Aftershow News: 17th March 2004

Libertines + Buzzcocks ,Astoria ,16 March 2004. Big aftershow party at The Borderline Club for around 200 people .No free booze but a great atmosphere Libertines are here with a burly minder and all the Buxzcocks and EMBL Disaster were here. Mick Jones The Clash was at the gig was not at the party . Lulu ,Her Majestys Theatre,14 March 2004. For around an hour after the show there is a free drinks reception in the first floor bar of this very posh venue.Lulu is friendly and chatty to all the 50 people here .Surprisingly not many celebs apart from Elton Johns partner David Furnish. Stranglers ,Shepherds Bush Empire ,12 March 2004. Lively party after the sold out show for about 100 people. Plenty of free booze and cheese rolls for a couple of hours.Also a nice touch from The Stranglers manager who brought along a few barrels of Cheddar Valley cider much to everyones delight.No major celebs but fun talking to Oleg from Toy Dolls/Dickies about some of his Japanese tour stories where his bands are still popular. Really good party. All The Stranglers are here. David Lee Roth ,Hammersmith Apollo ,28 Feb 2004. I was really looking forward to this as DLR is a rock legend .There are about 100 here tonight. No free booze but a great atmosphere .Support band The Quireboys are here as is LA Guns singer Phil Lewis .David Lee Roth turns up with his minder and PR and chats and smiles to everyone for about 30 mins then shoots off .I have a chat with him and get a couple of photos .He thanks me again for the bottle of Moet champers i gave him earlier in the day . Brian Wilson ,Royal Festival Hall ,24 Feb 2004. The show i saw on Sat may have lacked celebs but a few were backstage tonight.Paul McCartney with Beatles producer George Martin. Petite Natalie Imbruglia was here with her hubby the singer from Silverchair.Jonathan Ross was with David Baddiel and surprise surprise Brian McFadden from Westlife was here too. Amen + Eighties Matchbox ,Islington Academy , 23 Feb 2004.Carling dishing out the free lagers upstairs after the show and it was nice to see Tv Smith and Gaye from punk band The Adverts. Brian Wilson,Royal Festival Hall ,21 Feb 2004. Fantastic show and free booze after for 90 mins. The 2002 shows had loads of big name celebs but tonight its only 1970s singer Linda Lewis .Brian Wilson goes back to hotel straight after each show but his huge backing are all here and really enjoying themselves. Good one. BRIT AWARDS ,Earls Court Arena ,17 Feb 2004. Always a great evening out . The awards itself lasted about 3 hours 5.20pm to 8.20pm with a good mix of fans ,media and music biz execs.Plenty of free food and booze if you are at a table. Will Young again had the most fans down the front. The big aftershow party held about a 1000 people . We were up in the "platinum" area which had lots of free booze ,downstairs were the fun casinos and dance areas.Last year there were lots of celebs floating around but this year they stayed in the VIP area backstage or went to record co parties up the West End or The NERD show . Spotted a couple of Primal Screams boozing away . It finished just after midnight and we staggered home.Excellent evening. NME Awards ,Hammersmith Palais ,12 Feb 2004. A massive event for the coolest and hottest new bands .A great turnout 500 seated at tables downstairs Libertines,Radiohead, Jet,Kings Of Leon,Datsuns , Josh Homme ,Peaches ,Arthur Lee, Har Mar Superstar,Ash , Kelly Osbourne ,Franz Ferdinand,Funeral For A Friend ,Micheal Eavis ,Vince Power ,Eighties Matchbox B Line Disaster ,Dizzie Rascal,DJ Tim Westwood and a few from Radio 1 and The Office etc Free booze before and during the show but a pay bar at 8pm when they let in another 1000 guests after the awards had finished and they took the tables away to let everyone on the damce floor. The Queens Of Noize DJ girls played perfect tunes for this rock n roll crowd.A great night . Funk Brothers ,Royal Festival Hall ,Jan 30 . Free booze and buffet