News and Reviews: 30th June 2004

Another great month for live music .Check out below the reviews for 27 events i went to in June 2004. 29 June 2004 G3 Joe Satriani + Steve Vai + Robert Fripp ,Royal Albert Hall , London. Three guitar virtuosos sharing the bill to a sold out crowd. Up first Robert Fripp would call his short set atmospheric but i would call it total boredom. Steve Vai still has the showmanship that got him the gig with David Lee Roth some 15 years ago. He started his set by coming on stage with a triple necked guitar with hair and smiles galore. He stole the show for me tonight. Joe Satriani also did a 60 mins set but only really got going in the last couple of songs .All 3 guitarists came on stage together for encore of King Crimson "Red" and Neil Young " Rockin In The Free World". 28 June 2004 Toto + Bernie Marsden And Micky Moody ,Royal Albert Hall ,London .Support did a good acoustic blues guitar set of covers and Whitesnake tunes like " Trouble " ,"Here I Go Again" and " Lovehunter " .Toto have sold over 25 million albums since their first release in 1978 .They have a stunning guitarist in Steve Lukather but vocalist Bobby Kimball seems to struggle with the high notes .Best songs were " Goodbye Girl" ,"Africa" ,"Rosanna " and brilliant encore of " Hold The Line " .There were a couple of boring muso workouts but overall a good show . 27 June 2004 Phil Collins ,Wembley Arena ,London. Looks like this will be the last ever tour and London show by this massive 1980s star who seems to be the uncoolest person in rock these days. The stage set is an impressive huge production and there are 17 people on stage in all . There are a few pretty average MOR songs in the 2 hours 15 mins set that thankfully sticks to a mainly greatest hits collection ." One More Night " ,"Groovy Kind Of Love "," Missed Again " the version of " In The Air Tonight " was stunning with a drumkit appearing for Phil from beneath the stage for that famous drum break. " Easy Lover " "Sussudio" and the final song "Take Me Home " .Not earth shattering a show but overall it was pretty enjoyable. 26 June 2004 Morrissey + Cockney Rejects ,Royal Festival Hall ,London. 9pm .Last of 3 Morrissey shows here at RFH .The atmosphere is again great . He changed the set slightly to the show 2 weeks ago and finished with stunning versions of " Everyday Is Like Sunday " and "English Heart " .After in the RFH foyer at 10.50pm was the end of Meltdown party with original late 70s oi merchants The Cockney Rejects .Great to see them in this posh venue and they played a fast 45 mins set of their rowdy anthems like "War On The Terraces " "On The Streets Again" and "The Greatest Cockney Rip Off " Good stuff. 26 June 2004 Olympic Torch Concert ,The Mall , London . 4pm to 8pm .As The Mall is one long road it is just as well this is a free concert for 70,000 as 75% cannot see the stage and have to watch the giant video screens . We got a decent view near stage . Godfather Of Soul James Brown did the longest set with a superb 30 mins of hits and he was joined by Will Young for "Papas Got a Brand New Bag " .One song each by Beverley Knight ,Emma Bunton ,Rachel Stevens, McFly ,Jamelia came and went before Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne did a fantastic " Changes " with Sharon and Jack watching in the wings.Headliner Rod Stewart only did 3 songs inc " Stay With Me " where he was joined by Ronnie Wood and then the cast of Rod musical " Tonights The Night" came on for a couple inc " Sailing " nice mix of music and sport with a flypast by Red Arrows at 7pm when the Olympic Torch reached The Mall . 