News and Reviews: 31st December 2006
30+31 Dec 2006.Riders On The Storm live at The Roundhouse,London.Quite a special event as The
Doors with Jim Morrison played their only UK gigs
at this venue in 1968 (38 years ago) and this
was the first time they have been back to it.
The band features Manzarek and Krieger as the 2
members of The Doors and The Cults Ian Astbury
on vocals playing a mainly greatest hits set.
Good idea to go to both gigs as they were pretty
different.The first night was a 2 hour set but
the second was 2 sets of 60 mins and 45 mins
which meant 3 songs were left out but the party
atmosphere was better as it was New Years Eve.
Ian Astbury really looks the part as they tear
into "Roadhouse Blues","Break On Through" ,
"Love Me Two Times" and "Five To One".A couple of
songs were dragged out too much in the middle
part of the set but then "People Are Strange" and
"LA Woman" got things back on track.Great encores
of "Riders On The Storm" and "Light My Fire".
At midnight for the NYE show the crowd were
covered in confetti and fireworks were set off as
the band got the champers out but "People Are Strange" and "Riders On The Storm" were not played which was criminal really .Very good
shows overall though.........................
31 Dec 2006.Night Of Treason live at The Dublin
Castle,London.As the Riders gig on NYE was a late
start i popped in to see this band from Gosport
near Portsmouth who did a pukka 45 mins set of
classics from the likes of Sex Pistols,Ramones,
Clash,Damned,UK Subs and other punk rock gems.
Check www.myspace.com/nightoftreason..........
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28 Dec 2006.David Gest All Star Soul Spectacular
live at Cadogan Hall,Chelsea,London.Three months
ago David Gest was just Liza Minnellis ex hubby
but after his showing on ITVs "Im A Celebrity
Get Me Out Of Here" the UK public have really
taken to him.This was the first of four nights
here at this lovely ex church venue which has been nicely refurbished.Basically we had 11 acts
who were (all bar one) 1960s and 1970s soul stars.Each act did 1 to 5 songs of their best stuff and we ended up with a really good 3
hour show with a full house band behind them and
David Gest introducing each act.Candi Staton did
3 inc "Youngs Hearts Run Free" and "Nights On
Broadway" then The Stylistics did 5 inc "Betcha
By Golly Wow" and "You Make Me Feel Brand New"
then Freda Payne did 2 inc "Band Of Gold" then
William Bell did a couple then Dorothy Moore did
2 inc a stunning "Misty Blue".Billy Paul did 3
inc "Me And Mrs Jones" then Martha Reeves And
The Vandellas did a great and lively 4 songs "Heatwave","Jimmy Mack","Nowhere To Run "
and off course "Dancing In The Street" then
Carl Carlton did a song then Bonnie Tyler did a
couple "Its A Heartache" and "Total Eclipse Of
The Heart" then Deniece Williams did 3 inc "Free"
and "Lets Hear It For The Boy" .Last on was Peabo
Bryson who did 5 songs but i think Martha Reeves
should have been headliner tonight.Only a couple
of days after the sad death of soul legend James
Brown it was great to see so many american soul
greats on the same bill.Very enjoyable show.
See aftershow page for this gig..................
22+23 Dec 2006.Iron Maiden + Trivium live at Earls Court Arena,London.I went to both these
huge shows that marked Maidens final nights of a
6 week European tour of arenas.I was looking
forward to seeing Trivium as they have had a good
year.The band are great musicians with loads of
fast riffing but the growling vocals are not my
cup of tea.They played a few tracks off their
new album "Crusade" inc "Anthem(We Are The Fire).
They have lots of songs with silly titles.Iron
Maiden i have seen over 25 times since 1980 and
most of those were fantastic shows but this was
not one of them.Mainly because they played all
their new album "A Matter Of Life And Death"
for the first 80 mins of the show which only
left 5 Maiden classics to fill up the 2 hours on
stage.Bruce Dickenson was superb on vocals all
night even though he looks more Jarvis Cocker
than a rocker these days.The band are pulling
every cliche rock guitar pose on stage.The new
album is decent enough but not in this venue.
