had 2 major awards on so i
had to miss The Mercury Music Awards for the
allure of bigger names promised for the GQ Awards party with celebs from music , film,
fashion, tv and even a couple of chefs.
About 500 are here with most seated at tables .
7pm drinks and food in this beautiful venue.
9pm awards event hosted by Rory Bremner who as
usual was very funny indeed .
11pm to 1am excellent aftershow in the upstairs
balcony bar area .Those here included Robbie Williams , Bryan Ferry , Bob Geldof , Burt
Bacharach, Simon Cowell ,Matt Lucas and David
Walliams from Little Britain, Chris Moyles,
Robert Elms, Jay -Z , Pierce Brosnan, Eva
Herzigova, Carol Vauderman , Nancy (Svens chum) ,
Nicky Haslam , Paula Abdul ,
Charlotte Church (won Woman Of The Year) ,Rachel
Stevens , Louise and Jamie Redknapp, Jenson
Button, Davina McCall, Timothy Small , Jerry Hall, Gordon Ramsey ,Daniel Craig, Dale Winton, Danni Minogue.All winners and presenters were
given a goody bag which inc an Armani watch .
Totally superb night from start to finish......
02 Sept 2005. Iron Maiden live at Hammersmith Apollo,London . This venue (The Odeon) was their
home in the 1980s where they played a total of 21 times. I went to a staggering 18 of them inc
their Judas Priest support slot way back in 1980.
So a perfect venue to end their current world tour
and judging by all the flags there are many that
have come from all over Europe to be here. Most
of the massive Reading Festival stage production
is here and it is fantastic to see them indoors.
The setlist is the same 1 hour 40 mins as Reading
based on the best tracks from their first four
albums. Bruce is running all over the stage and
the guitar riffs are a plenty. "Santuary" , "Run
To The Hills " and "Number Of The Beast " are
highlights . After they played a stunning "Iron
Maiden " with Janick having a mock fight with
Eddie the band brought out original drummer
Clive Burr who is in a wheelchair due to MS.
All tonights profits were given to him.
A touching moment as he thanked band and crowd.
A fantastic live band and f*** Sharon O ........
30 August 2005. Iggy Pop And The Stooges live
at Hammersmith Apollo , London. This was Iggys
first gig in London with the Stooges for over
30 years. Although he played good sets in the
UK at last summers Download Festival and Reading
Festival a couple of days ago they were outdoors
afternoon sets in daylight. Iggy indoors to a
sell out crowd of 5000 Iggy fans was the real
place to see this punk rock legend in full flow.
As promised we got the " Funhouse" album track
by track all 7 of them in 37 minutes inc great
versions of " TV Eye" , "Dirt" , "1970" and
"Funhouse" .Iggy is stripped to the waist from
the start and is in awesome form as his skinny
body jerks and dances around the stage. The band
go off after the album and come back to play
tracks from "The Stooges" album "1969" , a mega
"I Wanna Be Your Dog " with the moshpit going
wild .For " Real Cool Time" and " No Fun " Iggy
invites over 50 punters on stage for some punk
rock choas as Iggys poor stage manager tries to
stop everyone grabbing at Iggy as he tries to
sing. Two newer songs after this were a bit
of an anti climax but overall the 70 mins set
was just totally superb and there was a real buzz as you came out of the venue that you had
witnessed a very special night..............
26, 27, 28 August 2005. Reading Festival Weekend.
Another massive weekend of live music. While
backstage hospitality is not as good as the V
Festival there is still 1000 guests in the backstage garden but everything you still have to
pay for unless you get access to the dressing room portakabins area which we do .A great
addition this year backstage is the Tiscali tent which holds about 100 people and a few bands play
20 mins sets right in your face so to speak.
The sound is fantastic as they are using top of the range equipment here and its much better than the similar tent used by Virgin Radio at
the V Festival.We arrive later than expected on
the Friday .First band we see is The Subways in
the Tiscali tent who do a good 7 song set and
finish with a mega "Rock And Roll Queen" ......
Next up its out to the main stage for Queens
Of The Stone Age who play all their best tunes and thankfully do the decent thing and
cut out the twaddle from the Brixton show and
are pretty good......The Killers draw a massive crowd which ended up being bigger than The Pixies which was a surprise.
They play all the tunes from their album and go
down a storm .....loads of quality tunes in the
Pixies set like "Monkey Gone To Heaven " and
"Where Is My Mind" was more to my liking than
The Killers though.....Next day we saw The
Editors do a decent set of tunes that leaned
heavily towards Joy Division.......Roots Manuva
on the main went down well and "Witness " and
"Dreamy Days" were superb......Back in The
Tiscali tent for all girl band The Suffrajets
are ok ....The Charlatans are messy and look
bored out of their heads .Their singer reads
the lyrics to 2 new songs from bits of paper.
"Love Is The Key" and "North Country Boy" are
good but not one of their best shows.....Back in
the Tiscali tent to see Roots Manuva a coupls of hours after his main stage gig. He does a 20 mins
set with a magical version of " Dreamy Days "
where they substitutute the drum kit for bongos......then Nick Oliveri plays a 20 mins set
of rocking tunes with some of his mates and
Dave Grohl is watching from the side of stage....
Kings Of Leon are boring, boring, boring ......
Headliners The Foo Fighters are just fantastic.
One of the greatest live rock bands around with
a whole bunch of great songs "Learn To Fly" ,
"Stacked Actors" a stunning " Breakout" .
This was Dave Grohls seventh time at Reading .
For the encore Dave sat on drums for one song
and after they ripped into " DOA " and "Monkey
Wrench" .Excellent set.........Sunday starts with
Turbonegro and their party panto set which was
good fun even though all the songs sounded the same.....love em or loathe them The Towers Of London were easily the best new band of the weekend with 30 mins of high octane Motley/Poison
type tunes mixed in with some punk rock attitude .The singer gets a direct hit to the head from a punters bottle of water but just
takes a bow and smirks......Rakes are ok but as
their singer is ill they produce guests from
Bloc Party ,Maximo Park and Towers Of London
during their set..........NOFX and their crazy
lyrics wixed in with fun on stage banter go down
a storm ..........Iggy Pop And The Stooges do a 50 mins set. Iggy is in great form and they play
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" ," TV Eye" ,"No Fun " and
"1970(I Feel Alright) " but the show at Ham Apollo a couple of days later will be indoors
and more suitable.......next a real treat in the
Tiscali tent as we catch legends Echo And The
Bunnymen" do a five song set .One newie and
"Sugar Kisses" ,"Nothing Ever Lasts Forever" ,
"Bring On The Dancing Horses" and "The Killing
Moon" excellent stuff......next Marilyn Manson
does an hour of his theatre rock .Its all
harmless fun of course with his three cover
versions going down a treat "Personal Jesus" ,
"Tainted Love" and "Sweet Dreams" .Also played
were "The Fight Song" , "Dope Show" and
"Beautiful People " .A very good set really....
Iron Maiden brought a monster stage production
with them and did a superb 1 hour 40 mins set
of material from the first four albums only inc
"The Trouper" a superb "Run To The Hills" ,
"Wrathchild" a superb "Number Of The Beast "
and "Iron Maiden " . Great encores of " Running
Free" and "Sanctuary " Great stuff ..........
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Sex Pistols legend John Lydon releases his album
"Best Of British £1 Notes" this week .It is a
stunning collection of the best of The Sex Pistols , The best of PIL and his work with Afrika
Bambaataa and Leftfield .Make sure you get the 2
CD version. Also out now is a John Lydon DVD .... Also out this week is the live CD and DVD
from The Cream reunion shows at The Royal Albert
Hall earlier in the year .........
Had a call from a ticket tout mate regards the
Robbie Astoria gig. Hardly any punters turned up
looking for tickets so the price on the night was
70 to 100 quid which was well below the 200 quid
plus you had to pay when U2 and The Rolling
Stones did similar wristband only short notice
gigs at this same venue............
30 Sept 2005 . Glen Matlock + Gary Lammin live at
The Plough Inn , Walthamstow , London. Quality
double bill over in East London tonight . First
up ex Cock Sparrer Gary Lammin does a 30 mins set
full of neat lyrics and great bottleneck blues
punk guitar playing. Next Sex Pistol Glen Matlock
plays a fantastic hour set feat the best of his
solo albums , a couple of Rich Kids classics and
two Pistols anthems "God Save The Queen" and
"Pretty Vacant" . Glen is in fine form and the
crowd are also in fine voice tonight..........
29 Sept 2005. Guns 2 Roses live at The Hard Rock
Cafe , London.To be honest i did not even know
that the Hard Rock had been closed for the last
10 weeks due to a huge electrical fire that
destroyed all the kitchen but none of the rock
stuff on display. This was the first evening back
which was a party for The Harley Davidson owners
club. Loads of free booze and food and the G n R
tribute band did a really good 10 song 45 mins
set of all those great anthems like "Welcome To
The Jungle " , " Sweet Child O Mine" and " Paradise City " etc .Very good event..........
28 Sept 2005 .Ray Davies Band live at the Royal
Albert Hall , London. A big gig tonight for this
British music legend who first hit the charts
some 40 years ago with the Kinks. Two sets that
lasted for 2 hours 15 mins.Loads of fun stage
banter and great songs "Sunny Afternoon" , " Dead
End Street " , " I Go To Sleep" ," Days" ," Dedicated Follower Of Fashion" , " Lola " ,
"All Day And All Of The Night " , " You Really
Got Me " , " David Watts" . Great stuff......
27 Sept 2005 .Man-Raze live at The Spitz ,
Spitalfields , London. First time i have been to
this great venue that holds around 250 punters.
Eagerly awaited "showcase" debut gig by this
trio who feature Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook
and Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen. There are
more Def Leppard fans than Sex Pistols fans here
tonight.The short 9 song 40 mins set (no pistols
or def lep ) was dominated by Phil Collens great
guitar playing so most songs had a rocky sound to
them although a couple had some soft dub reggae
leanings. Debut single "Skin Crawl " was superb
and expect an album and full UK tour next year .
Setlist was Connected To You, Youre So Wrong,
Every Second, Low , Fire , Runnin Me Up ,Skin
Crawl , Halo , Its Entertainment . Really great
to see Paul Cook playing live in a new band .....
Robbie Williams will be playing The Astoria this
Saturday 01 October as a warm up to his album
launch party arena gig in Berlin............
24 Sept 2005 . Gang Of Four live at The Barbican,
London. Another in the series of concerts by ATP
under the "Dont Look Back" banner where bands
play classic albums track by track . Tonight in
this lousy venue for rock n roll Gang Of Four
treat us to " Entertainment". Well respected from
25 years ago they still manage to sell out the
venue tonight . Andy Gills jerky guitar playing is still superb and great songs like "Damaged
Goods" and " At Home He Thinks Hes A Tourist " go
down a treat .Thankfully the crowd stand up after
30 mins and give the gig a bit of atmosphere.
For the encore they play a weird song as singer
Jon King bashes a microwave oven with a baseball
bat .A good 75 mins set but not as good as the
Shepherds Bush Empire gig earlier this year......
22 Sept 2005 . MOBO Awards live at The Royal Albert Hall , London. This was the 10th anniversary of this black music event . Never as
good as the other main award events but it srill
has plenty of good things going on here tonight.
Loads of police , loads of security ,full body
searches and metal detectors yep its The MOBOS.
As usual the circle is only 75% full due to the
staggering £90 ticket price to be up in the gods.
Live acts up first include Lauryn Hill and John
Legend but were followed by UK acts Lemar and a
superb Kano stealing the show with a devastating
"Typical Me " with a 30 person production here
to recreate a club scene. Ms Dynamite played a
song and Mica Paris ,Nate James and Omar did a
neat tribute to Luther Vandross on " Never Too
Much" . Damian Marley did a pounding "Welcome To
Jamrock" and then the whole Marley family came
to play "You Could Be Loved " for Bob who won the Icon award. Others here tonight included
Public Enemy , Sway , Lethal Bizzle ,Estelle,
Myleene Klass , Chris Eubank , Simon Webbe ,Akon
and a few others inc DJ award winners Tim Westwood and Steve Sutherland. A good bash.......
20 Sept 2005. Nickleback live at Shepherds Bush
Empire , London. One off UK show by these Canadian
rockers to promote their new album "All The Right Reasons" out next month.The sound is great or it was until midway through the set the sound cuts
out twice leaving a 10 mins delay but the band
rescue themselves by throwing a couple dozen beers
into the crowd. New single " Photograph " is fine
but everybody wants the big songs from their mega
selling album " Silver Side Up" and we get superb
versions of "Never Again" , " Too Bad" and " How
You Remind Me " . The encore involved a drinking
contest that the drummer won .A good 80 mins set
or should that be 70 mins if you deduct the delay
for sound problems .........
Well the race to be the first band to play the new
Wembley Stadium is starting to heat up . The
Rolling Stones were hotly tipped but rumours are
their promoters are worried it will not be finished
on time and are looking at Twickenham .Also
Robbie Williams is certain to play there in June
but the first band to announce a show there will
be Bon Jovi for 11 June 2006 ........
18 Sept 2005.Benefit For Breast Cancer .The
Tickled Pink Concert at Royal Albert Hall ,
London. Like last year a very entertaining evening
of music and comedy .Each of the five acts did a
couple of songs each Sugababes (lousy vocals),
Sheryl Crow( new songs were pretty average) ,
Mariah Carey ( looked and sounded great) ,
Il Divo( pop opera tosh) , Westlife (well their
mums love em i suppose ) .But really it was a
night where for once the comedy was better than
the music with superb 10 mins sets from Catherine
Tate,Pam Ann, Nina Conti, Tim Minchin and Danny
Bhoy .Overall a really good evening ...........
16 Sept 2005 .Offspring live at Brixton Academy,
London. The band have been a bit quiet the past
year compared to the success of Green Day.
This tour was to promote the "Greatest Hits" cd.
They have sold a mega 30m albums over their career.Does not seem to matter that Dexter and
Noodles are old enough to be the fathers
of most of the crowd tonight but the kids love
em. The 80 mins set was good but not great to be
honest but "Why Dont You Get A Job" and " Pretty
Fly For A White Guy " were just superb.See
aftershow party page for this gig......
13 Sept 2005 . Simple Minds live at The Venue , Leicester Square , London. The last time i saw
Simple Minds was a year ago headlining Guildford
Festival to 20,000 people so to see them up close
playing to a crowd of only 250 was very special.
The crowd were mainly Capitol Gold comp winners.
DJ David Jenson introduced the band saying this
rarely used venue was chosen by Jim Kerr because
The Sex Pistols played a famous show here in
November 1976. I refrained from jumping up and
saying "I was there" but its all up on this site.
The band arrive , there is no pit and there
is no security so every other song Jim Kerr
is hugged by fans who cannot believe how close
they are to him. The band start off by playing
songs from their new album out this week on
Sanctuary called " Black And White 050505" which
heralds a real return to form with tracks like
"Home" , "Stay Visable ", "The Jeweller " and
"Stranger " all played tonight. Even in this tiny
place the band are treating it like an arena show
with full light show and that massive sound they
have. Of course the oldies go down a real treat
"Love Song " and " Mandela Day" were great but
when they played "Waterfront" ,"Dont You Forget
About Me " and " Alive And Kicking" the sheer
power was enough to blow the roof off the place.
The uptempo dance rock of " New Gold Dream"
was a perfect finale to the main set .Encores
including "Theme For Great Cities" and "Sanctify Yourself"
confirmed what a truly great live band they are.
Tonight was an awesome 15 song 80 mins set .
This concert is broadcast on Capital Gold this
Sunday at 6pm and Simple Minds return to the UK
for a full UK tour in Feb which includes two
shows at Londons Astoria ................
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| 2005-10-23 | |
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22 October 2005. Dio live at The Astoria ,London.
Just like the last tour when Dio played
The Astoria its totally sold out and its like
bloody sardines in here .Early start and early
finish to make way for the club night later .
Dio play a stunning 2 hour set .Ronnies vocals
are always superb and the band sound fab. After
a couple of songs they play their classic 1983
debut album " Holy Diver " track by track so we
get "Stand Up And Shout " , "Holy Diver " , "Dont
Talk To Strangers" and " Rainbow In The Dark"
which are all fantastic.We also get other gems
like " Heaven And Hell" and " Man On The Silver
Mountain" . Superb encores of "Long Live Rock
And Roll" and "We Rock" . Fashions may come and
go but Ronnies been rocking for over 30 years
and live he is still a top quality act.......
Well October was certainly Robbie Williams month
as he was all over the tv and radio promoting
his new album as well as playing The Astoria
and Berlin and next month November will be the
turn of Madonna who will be all over the tv and
radio promoting her album and already 2 small
London shows have been pencilled in for Camden
Koko on Nov 14 and a midnight Astoria show on
Nov 19.The ticket frenzy will begin soon........
