News and Reviews: 30th December 2011
21 Dec 2011.Rihanna + Calvin Harris live at The 02 Arena,London.Show nine of ten at this venue as part of Rihannas massive UK and European Tour.Her ten shows here set a new record for a solo female act at the 02.Over 300,000 tickets sold in the UK.
Up first we have dj/producer Calvin Harris who has had a couple of top 10 hits.Tonight he is in dj mode as he stands within a huge podium with lights and great visuals that could grace any superclub in Ibiza and probably has.His 60 mins set of current club dance anthems warmed the crowd up nicely for Rihanna.
Rihanna has had a pretty amazing last couple of years of success with lots of hit records.
I had a great view.Stage right where at times i was only a dozen yards from Rihanna.
Tonights show was visually great with lots of boxes ticked including loads of big screens,various stage gimmicks like sitting astride a giant pink gun,poledancing while handcuffed and a flying grand piano.Also skimpy costume changes,dancers,bursts of steam,confetti showers,pyros etc.
Some of the show i had seen when she played here last year.Ex Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt is still in the band and manages to sneak in some nifty rock guitar.
On stage for 1 hour 50 mins.It started well with "Only Girl In The World","Man Down" and a rocky version of "Darling Nikki" by Prince.
The middle part of the show had too many average songs.The final third of the show had some good tunes inc "Hate That I Love You","Whats My Name?","Rude Boy","Dont Stop The Music" and encores of "Love The Way You Lie",a mega "Umbrella" and "We Found Love".
So like i said visually a great show and a few good tunes but not in the same league as Madonna or Kylie.
20 Dec 2011.Saxon + Hammerfall live at Koko,Camden,London.
Up first we have Hammerfall from Sweden who i have seen before.Most of the crowd seem to know a lot of their tunes and their 45 mins set goes down really well.
Saxon are another great rock band i have seen loads of times over the last 30 odd years.
It is a full house here.Saxon are on the last night of their "Call To Arms" world tour that started way back in April.
Tonight Saxon also celebrate the 30th anniversary of their classic album "Denim and Leather" which they play in two segments.
The crowd are totally up for it as young and old fans are moshing stage front from the start and are singing the songs loudly.
With twin guitar power Saxon have a fantastic wall of sound that blasts the front rows.
Singer Biff Byford in total command as usual.
Loads of great tunes played in the nice long 2 hours 10 mins show including "Heavy Metal Thunder","Motorcycle Man","Never Surrender","And The Bands Played On","Call To Arms" and totally rockin' versions of "Denim And Leather" and "Princess Of The Night".Encores were "Crusader","The Power And The Glory" and brilliant versions of "747(Stangers In The Night)","Strong Arm Of The Law" and "Wheels Of Steel" that sent the crowd home happy.It was a great show.Saxon just get better and better with age.
Check the bands website to see Biff Byford singing "Motorcycle Man" with Metallica in San Francisco recently for their 30th anniversary show.
www.saxon747.com
19 Dec 2011.Stereophonics live at The Shepherds Bush Empire,London.
First of three shows at this venue for these Welsh boys who have had a good last 15 years.
I have seen them a dozen times in that period.
These are smallish shows for them as they are pretty much an arena band.A full two hour show as usual.Most of the crowd are up for a good singalong as the band have loads of hits.
On a downside some songs are so sluggish you need to put the band in a room with a load of Ramones records to get them to speed up a bit.
Goodies played inc "A Thousand Trees","I Wouldnt Believe Your Radio","Maybe Tomorrow","Handbags And Gladrags","Traffic","Mr Writer","Have A Nice Day","Pick A Part Thats New","Just Looking","Local Boy In The Photograph" and great encores of "The Bartender And The Thief","Vegas Two Times" and "Dakota".I think the two shows i saw them play last year at Hammersmith Apollo had the edge over this one.
Mon lunchtime 12.45pm to 3pm was Qatar National Day Party at Claridges Hotel,London W1.
I went to this last year at The Savoy Hotel and again it is a very nice posh event.
Members of Qatar Royal Family are here as are staff from the Qatar Embassy.
Around a dozen food stations with yummy food from Claridges kitchen which is top quality.
No booze here as it is banned in their country so just juices and coffees.
