Monday 06 September 2021.

Sat 04 Sept - HRH Prog All-Dayer Day 1 at Shepherds Bush Empire...seven bands play... Sun 05 Sept - HRH Prog All-Dayer Day 2 at Shepherds Bush Empire...seven bands play... The promoters HRH promote weekends of Prog, Goth, AOR and Punk every few months. Level 3 is closed and plenty of space in stalls, Level 1 , Level 2 so maybe 1000 tix sold. A very friendly audience ,with maybe 90 % males over the age of 50. A mad prog overdose for me as i see ALL 14 bands over the two days. I know some of the older bands, but the newer ones i have never heard of them. For some reason both evenings finished very late at 11.40pm. Some of these older fans are staying at local hotels, but many would have a tricky journey home. I had a nice nice chat with CHRIS WELCH who wrote for Melody Maker in their 1970s heyday. SATURDAY bands x 7 SEMPER VERA arrived on stage at 1.30pm for a 40 mins set...a decent rock trio... TIGER MOTH TALES arrived on stage at 2.40pm for a 60 mins set. TMT are my fave of the lesser known bands playing over the weekend. Leader Pete Jones is totally blind but plays a mean keyboard, guitar flat on keyboard and sweet vocals. FRANCK CARDUCCI & The Fantastic Squad arrived on stage at 4.10pm for a 60 mins set. French rocker who has a female on drums, and a female go-go dancer for a couple of tracks. THE SKYS arrived on stage at 5.30pm for their 60 mins set...a bit too boring for me.... COLOSSEUM arrived on stage at 7pm for their 70 mins set. A good set of jazz prog, then for the last 30 mins they were joined by CHRIS FARLOWE on vocals. OZRIC TENTACLES arrived on stage at 8.45pm for their 70 mins set. Spacey keyboard knob twinkling didn't really do much for me. MOSTLY AUTUMN arrived on stage at 10.20pm for their 80 mins set. A foxy slender female with a flowing dress on vocals for a good electric folk prog set. --------- SUNDAY bands x 7 AXION arrived on stage at 1.30pm for their 45 mins. A trio with a great guitarist who the Tom Morello vibe about his playing. DEVIANT AMPS arrived on stage at 2.40pm for their 60 mins set. Some nice psychedelic prog rock sounds. BRAM STOKER arrived on stage at 4.10pm for their 60 mins...a bit too boring for me.. THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN arrived on stage at 5.30pm for a 60 mins set. He was the artist I was looking forward to the most, and he did not disappoint. Arthur Brown had several great costume changes along with full face paint at the grand old age of 79. He still is lively , and the voice sound good....All the band are wearing huge headwear. He played "Fire" early on, no real head of flames but we had them on the big screen instead. ATOMIC ROOSTER arrived on stage at 6.50pm for their 70 mins set. Lots of their best songs played in a very good set. THRESHOLD arrived on stage at 8.35pm for their 70 mins set. They were more metal prog and had a singer with a fantastic voice. THE ENID arrived on stage at 10.10pm for their 90 mins set. Pretty amazing that The Enid are still going...I saw them headline Hammersmith Odeon in 1984. Robert John Godfrey (age 73) is still there, pianist and founding member of The Enid. He is pretty much the eccentric English gentleman , with funny sarcastic remarks between songs. Their unique prog keyboard based sound of mainly instrumentals has to be admired for doing things his own way , regardless of all the fashions that come and go. ----------------- Monday 06 September 2021...2pm to 5.15pm... Speciality & Fine Food Fair at Olympia, London W14. Speciality & Fine Food Fair is the home of fine food & drink discovery for buyers from across the retail, hospitality, foodservice, manufacturing, import & export. A massive crowd of around 5000 are due to pass through the doors today. Over 200 giving out samples of food and drinks tastings. Here are my fave three. 1.MARLEYCOFFEE.COM....authorised by the estate of Bob Marley. Had a lovely chat with them about how i saw Bob Marley at Hammersmith Odeon in the late 1970s. They gave me a Marley Coffee t-shirt and the entire range of their products. 2.NIO-COCKTAILS.COM....their cocktails come in a cd sized packet. Just tear the corner, and pour over the ice...22 different cocktails to choose from. They gave me a couple of them, Whiskey Sour and Old Fashioned. 3.SWEETLANDLONDON.COM....delicious baklava and traditional cakes & desserts. They are based in Park Royal and are major suppliers, and will cater for small or large events. In the press room lounge we got the goodie bag which was full of their tasty products. then 6pm to 8pm. THE LONDONER HOTEL, 38 Leicester Square, London WC2. This stunning new five star boutique hotel opened last month to rave reviews. We are in one of the many bars that are below ground, as there are at least six levels below ground. Rooms here start at a eye watering £400 a night. 🎟️ The Walpole Future of British Luxury Summit 2021 Anya Hindmarch, Yana Peel, Kate Reardon, Michael Ward, address as Walpole hosts conference on the future of British luxury brands.... We are here for the networking drinks after the main event. Complimentary rum cocktails, wines and canapés for all the guests here. --------------- Monday 06 September 2021. Happy Birthday to ROGER WATERS who is 78 today. See my Facebook page for a photo of Roger and me.

Posted 6th September 2021