Tuesday 13 October 2026.

Tuesday 13 October 2026. HEAVEN 17 live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Heaven 17 are touring the UK to celebrate 45 years since the release of their debut album. The band achieved their biggest critical and commercial successes with their first three albums, Penthouse and Pavement (1981), The Luxury Gap (1983), and How Men Are (1984). Originally a studio-only group, they did not play their first live concerts until 1997. I have seen them a few times before. Support comes from Peter Coyne who was the original singer of The Lotus Eaters. They had a UK Top 20 hit in 1983 with ' The First Picture of You'. --------------- Level 3 is closed tonight , and Level 2 is half empty . A mainly older crowd here as usual for Heaven 17. PETER COYNE arrives on stage at 7.45pm for his 30 mins set. It is just him and his backing tapes . He looked a bit awkward on stage with his very dodgy dad dancing . He sung a great cover of ' Don't You Forget About Me' , and ended his set with his big hit from 1983 . HEAVEN 17 arrived on stage at 8.30pm for their 1 hour 40 mins set. Oddly , when I saw them last year at this venue they were on for 30 mins longer...2 hours 10 mins.. 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 282 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 The Height of the Fighting Let's All Make a Bomb Soul Warfare Play to Win Song With No Name Geisha Boys and Temple Girls Penthouse and Pavement We're Going to Live for a Very Long Time I'm Your Money Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover) Are Everything ( Buzzcocks cover) Come Live With Me Let Me Go Crushed by the Wheels of Industry Temptation Let's Dance (David Bowie cover) Being Boiled (The Human League cover) ( Martin Ware from Heaven 17 was co-composer of this track when he was with The Human League) ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Monday 12 October 2026. GIBRAN ALCOCER live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Gibran Alcocer, a 22-year-old pianist, composer, and producer hailing from Yucatan, Mexico. One of the most influential and emotionally resonant contemporary composers and pianists of his generation, Gibran Alcocer is known for his deeply intimate and cinematic music. Alcocer has achieved something rare: transcending languages, cultures, and algorithms to become a universal language of emotion. This show has sold out in advance, and is the only UK show on his European Tour. --------- An all ages crowd here tonight , and it is stalls seated, so maybe 1200 tickets sold out. There seemed to be a lot of overseas folks here. Amazingly this must have been one of the shortest headline sets at this venue ever . He was on stage at 8pm for just 50 mins over two sets of 25 mins Maybe that would explain the cheapish tickets for this venue (£30 and £25). Just him and his two pianos, and some nice piano playing - no vocals. Minimal lights and a few words between each track. During the interval I got talking to two young females. I asked how did they first come across GIBRAN ? They said they entered on Spotify " Good music to listen too , while studying and taking exams , and his name came up". An early finish , and when we left the venue , there was a big queue as he said before the final track that he would be meeting folks by the merch stand . An interesting show , and don't be surprised if he plays The Royal Albert Hall next time. -------------------------------- Monday 12 October 2026. Happy Birthday to DAVE VANIAN from The Damned who reaches 70 today . The Damned, Status Quo and Motorhead are the bands i have probably seen the most. All three must be around 40 times each since the 1970s.

Posted 11th October 2026