Monday 17 November 2025.

Monday 17 November 2025. AMBLE live at Shepherds Bush Empire. This is the first of their three sold out shows at this venue. Irish folk trio Amble extend their ongoing world tour in support of their album, 'Reverie'. 'Reverie ' showcases the bands signature sound: relatability, intimate storytelling, and authenticity seamlessly blended with no-frills acoustic instrumentation, serene soundscapes, and heavenly natural harmonies. Their tour includes three sold out shows at Dublin Arena. Pretty amazing how quickly they have become so popular , despite releasing just one studio album and one live album , and a few EPs . Their May 2025 released debut album went to number one in Ireland. --------- Most of the crowd seemed to be Irish tonight. Many of the middle aged men look like my Irish uncles. Two of Ireland's football heroes from the past weekend were in the Level 1 vip seats. MAICIN arrived on stage at 8pm for their 30 mins set. The five piece from Northern Ireland did a good acoustic based set. The singer was a bit of a character. Great to hear those accents from the stage and in the crowd. The venue is totally rammed by the time the headliners arrive . AMBLE arrived on stage at 9pm for their 80 mins set. The three main guys at the front , and three more behind them. Throughout the set, the mixture of guitars, banjos, mandolins and accordion blended naturally between the band and the three fellow Irish musicians on stage. Their brotherly playfulness and genuine awe for one another’s talent was magnetic, as was their harmonies. It was acoustic based , as no electric guitars on stage . Several chants of "Ole , Ole , Ole " ring out during the show. The main singer said " just a year ago , we quit our full time jobs to go on this world tour". The crowd are singing along to the songs performed . A cover of John Prine ' Angel From Montgomery' was great . Some songs were livelier than others. An enjoyable show . ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- Sunday 16 November 2025. ASIA featuring John Payne + FOGHAT live at Shepherds Bush Empire. A very nice pair of old school rock bands...co-headline show. Asia feature John Payne on vocals, who replaced John Wetton on vocals from 1991 to 2006. John Payne recorded several albums with them, but not the first three albums which included their mega selling debut from 1982, which included the worldwide hit single ' Heat of the Moment'. Support comes from FOGHAT. I bought a couple of their albums in the 1970s when they were massive in the USA. They feature original drummer Roger Earl. Foghat are an English rock band formed in London in 1971, who had big success in America in the 1970s, and stayed over there rather than come back to the UK. The band are known for the use of electric slide guitar in their music. Their best known song is the 1975 hit "Slow Ride". The band have released 17 studio albums, including eight gold albums and one platinum, along with one double platinum live album. Despite several line-up changes, the band continue to record and perform. A very rare UK visit by Foghat as their last shows in the UK was around 50 years ago. This show is stalls seated, as will be a rock show for the seniors. ----------- Levels 2 and 3 are closed tonight , and it's stalls seated so maybe only 500 tickets sold. Maybe the pretty high ticket prices of £75 and £65 for this venue put them off. It is pretty much 80% older males here tonight as expected. FOGHAT arrived on stage at 7.45pm for their 75 mins set. Five of them are on stage , including percussion. A lovely southern rock blues set , with plenty of nifty slide guitar. They finished with their best known track ' Slow Ride' which was great. ASIA arrived on stage at 9.30pm for their 1 hour 45 mins set. This meant they left the stage at 11.15pm ...far too late for a Sunday. Many were leaving by 11pm, as tubes close down an hour earlier on Sundays. The band are a different type of genre to Foghat as they mix soft rock with prog rock . Four musicians on stage , including keyboards Nice vocals and harmonies and stage banter from John Payne. Highlights included ' Only Time Will Tell', ' The Longest Night' and 'Sole Survivor' and the final song which was their big hit ' Heat of the Moment', which got everyone off their seats. A very nice evening with these two bands.

Posted 17th November 2025