The first night was made worse when for 20 mins
the power cut out to a main cable fire backstage.
The oldies at the end were all great "Fear Of The
Dark","Iron Maiden"(with Eddie appearing from a
huge tank) and encores of "2 Minutes To Midnight","The Evil That Men Do"(with Eddie on
stage running amok) and "Hallowed Be Thy Name".
The second show was better than the first show but hopefully they will back to golden oldies
when they headline Donington Download Festival in
June 2007......................................
20 Dec 2006.Madness + Aggrolites live at Wembley
Arena,London.Support band had a great name and
their brand of ska from Los Angeles was a decent
warm up for the main act.I have seen Madness over
15 times since i first saw them as a support band
in 1979 and its great they can still sell out big
venues like this.Of course this time of year is
perfect for them as its party party time tonight.
Lots of tough looking geezers here tonight in the
crowd but its all about having a dance and a good time.Sticking to a mainly greatest hits 95
mins set inc "One Step Beyond","Prince Buster",
"Embarressment","My Girl", and mega versions of
"House Of Fun","Baggy Trousers","Our House",
"It Must Be Love",and superb encores of "Madness" and "Night Boat To Cairo" with 30
of their friends and family dancing on stage.
One of those bands who always do great shows.
...............................................
19 Dec 2006.Kasabian live at Earls Court Arena,
London.Massive sold out show for some 18,000
punters.Lots of Oasis fans and footie fans here
flinging pints of beer up in the air every 10
seconds all through the 90 mins set.The big songs
like "Shoot The Runner" ,"Cutt Off" ,"Empire"
and "Processed Beats" are all superb but they
still have a few songs from both albums that are
too average for huge arenas like this one.The
band are full of dance rock swagger and the
place erupts for encores of "Club Foot" and "L.S.F".The band called it their greatest show ever but they will probably say that again
when they play Glastonbury in 2007.Yeah a very
good show but not mega ........................
18 Dec 2006.Snow Patrol live at Wembley Arena,
London.Its been an amazing year for this lot.
Their album "Eyes Open" has been the top selling
album in the UK in 2006 with over 1.2 million
sold and they have got in the American charts.
This was the first of two sell out shows here.
They hardly look like rock stars but perhaps thats their appeal.They quietly do the business
and leave the shouting to others.Most of their
songs seem a bit average but they have got some
mega anthems like "Chasing Cars","Set The Fire
To The Third Bar" and "Run".The 90 mins ticked
along nicely but they need a few more big songs
for arena shows of this size....................
17 Dec 2006.George Michael live at Wembley Arena,
London.Due to press reports of a possible Wham
reunion for tonights last show of his 49 arena
dates around Europe touts are selling tickets for
200 quid.Inside the venue the crowd are buzzing.
Paul McCartney is sitting left of stage tonight.
Again we end up 3 rows from the front with a
superb view.Loads of great sogs again "Fast Love","Father Figure","Everything She Wants",
"Faith","Im Your Man" and "Outside".His voice is
on top form and the lyrics are still great.
The huge screen behind him is visually brilliant.
Tonights two sets lasted just over 2 hours.
Everyone got excited for the encores but sadly
there were no special guests .We get great
versions of "Careless Whisper","Last Christmas"
with fake snow and ticker tape falling on the
crowd and a final "Freedom".While not in the
Madonna league it was a mega show.Expect George
to come back and play Wembley Stadium in the
summer of 2007...............................
16 Dec 2006.Status Quo live at Wembley Arena,
London.Quo back at Wembley as part of their annual 6 week UK winter tour.Being of a certain
age means i have seen Quo play live over 40 times
since 1974 including many of those amazing shows at Hammy Odeon in the late70s/early80s .All of
the crowd are here to have a few drinks and have
some fun.Pretty much their usual 1 hour 45 mins
set with mega tunes like "Caroline","Rain",
some tracks from the recent album "Heavy Traffic"
which they are still promoting,"Roll Over Lay Down","Down Down","Whatever You Want","The Party Aint Over Yet" and of
course "Rocking All Over The World". The last
encore "Bye Bye Johnny" finished off another
great night with "The Quo".The band have just
released a great dvd "Just Doin' It Live 2006".