25 June 2004 Red Hot Chilli Peppers ,Hyde Park , London. This was the last of 3 massive outdoor shows at Hyde Park for RHCP where they played to 85,000 people a night .They must be in the top 10 biggest live acts in the world right now.There is no rain or wind so the sound is pretty good for their 1 hour 45 mins set . They are tight ,funky and rocky and play all their best songs . The problem is even though we are in the front gold ring area this venue is totally crap and the same set was a lot more enjoyalbe indoors at Docklands Arena a couple of years ago. 24 June 2004 UFO + Quireboys , Astoria ,London. Excellent double bill of British Classic Rock . Quireboys did a really good rocking set and inc classics "Hey You " and "Its 7 O Clock " . UFO feature 3 original members from the 1970s who all look great and Jason Bonham on drums . Pete Way is from the Steve Harris (Maiden)school of bass playing as he really gets stuck into it. They play some tracks from new album " You Are Here " and a stunning bunch of oldies that go down a treat ," Only You Can Rock Me " ,"Too Hot To Handle " ,"Rock Bottom" ,"Lights Out ", and a great encore of " Doctor Doctor " and " Shoot Shoot " .Never mind the football you cannot beat a great night of classic rock like this was. 23 June 2004 Jeff Beck ,Royal Albert Hall , London. Mainly an older crowd tonight for this British guitar legend .Still looks a rocker even though his age is around 60.The set is nearly all guitar based instrumentals except when he is joined by a couple of female singers one of which is the lovely looking Nancy (wife of comedian Vic Reeves ) .His is still a great guitarist although there was too much of it tonight.Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood came on for a couple of songs which was fun to see .I think he must be after Queens Brian May place as No 1 surprise guest . 22 June 2004 Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London.Funny how some bands sell loads of records but cannot fill their local telephone box but others like Ben Harper do not sell that many records but shift loads of concert tickets worldwide .A 2 hour show of blues funk soul with some neat slide guitar that the crowd loved but it all seemed pretty average to me even though the band are great musicians .Good but not great . 22 June 2004 MOJO Awards ,Banqueting House , Pall Mall ,London .Noon to 4pm .Very posh old building a stones throw from Tony Blairs gaff. Loads of proper rock stars. See aftershow page for full details of who turned up for it. 21 June 2004 Lonnie Donegan Tribute Show ,Royal Albert Hall ,London. Near sell out even though the big England Croatia game is on .His skiffle band are the house act tonight and include his young sons .Lots of names turn up to do Lonnie songs Van Morrison, Roger Daltrey ,Joe Cocker , Mark Knopfler ,Chas n Dave ,Rolf Harris ,Joe Brown and a few others . The Baron Knights of all people do my fave LD tune " Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour " .Good enjoyable evening. 19 June 2004 Glen Matlock Acoustic Show ,Bar Lorca ,Brixton ,London. Glastonbury Festival warm up gig for The Sex Pistols bassist .A good 60 mins set of solo ,Sex Pistols and covers but the venues layout lacked real gig atmosphere . 18 June 2004 New York Dolls ,Royal Festival Hall, London.Back again for the second NY Dolls show here . Again got right down the front 5 yards from stage .Another excellent set like the one 2 days ago .A lot of people were expecting a special guest or two to come on for encores but no one did despite the many musicians here ,see aftershow section for those who were here. Credit must go to RFH and Morrissey for getting the Dolls to reform for The Meltdown Festival . 16 June 2004 New York Dolls ,Royal Festival Hall, London.Regards major rock n roll events they do not get much bigger than this . The first show anywhere in the world for over 25 years by the 1970s glam punk legends The New York Dolls . They do a fantastic 90 mins set .David Johansen has shaved off his Harry Smith beard and still looks ,acts and dances similar to Mick Jagger. 2 Dolls members passed away just over 10 years ago from drug related pasts. They do a stunning " Cant Put Your Arms Around A Memory " as a tribute to Johnny Thunders. Libertines drummer Gary Powell does a great job. Loads of Dolls classics from the early 1970s like Mystery Girls, Frankenstein, Babylon, Trash , Jet Boy and a superb Personality Crisis . Great extended encore of Human Being. Excellent . 14 June 2004 Blondie ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London. No support band tonight as the planned band MASS have a young blonde female singer and that was enough to be dumped off the tour. Blondie started off great with " Atomic" and "Dreaming " with Debbie doing her funny dancing and Clem Burke doing his great drumming. Plenty of other hits like " Tide Is High " and "Rapture " but because they have left stalls seating in tonight the unfamiliar songs suffer . Great encore of "Union City Blues " ,"Call Me " and "Heart Of Glass " .Good show and party after. 