19 Oct 2005. Steve Vai live at Hammersmith Apollo, London.Flashy American guitarist back in
London with his band of fellow musos . After
about 15 mins Steve admits to the crowd to being
" a poser and a bit of a wanker" which at least
saves me from saying it. He loves the venue as much as himself. First here in 1982 as part of
Frank Zappas band .I was at both those shows.
A long set lasting some 2 hours 30 mins which
only featured a couple of songs with vocals.
The rest were all guitar work outs and of course
all the band had solo spots .Steves hair being
blown in the stage wind machine as his fingers
raced up and down the fret board. It was hard
going in parts but at least he makes playing
the guitar entertaining viewing...........
18 Oct 2005. BT Digital Music Awards at The
Hammersmith Palais , London. There seems to be an
award show for everything these days.So far this year i have been to the award shows for NME, BRITS,Ivor Norvello , MOJO ,Metalhammer , Classic
Rock ,MOBOS ,Kerrang and Q and heres another one.
Digital music is of course growing very rapidly.
6pm = Champagne reception.
7pm = The Magic Numbers do their best two songs
before heading off for their own Bush Empire gig.
7.15pm Free food and free booze for all.
There are 500 downstairs sitting for the 3 course
meal and we are part of the 200 in the balcony
with buffet.8.30pm =Host Jo Whiley starts to give
out the 17 awards . Nice to see Tom Robinson
pick up one for BBC 6 Extra and Chris Evans is
here to pick up one for Radio 1 s coverage of
the massive Live 8 concert . The best unofficial
fan website went to Depeche Mode. A few bands
played a song each between gongs Shelley Poole,
Roots Manuva, Turin Brakes,The Crimea, Mew and
finally the nutters from Goldie Lookin Chain.
Coldplay won best official band website.
10pm Aftershow party starts with a DJ not playing
my kinda tunes but he does slip in a couple of
tracks from that amazing Paul Anka covers album
like "Jump" the Van Halen anthem . Depart at
midnight and another good awards bash........
17 Oct 2005. Michael Bolton live at The Royal
Albert Hall , London. Well tonight was a case of
choosing between two extremes really .Do
i go and see one of the uncoolest Americans in
rock = Michael Bolton or do i go and see one of the coolest Americans in rock = Sufjan Stevens .
No contest uncool is always more fun.Remembered
more for his dodgy haircut than his voice Mr
Bolton has taken some stick over the years from
critics but has still sold over 20 million albums.He still has lots of adoring female fans .
He still sings too many cover versions but he has still got a decent voice."To Love Somebody",
"Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay" ,"Til The End Of Forever" , "Georgia On My Mind" ,"Go The
Distance" ,"When A Man Loves A Woman" ,"How Can
We Be Lovers" and the power ballad "Time Love
And Tenderness " .A good in parts show........
14 Oct 2005.Keith Urban live at Hammersmith Apollo , London. Keith is a massive act in the States but virtually unknown in the UK but his
recent support slot with Bryan Adams got him a whole bunch of new screaming female fans . He plays simple , catchy uptempo country rock with a great backing band .He looks a bit like Jon Bon
Jovi to be honest ."Raining On Sunday " and "Homespun Love " were good as were fun covers of " Jolene " and " Blue Jeans" . The middle acoustic section was dreary MOR but he
rocked things up later with tracks like " These Are The Days" . A good but nothing special show but he will be massive.....
13 Oct 2005 .Saw Doctors live at The Bush Hall ,
London.What a superb venue this is . Holds only
250 people and its only 2 mins walk from my home.
I was last here a year ago for the REM secret gig.
Saw Doctors are one of Irelands top live bands .
My parents come from Galway so as most of their
lyrics are based around West Of Ireland themes
it helps if you know the area and most of the
crowd look like they have a bit of Irish in them.
This was a low key gig to promote their new album
"The Cure" which comes out next week . They play
a fun filled 1 hour 45 mins set full of great
tracks like " N17" , "Tommy K " and "Clare Island " and a few off the new album .As always
there is a good time party atmosphere when they
play and there is plenty of dancing down front.
Encore included a mad cover of Pussycat Dolls
"Dont Cha" . The Saw Doctors return for a full UK
Christmas tour including a Shepherds Bush Empire
gig on Dec 10 .Great show in a great venue........
12 Oct 2005. Glen Matlock live at The Strongroom
Bar , London EC2 . Another really good acoustic
show by The Sex Pistols legend. This time its a
very trendy venue in Shoreditch . 55 mins set
full of great solo material like "On Something" ,
"Whose Side Are You On " ,"Ambition" ," Idiot"
and classics like " Stepping Stone " , " Ghosts Of Princes And Towers " and Pistols anthems "God
Save The Queen" and " Pretty Vacant " . Glen on
top form and the crowd loved it ...........
Monday was a superb day for me starting with the Q Awards at lunchtime then off to the Q Awards aftershow party for a couple of hours then a secret gig by rock legends Deep Purple later
at a small London venue , read on ...........
10 Oct 2005 .Q Awards At Grosvenor House Hotel , Park Lane , London.
Along with the MOJOs this awards bash always gets
lots of quality talent old and new turning up.
550 here with 500 seated and 50 standing in this
lovely 5 star venues ballroom.
Hosted again by a very funny Jonathan Ross there
were 17 awards given out .Here are most of the names who were here to present , receive or just
have the lovely 3 course meal and free booze.
Oasis ,Coldplay,Jimmy Page ,Paul Weller, Yoko Ono,
James Blunt, Bjork ,New Order , Ray Davies ,
Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz) ,Robin Gibb(Bee Gees),Sparks ,Richard Ashcroft, Nick Cave ,Ian
McCulluch(Echo And The Bunnymen) ,Charlotte
Church , MIA, Prodigy , Chris Evans ,Elbow ,
Micheal Eavis (Glastonbury Festival) ,Hard Fi ,
KT Tunstall ,Magic Numbers, Grant (Feeder), JEM,
Sugababes , Sharlene (Texas) ,Trevor Horn ,Robert
Wyatt .The main winners were Oasis ,Coldplay ,
Paul Weller ,Bee Gees and Yoko Ono accepted a
special award for John Lennon. Excellent stuff.
5pm The awards finish and they lay on cars and
cabs to drive us to the aftershow party at
Destino nightclub ,off Regent Street. This is a
fantastic building that used to be the Mexican
Embassy and has amazing carpets and tiling on
all levels.More free booze and food here with somw DJs.
As usual not many of the artists bother with this
but James Blunt and Sparks are here and Luke
Morley from Thunder is here .Have a good couple
of hours here then off to the next event.....
10 Oct 2005. Deep Purple + Rooster live at The
Hard Rock Cafe , London. When this was first
mentioned to me i said "no chance" but yep
here they are to play at the relaunch party for
The Hard Rock Cafe after the fire in July. It is
totally rammed in here as the venue only holds
300 . Rooster play a decent set but its cooler to
watch them from the outside champagne bar .
We are down the front for Deep Purple though .
An amazing "in yer face" 60 mins 10 song set.
Ian Gillan bare foot and sweating buckets. It
was pretty special to see them in this tiny place best known for burgers and fries.
While the venue is totally rocking there are not
many real Deep Purple fans here to witness this
one off event as the clubs PR people have kept
it to media and i even spotted a couple of Big
Brother twats here .(Deep Purple fans? NOT!).
Setlist was Fireball ,I Got Your Number, Strange
Kinda Woman , Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye , Rapture
Of The Deep , Wrong Man , Lazy , Perfect Strangers, Highway Star and Smoke On The Water .
Set included a couple of songs from new album
"Rapture Of The Deep " . This was the first date
of a year long world tour which will include
another London show on Jan 17 .A great night
and they even gave us a Hard Rock goodie bag
at the end with T shirts and stuff ........
09 Oct 2005. Small Faces Fan Convention, Marquee
Club , London.This venue has struggled to get
decent bands and decent sized crowds since it
reopened earlier this year but tonight is a 500
punter sell out. Half a dozen tribute bands do
good sets of all the SF great songs but the main
event is the guests who turn up .Buzzcock Steve
Diggle does one track , Sex Pistol Glen Matlock
does four tracks and r n b great Chris Farlowe
does a couple . A good evening...........
08 Oct 2005. Donny Osmond live at Hammersmith Apollo , London.First of all let me make it clear
these were guest list freebie tickets. A mainly
female crowd here tonight to see this 1970s teen
idol.A nice stage production with walkways and
three giant video screens showing 1970s footage.
On stage for two hours over two sets with a decent mix of old and new songs along with a
couple of covers . "Love Me For A Reason " ,
"Puppy Love " ,"One Bad Apple " , "Let Me In "
and rocktastic encores of " Soldier Of Love"
and the mega "Crazy Horses" . Enjoyable show and
i would rather watch Donny Osmond live than
warm acoustic rock crap like David Gray or James
Blunt to be honest........
05 Oct 2005. M People live at Hammersmith Apollo ,
London. They were one of the UKs biggest dance
acts in the early 1990s but this is their first
UK tour for 5 years . From the start the crowd
are all up and dancing themselves silly .Singer
Heather Small looks stunning and her voice is just
superb and the band sound great . " Excited " ,
"Angel Street" , "One Night In Heaven" ,"Open Your
Heart " were all fab . Highlight of the evening
was Heathers solo single anthem " Proud" . What
an incredibly emotive song that is no matter how
many times you hear it."Sight For Sore Eyes " and
"How Can I Love You More " kept the punters on
their feet. Encores of " Search For The Hero" and
their cover of Small Faces " Itchycoo Park "
went down a treat before " Moving On Up " their
biggest hit . A really enjoyable evening.......
04 Oct 2005 . Classic Rock Mag Awards at The Cafe De Paris , London. This was the first ever awards
event by this much loved by me rock monthly. .
Only 220 here on 22 tables of 10 .7pm drinks reception .8pm 3 course dinner and drinks.
10pm 12 awards are given out .Midnight finish. There are hundreds of bands that should
have been here .For starters theres no Iron Maiden ,no Def Leppard ,no Sabbath etc
and even Judas Priest and Billy Idol(best comeback) are not here to collect their awrds.
Still there are some big names here like Deep Purple, Jimmy Page ,Ian Hunter, Arthur
Brown ,Motorhead ,Mick Box(Uriah Heep) ,Chris Squire (Yes) ,Phil Manzernera (Roxy Music),
Scott Gorham(Thin Lizzy) and others like Ross Halfin, Geoff Barton, Howard Marx ,Peter
Stringfellow and nice to see familiar faces here from behind the scenes from rock
promoters Clear Channel and rock band booking agents ITB and Neil Warnocks The Agency
(Neil is married to 1970s singer Linda Lewis who is also here tonight) and the gang from
Sanctuary who have signed up nearly every old rocker in the last couple of years.
It was a pretty tame affair with highlights being Arthur Brown wildly jumping out of his
wheelchair to collect his Best Showman award .
Hero of the night Lemmy won The Living Legend Icon
award then he played an acoustic song to this
jaded crowd who were visibly bored while he strummed away .A small goodie bag at the end
which included a Motorhead album and a couple of bottles of Jagermeister (its really horrible).
Most of the award winners are now
aged over 50 but it was really great to see them here and hopefully next year will be
bigger and better................
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19 Nov 2005. Motorhead live at Brixton Academy ,
London. This was Motorheads 30th anniversary tour. I was there in 1975 to see Motorhead play
their second ever gig supporting Blue Oyster Cult
at Hammersmith Odeon and have seen them some 30
times since then. A couple of months ago Lemmy
won the "Living Legend Icon " from Classic Rock
Mag Awards and rightly so he is a legend . From
the start he snarls WE ARE MOTORHEAD AND WE PLAY
ROCK AND ROLL and they do for the next 90 mons.
The usual loud distorted sound is a bit muddy
and the set list chosen is not as good as it could have been. "Metropolis " ," No Class " and
"RAMONES " are all good and we get stunning
versions of " Killed By Death" and encores "Ace
Of Spades" and " Overkill" but overall the show
was not as good as recent Ham Apollo shows.......
18 Nov 2005. Starsailor live at Brixton Academy,
London. This was the last show of the UK tour to
promote new album " On The Outside" .Starsailor
seem to have been nudged out of the way by Keane
and Embrace who have came along after them and
have pretty much the same sound. They have some
great songs like "Alcoholic" ,"Poor Misguided Fool" ,"Fever" ,"In The Crossfire" ,"Four To The
Floor" and the superb " Good Souls" . Singer
James Walsh tries to inject some excitement where
he can . Good encore of " Silence Is Easy " . A
decent 85 mins set of neat tunes but still lacking that real wow factor live .............
16 Nov 2005 . UK Music Hall Of Fame Awards at
Alexandra Palace ,London. This was the second time
this has taken place with another 10 legend
inductees Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd , The Who,
The Kinks ,Aretha Franklin, Joy Division/New Order,Bob Dylan ,Jimi Hendrix ,Eurythmics and John
Peel .Some played ,some just turned up but a great
night of quality .Up first we had Jamie Cullum
and a couple of singers playing a tribute to
Aretha Franklin who accepted the award by video
as she is still has a fear of flying.Bob Geldof
introduced Eurythmics who played "Missionary
Man" and " Sweet Dreams" .All acts were very loud
and full of live energy. Mitch Mitchell
looked like he had spent the afternoon in the pub
as he slurred and messed up his Jimi speech.
Then Mitch Mitchell , Slash ,Steve Winwood and Billy Cox played " Stone Free " and " Hey Joe"
which was under rehearsed but great.Ray Davies
inducted The Who and Pete collected it but Roger
Daltrey was not here.Actor Woody Harrelson
inducted Bob Dylan and Alanis Morissette played a
couple of songs inc " Blowing In The Wind". Great
to see New Order do "Regret" and " Love Will Tear
Us Apart" .Soccer legend Geoff Hurst inducted
The Kinks who were all here and The Pretenders
played two Kinks songs " Stop Your Sobbing" and
"Waterloo Sunset" .Pete Townsend inducted Pink
Floyd .Dave Gilmour and Nick Mason collected it and Roger Waters gave a live video link speech
from Rome where he is writing an opera.Angus
Young introduced Ozzy Osbourne Band and they did a
stunning " Crazy Train" .Brian May then introduced
all four members of Sabbath and they then played
a brilliant " Paranoid" with Ozzy dropping his
trousers to fire the crowd up. Sabbath and John
Peel got the biggest ovations on the night.
Finale of " Ever Fallen In Love " with Buzzcocks,
Datsuns, El Presidente, Peter Hook and Jamie
Cullum finished off an amazing evening of real
music legends and exclusive live performances...
.........................
14 Nov 2005.Preview of Take Thats TV Doc "For The
Record" at Coronet Cinema , Notting Hill Gate.
Some of the stuff i get invited to is kinda odd.
Take That were never my cup of tea but in the
1990s they sold millions of records to teenage
girls. This TV doc is screened on ITV1 Wed 9pm.
The music is mainly rubbish but the sad and
funny quotes are great tv. Singer Gary Barlow
got a lot of stick but check out the size of his
mansion in Cheshire.Robbie is of course now massive and it shows them then and now .Robbie
was away in LA but all four other members are
here for the hordes of photographers. All 400
people went along to 201 Kensington Church Street
Bar where for a couple of hours SONY BMG dished
out plenty of free booze and food .So a good night and the TV doc is well worth watching.....
11 November 2005 . Billy Idol live at Brixton
Academy, London.I must admit i was really looking for to this show as it was Billy Idols
first London gig for 12 years.It started great
with " Devils Playground" , "Dancing With Myself"
and " Flesh For Fantasy" .Catchy rock pop with
lashings of guitar. Billy Idol is now aged 50 but
looks amazing. Lean ,blonde and tanned he looks
20 years younger. "White Wedding" and " Scream"
were superb .Things were slowed down for " Eyes
Without A Face" and " Sweet Sixteen" .New tracks
"Plastic Jesus" and "Rat Race " went down well.
Old hits " Ready Steady Go" and "Rebel Yell" were
mega. More hits in the encores "Hot In The City"
"Kiss Me Deadly" and " Mony Mony" . On stage
for 2 hours 15 mins it was a pretty amazing show
and just great to see this old punk rocker at
heart still doing the business nearly 30 years
after i first saw him on stage.Excellent gig.
See aftershow page for this show............
10 November 2005. New Order live at Brixton
Academy ,London. Along with a Manchester show
next Monday these were warm ups for the UK Hall
Of Fame mega event next week at the Ally Pally.
A superb 90 mins set of Joy Division and New Order songs like " Crystal" ,"Krafty"
"Transmission" , " True Faith "
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" ,
"Temptation" and the brilliant "Blue Monday" .
Hooky on bass is the star of the show as usual
with his low slung bass down by his knees and
those amazing bass riffs. Stunning encores of
JD " Shadowplay" and " Shes Lost Control" .
Excellent show by these Mancunian legends.......