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15 Dec 2006.George Michael live at Wembley Arena,
London.The show i saw at Earls Court by George
a couple of weeks ago was great but tonight was
even better.Every seat sold and taken up and
with the loudest Friday night "up for it" crowd.
Again we are down the front in the 3rd row of the
£100 floor seating area with an amazing view.
A couple of slower songs have been cut from the
set but its all superb stuff really.The mix of
solo material and Wham hits goes down well.
The monster stage production is visually fab.
"Everything She Wants","Father Figure","I'm Your
Man","Faith","Jesus To A Child" and mega encores
of "Careless Whisper" and "Freedom" as the fake
snow dropped from the ceiling.Overall on stage
for 2 hours it was excellent and i will be back
on Sunday to see if Andrew Ridgeley turns up
for the promised Wham reunion..................
Thursday was another 2 gigs in one night.Talk
about diverse Dragonforce then Lulu.............
14 Dec 2006.Dragonforce live at The Astoria,
London. Dragonforce have had a good year with
their current UK tour sold out. This was second
of two nights at this venue.Their power metal
leans heavily to Spinal Tap and Iron Maiden
but they are better than expected.Their main
guitarist has the fastest fingers i have seen
for a while and the band look like they are
having fun.They bring on a couple of scantily
clad dancers which down well with this 99% male
crowd.Melodic speed metal has never sounded so good...........................then 11pm on to
see Lulu play at The SPARKS Charity Ball at The
Hilton Hotel ,Park Lane,London. Lulu and her
band play a 60 mins set of original and cover
tunes.She is aged 58 now and looks amazing for
someone who has spent 40 years in music.She
opened with "Relight My Fire" which she played
again near the end of the set.Other good tunes
were "Independence","The Man Who Sold The World",
"I Dont Wanna Fight" and of course her mega hit
"Shout" at the end.Good show....................
Tuesday was another 2 gigs in one night..........
12 Dec 2006. Ludacris + Sway live at The Cafe De Paris,London.Invite only party held by
mobile phone company www.three.co.uk/3frontroom
for 400 comp winners and press.All night free
booze and food for everyone.One of the UKs top rappers Sway is up first .He does a really confident 30 mins full of fun filled lyrics and
tunes like "Little Derek" and "This Is My Demo".
The venue is really up for it by
the time Ludacris hits the stage for a 50 mins
set . Lots of swearing and rude lyrics from
this grammy award nominated american rapper.
The place erupted for "Stand Up" ,"Move Bitch"
and "Whats Your Fantasy?" and eight scantily
clad females were brought on for new single
"Girls Gone Wild" .Very good club gig.........
then a mad dash over to see Sugababes live at
Battersea Park Evolution Arena for the Capital
Radio Rocks Party.Band come on stage at 11.15pm.
45 mins greatest hits set that included "Round
Round","Freak Like Me" ,"Ugly","Hole In The Head","Red Dress" and "Push The Button".The
band play UK arenas in 2007.Good fun and the
free booze was still flowing after the show along with djs until 1.30am..................
11 Dec 2006.Will Young + Beverley Knight + Alexander O'Neal live at La Dolce Vita Ball,
Old Billingsgate, London EC3.CLIC charity event where most of the 1000 punters have paid
£800 a ticket for a 3 course meal ,live acts and
8 hours of free booze.Over the past few years
they have had Sting and Lionel Richie but tonight
the bill is more for the ladies really.Nice to
see Alexander O'Neal sing 30 mins of his 1980s
soul hits like "Fake" and "Criticize" then Beverley Knight did a decent 30 mins set inc
"Shoulda Woulda" and "Come As You Are" .Headliner
Will Young has far too many crap ballads these
days and only a couple of songs stand out in his
60 mins set.At midnight Maxi Jazz from Faithless
spins the tunes in the basement nightclub area.
There are few faces here like Peter Stringfellow,
Lee Ryan,Caprice,Eddy Jordan, Neil Morrissey, Sophie Anderton,Barry McGuigan but man of the
night was Eastenders star Ross Kemp who chatted
for ages about his love of punk rock ,was in
great spirits,had a boogie and stayed until the
3am finish which is rare for any celeb to do.