Sir David Frost was here.
18 Dec 2011.Slade live at Koko,Camden,London.
Glam rock legends who were massive in the 1970s.
I was lucky to have seen Slade with Noddy Holder over ten times in their 1970s heyday but Noddy sadly left the band many years ago.
Dave Hill and Don Powell are still in the group.
The singer had great Noddy Holder type vocals.
The advert said no support with early start early finish and true enough their 80 mins set is all over by 9pm.They were great fun and they played loads of hits including "Look Wot You Dun","Coz I Luv You","Gudbuy T'Jane","Mama Weer All Crazee Now","Get Down And Get With It" and encores were "My Oh My" and mega versions of "Cum On Feel The Noize" and then their Xmas anthem "Merry Christmas Everybody" which is again in the charts this Christmas.Everyone singalong to all the songs.A good show.I loved glam rock.It was recorded for a future live dvd.
17 Dec 2011.Manic Street Preachers live at The 02 Arena,London.
One off special show as the Manics play all 38 singles from their 21 year career in support of their "National Treasures" cd collection.
Another band i have a lot of history with ever since NME called them "The New Clash" so i ended up seeing one of their first London shows way back in 1991 at the start of their career.
I have seen them over 20 times since including last years amazing secret gig at The Hard Rock Cafe in London for just 200 people.
Fans have come from all over the UK for this mammoth show that lasted five mins short of three hours over two sets of 90 mins and 85 mins.
A nice stage production with big screens showing past footage of the band and tonights live footage,flowers,trees and fairy lights.
The Welsh trio teamed up with Gruff Rhys for the first time in their career for single 'Let Robeson Sing' with the SFA singer taking lead vocals on the track.
Introducing Rhys, Bradfield told the crowd that they wanted to collaborate with him during their tour of Cuba in 2001 but it fell through at the time.
Later, The Cardigans' frontwoman Nina Persson sang on their 2007 single 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough'. She previously teamed up with the band in the UK during their Glastonbury performance that same year.
As Nicky Wire promised earlier in the week, the Manics chose not to run through all 38 hits from their singles compilation 'National Treasures' in album order.
Arriving onstage, 20 minutes later than their scheduled time of 7.30pm, Bradfield joked:"Howdy doody O2. Better late than never ever eh?", before launching into 'You Stole The Sun From My Heart'.
During their set they also took time out to recall lost member Richey Edwards with Wire describing the band's favourite single - 'Faster' as his "fucking masterpiece".
Both Bradfield and Wire were on jovial form throughout the show, the former bantering about the flamboyant bassist's many costume changes while the latter joked following the interval: "Fuck me look at him making a costume change [during the interval]. Who'd have thought it."
The band wrapped up the show with their debut single 'Motown Junk' before thanking their guest collaborators and making a final tribute to Edwards.
The show was their last for at least two years which Bradfield acknowledged when he signed off with 'A Design For Life', saying: "Thank you for coming out tonight, you're the lifeblood of old taffs likes us. Merry fucking Christmas. Well see you back in Britain in two years time hopefully."
True to form, Wire ended the show by smashing his bass onstage and pushing a prop over.
Some singles were better than others of course but overall a fantastic evening.
Manic Street Preachers played:
'You Stole The Sun From My Heart'
'Love's Sweet Exile'
'Motorcycle Emptiness'
'(Its Not War) Just The End Of Love'
'Everything Must Go'
'She Is Suffering'
'From Despair To Where'
'Autumnsong'
'Empty Souls'
'Let Robeson Sing'
'Faster'
'Life Becoming A Landslide'
'Kevin Carter'
'Little Baby Nothing'
'This Is The Day'
'The Everlasting'
'Indian Summer'
'Stay Beautiful'
'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next'
'Australia'
'La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)'
'Found That Soul'
'There By The Grace Of God'
'Some Kind Of Nothingness'
'You Love Us'
'Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)'
'Revol'
'The Love Of Richard Nixon'
'Ocean Spray'
'The Masses Against The Classes'
'Roses In The Hospital'
'So Why So Sad'
'Postcards From A Young Man'
'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough'
'Slash N Burn'
'Tsunami'
'Motown Junk'
'A Design For Life'