09 November 2005. Tatler "Little Black Book Party" at Baglionis Hotel ,Kensington, London.
A massive party for this upmarket mag for Londons
"most eligible singles" which translates into
mummy and daddy have loads of dosh.Top quality
food and free booze with loads of stunning women
in their designer dresses .DJs downstairs. Had
a great chat with Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran .
300 guests and a finish well after 2am.
Massive goodie bag with £200 worth of stuff inc
Chopard perfume. Quite a night...........
08 November 2005. Sinead Oconnor with Sly and
Robbie live at Shepherds Bush Empire,London.
On paper this gig looked very promising. Sinead
has recorded an album of reggae tunes by artists
like Burning Spear and Peter Tosh in Jamaica
and has adopted the Rastafarian faith. She still
has the short hair and sings in bare feet. While
the band are fantastic and Sinead clearly loves
the music she is unconvincing singing these
reggae tunes and a cover of " Rivers Of Babylon"
was ill advised.Those expecting a couple of old
hits at the end were left wanting. The 90 mins
set just never got out of first gear and really
should have been a lot better........
The Black Crowes play their first UK shows for a
few years at Shepherds Bush Empire March 18 and 19.Tickets go on sale this Friday..........
06 November 2005.Sex Pistols Party To Celebrate
30 Years Anniversary Of First Ever Gig, St Martins College Of Art ,London. How many bands
could have a party this size just to celebrate
their first gig?? The answer is none because not
The Who , Rolling Stones or even The Beatles have
had anything like this .500 invited guests for
an eveniung of free booze and a nod to celebrate
the worlds greatest rock n roll band ever.
6.45pm in the VIP room on the 7th floor Pistols
bassist Glen Matlock unveils a blue plaque for
the press and a few guests. 7pm onwards the main
crowd are let in .We have a few DJs and a couple
of up and coming bands play live sts. Comaneche
with their female Japanese drummer are ok and
upstarts The Paddingtons do a frenzied set.
Mad pissed up dancing down the front for some.
They are joined by Glen Matlock at the end for
a mad version of " Pretty Vacant" .Other guests
here inc Chris and Koozie from Glens band , Marco
(Adam And The Ants guitarist) ,Rodent (pistols
roadie) ,Patti Palladin, The Towers Of London ,Julien
Temple and Tony Barber(Buzzcocks) .A great night
and well done to everyone involved in putting
on this great event ............
06 November 2005.Top Of The Pops at The BBC TV
Centre ,White City, London. Afternoon show.
My first visit to what is still the biggest music
tv show in the world as it goes out to dozens of countries.They are half a dozen acts here as they
are recording stuff for two shows .Guest presenters here today are Sharon Osbourne and
Anastacia .Luckily there are two great acts in the house The Eurythmics and Stevie Wonder .
The Eurythmics are up first and they run through
great new single "I've Got A Life" twice. Both
Dave and Annie look super smart all in black.
New album " The Ultimate Collection" is out now.
Next new band Kubb play " Wicked Soul" . This band have come out of nowhere and congrats to
their management team who have got them on Jools
Holland and TOTP in the same week . They now play
support on The Starsailor UK tour.Next we get
the legend Stevie Wonder in London for the first
time in 10 years or so .SW and his great band play 3 new songs and 60 seconds of " Isnt She
Lovely " with his daughter helping out on vocals.
Anastacia then runs through her song twice.
Off camera she is very funny i must say . By
the time Il Divo and Sugababes do their tracks i
am exhaused by the heat of the studio lights
but it was a good afternoon ...............
05 November 2005.Four Tops + Temptations live at
The Royal Albert Hall,London.Double bill of
Motown legends . Both acts did an hour each of
their biggest hits. Lots of well known tunes that this crowd sang and danced along too and both the acts had slick dance routines.
Up first were Temptations with "Aint Too Proud
To Beg" ,"Just My Imagination" ,"Papa Was A
Rolling Stone","I Cant Get Next To You","Get
Ready " ,"Treat Her Like A Lady","My Girl" .
After the interval the Four Tops did most of
their classics too like "Loco In Acapulco" ,
"Bernadette" ,"Its The Same Old Song" ,"Walk Away
Renee" , "When She Was My Girl" ,"Reach Out I'll
Be There" and " I Cant Help Myself" . So a good
night of classic songs .I think both acts have
still got one or two original members.........
03 November 2005. Glen Matlock And The Philistines
live at The Rhythm Factory ,London.We are spoilt
in London as these days you can see this Sex
Pistols legend every month live in the capitol.
Another superb 10 song set lasting 45 mins but
with a twist .This time they opened with "Pretty
Vacant " and encored with " God Save The Queen" .
This was the first time ever this line up had
played "GSTQ " in the UK .Mixed in with great solo
album tracks like " Piece Of The Action" and "White Knuckle Ride" it was another great gig
by a very underated rock n roll band..........
02 November 2005 .The Towers Of London + The Rifles live at The 100 Club , London. Support
band did a decent set of songs with a mod slant.
It was only a matter of time before TOL would
play this venue made famous by their heroes The
Sex Pistols.From the start they are climbing all
over the eqiupment and the photographers flee
for their own safety as singer Danny twirls the
microphone wildly in a Roger Daltrey style .The
40 mins 10 song set is non stop uptempo catchy
rock n roll like "On A Noose" , "Air Guitar"
" Fuck It Up " ,"How Rude She Was " ,"Good Time"
and "Im A Rat " . There is no need for an encore
as the band have put more energy in their short
set than most bands who play for two hours.
Tonight we get totally blown away by rock n roll.
Young , loud and snotty and when the debut album
comes out in 2006 just watch them fly............
01 November 2005 .Simply Red live at The Royal
Albert Hall , London. This was the third of four
sell out RAH shows for this band who were huge in 1980s. There are 23 people on stage inc Mick
and the 12 piece string section and they are all
pushed to the front to create an intimate feel.
The first half of the 1 hour 40 mins show is
based on unplugged songs from their new album
"Simplified" .Mick Hucknalls voice is superb as
usual as strolls through "For Your Babies" ,
"Home " and " Holding Back The Years" . Then its
the uptempo tunes as the crowd rise to their feet. "The Right Thing" ,"Stars" ,"Its Only Love" ,"Night Nurse " and " A New Flame " are all
really good. Excellent encores of " Fairground" ,
"Something Got Me Started " and a mega version
of " If You Dont Know Me By Now " brought the house down. Yep the ginger one has still got it............
31 October 2005. Sex Pistols Films , Brixton
Ritzy , London. Tonight was the first time ever
that these two Pistols films were shown on the
same evening (Rock n Roll Swindle and The Filth
And The Fury) . Both are brilliant in their own
ways. As both are on DVD already the turnout was
not great .Only about 40 punters in a cinema
holding 160 but its always neat to see them up
on the big screen. At the end director of both
flms Julien Temple did a 30 mins Q and A which
went down well . For a big Pistols fan like me a
superb evening ................
30 Octocer 2005.Shakira live at The Hackney
Empire , London.One of South Americas biggest
stars flies in for a secret gig for MTV to
promote her new album "Oral Fixation Vol 2 " .
This old theatre is truly superb and should be
used more in live music starved East London.
500 punters total,400 MTV comp winners in stalls
and 100 guests and VIPS in the balcony. Shakira
is a totally natural stunner who dances great.
The songs are simple catchy pop rock like
"Underneath Your Clothes" and " Dont Bother"
along with newies like " "Illegal" .There were
two sets of 40 mins and 20 mins with a 5 mins
break . A couple of songs were played twice.
Not a proper pyro fuelled show like the Wembley
Arena gig but it was great to be part of this
small crowd where everyone was within yards of
the stage. See aftershow page for this gig......
29 October 2005.Dead Men Walking live at The
Shepherds Bush Empire , London. From the start
the band are all revved up for this London show
as its nearing the end of their UK tour. The
sound is even better than the Bristol gig a few
days ago . The setlist is pretty much the same
as then with all those Damned, Alarm ,Stray Cats
and Spear Of Destiny classics one after the other in the set lasting over 90 mins . Kirk
Brandons vocals are superb ,Captain Sensibles
on stage comedy banter is great , Slim Jim looks fab and Mike Peters is working as hard as ever.
Damned singer Dave Vanian was here but sadly did
not come on for encore as planned . Anyway it did not matter as it was another great night from
the DMW gang .See aftershow page..............
28 October 2005. Nils Lofgren live at Shepherds
Bush Empire , London. Nils has had a special
relationship with UK fans ever since
he first came over here as part of Neil Youngs
Crazy Horse Band in 1973 thru his solo years
where i caught a few of those legendary shows
with the trampoline on stage and of course for
the last 20 years has been part of Bruce Springsteens E Street Band as well . Tonight its
a show with Nils on acoustic guitar , electric
guitar and piano helped out by Buck Brown on
piano and guitar .In this setting Nils guitar
playing is simply stunning and the vocals are
crystal clear . A long set lasting 2 hours 20 mins was full of gems like "Cry Tough" and "Keith
Dont Go " mixed in with a few covers like a
brilliant "Because The Night" . Great finale of
"No Mercy " and " Shine Silently " brought the
house down .A really good show . Nils is in the
UK on tour until Nov 4 and releases albums via
his excellent website www.nilslofgren.com.......
26 October 2005 .Status Quo DVD launch at The
Marquee Club, London .6pm to 9.30pm. Thankfully
there are more Quo fans than media here tonight.
Lots of free booze and food for the 250 or so
here.Great atmosphere .7.30pm=They played 30 mins
clips of the DVD ranging from gig footage in the
60s and 70s to the recent Guildford Festival gig
and their "acting "slots on Coronation Street tv.
8pm =DJ Kid Jensen did an interview on stage with
Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt as the rest of the
band watched from the balcony .Very funny as you would expect. After the interview Francis left
for home pronto but Rick and other band members
chatted and happily posed for photos etc. Nice
event and the DVD "The Party Aint Over Yet - 40
Years Of Status Quo" is in the shops Nov 7 ......
BB King and Gary Moore tour uk arenas in 2006 in
a great blues double bill .They play Wembley
Arena on 04 April. Tickets on sale Oct 28.......
24 October 2005 . Dead Men Walking live at The Bristol Academy.A rainy old day trip to Bristol.
For this tour DMW have again used the rotation
system .This time Captain Sensible (Damned) has
replaced Glen Matlock(Sex Pistols). So we get
loads of great songs by Damned, Alarm , Stray Cats and Spear Of Destiny with the other members
being Mike Peters, Slim Jim Phantom and Kirk
Brandon. Great songs like " New Rose" , "Rock
This Town" ," Strength" , "Mickey" , "Glad Its
All Over" ,"Never Take Me Alive" , "Spirit Of 76" , "Rumble In Brighton" ,"45 RPM" , "Stray Cat
Strut" , "Westworld" ,"68 Guns" ," Smash It Up" ,
"Runaway Boys" and superb encores of " Something
Else" ,"I Fought The Law" , "Happy Talk" ,"Neat
Neat Neat " and " Fight For Your Right To Party" . Captain Sensible of course brought his
comedy antics tp proceedings which the crowd
loved . An excellent show and the London show in
a few days promises to be even better.
DMW return to Londons Shepherds Bush Empire on
Sat 29 Oct 2005 at 8pm Tickets £15 .Should be a
good one as a couple of special guests are expected .See you there ............
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08 December 2005. Mercury Rev live at Shepherds
Bush Empire , London. One off UK show for MR at
the end of their European Tour to support latest
album" The Secret Migration" . From the start its
all very art rock with floaty images on the big
screen behind them. The singer looks like he has
taken a bunch of happy pills as he smiles lots.
Grand arm gestures also feature to every song.
Starts off great with " Secret For A Song" and
the songs still have the feel of a grand movie
soundtrack. Stunning encores of " Little Rhymes"
and the perfect " The Dark Is Rising" .Good show
............
06 December 2005. Slaughter And The Dogs live at
The Camden Underworld ,London.Mancunian punk rock
legends back for a long overdue London club show.
I first saw them nearly 30 years ago when punk rock first kicked off .They still have two
original members (Wayne Barrett on vocals and
Mick Rossi on guitar) .Great tunes like " Who Are
The Mystery Girls" ,"You're A Bore" , "Hell In New York" ,"Boston Babies","I'm Mad" and the mega
"Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone" .Stunning
encore of " Cranked Up Really High" . Onstage
for only 52 minutes but it was pure quality.
Glen Matlock(Sex Pistols),Tony James (Gen X ),and
Tony Barber(Buzzcocks) all attended this show....
05 December 2005. Paul Weller live at Alexandra
Palace, London. Some 30 years in and still going
strong. In Feb 2006 Paul Weller will get the
"Outstanding Contribution" award at this years
BRIT awards .Tonight was a long set lasting some
2 hours 15 mins which was a bit too long really.
The best songs were " From The Floorboards Up" ,
" Wild Wood" ," You Do Something To Me " and a
stunning " Thats Enterainment" ." Broken Stones"
and " Changingman" were also really good. For the
encore Tim Burgess stumbled on and sang with PW
on piano but the tune was just plain boring .
" Shout To The Top" and " Town Called Malice "
were great but the show was not as good as his
Hammersmith Apollo shows earlier in the year....
04 December 2005. Robert Plant And The Strange
Sensation live at Hammersmith Palais, London.
After shows at Royal Albert Hall , V Festval and
Scala this was the fourth time this year i have
seen this Led Zep legend play during his world
tour to support the " Mighty Rearranger " album.
All the shows had a few Led Zep classics mixed
in with the new album which grows on you after a few plays. Led Zeps " Black Dog" and " Going To California " were superb. A very trippy cover of
" Hey Joe " was cool. Stunning encore of " Whole
Lotta Love " finished the 95 mins set. Robert
still has that great voice and he continues to
do his own thing with his own band rather
than take the Led Zep reunion path so respect is
due.................
03 December 2005 .Sensational Alex Harvey Band
live at The Mean Fiddler, London. Massive in the
1970s SAHB still going strong with four original
members although sadly the singer died some 20
years ago. All those great songs are still here
"Faithealer " ,"Next " , " Framed" ,"Give My
Compliments To The Chef" ," Gang Bang" and mega
encores of "Boston Tea Party" ,"Delilah " and
" Vambo" . Really good show even though the singer rambled on at times and it lacked the
raw sweatiness of last years Underworld show.
See aftershow page for this show........
02 December 2005. Stranglers live at Shepherds
Bush Empire , London. This gig was a must for
Stranglers fans as it featured a unique acoustic
set then a Stranglers film , an electic set and
it would all be recorded for a future DVD release
as well. Venue is sold out.The 30 mins acoustic
set was decent enough then a 20 mins film called
"Norfolk Coast " starring JJ Burnel was a bit weird.Stranglers did a good 80 mins elecric set
but there were a few too many plodding tunes .
Best were "Peaches" ,"Always The Sun" ,"Walk On By" a fantastic " Duchess " and last song " No More Heroes " was mega. It seemed a fairly average show or what is the fact the night before
i witnessed that amazing Prodigy show that could
make any band look average................
01 December 2005. Prodigy + DJs live at The
Brixton Academy, London.Its been a few years
since i saw Prodigy indoors as they seem to be
playing festivals every summer these days. This
was the first of 5 sell out shows at Brixton as
part of the UK tour to support "Their Law - The
Singles 1990-2005" album. The djs do a great job
of winding the crowd up with some spot on tunes.
For 90 mins its pure mayhem as Prodigy deliver
a stunning 90 mins set to a totally up for it
crowd.From the start Keith and Maxim are at the
front of the stage and in the front rows.The
assault of the bass and drums when they kick in
just totally rocks harder than most metal bands.
"Firestarter" and " Wake The Fuck Up" knock you
for six as did " Voodoo People" .The encore
featured a mad " Smack My Bitch Up " with massive
multi colour lights a blazing. Superb show.
See aftershow page for this show..........
30 November 2005 .Franz Ferdinand + Editors live
at Alexandra Palce , London. This was the first
of an impressive four nights by FF at this 7,000 punters a night venue . Up first The Editors
do a good set and go down well with the crowd.
FF are promoting their second album" You Could
Have Had It All So Much Better". The band look sharp and play super tight as they have been
playing arenas all over Europe the last month.
From the start its really good "This Boy" , "Come
On Home" and " Do You Want To " are all great
punchy pop tunes. The three giant video screens
are used to great effect as they project a mix
of black and white gig footage with band videos.
" Matinee " and " Take Me Out" were both mega.
New single " Walk Away " is excellent. " Michael"
" Jacqueline" and last song " This Fire " rocked.
80 mins of quality material .............
29 November 2005. "Hard Rock Treasures" DVD
Launch at The Hard Rock Cafe, London. Invite only
bash for 100 people to promote this great just
released DVD which features lots of classic rock
clips and footage of the stars in their homes.
