Saturday 02 November 2024.

Saturday 02 November 2024. I will be playing drums this coming Saturday. 65th birthday party and gig for the band members , who all celebrate 65 , within a 9 month period. YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO A PUNKY REGGAE PARTY. GUN CONTROL will be playing The Rocket Pub, 11-13 Churchfield Road, Acton, London W3 6BD. By public transport.... it is 10 mins walk from Acton Town tube station. Two mins walk from Acton Central Overground. 207 bus from Shepherds Bush to Acton Town Hall and 2 mins walk. My band from the early 1980s, with me on drums will be playing a special one off show...on stage 9pm for around 40 mins....FREE ENTRY. DJ V.SQUEEZEBOX playing some cool reggae and dub tunes. Gun Control played around 40 gigs 1980 to 1982. Mainly on the West London area. We will try to squeeze in a rehearsal ,but it's more about us band members celebrating our milestone birthday, and long friendships . Our original singer Pete, will be coming up from Basildon for our first get-together in a few years. ---------- Nice to see the pub get pretty full up, with old faces and some new faces. Due to circumstances , our current younger singer couldn't do the show , so Mario out lead guitarist took over vocals for the first time. Normally we would play a dozen songs , but a bit shorter tonight , so Mario could focus on the chosen songs. We came on at 9.15pm and played for around 45 mins Great to hear the crowd clapping and cheering after every song. I couldn't hear the vocals properly due to the loudness of the two guitars, but it sounded good out front, we were told. Full GUN CONTROL setlist in played tonight... Teenage Kicks (cover ) Cheap Publicity Wasted Youth No Mercy On Parole You Mean Nothing To Me Do I Need You Steppin' Stone ( cover ) --------- Encore : Steppin' Stone ( cover reprise) ( with Pete our original singer from the early 1980s on vocals, singing with us again for the first time in many years. We were over at 10pm , so could mingle with folks. A great night. ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- Friday 01 November 2024. UB40 live at Wembley Arena. I have seen UB40 around 20 times since 1980, when I first saw them supporting The Pretenders at The Brunel University , Uxbridge. There are two versions of UB40 playing gigs these days , as the two brothers have fallen out . The original UB40 ( tonight's version ) The original band members are Robin Campbell, Earl Falconer, Jimmy Brown, and Norman Hassan. Matt Doyle is the current lead singer, taking over from Duncan Campbell, who retired in 2021. UB40 featuring Ali Campbell ( are playing Hammersmith Apollo on 03 December ) This splinter group is led by Ali Campbell, who left the original band in 2008 to pursue a solo career. Mickey Virtue left the band in 2018, and Astro died in 2021. Ali Campbell continues to tour and release new music under this name. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group.UB40 have sold more than 70 million records worldwide.The ethnic make-up of the band's original eight man line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish, and Yemeni parentage. Special guests will be SOUL II SOUL. I have seen them a few times before. They have sold over 10 million albums. --------------- The corner blocks at the rear are unsold tonight, and there is space in rear stalls standing , so maybe 9000 tickets sold out of 12,500 capacity . YOUNG CULTURE BAND on at 7pm for their 30 mins. Reggae band from Birmingham warmed the crowd up. A nice touch was that all three bands got to use the big screens, that mixed live footage / pre-recorded images . SOUL II SOUL on at 7.50pm for their 40 mins. They were due to play 50 mins, but only played 40. The full band , with around a dozen on stage including three vocalists (two females and Jazzie B). Their big tunes like ' Keep on Movin ' and 'Back to Life' sounded fantastic. Full SOUL II SOUL setliat played tonight.... Fairplay Ghetto Heaven ( The Family Stand cover) Nothing Compares 2 U ( Prince cover) Keep On Movin' Universal Love Get a Life Back to Life (However Do You Want Me UB40 on at 9.05pm for their 1 hour 50 mins set. UB40 are very popular with male and female white folks, but not many black folks in the crowd tonight. The band were experts at reggae tinged cover versions, and we got plenty of their best hits tonight , as the crowd sang , and danced, and swayed and nodded along Also tracks from their 45th anniversary album 'UB45'. Their early tracks 'One in Ten' and 'Food For Thought ' still sound incredible . A great show. Full UB40 setlist played tonight .. Here I Am (Come and Take Me) ( Al Green cover) Keep on Moving ( The Wailers cover) Homely Girl ( The Chi‐Lites cover) Sing Our Own Song One in Ten Home Please Don't Make Me Cry (Winston Tucker cover) You Don't Call Anymore / Me Nah Leave Yet The Keeper Many Rivers to Cross ( Jimmy Cliff cover) Cherry Oh Baby ( Eric Donaldson cover) Gimme Little Sign ( Brenton Wood cover) Wear You to the Ball ( John Holt cover) Food For Thought Red Red Wine ( Neil Diamond cover) Encore: Kingston Town ( Lord Creator cover) Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley cover)

Posted 2nd November 2024