Thursday 06 November 2025.

Thursday 06 November 2025. THE SEX PISTOLS played their debut gig 50 years ago today. 06 November 1975, at St. Martin's School of Art in London, the Sex Pistols played their first-ever gig, unleashing a raw energy that would define the punk explosion. Over their brief but incendiary peak from 1975 to 1978, they became a global phenomenon, capped by the 1977 release of their era-defining album ' Never Mind the Bollocks ' and the notoriously banned single "God Save the Queen." Today at 2pm there will be a blue plaque unveiling to celebrate this event. Alan G Parker will host at Foyles, Charing Cross , London . I would have popped along , but it was only announced a couple of days ago, and I was commited to a hospital appointment at the same time . -------------------------- Thursday 06 November 2025. HEAVEN 17 live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Heaven 17 are playing their annual UK tour. I have seen them a few times before, with the last time as this same venue in 2023. DJ support comes from RUSTY EGAN. Tonight is the opening night of their UK and European tour. ----------- Level 3 is closed , but all the other levels are full. The DJ support is RUSTY EGAN.. RUSTY EGAN played some cool tunes to warm the crowd up , including PiL , Visage, Talk Talk, Duran Duran, Donna Summer and Eurythmics etc. HEAVEN 17 arrived on stage at 8.30pm for their 2 hours 10 mins. A nice long set , that was really good. They had five on stage including two lots of synth keyboards and two great female backing singers. Part of Martyn Ware's set up includes his original 1975 synth / keyboards. Martyn is wearing a sparkly long coat and sparkly hat Singer Glenn Gregory is an excellent frontman who is constantly moving and engaging with the crowd, he seemed to be having a great time and that energy and enthusiasm really bridged the gap between the stage and the crowd. Glenn gave a shout out to a loyal fan in the front row who has seen the band over 200 times. Lots of great electro pop tunes played , with a few brilliant covers too. A real highlight was their classic ' Temptation' , where the two female backing singers came into their own , with some top notch vocals. A great show. Full HEAVEN 17 setlist played tonight... (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang Crushed by the Wheels of Industry Something About You Trouble Come Live With Me Play to Win We Live So Fast You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ( Barry Mann cover) And That's No Lie Dive Crow and a Baby (The Human League cover) I'm Your Money Let Me Go Let's Dance (David Bowie cover) Penthouse and Pavement Temptation Encore: Party Fears Two ( The Associates cover) Captured Being Boiled (The Human League cover) ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Wednesday 05 November 2025. SANANDA MAITREYA live at Shepherds Bush Empire The artist formerly known at Terence Trent D'Arby plays his first UK headline tour for 23 years. 'Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby ' is the debut studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby. It was originally released in July 1987 on Columbia Records, and became an instant #1 smash in the UK, spending a total of nine weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart. The album went multiple-platinum, he was seen as the new Prince and told the world he was a genius. However, D’Arby’s career plummeted after the critical savaging of his more experimental second album and in 2001 he changed his name to “create a new identity that wasn’t traumatised by the ‘fall from grace’.” In early 1987 , when working front stage security at Hammersmith Odeon I saw him support Simply Red four times and later that year I saw him headline the same venue twice. I saw him headline Shepherds Bush Empire in 1995. -------------------------- Level 3 is half empty , but the rest of the venue looks full. SANANDA and band are on stage for 1 hour 40 mins over two sets of 45 mins and 55 mins. There is a lot of love in the house for him tonight. He plays a bit of guitar and keyboards on some songs. Now aged 63, his dreads are gone , but the voice is still good. Like me, most of the crowd want the hits from his big selling debut album. The set list, split by an interval, spans decades and genres, from psychedelic funk to pretty balladry. ' Billy Don’t Fall' , a Motown-y gem from that ill-fated second album, is sung with sublime emotion. Quality control was always Maitreya’s achilles heel and there are wobbles – a couple of so-so rockers in the second half – but not many. Meanwhile, his hits ' Wishing Well ' and ' Sign Your Name' roll back the years. A beautifully plaintive ' Let Her Down Easy' and soulful ' Holding on to You' suggest that he never stopped writing terrific songs. A stupendously funky 'Dance Little Sister' which has the whole crowd singing. Surprisingly, he avoids the obvious audience-slayer of ' If You Let Me Stay', but perhaps Maitreya was never going to make things too easy for himself. He now lives in Italy , and there was an Italian film crew here filming the show. Great to see him performing live again.

Posted 6th November 2025