Lots of big names here like Bruce Dickenson ,
Adrian Smith and Janick Gers all from Iron
Maiden , Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, Ian Paice
from Deep Purple ,Huey from Fun Loving Criminals
and members of The Quireboys. Lots of free booze
and food for a couple of hours. A massive cheque
was presented to former Maiden drummer Clive Burr
who accepted in his wheelchair. An impressive
collection of rockers just for a DVD release.
Bruce Dickenson as always was keen to talk about
being a pilot. He now flies 757s when not working
with Maiden and his company have new routes to
South Africa and that is where he is flying to
at the weekend.Amazing how he can be a rocker
and a fully qualified commercial pilot.....
Of the 200 live music events i was at in 2004
the return of Canadian rockers Rush to play their
first shows in the UK for over 10 years was easily one of the highlights. 28 Nov 2005 sees
the 2 DVD release of RUSH - R30 which celebrates
their 30th anniversary world tour . Disc 1 has
the Frankfurt show from Sept 2004 .Over 2 hours
of Rush in full flight and Disc 2 is full of
rarities including 1970s footage and interviews.
A must buy for any rock fan..........
28 November 2005. 51st Evening Standard Theatre
Awards , Savoy Hotel ,The Strand, London.
This is more like it . Five star plushness .
Just 300 people here on 30 tables of 10.
Noon to 5pm. Respected annual awards from this
London newspaper . Champagne reception then a
superb 3 course meal with drinks .Ten awards are
given out with the highlight being Elton John
and cast are here to pick up Best Musical for
Billy Elliot. Hosted by Ned Sherrin others here
inc Alan Rickman,Felicity Kendal, Joseph Fiennes, Sinead Cussack, Alison Steadman, Gillian
Anderson, Damian Lewis ,Stephen Daldrey and David Furnish .More champagne after. Quality
event in this fantastic venue...........
26 November 2005. Damned + Wreckless Eric live
at The Kentish Town Forum, London. Great to see
original Stiff recording artist Wreckless Eric
on stage again but his material is less than average and the crowd soon gets bored with him.
His last song " Whole Wide World " was fab with
Captain Sensible joining him on the drums. The
Damned did a real return to form 85 mins set.
Original members Dave and Captain are still here
and the crowd are jumping around front of stage
"Noise,Noise,Noise" ,"Neat Neat Neat " ,"Eloise",
"Smash It Up" ," Love Song" were all superb and
the newer material was good as well. For the
encore Captain was dressed in a two piece tutu
as he sneaked in " Happy Talk" and the band
finished with a wild " New Rose" .Great stuff........
23 November 2005. Blondie live at The Royal Albert
Hall ,London. Another month long UK tour by
Blondie who are flogging yet another best of
"Sight And Sound" and celebrating 30 years as a
band .They still include four original members.
Deborah Harry stills looks great for her age and
is wearing a short skirt. Her age is now 60.
"Dreaming " and "Hanging On The Telephone " are
both superb and Clem Burkes drumming is stunning.
They play a few newer songs which are good but its
clear this crowd want the hits." Maria" and the
gentle reggae of "The Tide Is High" are very good.
The tempo is upped for the second half of the show
with " Picture This" ,"Call Me" and the disco
rap of"Rapture"and a rocktastic " One Way Or
Another" .Superb encores of "Atomic" and "Heart
Of Glass " . A really good show but i think they
are better suited to smaller venues like Shepherds
Bush Empire. See aftershow page for this gig......
21 November 2005. Status Quo live at Fairfield
Hall , Croydon. When Quo play the giant tent
that is Wembley Arena Pavillion on 17 Dec i will
be at The Foo Fighters at Earls Court so it
seemed much better to venture into outer South
London to see them in a much smaller venue like The Fairfield Hall. All are up from the start and
we end up with an amazing view a couple of rows
from the stage. Quo are in the middle of their
annual six week UK winter tour .A lot of the
crowd seem to be of senior persons bus pass age
but Quo appeal to all generations as a great good
time party band . The band are having a laugh and that reaches the crowd. Loads of classics
like " Caroline" , "Rain" then a few from their
last two albums " Heavy Traffic" and "The Party
Aint Over" . More hits like "Roll Over Lay Down",
"Whatever You Want" and of course " Rocking All
Over The World" .Encore of a couple of rock n roll covers .1 hour 40 mins of enjoyable good
time entertainment ............
20 November 2005 .Antony And The Johnsons live at St Lukes Church ,Old Street,London EC1.
This was an invite only show for 400 comp winners
and BBC guests to be shown on BBC TV in a couple of weeks. What a beautiful building this is .
It is a church on the outside but its been
gutted inside and fully modernised into a venue
that the BBC use for classical concerts by LSO
so there are tables and chairs everywhere and
a dozen mirror balls hanging from the ceiling.
Antony of course is hot property after winning
the Mercury Prize album award a couple of months
ago . The 80 mins set was based on his album and
a couple of covers by Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed.
His voice of course is remarkable and unique and
he also plays a mean piano.Great to see Marc
Almond back on stage to sing "River Of Sorrow"
which will appear on Marcs new album. Another
great event put on by auntie beeb .
Antonys UK tour includes 2 sell out shows at The
Shepherds Bush Empire in December............
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Well here it is my top 20 shows in 2005 out of
the 200 events i attended in another great year
which takes my gig total to 4479 since 1973......
1.Live 8 Concert At Hyde Park on July 02 with
Paul McCartney ,Pink Floyd,Who,Robbie etc .......
2.Live 8 Rehearsals at Hyde Park on July 01 with
Pink Floyd ,Madonna , Sting ,Paul McCartney .....
3.U2 At Croke Park ,Dublin on June 27 .This was the final show of three massive hometown shows...
4.Black Sabbath At Aylesbury Civic Hall on June 6
Download Festival warm up show for only 800....
5.Iron Maiden live at Hammersmith Apollo on Sept 2 . Back in the venue they loved in the 1980s....
6.Foo Fighters at Earls Court Arena on Dec 17....
7.Prodigy at Brixton Academy on Dec 01...........
8.Billy Idol at Brixton Academy on Nov 11........
9.Rammstein at Brixton Academy on Feb 03.........
10.Iggy Pop And The Stooges at Ham Apollo Aug 30.
11.Kylie Minogue at Earls Court Arena May 4......
12.Franz Ferdinand + Kaiser Chiefs RAH Apr 4.....
13.Judas Priest + Scorpions ,Birmingham NEC Mar19
....14.REM at Hammersmith Apollo on Feb 19.....
15.Cream at Royal Albert Hall on May 03..........
16.Duran Duran at Hammersmith Palais Jan 13......
17.Motley Crue + Killing Joke at Manchester MEN
Arena on June 15........
18.Paul McCartney Solo at Abbey Road July 29....
19.Deep Purple at Hard Rock Cafe on Oct 10......
20.Brian Wilson live at Hampton Court Palace on
june 22..........
I was at most of the UK music awards (BRITS ,NME,
MOJO, Ivor Norvello ,Classic Rock , Kerrang, Q ,
Metal Hammer ,UK Hall Of Fame ) and some of the
best festivals like V Fest and Reading..........
Some of the best bands i saw 2 or 3 times U2 at
Dublin , Manchester and Twickenham ....Oasis (3)
....Cream (all 4 RAH shows) ....Foo Fighters (3)
....Green Day (2 Ham Apollo) ....New Order (3)...
Judas Priest /Scorpions (4 London ,Birmingham,
Manchester)....Queen with Paul Rodgers (3)....
Kaiser Chiefs(3)....Manic Street Preachers (2)...
Stranglers(3)....Glen Matlock And The Philistines
(3)....Bruce Springsteen Solo(Both RAH shows)....
Billy Idol(2) ....Prodigy (2)....Iron Maiden(2)..
Black Sabbath (2) ....Paul Weller(3) ....Coldplay
(2)....Rod Stewart (3) ....Robert Plant And The
Strange Sensation (4) RAH, Scala ,V Festival and
Hammersmith Palais......
22 December 2005. Duran Duran live at Earls Court
Arena , London. Back again to see DD.
About 4000 empty seats out of 16000 tonight but
DD still perform another great show.The crowd is
not as wild as last night but Simon Le Bon is on
top form .Yesterday my review stated that their
version of John Lennons " Instant Karma" was
terrible and guess what?? they did not play it tonight.I have met keyboard player Nick Rhodes
at stuff a couple of times and told him about the
site so perhaps he saw the review on raysgigs.com
and told the boys .I doubt it but you never know.
Loads of great pop rock songs we all love.
Duran were really good again tonight.......
21 December 2005. Duran Duran + Orson live at
Earls Court Arena ,London. It amazes me how an
unknown band can get a big support gig like this.
Their manager must know the right people. Shame
then that support Orson are pretty much crap.
Duran Duran back again with all five original
members. Starts off great with " Friends Of Mine " , " Planet Earth" , "The Union Of The Snake" and " The Reflex" . The band all look great but there are 3 or 4 rubbish tunes like
" Point Of No Return " and a dreadful cover of John Lennons " Instant Karma" . Simon Le Bon
is having trouble reaching some of the high notes
and he forgets the lyrics a couple of times.
For some reason another band playing this huge
venue but there are no giant screens to show
the band only film images."Ordinary World " ,
" Skin Trade" ,"Notorious" , " Save A Prayer" ,and
" Sunrise " were all good but real highlights
were " Girls On Film " and " Rio" . Encores of
" View To A Kill " and " Wild Boys " complete
with fire cannons were an excellent finish to a
set that lasted just over 2 hours. Very good but
not as good as those mega Wembley Arena shows 18 months ago...............
20 December 2005. Rod Stewart live at Earls Court
Arena ,London.This was Rods 4th show here at this venue and the 3rd time i had seen it.As it
was the extra show there were 2000 unsold seats
out of the 16,000 available.Rod came on a bit
earlier but it was pretty much the same show as
i reviewed last week.Rod is a bit middle of the
road compared to those great shows i saw in the
late 1970s at Kensington Olympia
but there is still plenty of great songs
" Youre In My Heart" ," Sailing " ," Maggie May"
etc so a good night was had by all............
17/18 December 2005. Foo Fighters + Supergrass live at Earls Court Arena ,London.I went to both
these fantastic shows by Foo Fighters.Supergrass
supported on the second night but even though
they played lots of good tunes like "Moving" ,
"Grace" ,"Sun Hits The Sky" ,"Caught By The Fuzz"and a lively " Pumping On Your Stereo" they
only get mild applause from the crowd. The Foo
Fighters are one of those bands that always do
great shows whatever the venue. Dave Grohl has
that great stage personality that the likes of Kelly Jones would die for . The kids love him.
He really does get the crowd going
So many great songs in the 1 hour 40mins set like
"My Hero" , "Best Of You" ," Learn To Fly" ,
"Times Like These" ," One By One" ,
"Stacked Actors" ,"Generator" and a stunning
" Breakout" .As promised its a full monty stage
production with lasers and big screens .The only
difference between shows was Dave Grohl did a song in the middle of the arena by the mixing
desk on the first night but did not do it the
second night." Monkey Wrench " was mental.
Encore featured Dave playing drums and a brilliant " All My Life" .Yep the Foos are one
of the best live rock bands in the world right
now............
17 December 2005 . Fatboy Slim live at Brixton
Academy ,London .After Foo Fighters i went over
to this midnight show by this dj superstar.I did
not go to Glastonbury Festival this year but i
watched the BBC TV footage and of all the acts
on Fatboy Slim was the one that impressed me most
so i had to see him live even though he is " just
a dj ".Arriving at the venue its fair to say a lot of the crowd were " off their tits" .Like
the Glasto set we get one of the most dazzling
light and film shows i have seen this year as
Fatboy is 20 feet up in the air surrounded by this visual treat . He was up there for 2 hours
30 mins playing mashed up versions of his own
stuff and others. "Rockafeller Skank" , "Billie
Jean" , " Sunshine Of Your Love" , "Seven Nation
Army " and " Praise You" etc . For the last 20
mins about 50 of his chums danced on the stage including his wife Zoe Ball who had come
straight from the " Come Dancing " final.
Very entertaining evening i must say ...........
16 December 2005. Stereophonics + Subways live at
Alexandra Palace, London. It amazes me how big
The Stereophonics are as a live band .A UK tour
only 3 months ago included 3 sell out Ham Apollo
shows and they are back again with a short tour
which included 2 nights at this large venue.
Up first though are young trio The Subways who
play a decent short set finishing with their
brilliant single " Rock And Roll Queen" .Their
foxy female bass player is yummy. I never caught
them at Ham Apollo as The Stereophonics are a
bit samey once you have seen them a couple of times. Kelly Jones voice gets on your nerves
and he looks pretty bored on stage tonight.
There are some good tunes like "Mr Writer" ,
" Bartender And The Thief" , " Maybe Tomorrow" ,
"Local Boy In The Photograph" . The encores of
" Just Looking " and " Dakota " were really good
but the 95 mins set was pretty average really
...........
14 and 15 December 2005 .Coldplay + Richard
Ashcroft live at Earls Court Arena , London.
I went to the first 2 shows of Coldplays 3
sold out nights here. Coldplay are at an amazing
level where their 3 albums have all sold a few million copies and all 3 have won top notch
awards and only last week " X + Y " was voted
best album of 2005 by Q music mag.First up though
is support Richard Ashcroft who plays some good
songs from his new album "Keys To The World" and
some great oldies " Lucky Man" ," Sonet" , " The
Drugs Dont Work" and a stunning " Bitter Sweet
Symphony" . Coldplay are very good with " Yellow"
(20 giant balloons dropped from the ceiling" ),
"Speed Of Sound" ,"Clocks " and new single "Talk"
all going down great. Encores included a superb
" In My Place" with Chris Martin singing the last
part of the song from the back of the venue.
Final song " Fix You " was pure class. They had
a screen behind them but for 75% of the show it
did not show band footage so that must have been
a nightmare for those at the back. The following
nights show was even better as both acts played a
couple of extra songs .Richard Ashcroft refused
to leave the stage after going over his alloted
time and performed a magical version of " Bitter
Sweet Symphony" . Coldplay also did a couple of
extra tracks including an acoustic version of
Madonnas " Hung Up " as Madonna was in the crowd
tonight. Very good pair of shows............
Sex Pistols legend John Lydon appears on The
Richard And Judy Show ,Channel 4 at 5pm on Friday
16 December for a rare tv interview where he will
be promoting his excellent MEGABUGS DVD ........
13 December 2005. Girls Aloud at The Trocadero ,
London. Another one of these parties where most of the 500 punters have paid £200 each for a
3 course meal , unlimited free booze , raffle ,
dodgem cars , magicians, celebrity
auction and disco until 2am and Girls Aloud.
Benefit night for " Help A London Child" .
The girls sing 5 songs to a backing time. They
come on just before midnight and are good fun.
" I'll Stand By You " and recent brill single
"Biology " go down a treat. Whatever you think of those reality shows these girls really have
got themselves the pop star life.......
11 December 2005. All Day Wasted Punk Festival .Rezillos + Dickies + Saints + Angelic
Upstarts + UK Subs live at The Astoria , London.
Sadly i missed Pork Dukes and 999 due to family
stuff but i still caught 5 of the 10 bands.
UK Subs always go down well as Charlie Harper
is a punk rocker that the kids relate to. His
age is like 60 but he is always going to see
other bands playing gigs and always says hello
to fans .By the time they play " Stranglehold"
the place is jumpimg....Next its Angelic Upstarts .Mensi the singer is up for it as usual
and they have some great songs like " Teenage
Warning" , "Last Night Another Soldier" and
"The Murder Of Liddle Towers " ... next its The
Saints and they go down like a lead balloon.
The sound is rubbish and the material is weak and even " I'm Stranded" sounds terrible. The
punters are just not interested in them at all...
Dickies are a bit too cartoon punk for me but
they go down a storm with the crowd with their
uptempo set of hits inc " Paranoid" , " Banana
Splits" and " Silent Night" ... last up its
The Rezillos and they are really good and much
better than their Morecombe set in the summer.
Fay Fife and Eugene are great fun to watch and
some good songs like "Top Of The Pops" , "Flying
Saucer Attack" , " Destination Venus" and
"Someones Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight " rock . So punk is still alive and kicking and remember HITS is in Blackpool in
August 2006. For more info and tickets check
www.holidaysinthesun.net ...................
09 and 10 December 2005 .Rod Stewart live at Earls Court Arena , London.I went to the first 2
shows of Rods 4 nights at this massive venue.
From the start the sound is not loud enough and
you can barely hear the guitars and i am only
20 yards from the stage. Two sets lasting 2 hours
10 mins with some 30 songs performed. Rod looks
great as he knocks out the hits " You Wear It Well" , " This Old Heart Of Mine" , " Young Turks" , "Some Guys Have All The Luck" , "Passion" ," Downtown Train " ,"First
Cut Is The Deepest" ,"Tonights The Night" ," Hot
Legs" ," Have I Told You Lately " were all in the
first set with plenty of crowd singalongs.