12 June 2004 Sex Pistols Experience ,River Thames on the original boat as used by The Sex Pistols in June 1977 this was a great event to celebrate a legendary day in punk rock history .Plenty of fun gestures to bemused tourists ,rowers and passers by as we went down the river . I was on the afternoon sailing and the evening sailing. They played 90 mins over 2 sets on both trips. The band have been playing gigs around the UK for a year now and the tunes all sound great . Virtually every song the Pistols have recorded as well as most of the covers the Pistols did . Great to be among so many die hard Pistols fans who had come from all over the UK to be here. A really enjoyable and totally different way of going to see a band . 11 June 2004 Morrissey ,Royal Festival Hall , London .First night of Morrisseys Meltdown Fest and i have never seen so many security and crowd barriers at this venue and this includes the Bowie show here in 2002. His devoted fans are screaming for his name long before he arrives on stage and tears into "First Of The Gang To Die " one of the best tracks from the new album " You Are The Quarry " also excellent are " Everyday Is Like Sunday " and recent hit " Irish Blood English Heart " .His name is flashed up in huge neon lights and the encore is a great Smiths classic "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out " Really good 85 mins set and a huge success. 10 June 2004 ,Heart ,Hammersmith Apollo ,London. First UK tour for a few years from these big hair 1980s female rockers to support new album Jupiters Darling.The main set was far too laid back with new album tracks and too much acoustic rock . They played hits These Dreams ,Barracuda and Alone but left out a few hits and overall the show did suffer from that.A nice rocky Led Zep cover for the encore but the night should have been better. 09 June 2004 ,Brides Of Destruction ,Electric Ballroom, London. First London date from Motley Crues Nikki Sixx new band to support debut album. At Donington they played 45 mins but tonight its a full 80 mins set .There are plenty of dressed up rock n roll babes here tonight. The main set is BOD material but the band are drowning out the vocals but its a good rocking sound.Most of the crowd are waiting for encore of Motley classics Live Wire, Looks To Kill and Shout At The Devil which all go down a storm. 08 June 2004 ,Peter Gabriel ,Wembley Arena , London. Last night of his 2 year long world tour. A massive in the round production that must have cost a fortune to put together.Most of the band act and dress like bald headed baddies in a sci fi adventure .Same show as last year with Peter Gabriel singing inside a giant rolling plastic ball , singing while being dangled upside down , cycling around the stage on a pushbike .A couple of songs lumbered along a bit but he played hits Solsbury Hill ,Games Without Frontier ,Growing Up, Sledgehammer and a lovely finale of Father And Son You could not really take your eyes of the stage in case you missed something ,a very good show. 07 June 2004 ,The Who ,Birmingham NIA . The first of 2 Who warm shows for this weekends IOW Festival .(I will not be going as i have seen Who and Bowie 3 times each indoors in the last year )A great 2 hour show similar to recent London shows .Loads of big tunes at the start then it dipped a bit for some acoustic songs and then loads of big tunes at the end . I had a mega seat down the front and i now have a plectrum with Petes name on it. The Who are always great. 