News and Reviews: 20th November 2005

19 Nov 2005. Motorhead live at Brixton Academy , London. This was Motorheads 30th anniversary tour. I was there in 1975 to see Motorhead play their second ever gig supporting Blue Oyster Cult at Hammersmith Odeon and have seen them some 30 times since then. A couple of months ago Lemmy won the "Living Legend Icon " from Classic Rock Mag Awards and rightly so he is a legend . From the start he snarls WE ARE MOTORHEAD AND WE PLAY ROCK AND ROLL and they do for the next 90 mons. The usual loud distorted sound is a bit muddy and the set list chosen is not as good as it could have been. "Metropolis " ," No Class " and "RAMONES " are all good and we get stunning versions of " Killed By Death" and encores "Ace Of Spades" and " Overkill" but overall the show was not as good as recent Ham Apollo shows....... 18 Nov 2005. Starsailor live at Brixton Academy, London. This was the last show of the UK tour to promote new album " On The Outside" .Starsailor seem to have been nudged out of the way by Keane and Embrace who have came along after them and have pretty much the same sound. They have some great songs like "Alcoholic" ,"Poor Misguided Fool" ,"Fever" ,"In The Crossfire" ,"Four To The Floor" and the superb " Good Souls" . Singer James Walsh tries to inject some excitement where he can . Good encore of " Silence Is Easy " . A decent 85 mins set of neat tunes but still lacking that real wow factor live ............. 16 Nov 2005 . UK Music Hall Of Fame Awards at Alexandra Palace ,London. This was the second time this has taken place with another 10 legend inductees Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd , The Who, The Kinks ,Aretha Franklin, Joy Division/New Order,Bob Dylan ,Jimi Hendrix ,Eurythmics and John Peel .Some played ,some just turned up but a great night of quality .Up first we had Jamie Cullum and a couple of singers playing a tribute to Aretha Franklin who accepted the award by video as she is still has a fear of flying.Bob Geldof introduced Eurythmics who played "Missionary Man" and " Sweet Dreams" .All acts were very loud and full of live energy. Mitch Mitchell looked like he had spent the afternoon in the pub as he slurred and messed up his Jimi speech. Then Mitch Mitchell , Slash ,Steve Winwood and Billy Cox played " Stone Free " and " Hey Joe" which was under rehearsed but great.Ray Davies inducted The Who and Pete collected it but Roger Daltrey was not here.Actor Woody Harrelson inducted Bob Dylan and Alanis Morissette played a couple of songs inc " Blowing In The Wind". Great to see New Order do "Regret" and " Love Will Tear Us Apart" .Soccer legend Geoff Hurst inducted The Kinks who were all here and The Pretenders played two Kinks songs " Stop Your Sobbing" and "Waterloo Sunset" .Pete Townsend inducted Pink Floyd .Dave Gilmour and Nick Mason collected it and Roger Waters gave a live video link speech from Rome where he is writing an opera.Angus Young introduced Ozzy Osbourne Band and they did a stunning " Crazy Train" .Brian May then introduced all four members of Sabbath and they then played a brilliant " Paranoid" with Ozzy dropping his trousers to fire the crowd up. Sabbath and John Peel got the biggest ovations on the night. Finale of " Ever Fallen In Love " with Buzzcocks, Datsuns, El Presidente, Peter Hook and Jamie Cullum finished off an amazing evening of real music legends and exclusive live performances... ......................... 14 Nov 2005.Preview of Take Thats TV Doc "For The Record" at Coronet Cinema , Notting Hill Gate. Some of the stuff i get invited to is kinda odd. Take That were never my cup of tea but in the 1990s they sold millions of records to teenage girls. This TV doc is screened on ITV1 Wed 9pm. The music is mainly rubbish but the sad and funny quotes are great tv. Singer Gary Barlow got a lot of stick but check out the size of his mansion in Cheshire.Robbie is of course now massive and it shows them then and now .Robbie was away in LA but all four other members are here for the hordes of photographers. All 400 people went along to 201 Kensington Church Street Bar where for a couple of hours SONY BMG dished out plenty of free booze and food .So a good night and the TV doc is well worth watching..... 