For the second set Rod is in crooner mode for
" The Great American Songbook " material but
thankfully he only plays 5 songs in total from them before its back to the Rod we know and love.
"You're In My Heart" and" I Dont Want To Talk About It" got the crowd really singing. Near
the end the balloons came down from the ceiling and Rod kicks out a dozen footballs as usual.
"Rhythm Of My Heart" and superb versions of "
Sailing " and " Maggie May " closed the main set
and " Baby Jane " was a good lively encore.
Totally excellent night out but it could have
been a bit more louder and rockier for sure.
For the first night i was in VIP Block 2 in the
same row as Rods girlfriend Penny Lancaster who
despite giving birth only 2 weeks ago looks
fantastic and is doing a fair bit of dancing.
In front of me was 1980s pop star Belinda Carlisle . The second night i was 4 rows from the
stage in Black A . Is there anything worse than seeing a concert from the back half of Earls Court Arena ??? What a terrible venue .....
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14 Feb 2006. Simple Minds live at The Astoria,
London. This was the second of 2 sell out Astoria
shows at the end of their UK tour before they
head over to Europe for a month of dates.They
start off with a few plodding songs from recent
album "Black And White 050505" that never rise
above average.But then those big anthems from the
1980s kick in and it gets much better with "Love Song","All The Things She Said" ,and superb
versions of "Waterfront " and " Dont You Forget
About Me " which took the roof off.Also very good
was "Someone Somewhere In Summertime" and encores
of " Glittering Prize" and "Alive And Kicking" .
Jim Kerr on top form and the band is still great
live even if the new songs are a bit tame........
13 Feb 2006.Coldplay live at Abbey Road Studios ,
London. This was an invite only event by Radio 2
for some 400 people (300 competition winners and
100 guests of Radio 2 and EMI).We are only 5 yards away from the band in this famous building
where The Beatles recorded their albums.Coldplay
are now one of the biggest bands in the world after all 3 of their albums have sold more than
5 million copies each. Chris Martin is on top
form as he jokes with the crowd between songs.
Lots of great songs in the 75 mins set like
"Politik","Yellow" ,"Dont Panic " and stunning
versions of " Clocks" ,"Talk" ,"In My Place " and
"Fix You" which they had to replay as the keyboard broke down during the song.Great show.
In the crowd watching were Kanye West, Michael
"Glastonbury" Eavis ,Jamie Cullum and Radio 2 djs
Paul Gambachini and Dermot Oleary...........
11 Feb 2006. The Gift live at The Garage ,London.
The Gift feature original Jam drummer Rick Buckler and its lovely to see him on stage again.
The band played a great 90 mins set of Jam classics with many having not been played by any
member of Jam for many years . The singer is a
Paul Weller lookalike and soundalike who does
a brill job of getting everyone down the front
and having a bop.One after the other they came
including " This Is The Modern World", " Mr Clean" ,"English Rose" ,"Thats Entertainment" ,"David Watts" , "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" , "Butterfly Collector" and " Eton Rifles" . The encores of
" Going Underground" and " Funeral Pyre " sent
the fans home happy. Really this a must see
show for any Jam fan .The band return to London
on 30 March at The Half Moon Putney and for other
info and uk dates check their website www.the-gift.info...........
10 Feb 2006. Glen Matlock And The Philistines
live at The Luminaire Club ,Kilburn ,London.
My first visit to this superb new club. Hardly
surprising its in Time Outs Top 5 list of best
new venues in London.Both supports were good.
Steranko have a mad singer in the Iggy Pop/John
Otway vein and Dirty Feel are are supertight
trio who rock with a slight funk edge. Their
drummer is the son of Steve Howe from YES.
Glen and his band are in top form .An excellent
55 mins set that started with "Pretty Vacant ".
" White Knuckle Ride" , " On Something" ,"OK Kiddo" and "Idiot " are all excellent. Two new
songs were played " Yeah Right " and " Somewhere
Somehow" .Stunning encores of " Burning Sounds"
and " God Save The Queen" .Great show........
09 Feb 2006. Goldfrapp live at Brixton Academy,
London. This was the first of 3 nights at Brixton
to support the album "Supernature" which
Madonna said was her fave album of 2005.Alison
Goldfrapp looks fab . The first half of the
80 mins set was good with "Train " a highlight .
Alison makes glam electro pop sound so sexy.
The four female dancers came on every few songs
for some dodgy dancing.The second half of the
show was fantasic as they played " Ride A White
Horse" and " Ooh La La " followed by a stunning
3 song encore of " Black Cherry " ,"Number 1 "
and " Strict Machine" .So it started good but it ended great .See aftershow news
for this gig.................
07 Feb 2006.The Darkness + Juliette And The Licks
live at Alexandra Palace, London. Support of
course is actress Juliette Lewis who does her
best to rock out. The band finish by butchering
the Van Halen classic "Aint Talkin Bout Love"
but the thought was nice. The knives are out for
The Darkness with most people hating them but
Classic Rock put their second album as "best
album of 2005" .Tonight the venue has about 5000
out of a possible 7/8,000 full house. Those that
stayed away missed a real treat as for 90 mins
the band put on a superb show. Opening with
singer Justin hovering over the crowd astride a
pair of giant plastic breasts for aptly titled opener "Knockers" . A full monty production with
non stop fireworks ,explosions and fire galore.
New songs " One Way Ticket To Hell And Back "
and " Is It Just Me?" were great rockers.
First album gems "Growing On Me" ,"Black Shuck" ,
"Get Your Hands Off My Woman" ," Friday Night"
and " I Believe In A Thing Called Love" were all
mega .Encores of " English Country Garden" and
" Bald " went down well as Justin was again
hoisted over the crowd as he played guitar upside
down. A couple of the second album tracks were
crap but overall a really entertaining show .
See aftershow party page for this gig..........
06 Feb 2006.Ordinary Boys live at HMV ,Oxford
Street ,London. Since they first got noticed a
couple of years ago its safe to say Ordinary Boys
have hardly set the world on fire.But since singer Preston came 4th in last weeks Celebrity
Big Brother there is renewed interest in the band.I remember seeing the band 18 months ago
and thinking they were " ordinary" . Tonight its
a free gig for 500 fans .Just 5 songs in 20 mins
but they have improved a lot .A nice mix of ska
and pop with some great songs like " Life Will Be
The Death Of Me" and current hit " Boys Will Be Boys" .The publicity from the show will mean
bigger gigs over the next months but after that
who knows??..........
04 Feb 2006. Thunder + Toby Jepson live at
Hammersmith Apollo ,London. A year ago i saw
Thunder play a sell out show at The Astoria.
This time they have doubled the size of the venue but the upstairs is closed due to unsold
tickets.Nice to see Toby Jepson playing again on
stage. He used to front Little Angels and he plays a few of their tunes and goes down well.
Thunder do a really good 1 hour 50 mins set of
their best stuff. Still flogging their last album
"The Magnificent Seventh" . Simple good time
catchy rock n roll is what we get. Danny the
singer is on great form ."Love Walked In " and
" I Love You More Than Rock And Roll " were both
excellent.Encore feat " A Better Man " then both
supports came on for a mad cover of Elton Johns
" Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting" and a
storming " Dirty Love" finished the set.........
03 Feb 2006. Waterboys live at Shepherds Bush Empire ,London.Its been a few years since i last
saw The Waterboys. The venue is full and the
atmosphere is great as the tight band do a really
good 1 hour 40 mins set . The electric violin is
still there which works fab. Highlights included
stunning versions of "The Whole Of The Moon" and
" Medicine Bow" .Mike Scott still writes great
lyrics .Encores included a mega " Fishermans
Blues" and a cover of " St Pepper" ...........
30 Jan 2006.7.30pm Johnny Cash " Walk The Line "
Film Premiere ,Leicester Square, London.After the
excellent film it was down to the aftershow at
the Cafe De Paris where some 500 guests were
given loads of free booze and food. There were
3 live acts who all played Johnny Cash songs
David Gray (2 songs) , Lee Ryan(1 song) and Soho
Dolls(1 song).They were all ok but nothing
that special .Nice goody bag of Johnny Cash cds,
tshirts and posters. Good party but live music could have been better..............
30 Jan 2006. 6pm Aha live at HMV , Oxford Street,
London. With a sell out UK arena tour a couple of
months ago its not surprising that a lot of those
here tonight camped out overnight for the prized
wristbands to be down the front. This was a 7
song 35 mins set to promote the new album out
today.For these in store shows some bands stick
to new material only but Aha played all 3 of their biggest hits from the mid 80s" Take On Me",
"The Sun Always Shines On Tv" and " Hunting High
And Low" along with their recent Top 10 hit
"Analouge(All I Want) .Their loyal fans made it
one of the best atmospheres i have seen at an
in store show for years. Aha play a one off UK
show at Shepherds Bush Empire on Feb 2 ........
Congratulations to Arctic Monkeys who sold a
staggering 363,000 copies of their album in the
first week which makes it the fastest selling UK
debut ever..........
Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers are soon to
announce major summer tours in Europe.........
Rock legends Jethro Tull go out on a month long
UK tour from 27 Feb which includes 2 shows at
Shepherds Bush Empire on March 10 and 11. The
tour is to support the recent release of their
"Aqualung Live " album and the band promise a
2 hour set with their classic Grammy winning
"Aqualung" played in its entirety along with a healthy collection of Tull classics.......
Deep Purple and Alice Cooper are to co headline a
massive outdoor show for 50,000 fans on Sat 3 June at The Monsters Of Rock Festival At Milton
Keynes Bowl.Looks like Thunder and Quireboys
will be two of the support bands .
Bearing in mind Deep Purple struggle to sell out Wembley Arena it seems a big gamble by the shows promoter Clear Channel..........
21 Jan 2006 .Suffrajets + Ribs live at The Rooz
Rehearsal Studios , London N.1. Yet another invite
only event for a mates 40th birthday party where
he has got half a dozen bands to play for 150 guests.Suffrajets headline the event and do a good
set pretty much the same as the one i saw at the
Reading Festival in the summer. Its always great
to see all girl rock bands having a go .However
the star of the night was the birthday boy himself
who joined 3 of the bands on stage .First he sung
"Pretty Vacant" and "White Riot " with a couple of members from Towers Of London then he joined
another band to sing some glam rock classics and
Ribs(named after Iggy Pops stomach) joined a 3rd
band to sing some Iggy and New York Dolls gems.
He could have been a contender..........
19 Jan 2006. Bodyrockers live at The Old Trumen
Brewery ,Brick Lane ,London. A massive invite
only event for 1000 guests to launch the new
Fiat Grande Punto car . Loads of free booze ,food
and djs . Bodyrockers did a 40 mins set of their
simple catchy guitar based euro pop rock.Not sure
what the sponsors would think when the singer said
"we hate playing these corporate gigs but the
money is bloody good" .The place erupts for their
massive hit " I Like The Way You Move" . New
single " Happy Days " rocked along nicely.
A decent set but dont expect any in depth interviews in NME just yet boys .............
17 Jan 2006. Shakira live at The Porchester Hall,
Queensway ,London. Invite only show for this
South American female star who has sold over
20 million albums worldwide.This was a showcase
gig to promote her new
album " Oral Fixation Vol 2 " .The venue has been
given a South American feel as there are exotic
plants and scantily clad male and female models
as you arrive at the entrance. Inside SONY BMG
have put on a lavish food and booze banquet for
the 500 SONY staff and media guests here tonight.
Even the beer is from Peru. Shakira and band come
on early. She is totally sultry as usual .She
really knows how to shake her booty but every
flick of her hair looks well rehearsed.Sadly
the show was a measly half a dozen songs in 30
mins finishing with her great new single " Dont
Bother" . Far too short to be anything other than
an average gig but as an event it was excellent.
She needs to come back and do proper shows.......
Mancunian legend MORRISSEY will play a month
long UK tour with loads of shows at interesting
venues .Check nme.com for full dates...........
10 January 2006. 5.30pm to 8.30pm.THE BRIT AWARDS
Launch Party at The Riverside Studios ,Hammersmith,
London.Lots of tv,radio and media here for the event
to launch the biggest UK music awards show. Bands
playing a couple of numbers each were Magic Numbers,
KT Tunstall and Kaiser Chiefs .About 300 or 400
here and there is plenty of free booze and food.
DJ and host on Feb 15 Chris Evans was here .
Kaiser Chiefs, James Blunt(best selling album in
UK in 2005 with over 2m sales) ,Coldplay ,KT
Tunstall and Gorillaz were all multi nominated.
Looks certain Madonna will win an award. Shame
that Goldfrapp were not nominated at all .
So a decent night but nothing compared to the
main event at Earls Court on Feb 15.......
02 January 2006 .Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames live at The Jazz Cafe , London.
It has been a couple of years since i was last at this venue .It really is a superb
intimate club to watch a live act.Georgie is a jazz legend who does his own stuff as
well as play in bands with Bill Wyman and Van Morrison. His band were really good as they
mixed their GF material like his Number One hit from 1964 "Yeh Yeh" with covers from the
likes of his hero Ray Charles . An enjoyable show . 1980s hitsters Kid Creole And The
Coconuts play The Jazz Cafe on Jan 23 and 24 so that should be a good one........
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16 March 2006.The Choreographers Ball And Awards
at Hammersmith Palais, London.Of course this event was not on the same scale as last months
BRIT or NME awards but its great that there is
an bash like this to honour choreographers and
dancers who unless they are lucky enough to get
a gig with someone like Madonna are often much
over looked and rarely given due credit. I mean
how many times have you seen some rubbish song
on tv with half a dozen dancers in the background
trying to make the song more interesting.A mad
mix of faces here included Kid Creole ,Noel from
Hearsay and Una Stubbs??? Lots of cool dance
routines feat hip hop, ballet, funk , tap and
performance art and a lively crowd too.....
Iron Maiden + Trivium play a UK tour in Dec with
the London date at Earls Court Arena on Dec 22
..... and The Eagles have sold out their massive show at Twickenham Stadium and now play Wembley
Arena on June 18..........
Ted Nugent will soon announce a few UK shows for
early June ..........
Monday 13th March punk legends The Sex Pistols
get their first ever major award in New York for
The American Hall Of Fame. The band will not be
there but congratulations are in order........
10 March 2006. The Buzzcocks + The Slits live at
Selfridges, London.Back here again for a neat
double bill of old school punk rock.Up first are
all girl band The Slits . Singer Ari Up is mad
as a hatter but on stage is full of charisma.For
their 30 mins set they are joined by Holly Cook on
backing vocals.(her dad is Sex Pistol Paul Cook).
They play a few old tracks inc " Shoplifting".
As its another free gig The Buzzcocks only play
for 40 mins instead of the usual 80 mins. Opening
with a few decent tracks from new album "Flat Pack
Philosophy" they then play some old gems like
"Harmony In My Head" , "I Dont Mind ","What Do I
Get" ,"Ever Fallen In Love" and a mega " Orgasm
Addict" .Must see a proper set on their UK tour.
Sex Pistols Glen Matlock and Paul Cook were both
here tonight.........
09 March 2006.New York Dolls live at Selfridges,
London. Blimey i have been to some special gigs
but this was right up there .Punk legends NY Dolls in town to play a secret gig for 200 invited guests to mark Selfridges 3 weeks
celebration for 30 years of punk rock.All night
free booze and food as well. A full band set up
play 8 songs in 35 mins as follows "Looking For
A Kiss ","Puss N Boots" ,"Private World" ,"Pills" ,"You Cant Put Your Arms Around A Memory" ,"Trash" ,"Jet Boy" and finishing with
a stunning " Personality Crisis" . David Johansen
has let his hair grow and his wrists are covered
with bangles. Its all over far too quickly but it
was incredible. Here to watch inc Glen Matlock,
Chris Musto ,Koozie, Don Letts, Bob Gruen, Marco
Peroni,Patti Paladin,Philip Treacy,Kieth Allen,
Charles Shaar Murray and Chris (3 Colours Red).
One of those mega "i was there " gigs ...........
07 March 2006.David Gilmour live at The Mermaid Theatre , London.Another DG show this time for
500 seated punters(400 comp winners and 100 guests of BBC and the band)for a future Radio 2
broadcast.The night before was a real one off
event but this show felt more like the show
he will tour Europe with for the next two months.
On stage for 90 mins the sound was amazing.
Thankfully they dropped some new album tracks
and played a few Pink Floyd classics instead inc
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" ,"Wearing The Inside
Out" and a stunning " Comfortably Numb" .David
took a 5 mins loo break during the show.
Incredible guitar playing and the new songs sounded better.Midweek sales of "On An Island"
seem certain to make it number 1 in the UK album charts at the weekend............
06 March 2006.David Gilmour live at Porchester
Hall, London.Pink Floyd legend holds an invite
only party for 500 to celebrate the launch of his
new album "On An Island" and his 60th birthday.