as usual from RFH . Great turnout Glen Matlock ,Paul Weller ,Nick Lowe , Jake Riviera ,Linda Lewis,Steve Winwood,Billy Preston and some Funk Brothers.Really good. Primal Scream ,Hammersmith Apollo ,Jan 23 . A bustling, lively aftershow party for over 200 guests .No free booze but a great atmosphere. Finlay Quaye and the singer from Ash were there. Here And Now 1980s Show ,Wembley arena Dec 19 . As there were 10 acts tonight it was a decent turn out in the backstage bar .Its lively and there are over 100 people in here . Martin Fry , Howard Jones ,Kim Wilde and Nick Heywood are here. Everyones friendly .Paul Young must have stayed in his dressing room . Doors Of The 21st Century, Wembley Arena, Dec 11. Ian Astbury is here straight after the show and very friendly to everyone and signing etc.The 2 members of The Doors have stayed in their dressing room to watch the telly.!!! A bit odd when only an hour ago they were telling the crowd how after the show they would be drinking whisky and getting high . Surprising there are no celebs but there are loads of rock chicks here trying their best to pull Ian Astbury. Simple Minds at Hammersmith Apollo Dec 05.Free drinks after for about 100 people .A good mix of fans ,scottish mates and music biz types .All the band turn up and mingle .All are friendly and chatty but do not see any other celebs here. David Bowie at Wembley Arena Nov 25 and 26 ,2003. For those of you that do not know the set up here. There is the aftershow bar where you sometimes get free booze and sometimes band members turn up. This is usually the sticky pass area then there is the dressing room hospitality where its entry by laminate only where the booze is free and the band turn up.For Bowie i had sticky pass for the first show where Ricky Gervais and Frank Skinner turned up . Next night was much better in the dressing room hospitalty where there are the SONY execs giving David a gold disc for Reality sales and Eno and James Dean Bradfield (Manics)are here. The booze is flowing and its a good vibe. I shake DBs hand and spout out some gibberish .We are all in a semi circle and its like meeting the Queen at The Royal Variety Show.David Bowie is in a fun mood and smiling non stop .Very surreal night. Duran Duran aftershow party to celebrate their first London show since 1985 with all 5 original members on Tues 14 Oct 2003.The party was held at the trendy Noble Rot basement bar /club in the West End . All the band are here apart from guitarist Andy Taylor .A bit thin on the ground celeb wise with only Stephen Fry , Mark Owen , Gabrielle and a couple of girls from Eastenders. There are about 250 people here and the free booze is running nicely. All the band are friendly and chatty and Nick Rhodes was last to leave at 2am . Party went on until 3am . The 1980s soul disco sounds went down a treat. On Sunday 19 Oct 2003 Dead Men Walking had their Shepherds Bush Empire aftershow party in the venue.A packed room included all the members of the band Glen Matlock(Sex Pistols),Mike Peters (Alarm) ,Slim Jim(Stray Cats) ,Billy Duffy(Cult) Kirk Brandon (Spear Of Destiny ), Bruce Watson(Big Country), and other guests inc punk rock legends Paul Cook(Sex Pistols )and Mick Jones(Clash). A great gig and a great aftershow. AC/DC had their aftershow at the venue.A huge event for around 300 mainly media type guests. Carling provided the free booze till just after midnight.Only AC/DC bass player turned up for a few mins then went back to dressing rooms. A lot of the bands teenage children were here. Also Brian May(Queen)and a couple of the girls from S Club 7 .The AC/DC show was just superb. Darkness aftershow party at Hammersmith Apollo was pretty crap with only Ginger from Wildhearts and no atmosphere but at The Astoria the sponsors carlinglive were dishing out the free booze before and during the show to everyone upstairs. Usual suspects out again Brian May, Mark Owen, Cat Deeley, Edith Bowman but a great night it was.

Posted 17th March 2004