11 November 2005 . Billy Idol live at Brixton Academy, London.I must admit i was really looking for to this show as it was Billy Idols first London gig for 12 years.It started great with " Devils Playground" , "Dancing With Myself" and " Flesh For Fantasy" .Catchy rock pop with lashings of guitar. Billy Idol is now aged 50 but looks amazing. Lean ,blonde and tanned he looks 20 years younger. "White Wedding" and " Scream" were superb .Things were slowed down for " Eyes Without A Face" and " Sweet Sixteen" .New tracks "Plastic Jesus" and "Rat Race " went down well. Old hits " Ready Steady Go" and "Rebel Yell" were mega. More hits in the encores "Hot In The City" "Kiss Me Deadly" and " Mony Mony" . On stage for 2 hours 15 mins it was a pretty amazing show and just great to see this old punk rocker at heart still doing the business nearly 30 years after i first saw him on stage.Excellent gig. See aftershow page for this show............ 10 November 2005. New Order live at Brixton Academy ,London. Along with a Manchester show next Monday these were warm ups for the UK Hall Of Fame mega event next week at the Ally Pally. A superb 90 mins set of Joy Division and New Order songs like " Crystal" ,"Krafty" "Transmission" , " True Faith " "Love Will Tear Us Apart" , "Temptation" and the brilliant "Blue Monday" . Hooky on bass is the star of the show as usual with his low slung bass down by his knees and those amazing bass riffs. Stunning encores of JD " Shadowplay" and " Shes Lost Control" . Excellent show by these Mancunian legends....... 09 November 2005. Tatler "Little Black Book Party" at Baglionis Hotel ,Kensington, London. A massive party for this upmarket mag for Londons "most eligible singles" which translates into mummy and daddy have loads of dosh.Top quality food and free booze with loads of stunning women in their designer dresses .DJs downstairs. Had a great chat with Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran . 300 guests and a finish well after 2am. Massive goodie bag with £200 worth of stuff inc Chopard perfume. Quite a night........... 08 November 2005. Sinead Oconnor with Sly and Robbie live at Shepherds Bush Empire,London. On paper this gig looked very promising. Sinead has recorded an album of reggae tunes by artists like Burning Spear and Peter Tosh in Jamaica and has adopted the Rastafarian faith. She still has the short hair and sings in bare feet. While the band are fantastic and Sinead clearly loves the music she is unconvincing singing these reggae tunes and a cover of " Rivers Of Babylon" was ill advised.Those expecting a couple of old hits at the end were left wanting. The 90 mins set just never got out of first gear and really should have been a lot better........ The Black Crowes play their first UK shows for a few years at Shepherds Bush Empire March 18 and 19.Tickets go on sale this Friday.......... 06 November 2005.Sex Pistols Party To Celebrate 30 Years Anniversary Of First Ever Gig, St Martins College Of Art ,London. How many bands could have a party this size just to celebrate their first gig?? The answer is none because not The Who , Rolling Stones or even The Beatles have had anything like this .500 invited guests for an eveniung of free booze and a nod to celebrate the worlds greatest rock n roll band ever. 6.45pm in the VIP room on the 7th floor Pistols bassist Glen Matlock unveils a blue plaque for the press and a few guests. 7pm onwards the main crowd are let in .We have a few DJs and a couple of up and coming bands play live sts. Comaneche with their female Japanese drummer are ok and upstarts The Paddingtons do a frenzied set. Mad pissed up dancing down the front for some. They are joined by Glen Matlock at the end for a mad version of " Pretty Vacant" .Other guests here inc Chris and Koozie from Glens band , Marco (Adam And The Ants guitarist) ,Rodent (pistols roadie) ,Patti Palladin, The Towers Of London ,Julien Temple and Tony Barber(Buzzcocks) .A great night and well done to everyone involved in putting on this great event ............ 