News and Reviews: 15th February 2006

14 Feb 2006. Simple Minds live at The Astoria, London. This was the second of 2 sell out Astoria shows at the end of their UK tour before they head over to Europe for a month of dates.They start off with a few plodding songs from recent album "Black And White 050505" that never rise above average.But then those big anthems from the 1980s kick in and it gets much better with "Love Song","All The Things She Said" ,and superb versions of "Waterfront " and " Dont You Forget About Me " which took the roof off.Also very good was "Someone Somewhere In Summertime" and encores of " Glittering Prize" and "Alive And Kicking" . Jim Kerr on top form and the band is still great live even if the new songs are a bit tame........ 13 Feb 2006.Coldplay live at Abbey Road Studios , London. This was an invite only event by Radio 2 for some 400 people (300 competition winners and 100 guests of Radio 2 and EMI).We are only 5 yards away from the band in this famous building where The Beatles recorded their albums.Coldplay are now one of the biggest bands in the world after all 3 of their albums have sold more than 5 million copies each. Chris Martin is on top form as he jokes with the crowd between songs. Lots of great songs in the 75 mins set like "Politik","Yellow" ,"Dont Panic " and stunning versions of " Clocks" ,"Talk" ,"In My Place " and "Fix You" which they had to replay as the keyboard broke down during the song.Great show. In the crowd watching were Kanye West, Michael "Glastonbury" Eavis ,Jamie Cullum and Radio 2 djs Paul Gambachini and Dermot Oleary........... 11 Feb 2006. The Gift live at The Garage ,London. The Gift feature original Jam drummer Rick Buckler and its lovely to see him on stage again. The band played a great 90 mins set of Jam classics with many having not been played by any member of Jam for many years . The singer is a Paul Weller lookalike and soundalike who does a brill job of getting everyone down the front and having a bop.One after the other they came including " This Is The Modern World", " Mr Clean" ,"English Rose" ,"Thats Entertainment" ,"David Watts" , "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" , "Butterfly Collector" and " Eton Rifles" . The encores of " Going Underground" and " Funeral Pyre " sent the fans home happy. Really this a must see show for any Jam fan .The band return to London on 30 March at The Half Moon Putney and for other info and uk dates check their website www.the-gift.info........... 10 Feb 2006. Glen Matlock And The Philistines live at The Luminaire Club ,Kilburn ,London. My first visit to this superb new club. Hardly surprising its in Time Outs Top 5 list of best new venues in London.Both supports were good. Steranko have a mad singer in the Iggy Pop/John Otway vein and Dirty Feel are are supertight trio who rock with a slight funk edge. Their drummer is the son of Steve Howe from YES. Glen and his band are in top form .An excellent 55 mins set that started with "Pretty Vacant ". " White Knuckle Ride" , " On Something" ,"OK Kiddo" and "Idiot " are all excellent. Two new songs were played " Yeah Right " and " Somewhere Somehow" .Stunning encores of " Burning Sounds" and " God Save The Queen" .Great show........ 09 Feb 2006. Goldfrapp live at Brixton Academy, London. This was the first of 3 nights at Brixton to support the album "Supernature" which Madonna said was her fave album of 2005.Alison Goldfrapp looks fab . The first half of the 80 mins set was good with "Train " a highlight . Alison makes glam electro pop sound so sexy. The four female dancers came on every few songs for some dodgy dancing.The second half of the show was fantasic as they played " Ride A White Horse" and " Ooh La La " followed by a stunning 3 song encore of " Black Cherry " ,"Number 1 " and " Strict Machine" .So it started good but it ended great .See aftershow news for this gig................. 07 Feb 2006.The Darkness + Juliette And The Licks live at Alexandra Palace, London. Support of course is actress Juliette Lewis who does her best to rock out. The band finish by butchering the Van Halen classic "Aint Talkin Bout Love" but the thought was nice. The knives are out for The Darkness with most people hating them but Classic Rock put their second album as "best album of 2005" .Tonight the venue has about 5000 out of a possible 7/8,000 full house. Those that stayed away missed a real treat as for 