Lots of free booze and food until midnight and
the venue is tastefully decorated.Lots of celebs
here like Jools Holland ,Mike Rutherford (will be
hosting a big Polo Rocks concert at The Royal
Albert Hall in the summer),Robert Wyatt,
Twiggy ,Roy Harper, Ray Cooper, Damon Hill,
Alan Yentob(BBC top brass),Paul Gambachini, Nick Mason,Rick Wright, Phil Manzernera (Roxy Music to play UK dates in July),Bob Geldof (still a bit vexed that NME gave the best live event of
2005 to The Reading Festival instead of Live 8),Harvey Goldsmith,Paul McCartneys keyboard
player(confirmed there would be no Macca shows in Europe this year) and not forgetting the
nicest person in the room tonight Linda Lewis
(has a new album out this month and plays Pizza On The Park Knightsbridge this month). David and
his great band did a 65 mins set which featured
all of the new album and at the end he played a
Syd Barrett song followed by " Wish You Were Here". Mr Gilmour is a stunning sublime guitarist but the new material sounded only
average and lacked real passion and excitement.
Dreamy and atmospheric though it certainly is.
The event overall though was excellent........
03 March 2006. Dressed To Kill live at The
Standard ,Walthamstow ,London.Here we are in E17
in the home of tribute bands in London. A packed
pub of 200 punters all here to watch the UKs
number one KISS tribute act. Like the times i
have seen them before its a stunning 2 hour set
with a full monty production of costumes ,make up,fireworks, explosions, blood spitting, fire
breathing and guitars that smoke and shoot rockets out of their necks.They start off with
" Love Gun" and most of the set is based around
the classic KISS of the 1970s with a few of the
later tracks as well.Gems like "King Of The
Nightime World" ,"Do You Love Me?","Creatures Of
The Night" ,"Beth" ,"God Of Thunder" ,"Lick It Up","I Was Made For Loving You" ,"Strutter" ,
"Flaming Youth" ,"Crazy Nights" and " Black
Diamond" .Brilliant encores of " Detroit Rock
City" and " Rock And Roll All Nite" where they
were joined on stage by big KISS fan Ian Lee who
ia a dj on XFM and a tv presenter.Dressed To Kill may only be a tribute act but tonight they
were just fantastic.Check the bands website on
www.kissinuk.com/dtk for more dates and check the
venues website www.standardmusicvenue.co.uk for
other tribute bands playing here soon........
01 March 2006.Last Man Standing + Baxter Dury
live at Madame Jojos, Soho, London.Neat double
bill of two up and coming bands. First up is
Baxter Dury(son of legend Ian Dury)who play tunes off last years Rough Trade album "Floor
Show" which includes their stunning last song played tonight " Francescas Party" .Headliners
Last Man Standing feature Glenn Max on vocals
who in his day job has booked all those amazing
shows at The Royal Festival Hall such as Brian Wilson ,Morrissey and New York Dolls so full
respect to him for putting in time and energy
to do his own thing.The sound is blues with
a dash of funk with a brass section as well.
Hints of Little Feat i thought at times.
A great mix of all things good.
Glenn has a big voice for his small frame.
This was only their 5th or 6th gig but check them out in the summer when they will be playing
some of the festivals ...........
28 Feb 2006. Dave Matthews live at Kings College,
London. This was a one off UK acoustic show to
promote his new album " Stand Up" .Still hardly
known in the UK Dave is massive in America where
he can easily can play outdoor venues holding
50,000 or more.The crowd of 550 is mainly
from across the pond who lap up every minute of
seeing their hero up close. Dave chats a lot
between songs and gives the impression of being
a regular guy who you could meet at any bar in
the states. He joked about the posters all over
London from his last visit a few years ago that
said " Who Is Dave Matthews?".In an acoustic
setting the songs had a Jack Johnson feel about
them as they sounded good but not great. Tunes
played included " Bartender" ,"So Damn Lucky",
"Stay Or Leave" ,"Gravedigger" a cover of "All
Along The Watchtower" and final song of the
night " Everyday" which was superb.On
stage for 1 hour 40 mins it was ok overall......
27 Feb 2006.Chris Difford live at Abbey Road
Studios, London.This was a "picture" auction
held by Cooper Owen in this famous building.
Some 100 photos raised a decent £50,000.
Music supplied by Chris Difford who played a 6
song 30 mins set of Squeeze classics. Not the
ideal crowd as some were boozing and chatting
through his set."Up The Junction" ,"Tempted" ,
"Pulling Mussels From A Shell" ,"Take Me I'm
Yours" ,"Black Coffee In Bed" and " Cool For Cats" all went down well.........
The NME Awards was the 4500th live music event
i have been to since 1973........
23 Feb 2006.NME Awards at Hammersmith Palais ,
London.Annual event held by the UKs coolest music
mag which still discovers all the new talent way
before the rest.About 500 seated for dinner and
we are part of the 200 or so stuck with the buffet. Loads of bands and celebs here like Arctic Monkeys, Strokes, Antony And The Johnsons,
Bloc Party, Bob Geldof with daughters Peaches
and Pixie,Dirty Pretty Things ,Babyshambles,
Editors, Elbow, Elizabeth Jagger, Harry Potter Boys,Jarvis Cocker, Jo Whiley, Kanye West,
Kaiser Chiefs, Pete Shelley ,Jade Jagger,Cribs,
Kasabian,Maximo Park, Mystery Jets, Peter Hook, Plan B ,Preston(Ordinary Boys),Razorlight, Shaun
Ryder, Sugababes, Teddy Sheringham, Magic Numbers, Tim Westwood, Zane Lowe and We Are
Scientists.Host was Russell Brand. Day went 4.30pm drinks reception then 5.30pm food served.
7.15pm awards started and a few bands played live.Razorlight played a couple of new songs, Plan B did a song. Dirty Pretty Things played
"Bang Bang Youre Dead" , Sugababes did a fun cover of Arctic Monkeys "Dancefloor" hit.Pete
Dochery did a Madonna by being in the venue for
just 30 mins to play " Albion" flanked by loads of security. Ian Brown finished the night with
a 20 mins set inc " Fear" and " I Wanna Be Adored" . Ian Brown insisted to NME that they
get a current or ex Man Utd player to hand him
his Godlike Genius Award so Teddy Sheringham
did that. Arctic Monkeys won 3 awards i think.
Apart from Pete Doherty actually turning up the
main madness was when the Cribs singer launched
himself onto The Kaiser Chiefs table knocking
all the booze flying. I was surprised as Bob
Geldof that the Carling Reading Festival won best live event over Live 8. (nothing to do with
Carling sponsoring the free beer tonight then?).
At 10.30pm they let in another 500 for the party
at the venue but most of the bands have left by
then. We end up at The K West Hotel near
Shepherds Bush Green where from 11pm a lot of the nights bands appear Kasabian ,Arctic Monkeys,
Carl Barat with his own personal security guard,
Razorlight, Jo Whiley, and even Kelly Osbourne
amongst others i cant put faces to bands. Very
lively buzzing atmosphere with about 200 here.
We leave at 1.30am and its still rocking.
An excellent evening all round.........
22 Feb 2006. Editors + Brakes live at Astoria,
London.This was one of many shows in the build up
to the NME awards the following night .First are
Brakes who have at least half a dozen tunes that
last 30 seconds or less which was fun.Their best
song "All Night Disco Party " was really good .
They have an album out called " Give Blood" .
The Editors have had a really good 12 months
as their album " The Black Room " has charted.
In the slower songs they still sound like Joy
Division and on the uptempo ones they sound like
New Order .They play well and are very confident
in their 70 mins set .Lots of really good tunes
like " Munich" ,"All Sparks " and " Bullets" .
In May they return to London to play a 3 night
stint at Brixton Academy........
20 Feb 2006.Elle Style Awards at The Atlantis
Gallery, Brick Lane, London. With loads of celebs
in town for The BRITS ,BAFTAS and London Fashion
Week this annual bash for what is probably the
UKS top fashion mag attracted a stella collection
of film stars ,supermodels ,designers and even a
few rock stars. 7pm Drinks reception and 3 course meal for the 500 or so guests.9.30pm awards are given out.Event is hosted by Zoe Ball and its in the centre of the venue which worked
great. Here goes with who was here Sean Bean, Kelly Osbourne, Danni Minogue, Marilyn Manson
and Dita Von Teese, Rachel Weisz, Thandie Newton,Matt Dillon, Will Young, Sugababes,
Shirley Manson(Garbage) ,David Walliams ,Sadie
Frost, Donna Air, Jay Kay(Jamiroquai),Sara Cox,
Elle McPhearson, Erin O'Connor, Jamie Theakson,
June Sarpong, Myleene Klass, Patrick Cox, Yasmin
Le Bon, Kirsty Gallacher, Charlize Theron in a
very sexy short skirt raised a few laughs .
Who put Will Young and Marlilyn Manson on the same table ??? opposites attract i suppose.
Jamie and Louise Redknapp, Sophie Ellis Bexter,
Calum Best and not forgetting Coleen (Wayne
Rooneys girlfriend) .After the awards the booze
flowed for the aftershow party until 2am .A few
celebs got on the dancefloor.Massive goody bag
for all at the end.A superb party.........
17 Feb 2006. 7pm Sparks at HMV ,Oxford Street,
London then 8.30pm The Counterfeit Stones live at
The Riverside Studios, London.Two good events
tonight .First 1970s legends Sparks play a short
4 song 20 mins set in store to promote new
album " Hello Young Lovers" .Ron and Russell
with full band play 2 new songs "Perfume " and
"Waterproof" and 2 fantastic oldies " Amateur
Hour " and " This Town Aint Big Enough For The
Both Of Us" .Short but sweet then a mad dash
over to Hammersmith to see the UKs top Rolling
Stones tribute act who are always great fun.
The current Stones tour is called "The Bigger
Bang" tour and this lot call theirs " The Bigger
Bong" tour as one of many drug related jokes.
No support so i missed a few songs but still saw
90 mins of their set. Superb costumes ,film clips
and mad onstage banter mixed in with all those fab Stones classics inc "Miss You " ," Jumping
Jack Flash" ,"Start Me Up " and " Satisfaction "
and loads more. A must see for any Stones fans.
Check their website www.thecounterfeitstones.com
for more dates on their UK tour..............
15 Feb 2006.BRIT AWARDS live at Earls Court Arena , London. With rumours this massive event
would move to a new location the organisers
pulled out all the stops to make it the biggest
BRITS ever. They moved it to the larger Earls
Court 1 from Earls Court 2 which meant a
staggering 4000 people seated for dinner and
another 4000 up in the balcony area.Our great
day out went as follows. 5pm free drinks reception as you watched some of the stars pull
up on the red carpet. 6.15pm more free booze and
a lovely 3 course meal feat prime scotch fillet
of beef coated in wild mushrooms. The awards
were on from 7.25pm to 10.25pm . We were in block D about halfway back but an hour into the show we got into vip block A sitting mere feet
from Madonna, Paul Weller, Hard Fi, James Blunt,
Craig David, Frank Lampard and Paris Hilton.
Pretty amazing to see Prince play live again.
The live bands were Kaiser Chiefs, Prince who
played a 4 song medley of 2 new tunes and hits
"Purple Rain " and " Lets Go Crazy" , then
Coldplay , James Blunt, Kelly Clarkson, KT
Tunstall did a song each . Kanye West had 77
girl dancers in gold body paint. Jack Johnson
and Gorillaz did a song each. Paul Weller
collected a well deserved "Outstanding Contribution To Music Award" played a few songs
finishing with " A Town Called Malice" .
The Kaiser Chiefs were the main winners on the
night with 3 awards followed by James Blunt,
Coldplay and Green Day who won 2 awards each.
Only rock n roll mayhem i saw was members of
Hard Fi spraying bottles of champers at the
Atlantic Records table. A couple of the Atlantic
Records guys tried to do the same back to them
but where bundled to the ground by security.
An excellent evening from start to finish.
See aftershow page for this event.............
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28 April 2006. Slim Jim Phantom live at The Kings
Arms, Acton,London.A bit odd to see this Stray
Cat legend out in Acton of all places but a good crowd of rockabilly boys and girls have turned up.The trio play a good 85 mins set of Stray Cats
hits , some rock n roll covers and a few tracks
off their new album.Of course the hits go down the best ."Rumble In Brighton","Runaway Boys" ,
and the highlight of the night "Rock This Town"
where he was joined by his Sex Pistols mate Glen
Matlock who helped out on vocals.Great encores of
"Stray Cat Strut" and "C,Mon Everybody " kept the
kids dancing.A really good rock n roll show.
See aftershow page for this gig..............
The Cult have announced a London show at The
Brixton Academy on Friday 22 Sept..........
25 April 2006. Launch Night For Le Pigalle Club,
Piccadilly, London.For over 20 years Vince Power
and The Mean Fiddler have dominated the live music scene in London with half a dozen top
venues inc the Astoria ,Forum and Jazz Cafe as
well as running The Reading Festival so it was a
big surprise when he sold it to Clear Channel.
Anyway never to keep still Vince has started a
new company and this includes this fantastic
restoration of this old cinema into a supper club
which looks like a plusher version of the Jazz
Cafe but with tables downstairs as well as up.
The free cocktails and food is flowing tonight.
Surprisingly i did not see any musicians apart
from Pogues legend Shane MacGowan.
The house band did a jazz swing set.The idea is for a set £35 you get a 3 course
meal with the house band and a dj and then
gradually they will get name live acts every
so often .Van Morrison is confirmed for June.
Anyway its a superb venue for sure............
22 April 2006. Liberty X live at Old Billinsgate
Market ,London EC3. Had to give Flaming Lips at
Royal Albert Hall a miss as i got a last minute
invite to this massive "Moscow Motion" party in
the city. Sadly Jamiroquai pulled out at the last
minute. Liberty X are here. They play 7 tunes in
30 mins with a backing tape and are rubbish.They
look bored out of their heads .The rest of the
night was fantastic .Six hours of free food and
booze in a tastefully designed forest theme as
500 of Londons coolest Russians partied the
night away .There were some big Russian acts on
stage but they were stuck in a 1980s disco groove.
Excellent evening apart from Liberty X really........
19 April 2006.Glen Matlock live at Gramaphone,
Commercial Street, London E.1.A free gig for all
to see this Sex Pistols legend relaunch this bar. A shorter than usual acoustic set but i love Glens solo material and as always he throws in a couple of Rich Kids and
Sex Pistols classics.Good one............
18 April 2006.The Mighty Boosh live at Brixton
Academy, London.Let me tell you a story. Noel
Fielding and Julian Barratt have created this
years most talked about comedy act The Mighty
Boosh. I first saw them 7 or 8 years ago when i
worked with Noel Fieldings dad.Every couple of
years i have watched them play bigger gigs
then the BBC gave them a TV series and now its all kicked off. This was the first night of FIVE
shows at Brixton at the end of a 60 date 3 month
UK tour.Two sets lasting 50 mins each of surreal
madcap humour as they attempt to "rescue a
magical ruby from the frozen tundra".As one
critic put it "if Little Britain are Oasis then
The Mighty Boosh are Blur - their sophisticated
arty rivals." The crowd loved it all and 2006
really is the year of "The Boosh".
See aftershow page for this event............
Deep Purple vocal legend Ian Gillan has a new
album out this week called "Gillans Inn" which
features classic remixes of tracks spanning his
career with help from a whole bunch of mates.
Tracks include " Smoke On The Water" ,"Speed King" and many other legendary Gillan related tracks..............
Check here for reviews of both RHCP London secret gigs over the weekend...............
15 April 2006.Red Hot Chili Peppers live at The
BBC car park ,Shepherds Bush,London. Another free
RHCP show .This time there are 500 comp winners and guests in the car park and another 500 on the
other side of the BBC complex gates. Not as good
as last night but they play a 70 mins set of old
and new. They are more light hearted tonight as
they throw in verses of songs by Ramones ,Del
Shannon and others during this show for Top Of The Pops .Again they finish with great versions
of " By The Way " and " Give It Away" .This was
a similiar event that Green Day did last year
and U2 have done one as well. Very good.........
14 April 2006.Red Hot Chili Peppers live at
Canvas, Kings Cross ,London.RHCP in London for a few days to promote new album "Stadium Arcadium".
This venue is normally used for all night dance
events but its a perfect location for 500 comp
winners and guests of Radio 1 and the band to
see one of the biggest live acts in the world
up close. We were told the band would be on just
after 8 but its actually just after 9 they start
but its well worth the wait as they play a stunning 90 mins set of old hits and new tracks.
Flea is fantastic on bass as he drives the band
into hard funk rock heaven.The older stuff inc
"Cant Stop","Scar Tissue" and "Other Side" as well as new single " Dani California" .They
dedicated one song to a front stage security guy
as he had "great sideburns" .The night finished
with mega versions of "By The Way" and encore
of " Give It Away" .Excellent stuff. One of
those rare " i was there" shows. Spotted Rod
Stewarts ex Mrs Rachel Hunter in the crowd.