06 November 2005.Top Of The Pops at The BBC TV Centre ,White City, London. Afternoon show. My first visit to what is still the biggest music tv show in the world as it goes out to dozens of countries.They are half a dozen acts here as they are recording stuff for two shows .Guest presenters here today are Sharon Osbourne and Anastacia .Luckily there are two great acts in the house The Eurythmics and Stevie Wonder . The Eurythmics are up first and they run through great new single "I've Got A Life" twice. Both Dave and Annie look super smart all in black. New album " The Ultimate Collection" is out now. Next new band Kubb play " Wicked Soul" . This band have come out of nowhere and congrats to their management team who have got them on Jools Holland and TOTP in the same week . They now play support on The Starsailor UK tour.Next we get the legend Stevie Wonder in London for the first time in 10 years or so .SW and his great band play 3 new songs and 60 seconds of " Isnt She Lovely " with his daughter helping out on vocals. Anastacia then runs through her song twice. Off camera she is very funny i must say . By the time Il Divo and Sugababes do their tracks i am exhaused by the heat of the studio lights but it was a good afternoon ............... 05 November 2005.Four Tops + Temptations live at The Royal Albert Hall,London.Double bill of Motown legends . Both acts did an hour each of their biggest hits. Lots of well known tunes that this crowd sang and danced along too and both the acts had slick dance routines. Up first were Temptations with "Aint Too Proud To Beg" ,"Just My Imagination" ,"Papa Was A Rolling Stone","I Cant Get Next To You","Get Ready " ,"Treat Her Like A Lady","My Girl" . After the interval the Four Tops did most of their classics too like "Loco In Acapulco" , "Bernadette" ,"Its The Same Old Song" ,"Walk Away Renee" , "When She Was My Girl" ,"Reach Out I'll Be There" and " I Cant Help Myself" . So a good night of classic songs .I think both acts have still got one or two original members......... 03 November 2005. Glen Matlock And The Philistines live at The Rhythm Factory ,London.We are spoilt in London as these days you can see this Sex Pistols legend every month live in the capitol. Another superb 10 song set lasting 45 mins but with a twist .This time they opened with "Pretty Vacant " and encored with " God Save The Queen" . This was the first time ever this line up had played "GSTQ " in the UK .Mixed in with great solo album tracks like " Piece Of The Action" and "White Knuckle Ride" it was another great gig by a very underated rock n roll band.......... 02 November 2005 .The Towers Of London + The Rifles live at The 100 Club , London. Support band did a decent set of songs with a mod slant. It was only a matter of time before TOL would play this venue made famous by their heroes The Sex Pistols.From the start they are climbing all over the eqiupment and the photographers flee for their own safety as singer Danny twirls the microphone wildly in a Roger Daltrey style .The 40 mins 10 song set is non stop uptempo catchy rock n roll like "On A Noose" , "Air Guitar" " Fuck It Up " ,"How Rude She Was " ,"Good Time" and "Im A Rat " . There is no need for an encore as the band have put more energy in their short set than most bands who play for two hours. Tonight we get totally blown away by rock n roll. Young , loud and snotty and when the debut album comes out in 2006 just watch them fly............ 01 November 2005 .Simply Red live at The Royal Albert Hall , London. This was the third of four sell out RAH shows for this band who were huge in 1980s. There are 23 people on stage inc Mick and the 12 piece string section and they are all pushed to the front to create an intimate feel. The first half of the 1 hour 40 mins show is based on unplugged songs from their new album "Simplified" .Mick Hucknalls voice is superb as usual as strolls through "For Your Babies" , "Home " and " Holding Back The Years" . Then its the uptempo tunes as the crowd rise to their feet. "The Right Thing" ,"Stars" ,"Its Only Love" ,"Night Nurse " and " A New Flame " are all really good. Excellent encores of " Fairground" , "Something Got Me Started " and a mega version of " If You Dont Know Me By Now " brought the house down. Yep the ginger one has still got it............ 31 October 2005. Sex Pistols Films , Brixton Ritzy , London. Tonight was the first time ever that these two Pistols films were shown on the same evening (Rock n Roll Swindle and The Filth And The Fury) . Both are brilliant in their own ways. As both are on DVD already the turnout was not great .Only about 40 punters in a cinema holding 160 but its always neat to see them up on the big screen. At the end director of both flms Julien Temple did a 30 mins Q and A which went down well . For a big Pistols fan like me a superb evening ................ 30 Octocer 2005.Shakira live at The Hackney Empire , London.One of South Americas biggest stars flies in for a secret gig for MTV to promote her new album "Oral Fixation Vol 2 " . This old theatre is truly superb and should be used more in live music starved East London. 