90 mins the band put on a superb show. Opening with singer Justin hovering over the crowd astride a pair of giant plastic breasts for aptly titled opener "Knockers" . A full monty production with non stop fireworks ,explosions and fire galore. New songs " One Way Ticket To Hell And Back " and " Is It Just Me?" were great rockers. First album gems "Growing On Me" ,"Black Shuck" , "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" ," Friday Night" and " I Believe In A Thing Called Love" were all mega .Encores of " English Country Garden" and " Bald " went down well as Justin was again hoisted over the crowd as he played guitar upside down. A couple of the second album tracks were crap but overall a really entertaining show . See aftershow party page for this gig.......... 06 Feb 2006.Ordinary Boys live at HMV ,Oxford Street ,London. Since they first got noticed a couple of years ago its safe to say Ordinary Boys have hardly set the world on fire.But since singer Preston came 4th in last weeks Celebrity Big Brother there is renewed interest in the band.I remember seeing the band 18 months ago and thinking they were " ordinary" . Tonight its a free gig for 500 fans .Just 5 songs in 20 mins but they have improved a lot .A nice mix of ska and pop with some great songs like " Life Will Be The Death Of Me" and current hit " Boys Will Be Boys" .The publicity from the show will mean bigger gigs over the next months but after that who knows??.......... 04 Feb 2006. Thunder + Toby Jepson live at Hammersmith Apollo ,London. A year ago i saw Thunder play a sell out show at The Astoria. This time they have doubled the size of the venue but the upstairs is closed due to unsold tickets.Nice to see Toby Jepson playing again on stage. He used to front Little Angels and he plays a few of their tunes and goes down well. Thunder do a really good 1 hour 50 mins set of their best stuff. Still flogging their last album "The Magnificent Seventh" . Simple good time catchy rock n roll is what we get. Danny the singer is on great form ."Love Walked In " and " I Love You More Than Rock And Roll " were both excellent.Encore feat " A Better Man " then both supports came on for a mad cover of Elton Johns " Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting" and a storming " Dirty Love" finished the set......... 03 Feb 2006. Waterboys live at Shepherds Bush Empire ,London.Its been a few years since i last saw The Waterboys. The venue is full and the atmosphere is great as the tight band do a really good 1 hour 40 mins set . The electric violin is still there which works fab. Highlights included stunning versions of "The Whole Of The Moon" and " Medicine Bow" .Mike Scott still writes great lyrics .Encores included a mega " Fishermans Blues" and a cover of " St Pepper" ........... 30 Jan 2006.7.30pm Johnny Cash " Walk The Line " Film Premiere ,Leicester Square, London.After the excellent film it was down to the aftershow at the Cafe De Paris where some 500 guests were given loads of free booze and food. There were 3 live acts who all played Johnny Cash songs David Gray (2 songs) , Lee Ryan(1 song) and Soho Dolls(1 song).They were all ok but nothing that special .Nice goody bag of Johnny Cash cds, tshirts and posters. Good party but live music could have been better.............. 30 Jan 2006. 6pm Aha live at HMV , Oxford Street, London. With a sell out UK arena tour a couple of months ago its not surprising that a lot of those here tonight camped out overnight for the prized wristbands to be down the front. This was a 7 song 35 mins set to promote the new album out today.For these in store shows some bands stick to new material only but Aha played all 3 of their biggest hits from the mid 80s" Take On Me", "The Sun Always Shines On Tv" and " Hunting High And Low" along with their recent Top 10 hit "Analouge(All I Want) .Their loyal fans made it one of the best atmospheres i have seen at an in store show for years. Aha play a one off UK show at Shepherds Bush Empire on Feb 2 ........ Congratulations to Arctic Monkeys who sold a staggering 363,000 copies of their album in the first week which makes it the fastest selling UK debut ever.......... Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers are soon to announce major summer tours in Europe......... Rock legends Jethro Tull go out on a month long UK tour from 27 Feb which includes 2 shows at Shepherds Bush Empire on March 10 and 11. The tour is to support the recent release of their "Aqualung Live " album and the band promise a 2 hour set with their classic Grammy winning "Aqualung" played in its entirety along with a healthy collection of Tull classics....... Deep Purple and Alice Cooper are to co headline a massive outdoor show for 50,000 fans on Sat 3 June at The Monsters Of Rock Festival At Milton Keynes Bowl.Looks like Thunder and Quireboys will be two of the support bands . Bearing in mind Deep Purple struggle to sell out Wembley Arena it seems a big gamble by the shows promoter Clear Channel.......... 21 Jan 2006 .Suffrajets + Ribs live at The Rooz Rehearsal Studios , London N.1. Yet another invite only event for a mates 40th birthday party where he has got half a dozen bands to play for 150 guests.Suffrajets headline the event and do a good set pretty much the same as the one i saw at the Reading Festival in the summer. Its always great to see all girl rock bands having a go .However the star of the night was the birthday boy himself who joined 3 of the bands on stage .First he sung "Pretty Vacant" and "White Riot " with a couple of members from Towers Of London then he joined another band to sing some glam rock classics and Ribs(named after Iggy Pops stomach) joined a 3rd band to sing some Iggy and New York Dolls gems. He could have been a contender.......... 19 Jan 2006. Bodyrockers live at The Old Trumen Brewery ,Brick Lane ,London. A massive invite only event for 1000 guests to launch the new Fiat Grande Punto car . Loads of free booze ,food and djs . Bodyrockers did a 40 mins set of their simple catchy guitar based euro pop rock.Not sure what the sponsors would think when the singer said "we hate playing these corporate gigs but the money is bloody good" .The place erupts for their massive hit " I Like The Way You Move" . New single " Happy Days " rocked along nicely. A decent set but dont expect any in depth interviews in NME just yet boys ............. 17 Jan 2006. Shakira live at The Porchester Hall, Queensway ,London. Invite only show for this South American female star who has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.This was a showcase gig to promote her new album " Oral Fixation Vol 2 " .The venue has been given a South American feel as there are exotic plants and scantily clad male and female models as you arrive at the entrance. Inside SONY BMG have put on a lavish food and booze banquet for the 500 SONY staff and media guests here tonight. Even the beer is from Peru. Shakira and band come on early. She is totally sultry as usual .She really knows how to shake her booty but every flick of her hair looks well rehearsed.Sadly the show was a measly half a dozen songs in 30 mins finishing with her great new single " Dont Bother" . Far too short to be anything other than an average gig but as an event it was excellent. She needs to come back and do proper shows....... Mancunian legend MORRISSEY will play a month long UK tour with loads of shows at interesting venues .Check nme.com for full dates........... 10 January 2006. 5.30pm to 8.30pm.THE BRIT AWARDS Launch Party at The Riverside Studios ,Hammersmith, London.Lots of tv,radio and media here for the event to launch the biggest UK music awards show. Bands playing a couple of numbers each were Magic Numbers, KT Tunstall and Kaiser Chiefs .About 300 or 400 here and there is plenty of free booze and food. DJ and host on Feb 15 Chris Evans was here . Kaiser Chiefs, James Blunt(best selling album in UK in 2005 with over 2m sales) ,Coldplay ,KT Tunstall and Gorillaz were all multi nominated. Looks certain Madonna will win an award. Shame that Goldfrapp were not nominated at all . So a decent night but nothing compared to the main event at Earls Court on Feb 15....... 02 January 2006 .Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames live at The Jazz Cafe , London. It has been a couple of years since i was last at this venue .It really is a superb intimate club to watch a live act.Georgie is a jazz legend who does his own stuff as well as play in bands with Bill Wyman and Van Morrison. His band were really good as they mixed their GF material like his Number One hit from 1964 "Yeh Yeh" with covers from the likes of his hero Ray Charles . An enjoyable show . 1980s hitsters Kid Creole And The Coconuts play The Jazz Cafe on Jan 23 and 24 so that should be a good one........

Posted 15th February 2006