Show is on Radio 1 Monday 17 April 7pm.....
13 April 2006.Sham 69 + Straps live at The 100 Club, London.Up first are The Straps who must be
said are third rate punk at best.Sham 69 at a small venue like this was a dead cert to be a corker and it was .Still with Jimmy Pursey and
Dave Parsons they played a 60 mins set that had
the whole venue jumping and singing along from
the opening "What Have We Got" .Loads of catchy
loud anthems like "Ulster Boy" ,"Questions And
Answers" ,"Angels With Dirty Faces" , "Borstal
Breakout" and "If The Kids Are United" were lapped up. Jimmy Pursey is still a great front man.Encores of "White Riot" ,"Hurry Up England"
(This song is Hurry Up Harry with changed lyrics
to suit the upcoming World Cup which of course
makes it a terrace anthem as Virgin Radio have
chosen it as Their Unofficial World Cup 2006 Song).Last tune "Hersham Boys " finished the set
off in style. Expect to see the band on Top Of The Pops in the next month or two for sure.......
11 April 2006.Glen Matlock And The Philistines live at The Joiners , Southampton. Its a 75 miles
drive each way in rain but its sure worth it.
Glen and the band play a superb set in this great
little venue .They start and finish with Sex
Pistols classics "Pretty Vacant" and "God Save The Queen" and in between there are loads of mega
solo album tracks like "Piece Of The Action " and
"White Knuckle Ride" .This was a warm up show for
the bunch shows "up north" in a weeks time.
They are a really great rock n roll band.A full
review of this gig will appear on www.sex-pistols.net .........
07 April 2006.Pretenders + The Feeling live at
Koko, Camden, London.Tonights support The Feeling
are one of bands that are hotly tipped for success as they fall into the Coldplay/Keane/Embrace style of radio friendly
indie rock tunes. They play their single "Sewn" which is superb.Pretenders only UK show after a months tour in USA is to promote their new 4 cd box set
collection. Still going after 25 years Chrissie
Hynde is a unique and brilliant female singer.
Dressed in a simple t shirt and jeans and well
into her fifties she still looks amazing. Lots of great songs like "Talk Of The Town" ,"Kid" and "Back On The Chain Gang" .They left out a few gems which was sad. Great encores of " Message Of Love" ,"Dont Get Me Wrong" ,"Stop Your Sobbing"
and finally "Brass In Pocket" with Chrissie
flirting with the crowd. Very good 90 mins set.......
06 April 2006.Sex Pistols Experience + Ten Pole
Tudor live at The 100 Club, London.This was the
first time that the UKs top Pistols tribute have
played at this venue. Up first was Ten Pole Tudor
doing his wacky stuff. SPE did a really good 90 mins set. This was the first show with their new
guitarist David Donley from Norwich who did a
superb job.All the Pistols classics one after the
other to a lively near sell out crowd.The Sid and
Johnny both were on top form as usual and they
even had a Nancy lookalike for backing vocals on
a couple of Sid related songs.For the
encores Ten Pole Tudor joined the band for "Swords
Of A Thousand Men" and "Who Killed Bambi" and then
SPE finished with "No Fun " and " God Save The
Queen" . A really enjoyable top night out.........
My good chum Alan Parker has a new book out now.
"And Now For Something Completely Digital-The
Complete Guide To Monty Python CDs and DVDs ".
If you are a Python fan its a must buy item.....
02 April 2006. Depeche Mode live at Wembley Arena,
London.Pretty amazing how DM have gone from the
band who brought out those 3 mega synth pop hits
in 1981 to this huge act who play year long arena
tours around the world every few years with the
minimum of fuss. This was the first show at
Wembley Arena after its 15 month refurbishment.
The seats are padded and the catering and toilets
are better but best of all the outside of the venue is more welcoming with water fountains etc.
Depeche Mode played a 2 hour set to a packed
house of their loyal and loud fans. The first half
chugged along ok but the second hour of the show
was mega .Great futuristic stage production too.
Singer Dave Gahon takes his top off and the girls
swoon over his lean skinny frame.The best songs
were " Walking In My Shoes" ,"Behind The Wheel",
"Personal Jesus" ,"Enjoy The Silence" and superb
encores of "Just Cant Get Enough" ,"Everything
Counts" and "Never Let Me Down Again" .The band
have had an amazing 25 years really .A very good
show for the most part.......
31 March 2006. Judas Priest + Scorpions + Ian
Gillan And Friends live at The Royal Albert Hall,
London.A great bill of classic rock and metal.
Up first Ian Gillan and friends who included DPs
Roger Glover and Harry from Thunder on drums.
They tick along nicely and play great versions of
"When A Blind Man Cries" and "Black Knight" in
their 40 mins set. Next up German rockers The
Scorpions whose catchy rock went down a treat .
"Coming Home" ,"Bad Boys Running Wild" ,"Lovedrive" ,"Wind Of Change" ,"Blackout"
and "Big City Nights " were all played in the 45
mins set .Great encore of "Rock You Like A Hurricane".They sounded fantastic tonight. Judas
Priest have brought 75% of last years stage
production with them. Singer Rob Halford looks
silly in the heaviest coat and black gloves.
"Metal Gods" and " Judas Rising " were both mega.
A total wall of distortion on the dual guitars.
I dont think they should have done " Diamonds And
Rust " when they only had an hours set."Turbo
Lover" and " Breaking The Law " were excellent.
The Harley was brought on for encore of "Hell
Bent For Leather" which was followed by "Living
After Midnight" and " Take On The World" .
An excellent night of rock in this posh venue.....
30 March 2006.Rezillos + Punk Rock Karaoke live at The 100 Club, London.This was an invite only
party for www.bbc.co.uk/6music guests and comp winners to celebrate
30 years to the day that The Sex Pistols first
played this legendary venue and 30 years of punk rock in general. Up first are The Rezillos who are always good fun live. They play a 45 mins set
inc "Flying Saucer Attack" ,"Top Of The Pops" and
"Destination Venus" .The BBC have kindly laid on
free booze all night which puts everyone in the
right mood for the Punk Rock Karaoke who belt out
75 mins of punk and new wave classics with
members of the crowd doing the vocals.Great fun.
Sadly no Sex Pistols in the crowd tonight but
Tom Robinson, Gaye Advert, TV Smith and Spizz
were all here.Top marks to the BBC in putting on
a great bash to celebrate a very important date
in the history of Sex Pistols and punk rock......
28 March 2006. Goldfrapp + Antony And The Johnsons + Starsailor live at The Royal Albert Hall , London. Its Teenage Cancer Trust week at the RAH which always gets some great shows. Last
minute additions Statsailor play a really good 35
mins set with some pukka songs like "Alchoholic",
"Four To The Floor" ,"Silence Is Easy " and "Good
Souls" .Roger Daltrey is here to introduce and
thank each band .Antony And The Johnsons has that amazing voice and although he only does 20
mins he messes up the lyrics a couple of times
and jokes about his weight problem. Goldfrapp do
a stunning 70 mins set which was basically the
Brixton show i saw last month minus 2 or 3 songs.
Alison looks fab in a sexy dress and eye glitter.
The band sound even better than at Brixton .Each
act had a giant video screen behind them.The set
builds up in tempo with classics like "Train" ,
"Ride A White Horse" and "Ooh La La" .Mega encores of "Black Cherry" , "Number 1" and "Strict Machine" .Superb evening.........
24 March 2006.Sex Pistols Experience + Ten Pole
Tudor live at The Cartoon, Croydon.Bit of a trek
to get here but well worth it. Up first was Ten
Pole Tudor for 45 mins of good songs and whacky
banter.Sex Pistols Experience did a shorter than
usual 70 mins set but it was Pistols classics
one after the other "God Save The Queen" ,"EMI",
"Problems" ,"Bodies" ,"Pretty Vacant" ,"Liar" ,
"Anarchy In The UK" ,"Holidays In The Sun" and
many more. The band look and sound superb and
they work the crowd well .For the encore they
are joined by Ten Pole Tudor for wild versions
of " Swords Of A Thousand Men " and " Who Killed
Bambi".The band play their first ever gig at
the 100 Club on 06 April 2006.You gotta be there
as i know i will............
Hammersmith Apollo on June 18 will feature a
great trio of bands Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and
Sensational Alex Harvey Band............
The building delay fiasco at Wembley Stadium will
mean Bon Jovis shows there on June 10 and 11
will have to be at a later date or another
venue..............
21 March 2006.Feeder + Goldie Lookin Chain live
at Hammersmith Apollo, London. Even though Maggot
from GLC got the band some decent publicity from
his stint in Celebrity Big Brother the fact their second album sold over a quarter as much as
the debut has meant their record company Atlantic
have dropped them . Of course they are a bit too much of a joke rap band .Eight on them on stage tonight generally messing about. They finish with
"Your Mothers Got A Penis" .Looks like their 15
minutes is up. Feeder were superb tonight. A
great light show and visuals and the sound was
perfect. "Come Back Around" and " Just The Way
Im Feeling" went down well and " Buck Rogers"
was mental to say the least .They then played a
few good tracks from " Pushing The Senses" album.
Encores of " Seven Days In The Sun" and " Just A Day" were brilliant.A have seen Feeder a few times over the last 10 years but i would say this was the best so far.Really enjoyable stuff.
See aftershow page for this gig............
20 March 2006.Black Crowes live at Shepherds Bush
Empire, London.Back again to see the Crowes for
the second time on their 3 night stint here.
Again its a lengthy 2 hours 45 mins set but as
promised there are at least half dozen songs
different to Fridays show. Highlights were "Soul
Singing" and some brilliant blues guitar playing.
Chris Robinson and the whole band really have
adopted their hippy look to the extreme.
The main set again finished with stunning versions of " Jealous Again" and " Remedy" .
The encore was changed as well. Each show can
be bought at the end of the night for £15 on cd
and also at www.blackcrowes.com .Rumours are
they will play a full european tour at the end
of the year.............
19 March 2006 .Michael Rose And The Rasites live
at The Jazz Cafe, Camden ,London. Michael was the
singer in reggae greats Black Uhuru who for a
while were tipped in the 1980s to be the next
massive reggae act but major success never
really came. With a tight band he wowed the
packed Jazz Cafe for 80 mins .Tunes like "Shine
Eye Gal" ,"Guess Whos Coming To Dinner","General
Penitentiary" and "Sinsemilla" all still sound
great and this small club is an ideal venue.
Its always good to see live reggae every now
and then..........
18 March 2006.Black Crowes live at Shepherds Bush Empire, London.They split up in 2002 but
with over 18 million albums sold and 3 nights
sold out in London there is still a healthy
demand for the Crowes 1970s style blues rock.
On stage for 2 hours 45 mins over two sets.
As a unit they play brilliantly and when they
really get in the groove its stunning but there
were 3 or 4 tracks could be left out i reckon.
"Sting Me " and "Thorn In My Pride" were superb.
Highlights of second set were "A Conspiracy" ,
"Jealous Again " and an incredible "Remedy" .
A quick encore of Chuck Berrys "Reelin And Rockin" finished a really good show and i might
go again Monday as they promise to vary the set
by a few songs each night..............
The Monsters Of Rock Festival at Donington on
June 3 is coming together nicely with Deep
Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey ,Ted Nugent,
Queensryche and Thunder all now confirmed.......
Check out this great site regards your fave band history on http://www.bandbiographies.com
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Alice Cooper has a great 27 track DVD out on 29
May called "Live In Montreux 2005" .This will
tie in with his co headline show with Deep Purple at The Monsters Of Rock Festival at
Donington Park on Sat 03 June .Tickets still on
sale at £37.50 each .see you there............
22 May 2006.Eric Clapton live at The Royal Albert
Hall , London. This was number 4 of 7 sell out
EC shows at this venue just over a year after
those Cream reunion shows .The first hour of the
two hour set was a bit too cosy and hardly exciting but there were some very good momemts.
Eric still is a great guitar player and "I Shot The Sheriff" and " Let It Rain " were very good.Other goodies played tonight
were "Running On Faith" , "Wonderful Tonight" ,
"Layla" and "Cocaine" and a great encore of " Crossroads".Eric said very little on stage as
usual and even had two guitarists on stage with
him.Its a bit like seeing a David Gilmour show
with 75% of the show being good but hoping he
plays those 5 or 6 songs you really like.
So a typical EC show then really..........
20 May 2006.Richard Ashcroft live at The Brixton
Academy, London.This was the 2nd of his 3 sell out shows at this venue.I have ssen him 5 or 6
times before but this was easily the best with a
really good 1 hour 50 mins set of Verve classics
and great solo material with an up for it crowd
and a very impressive light show. Highlights
were "Sonnet","Music Is Power" ,"The Drugs Dont
Work" (with the crowd outsinging him) ,"Science
Of Silence" ,an epic version of " New York"
and a superb "Lucky Man" .Encores inc "Song For
The Lovers" ,"Break The Night With Colour" and
a totally awesome " Bittersweet Symphony " sealed
a very good evening........................
19 May 2006.The Answer + Pig Iron + Steranko live
at The Peel ,Kingston, Surrey.Its been a while
since i last came here to this pub venue. Up first are Steranko and yes they are as good as
when i saw them a couple of months ago. Their
singer Lee is amazing . A mixture of natural
energy and charisma that sees him slagging off the sound guy, throwing drinks at the crowd,
swinging from the venues ceiling beams and
jumping into the crowd and thats just the first song. They play The Borderline on July 19. Up
next are Pig Iron(crap name)who as their own
singer admitted could not follow coming on after Steranko . Things are looking good for The Answer who won best new band of 2005 in Classic
Rock and they have got the support on Whitesnakes
UK tour starting in a couple of weeks. Their
singer has a stunning bluesy rock voice and
the band are very much in the Black Crowes in
sound .Songs like " Never Too Late " and "Into
The Gutter" are superb and the band play great.
Most of the songs tonight are on their debut
album" Rise" which comes out on June 26 which
will be a must buy purchase. The last encore was
a stunning version of Aerosmiths " Sweet Emotion" .Its hard work trying to be a rock band
in the UK these days but The Answer have lots
of quality to make them a huge success..........
16 May 2006.Texas + The Upper Room live at The
Hammersmith Apollo, London.I must admit i am at
this gig to see the support band The Upper Room.
I caught them playing some songs on Channel 4 a
couple of weeks ago and now i am hooked.A bit like Snow Patrol in places with totally catchy melodies and hooks that really get you humming
along. Tracks like "All Over This Town " and
current single "Black And White " are superb.
They even throw in a cover of "I Will Follow" by
U2. Their debut album comes out in a couple of
weeks and i reckon they will be massive before
the end of the year.A sold out show by Texas who
have been together for 20 years now. Charlene
hangs out at loads of London celeb parties when
not touring but she still has an easy stage banter that the crowd love. They have quite a few
hits in the 1 hour 45 mins set like "I Dont Want
A Lover" ,"Black Eyed Boy" and great versions
of " Halo" and " Inner Smile" .For the encore
Charlene came on in a white naval uniform that
got her army of "female couples" a bit hot as she
played recent single "Sleep" .The show ended with
"Summer Son" and "Say What You Want " as the
cannons of confetti covered the stalls. A decent
show overall.................
After all the rumours Guns And Roses have confirmed they will play a Download Festival
warm up show at The Hammersmith Apollo on June 7.
Tickets are £37.50 on sale this Friday from 9am................
15 May 2006. Terri Walker live at Kettners ,Soho,
London. This was the launch party for her new
album" I Am Terri Walker" on Dekkor Records.
This a a great little venue and the free champers
and canopes give it a nice party atmosphere.
Terri does a short set of a few songs. She still
looks fab and that amazing rich soul voice is
still there .The last couple of years have had
its up and downs for Terri so hopefully this
material moves her up to the next level.........
My old mate Gary Lammim from Cock Sparrer plays
the G Lounge 18 Kentish Town Road on 23 May and
The Twelve Bar Club, Denmark Street ,near Tott
Court Road on May 27..............
12 May 2006. Santana live at Wembley Arena ,
London. First of two Wembley Santana shows.
The stage looks good with a big band and a screen
showing stage action and old Santana clips.The
highlights of the lengthy 2 hours 10 mins for me
were "Jingo" ,"Maria Maria " and "Black Magic
Woman" .Carlos played some great guitar and the
sight and sound of the 3 man drums, bongos and
percussion was superb. Sadly too many songs
sounded the same and whoever was doing the
vocals lacked charisma and a proper voice.
Encore of " Smooth " was really good. Thankfully
we were near the front so it was a good show
but nothing mega..................
11 May 2006. Anniversary Show of The Queen
Musical "We Will Rock You " At The Dominion
Theatre, London. This was the 4th time i have
seen this musical and its still great fun with all those classic Queen songs. Pretty amazing
it has been at this large theatre for 4 years.