500 punters total,400 MTV comp winners in stalls and 100 guests and VIPS in the balcony. Shakira is a totally natural stunner who dances great. The songs are simple catchy pop rock like "Underneath Your Clothes" and " Dont Bother" along with newies like " "Illegal" .There were two sets of 40 mins and 20 mins with a 5 mins break . A couple of songs were played twice. Not a proper pyro fuelled show like the Wembley Arena gig but it was great to be part of this small crowd where everyone was within yards of the stage. See aftershow page for this gig...... 29 October 2005.Dead Men Walking live at The Shepherds Bush Empire , London. From the start the band are all revved up for this London show as its nearing the end of their UK tour. The sound is even better than the Bristol gig a few days ago . The setlist is pretty much the same as then with all those Damned, Alarm ,Stray Cats and Spear Of Destiny classics one after the other in the set lasting over 90 mins . Kirk Brandons vocals are superb ,Captain Sensibles on stage comedy banter is great , Slim Jim looks fab and Mike Peters is working as hard as ever. Damned singer Dave Vanian was here but sadly did not come on for encore as planned . Anyway it did not matter as it was another great night from the DMW gang .See aftershow page.............. 28 October 2005. Nils Lofgren live at Shepherds Bush Empire , London. Nils has had a special relationship with UK fans ever since he first came over here as part of Neil Youngs Crazy Horse Band in 1973 thru his solo years where i caught a few of those legendary shows with the trampoline on stage and of course for the last 20 years has been part of Bruce Springsteens E Street Band as well . Tonight its a show with Nils on acoustic guitar , electric guitar and piano helped out by Buck Brown on piano and guitar .In this setting Nils guitar playing is simply stunning and the vocals are crystal clear . A long set lasting 2 hours 20 mins was full of gems like "Cry Tough" and "Keith Dont Go " mixed in with a few covers like a brilliant "Because The Night" . Great finale of "No Mercy " and " Shine Silently " brought the house down .A really good show . Nils is in the UK on tour until Nov 4 and releases albums via his excellent website www.nilslofgren.com....... 26 October 2005 .Status Quo DVD launch at The Marquee Club, London .6pm to 9.30pm. Thankfully there are more Quo fans than media here tonight. Lots of free booze and food for the 250 or so here.Great atmosphere .7.30pm=They played 30 mins clips of the DVD ranging from gig footage in the 60s and 70s to the recent Guildford Festival gig and their "acting "slots on Coronation Street tv. 8pm =DJ Kid Jensen did an interview on stage with Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt as the rest of the band watched from the balcony .Very funny as you would expect. After the interview Francis left for home pronto but Rick and other band members chatted and happily posed for photos etc. Nice event and the DVD "The Party Aint Over Yet - 40 Years Of Status Quo" is in the shops Nov 7 ...... BB King and Gary Moore tour uk arenas in 2006 in a great blues double bill .They play Wembley Arena on 04 April. Tickets on sale Oct 28....... 24 October 2005 . Dead Men Walking live at The Bristol Academy.A rainy old day trip to Bristol. For this tour DMW have again used the rotation system .This time Captain Sensible (Damned) has replaced Glen Matlock(Sex Pistols). So we get loads of great songs by Damned, Alarm , Stray Cats and Spear Of Destiny with the other members being Mike Peters, Slim Jim Phantom and Kirk Brandon. Great songs like " New Rose" , "Rock This Town" ," Strength" , "Mickey" , "Glad Its All Over" ,"Never Take Me Alive" , "Spirit Of 76" , "Rumble In Brighton" ,"45 RPM" , "Stray Cat Strut" , "Westworld" ,"68 Guns" ," Smash It Up" , "Runaway Boys" and superb encores of " Something Else" ,"I Fought The Law" , "Happy Talk" ,"Neat Neat Neat " and " Fight For Your Right To Party" . Captain Sensible of course brought his comedy antics tp proceedings which the crowd loved . An excellent show and the London show in a few days promises to be even better. DMW return to Londons Shepherds Bush Empire on Sat 29 Oct 2005 at 8pm Tickets £15 .Should be a good one as a couple of special guests are expected .See you there ............

Posted 20th November 2005