A great bash overall..........................
Wanna see a cool picture ?? Go on to the site
www.gettyimages.com and click on entertainment
and enter picture code 72764757.Increase picture
size and second from left wearing glasses is yours truly at Babyshambles Selfridges gig......
09 Dec 2006. Placebo + Archie Bronson Outfit live at Wembley Arena ,London.Support had a sax
player but were pretty average overall.Placebo
are on a short UK tour of arenas and tonight is
sold out.The first part of the set is mainly
drawn from their recent album "Meds" .Brian Molko
still looks great with very short hair.It gets
much better when the hits kick in like "Every You
Every Me","Special Needs","Without You I'm Nothing","Special K" and "The Bitter End".The
upfront bass playing is superb until some dickhead gets on the stage and pushes the bass amp over that messes the sound up for a couple of
songs.Great encores of Kate Bush"Running Up That
Hill","Taste In Men"(top marks to Brians female
guitar tech who worked her nuts off all night
but even more so during this song) and a final
"Twenty Years".No time tonight for some gems like
"Nancy Boy" or "Teenage Angst" but still a very good show...................................
08 Dec 2006.Glen Matlock live at Filthy Macnastys,London EC1.Another short notice packed
acoustic gig by this Sex Pistols legend.Nice to
be up close for this hour set.Great songs like
"Burning Sounds","God Save The Queen","Sad Meal
For One","Idiot","Yeah Right","Steppin Stone"
and all the pub singing "Pretty Vacant".A great
little gig....................................
07 Dec 2006.Babyshambles + Holloways live at
Hammersmith Apollo, London.After the fun and
games of this afternoons event its proper gig
time.Support Holloways are basically a 3rd rate
Babyshambles but the crowd like them.Amazingly
Babyshambles arrive on stage dead on time which
catches out hundreds in the bar and foyer areas.
They are much better than expected.For 80 mins
their loyal fans show real devotion similiar to
that like when Morrissey plays .Every 30 seconds
someone tries to jump on stage and touch Pete.
The stalls is a heaving mess of bodies as we
view it from front row of the balcony ."The
Blinding" and "Killamangiro "are both stunning.
Scarves ,hats,t.shirts as well as bottles of beer
rain on to the stage non stop.Pete is full of
charisma as his lanky frame wanders the stage.
"Fuck Forever" is superb as is the encore of "Albion".At the end Pete chucks his guitar into the crowd that causes not one but two fights.The first between fans all wanting it then
the security got the guitar back and the crowd
turned on the security .It was just like being at a punk rock gig in 1976.Great stuff.
See aftershow page for this gig................
07 Dec 2006.Babyshambles live at Selfridges,
London W.1. 12.30pm to 3.30pm .One off event in this famous store for Manchester based clothing
company Gio-Goi.Some 400 guests and comp winners in the 7th floor car park.We are in the pre show
hospitality on the 3rd floor which is the area usually reserved for the exclusive personal
shopping team here .Sex Pistol Paul Cook and
rocker Bryan Adams are hanging out with the band.
Surprise,surprise Pete Doherty is late as usual.
Babyshambles take the stage just before 2pm and
play 4 songs "The Blinding","Killamangiro",
"Delivery" and "Albion".There is a real buzz here
but its over far too quickly .Bryam Adams is a
proper photographer so is shooting loads so check
www.bryanadams.com and www.sex-pistols.net in a
few days for photos.After the show we say hello to Pete and the others
in hospitality and he signed stuff and
posed for photos.Love him or loathe him Pete
Doherty is pure rock n roll...................
Billy Idol has a new album out today (04 Dec 2006).Its a 17 track album called
"Happy Holidays " and features Billys distinctive vocals over gems like
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" ,"Winter Wonderland" and "Jingle Bell Rock".
I have 2 copies to win .Questions = Which punk band was Billy the singer of?
and what was the title of his latest album? Send answers to ray@raysgigs.com
before Friday 8 Dec 2006.Good luck.The winners
were Billy from East Acton and Mark from Bishops
Stortford Posted 31st December 2006