At the end for " Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will
Rock You" Brian May came on to play guitar and
Roger Taylor and Ben Elton came on stage too.
See aftershow party page for this..............
10 May 2006.Launch Party For The Book By Paul
Gorman "The Look - Adventures In Rock And Pop
Fashion" at Too2Much in Soho, London W1.
Usually at book launches nothing much happens but
the organisers put on a great bash.3 hours of
free booze and a dj set by Boy George .In the
crowd was Glen Matlock(Sex Pistols),Kevin Rowland
(Dexys) and Led Zep legend Jimmy Page.
Had a nice chat with him .Asked was it true he
went to see The Australian Pink Floyd at their
recent Royal Albert Hall show and he said "Yes
because i love their versions of the Syd Barrett
material) .The book is in the shops now .......
09 May 2006.Bruce Springsteen And The Seeger
Sessions Band live at St Lukes,Old Street ,London
EC1. Sadly i was not at The Hammersmith Apollo
show the night before but this secret
gig for only 400 people more than made of up for
it. 300 comp winners and 100 BBC guests in this
ex church gave it a very intimate feel. Standing
only 5 yards from the stage it was a bit surreal
to see Bruce and his amazing 17 piece band here.
Of course the crowd were up for it from the start.The set tonight lasted for 85 mins.
The band focused on tracks from the new album .
"O Mary Dont You Weep" ,"How Can A Poor Man Stand
Such Times","Mrs McGrath" ,"My Oklahoma Home"
and totally amazing versions of "Jacobs Ladder"
and " Pay Me My Money Down" with all the band
apart from the drummer playing in line across
the stage.The crowd are clapping along loudly
and really getting into it. Its a joyous riot
of celtic folk, bluegrass, cajun and much more
and Bruce is really enjoying himself. Quite
an amazing gig really .Another " i was there"
evening that felt very special.
The show is on Radio 2 9pm Sat 13 May and then
on BBC 2 11.30pm Sat 20 May..................
07 May 2006.Bruce Dickenson and Nicko McBrain
Band + Glitterati live at The London Guitar Show,
Wembley Conference Centre. A great day out in
Wembley where in the morning i picked up yet some
more Sex Pistols items at The Record Fair and
then in the afternoon it was the guitar show next
door with a couple of decent bands. Two members
of Iron Maiden on stage could not be missed.
They played a 30 mins set of mainly covers like
"Voodoo Child", "Black Night" and "All The Young
Dudes" .Nicko McBrain has brought his massive
Maiden drumkit .Bruce is really getting into it.
They finish off with a mega " Run To The Hills" .
Great stuff and straight after the show Nicko signs stuff for everyone that wants autographs.
Support Glitterati were hotly tipped 18 months
ago.They look the part and there are some good
songs like "You Got Nothing On Me" ,"Do You Love Yourself?" and " Back In Power" but their brand
of uptempo rock sounds like a thousand other bands so ok but nothing special.............
One of the best live concert DVDs to come out this year is Whitesnakes " Live In The Still Of The Night" . At the end of May they play a few
shows in the UK including Hammersmith Apollo on
30 May where i have seen them play so many great
gigs over the years.....................
Paul Simon has a new album out called "Surprise"
he will be playing a special show in London
on 25 May for BBC Radio 2 and to win tickets
check www.bbc.co.uk/radio2..................
Aussie rockers INXS play The Shepherds Bush
Empire on 12 Oct 2006 which is the start of their
European tour.Their new singer was chosen by the
public via a ROCK IDOL tv show...................
04 May 2006.Kettners 2nd Floor Bar Launch, Romilly Street, London W.1.Great location near
Old Compton Street for this classy venue. The
new decor is fab and the cocktails and food are
top quality .The place soon gets packed and its nice to see a few celebs like Bananarama and
Emma Bunton and members of Bloc Party .A really
great evening and i will be going back on a
regular basis for sure....................
02 May 2006."Chicago -The Musical" .I went along
to this press and vip night to celebrate the
productions move from The Strand to The Cambridge
Theatre .I saw it last year and tonight was even
better.Bonnie Langford is now in the lead role
and she was amazing.Loads of great songs .
See aftershow party page for this event.......
Saturday 29 April was pretty amazing as i went to 5 events in the same day inc 3 Carling Live 24 gigs.
4 bands at 4 different venues feat Boy Kill Boy ,Ordinary Boys, Razorlight
and The Alarm and finally a party with a surprise guest spread over 15 hours.
First up its always great to see bands play live on a boat on The Thames
so as part of the Carling Live 24 (9 gigs every 3 hours over 24 hours around London)
Boy Kill Boy play an 8 song set as we pass The Houses Of Parliament .Carling are giving
out the free booze to all .The band all have that "distressed indie hair" and play their
great new single "Suzie".Although we depart from Tower Hill Pier we get dropped off at
Cadogan Pier ,Chelsea for the next Carling Live 24 gig The Ordinary Boys at Hammersmith
Palais.They play a 60 mins set of bouncy ska pop that i like more and more. Preston is
still a cheeky chappie and there are some great songs in there like "Boys Will Be Boys" ,
"Life Will Be The Death Of Me " and "Talk Talk Talk". Next gig is a short walk to The
Shepherds Bush Empire for Razorlight .They play a good 70 mins set featuring songs
from the second album which they are now recording and those great hits like "Vice",
"Golden Touch" and "Rip It Up" .The gig here finishes at 7.30pm so its a mad dash over
to the Academy ,Islington to see The Alarm .Even though singer Mike Peters has just had
treatment for another bout of cancer he gives a stunning 1 hour 50 mins set of pure passion.
They played a few tracks from their new EMI album " Under Attack" .Some might think
The Alarm are a bit naff but they have got loads of superb rousing tunes like "Absolute
Reality" ,"Where Were You Hiding" ,"Rescue Me " and the anthem " 68 Guns" . Perfect
encores of " 45 RPM" and " Spirit Of 76" finished a great set.Then into town for
the invite only launch of The Gumball Rally with free booze for all and a few celebs
at The Hilton Hotel , Trafalgar Square .Pretty amazing to see Chelsea manager Jose
Mourinho here with his wife and a few of his mates from Portugal .Another one of
Chelseas top men Peter Kenyon was also here .So picture the scene ,us on the dance floor
with Jose and his wife as they celebrate winning the championship that very afternoon.
Jose stayed for a couple of hours and left at 2.30am .An amazing day.
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Friday was another day with two great events.....
16 June 2006.Foo Fighters live at The Camden
Underworld , London.Tomorrow night they headline
to some 50,000 fans in Hyde Park but tonight its
a fan club only secret gig for only 400 fans but
true to his word The Foo Fighters tour manager
has put our names on the guest list after meeting
him that afternoon.Its very,very,very hot in here.Foo Fighters were due to play for 90 mins
but they finish after 75 mins and do not bother
with the 3 song encore. Some say it was because
of the curfew (it turns into a disco at 10.30)
but it was clearly that all the band were just
suffering the extreme heat in the venue.Loads of
great songs here like "Monkey Wrench","Times Like
These", "DOA", "Breakout","Stacked Actors" ,"My
Hero", "Generator" and "All My Life" .I came out
soaking with sweat so i dread to think what state
the band were in . A mega gig it was........
16 June 2006.Noon to 5pm.Nordoff Robbins Music
Therapy Silver Clef Awards At The Hilton Hotel,
Park Lane, London.Lots of big acts and music
industry top dogs here for this charity event.
About 500 seated for 3 course dinner but tonight
we are part of the 50 people standing. A long
affair with dinner, awards, auction ,raffle etc.
Those here The Foo Fighters sitting with Brian May,The Eagles, Ozzy,Sharon and Kelly Osbourne,
Editors, Cheap Trick,Girls Aloud, Kaiser Chiefs,
Paul Carrack , Myleene Klass, Linda Lewis and
Patti Boyd.The free booze is flowing and The
Eagles have a lot of security with them but the
highlight was chatting to the drummer of The Foo
Fighters and he told us about the secret gig at
The Underworld that night the band were playing
and he kindly put us on the guest list for it
by getting the tour manager to take our names.
A very enjoyable afternoon event.............
14 June 2006.10pm.The Upper Room live at The Scala ,London.As i have mentioned before this lot are one of my fave new bands around.Sadly
the venue is half empty as the evening was not
promoted properly but that means i can get close
to the stage. Half a dozen bands on tonight means
its only 35 mins on stage but its pure quality.
All the best tracks from their debut album "Other
Peoples Problems " out now on Columbia Records
including "Once For Me"
"All Over This Town" ,"Never Come Back" and
"Black And White" .All perfect catchy pop tunes.They play a wild cover of U2s "I Will Follow" .They will surely be massive........... .
14 June 2006.7pm.Bob Gruen "Rockers" photo
exibition launch party at Blink Gallery ,Poland
Street,London W1.Well worth a
visit with loads of great classic photos from
the 1970s of Sex Pistols, Clash, John Lennon,
Blondie,Ramones ,New York Dolls etc.Here tonight
are Glen Matlock and Paul Cook from Sex Pistols,
TV Smith and Gaye Advert,Marco from Adam And The
Ants and a nice surprise to see Rob Davis from
Mud who co wrote Kylies "Cant Get You Out Of My
Head" . Bob Gruen was here as well .............
13 June 2006.8pm. Paul Weller live at Koko, Camden, London.Invite only gig for 1000 comp
winners and 200 vips from record company and media .This show was sponsored by Jack Daniels
so everyone got one free drink token (the VIP bar
upstairs had free JD all night) .It was a tv
recording to promote Pauls new live album "Catch
Flame" .Even though i have seen him a dozen times
over the last five years it was another very good
90 mins set."From The Floorboards Up" , "Peacock
Suit" ,"Wild Wood" ,"Come On Lets Go" ,"You Do
Something To Me " and "The Changingman" were some
of the highlights for me. He omitted usual Jam
faves "Its Entertainment" and " A Town Called
Malice" and replaced them with the rarely played
Jam track " Running On The Spot" .Great encore
of " Sunflower" finished another PW evening.
A British legend for sure............
13 June 2006 .6pm. Lightning Seeds live at Cafe De Paris ,London.This was an invite only show for
300 comp winners and guests of Capital Gold Radio.The band have another greatest hits album
out this month and its surprising how many hits
they have had. Lots of catchy pop gems in the 60
mins set like "Sense", "Sugar Coated Iceberg" ,"Marvellous", "Lucky You" ,and superb
versions of " Pure" and "Life Of Riley" .As it was World Cup week they had to play their Euro 96
number 1 footie anthem"Three Lions" which sealed
an enjoyable gig..................
12 June 2006 .11pm.Kerrang 25th Birthday Party At
Sin, Tottenham Court Road, London.Lively bash for
this rock mag and the free booze is flowing .
Those here include Sebastian Bach, Juliette Lewis,Jerry Cantrell(Alice In Chains),Therapy,
Krusher ,The Answer, drummer from Dirty Pretty
Things,Killing Joke,Lordi,Luke Morley(Thunder),
Chris (3 Colours Red) and a surprise to see
American actor Will Smith and his wife Jada
Pinkett Smith(she played Download Festival with
her thrash metal punk band) strange but true.
The place was still rocking when i left at 2am.............
12 June 2006. Gomez live at Shepherds Bush Empire,London.You have to admire Gomez in the way
they quietly do their own thing and can sell out
a venue of this size with the minimum of fuss.
One of those bands that pay attention to how they
play on stage much more than how they look.
They are here to play songs from the new album
"How To Operate" alongside oldies from their other albums. The crowd love every second of it.
The encore of "Whipping Piccadilly" is superb.
................
11 June 2006.Bon Jovi + Nickleback live at The
Milton Keynes Bowl. Up first Nickleback are an
ideal support to Bon Jovi really. They go down
well with highlights " Never Again" and " How You
Remind Me" .Its amazing how popular Bon Jovi are.
Two nights here at 50,000 punters a night and
100 million albums sold .There are 3 areas in
front of the pitch .General admission then Outer
Gold Circle and then Inner Gold Circle which is
where we are a mere 10 yards from the band.Of
course the nearer you are the better the show is.
Bon Jovi are on for 2 hours 30 mins and are superb.Bon Jovi have so many female fans of all
ages is what keeps them a worldwide stadium band.
The stage production is totally huge in size.
Loads of great catchy rock tunes like "You Give
Love A Bad Name" ,"Wild In The Streets" ,"Born To
Be My Baby" ,"Sleep When Im Dead" ,"Runaway","In
These Arms" ,"Have A Nice Day" and " Its My Life".There were a few average songs in there
too it must be said. They had batches of comp
winners come on side of stage for 3 songs at a
time which worked really well.As dusk fell the
full light show came into force for mega versions
of " Bad Medicine" ,"Raise Your Hands" and " Living On A Prayer" .Encores " Blood On Blood" ,
"Wanted Dead Or Alive " and " Keep The Faith " all went down well .Maybe it was because i was
so close but this was a great show .............
10 June 2006.Eric Clapton live at Hampton
Court Palace , Surrey.I was here last year to see
Brian Wilson and this really is an amazing
venue with all its gardens and history .No support band tonight so everyone has brought a
picnic to have in the lovely sunshine. Eric
back in town as part of his lengthy European tour.The 2 hour set was pretty much the same as
The Royal Albert Hall show last month.EC dedicated a couple of acoustic songs to his chum
Billy Preston who sadly during the week.Erics
guitar playing and tone is just superb as ever.
The best bits came in the second half of the set
"Let It Rain" ,"Wonderful Tonight" ,"Layla" ,
"Cocaine " and a stunning encore of " Crossroads" .A very good show..................
06 June 2006 .The London Club And Bar Awards At
Riverbank Plaza Hotel , London SE1. Never been to
this hotel before but with a superb bar area that
looks over the Thames and a downstairs function
room both easily holding the 500 people here it
certainly ticked all the right boxes.Like your
fave new band its always a good idea (even at my
age)to keep an eye on
just which are the current hottest clubs in
London .The atmosphere in here is mental .It may
be a sitdown 3 course meal but the dj is playing away on his decks,the comperes are shouting ,
everyone is chatting away and some are dancing
at their tables as if they are in Ibiza. Anyway
all the main players are so here is some of the
awards .Best Club Night is Tuesdays at Boujis in
South Kensington.....Best New Bar is The Ice Bar in Heddon Street ....Best New Club is Cuckoo Club in Swallow Street...Best Club is Movida
and a well deserved Lifetime Achievement for
Mark Fuller from the Embassy Club... a few faces
here like my old mate Rusty Egan ,Rebecca Loos,
Jade Goody and members of Girls Aloud , Atomic
Kitten and Liberty X . A very good evening was had by all......................
05 June 2006.MOJO Music Awards At Shoreditch Town
Hall, London.Well this really was a quality event
full of proper musicians and some big names.
500 seated at tables and 50 upstairs in balcony.
6pm drinks reception in this lovely building that
is over 100 years old then 7.15pm the following
were giving ,accepting or just hanging out David
Gilmour, Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John, Tom Robinson,
Can, Corinne Bailey Rae, Buzzcocks, Mick Jones,
Don Letts, Tony Wilson,Vic Reeves, Jeff Beck,
Brian May, Richard Hawley, James Dean Bradfield,
Nick Cave, Jools Holland, Roseanne Cash,Beth Orton,Roy Harper, Bert Jansch,Primal Scream, Jesus And Mary Chain, Prince Buster , Joe Brown,
Phil Manzernera, Chrissie Hynde, Scott Walker and Rod Smallwood. Highlight for me was punk
legends The Buzzcocks winning The Inspiration
Award then 9.15pm a lovely 2 couse dinner. I was
on a table with Vic Reeves, Tony Wilson and Don
Letts. As normal half the musicians left the
building after the awards and skipped dinner.
More lovely Appleton cocktails consumed.
11pm to 1am was the aftershow with dj in the room
at the end of the building .A few hung around
but only Corinne Bailey Rae got on the floor
for a boogie .A totally excellent evening.................
03 June 2006. Monsters Of Rock Festival At Milton
Keynes Bowl with Deep Purple + Alice Cooper +
Journey + Thunder + Queensryche + Ted Nugent.
A mega line up for Classic Rock fans but as
expected they have sold only 25,000 of the 50,000
tickets available.Up first is Ted Nugent whose
chat between songs was just brilliant .Loads of
great songs too like " Stormtrooping" ,"Wango
Tango" ,"Snakeskin Cowboys" ,"Free For All " ,
"Motor City Madhouse" ,"Cat Stratch Fever" and a
mega " Stranglehold" ........Next was Queensryche
and they fell right on their arse as their over
the top and far too serious vocals did not work
in an outdoor setting even though " Revoloution
Calling" and "Eyes Of A Stranger" were good......... Next Thunder did their usual set
of chirpy good time rock with songs like "Higher
Ground" ,"I Love You More Than Rock And Roll"
and a superb " Dirty Love" all goin |
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