06 June 2004 Metallica + Korn + Life Of Agony + Brides Of Destruction + Drowning Pool + Soulfly. Download Festival ,Donington Park . There are a lot more punters here today than yesterday .Brazilian rockers Soulfly were loved by the crowd as Max is a metal legend .Drowning Pool were surprisingly good and were joined by members of Soil for the top tune "Let The Bodies Hit the Floor ".Brides Of Destruction feature Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue and brought some old skool glam rock n roll .They finished their great set with Motley anthems " Live Wire " and " Shout At The Devil " .Life Of Agony started off well but their set was cut short as someone had to be strechered away in the crowd .It looked bad . Korn were just total rubbish to be polite . After a too long 80 mins delay 3 members of Metallica eventually arrive on stage to say that drummer Lars is unwell and cannot do the show . Up stepped 3 guests drummers from Slayer , Lars drum tech and Joey from Slipknot who did most . The set had to be cut from 2 hours with pyros to 75 mins without pyros but somehow the band turned it around to present a unique show with stunning 3 song encore of "Sad But True ","Nothing Else Matters" and " Enter Sandman " easily the best moment in todays events. Download Festival again was a total success full of people really enjoying live rock music. 05 June 2004 ,Linkin Park + Sum 41 + Iggy Pop And The Stooges + The Hives + Queens Of Noize DJs. Download Festival ,Donington Park . The Hives did a great set of garage rock n roll that was perfect warm up for Iggy Pop .Dressed in white jackets they mixed great old with good new .Iggy Pop writhed on to the stage ,topless from the start ,in no time he was diving into the stage and got some punters on stage with him. This was first English show as The Stooges for over 25 years .Both the Asheton brothers are here but sadly due to a rift there are no "Raw Power" tracks or other Williamson material .They do 2 versions of I Wanna Be Your Dog and a couple of Iggy solo tracks and are todays highlights . Sum 41 look and sound like a Busted cover band and are rubbish .Linkin Park do a crunching mega 75 mins set with loads of monster tunes from the Hybrid Theory album which are stunning rock rap. Queens Of Noize DJ girls did the backstage aftershow area and were super fun as usual. 04 June 2004 ,Charlatans + Leah Wood Group , Hammersmith Apollo ,London.Leah Wood struggled with The Charlatans fans that were more keen to booze themselves up than watch a support band. Charlatans have sold over 10 million albums in the decade or so together which is impressive but while they have good songs like " Love Is The Key " and " North Country Boy " they will never be known as a great band .Singer Tim Burgess seems as pissed as the fans in front of him slurring words and stumbling around . Great encore had Leahs dad Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood come on for 3 songs inc a mega " Stay With Me" . 02 June 2004 ,Incubus + Hundred Reasons , Hammersmith Apollo ,London.Hundred Reasons did an ok 45 mins set but i think they have wasted their chance at hitting the big time after showing early promise.Incubus are huge in the UK with this tour inc 3 London shows at Wembley and Hammersmith .The first 30 mins was so boring then the pretty boy lead singer took his shirt off , all the girls started screaming and it got a bit better .I cannot see any excitement in these these lame American grunge rock bands like Incubus ,Korn, Creed etc but they have lots of fans here but it all just went over my head. 01 June 2004 ,Paul Weller + The Stands ,Royal Albert Hall ,London.The first of 3 PW shows at this venue .PW seems to tour the UK every 6 months these days.The Stands did an ok set of jangly pop tunes .Paul Weller did a solid set lasting nearly 2 hours .Fed up with Jam reunion talk he plays good solo stuff "Ever Changing Moods " ,"Changing Man" and "Wild Wood " with some covers " Bang Bang" ,"Wishing On A Star" and "Its A Family Affair ".The OCS guitarist is still playing in his band and it was enjoyalbe enough but not special. June as always is one of the best months of the year for live shows and 2004 is no exception. A stunning bunch of acts are playing inc Paul Weller ,Incubus,Pixies ,Charlatans ,Download Festival at Donington with Metallica ,Linkin Park Iggy Pop And The Stooges etc,Peter Gabriel , Heart ,Meltdown Festival with Morrissey ,New York Dolls ,Sparks etc,Isle of Wight Festival with Stereophonics,The Who and David Bowie ,Sex Pistols tribute band River Thames Boat Trip , Blondie ,Red Hot Chilli Peppers ,Ben Harper ,Toto Jeff Beck ,Alice Cooper ,Phil Collins ,UFO and of course the Glastonbury Festival with Oasis and Paul McCartney headlining.

Posted 30th June 2004