News and Reviews: 28th April 2007

29 April 2007. Glen Matlock live at The Mill House Pub,West Ruislip,Middx.Another one of Glens acoustic shows.Massive pub on the outskirts of West London.The usual 60 mins mix of Glen solo material and Rich Kids and Sex Pistols classics like "Yeah Right","Ghosts Of Princes And Towers", "Ambition"(dedicated to Iggy Pop who Glen wrote the song with in 1979/1980 and who he toured with then.It was Iggys 60th birthday earlier in the week)."Steppin Stone","God Save The Queen","Whose Side Are You On" and "Pretty Vacant".Superb encores of " All Or Nothing " and "Anarchy In The UK".An excellent gig............................. 28 April 2007. Deep Purple + Styx + Thin Lizzy live at Wembley Arena,London.Excellent 3 band classic rock package.Thin Lizzy take to the stage early and only get to play 40 mins but they look and sound great.John Sykes and Scott Gorham head the current line up and versions of "The Rocker" "Emerald","Cowboy Song" and of course "The Boys Are Back In Town " all go down well.I was never a big fan of Styx but nice to see them again for their first UK shows in some 26 years.(i was at the Hammersmith Odeon show in 1980).Lots of nice harmonies in songs like "Blue Collar Man","The Grand Illusion","Mr Roboto" and a superb "Come Sail Away"in the 60 mins set.They did not play their big ballad "Babe" tonight.Deep Purple did a good 90 mins set.Ian Gillan started a bit shaky and his voice could not hit the high notes but it got better and better.Steve Morse was superb on guitar all night.Lots of solid rock tunes like "Strange Kind Of Woman","Rapture Of The Deep","Lazy","Space Truckin","Highway Star" and for a superb "Smoke On The Water" they were joind by Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw.Great encores of "Hush" and "Black Night" sealed a good evening... 27 April 2007.James + The Twang live at Brixton Academy,London.The Twang are one of the UKs hottest new bands for me.The twin male vocals dishing out great lyrics with stunning guitar playing really tingles.Best tracks were "Either Way" and "Wide Awake".James have always been a great live band. Impressive start with "Come Home" and "Destiny Calling" before playing a few new tracks.Singer Tim Booth is still doing his manic stage dance.Lots of golden oldies in the second half of the 1 hour 40 mins set like "Tomorrow" and "Sit Down".For the encores they invited a dozen punters on stage for a dance before playing "Laid" and "Shes A Star" .A very good show and nice to see James back............ 24 April 2007. James Taylor live at Hammersmith Apollo,London.Second of two sell out nights at this venue for this American who was massive in the 1970s .After meeting Paul McCartney in 1968 he was the first act to be signed to Apple Records.His greatest hits album has sold over a staggering 11 million copies.He played 2 sets of 60 mins each but about 25% of that was made up of great stories to each song that were very funny and video screen images were also used to great comic effect.The 59 year old looks like a lanky balding geography teacher but crystal clear lyrics sent this older crowd into raptures. Best were "Sweet Baby James","Country Road","Slap Leather",a superb "You've Got A Friend" "Carolina In My Mind" and the encores started with the classic "Fire And Rain".Yep James Taylor is still adored by his UK fans..... 22 April 2007.Lostprophets live at Wembley Arena, London.Big sell out show from this UK rock band. They play all the first song behind a huge curtain.When this comes down its bedlam and the standing area in the front of the stage is a heaving mess of male and female teenagers having a great time.Their 90 mins set was lively and good even though it was so loud and distorted you could not hear the vocals that clear.Some good songs like "The Fake Sound Of Progress","The New Transmission","Rooftops","A Town Called Hypocrisy" and all the venue jumping to a superb "Last Train Home".A good show overall........... 21 April 2007. "Moscow Motion" feat Sophie Ellis Bextor + Via Gra live at Old Billingsgate, London EC3.This was a very extravagant annual party for over 1000 people to celebrate Moscow nightlife.It must be said i have not seen so many stylish and stunning looking women under one roof for ages.Inside the venue it looks fab and the Moet champagne,Hennessy cocktails and canopes are flowing.The night opens with top Russian djs and bands.Of the many other fun side events going on during the evening my fave was during an interval a bikini glad girl hung upside down on a trapeze rope and one by one opened a dozen bottles of champers and poured them into peoples glasses beneath her .Wow. Sophie Ellis Bextor was up next .She looks in great shape after recently given birth.She is starting to promote new album "Trip The Light Fantastic".Lots of great older songs in her set "Get Over You","Groovejet" and the superb "Murder On The Dancefloor". Next up we have a trio of stunning babes from Ukraine and Russia called "Via Gra" who played a fun filled set of really catchy pop songs.Check them out on their website www.myspace.com/theviagra then the djs kicked in until the 3am curfew .An excellent 6 hour bash. Some parties promise a 5 star event and fail to deliver but this one most certainly did.......... 19 April 2007.Darren Hayes live at The Soho Revue Bar,London.Small club show for 200 fans,comp winners and press.Darren used to be singer of massive Aussie band Savage Garden.He did a 60 mins set that had a couple of tracks from his old band mixed in with solo material old and new. He has a great voice ,looks the part and dances well on stage so you can see why the girls are swooning down the front.He has hints of Justin Timberlake in many ways.Set included "Come On Dancing","Unlovable","Step Into The Light", "I Want You","On The Verge Of Something Wonderful" and a great cover of Prince's "Baby Im A Star". Encore was "Void".Much better gig than expected. ................................................ 18 April 2007.Ash live at Virgin Megastore,Oxford Street ,London W1.Free gig for some 300 people to launch the new Ash single "You Cant Have It All" Ash have been a bit quiet the last year or so. This was an 8 song 35 mins set of old and new inc "Burn Baby Burn",the new single,"A Life Less Ordinary","Kung Fu","Girl From Mars" and new album title track "Twilight Of The Innocents".Ash are still alive and kicking and they play 4 nights at Camden Koko July 3 to 6. ............................................... 17 April 2007.Holloways + Eoghan Colgan live at the ICA,London.This was an invite only gig for some 300 people to witness the winner of the 02 Undiscovered Talent comp where the prize is a record deal with Polydor and 8000 quid of musical equipment and clothing along with a gig at the 02 Festival in Hyde Park in June.Over 3000 entered and then down to final 11 and the winner was Eoghan Colgan a 28 year old doctor who had a great voice that had hints of Jeff Buckley. The half a dozen songs he played all went down really well.Holloways played a 45 mins set that the crowd who were now fully tanked up with free booze jumped around to.A good night............. 15 April 2007.Bob Dylan And His Band live at Wembley Arena,London.I am not a big fan of Dylan but he is one of those legends you go to see out of respect more than anything else.His last album "Modern Times" was voted Number 1 album of 2006 by Rolling Stone mag critics.His set lasted nearly 2 hours with Bob playing guitar at the start then on to stand up keyboards in his big straw hat.Loads of great lyrics of course he has written over the past 40 odd years but his vocal style is just not my cup of tea.Some oldies were played like "Its Alright Ma(Im Only Bleeding)", "Like A Rolling Stone" and encore "All Along The Watchtower".He was great at those Earls Court shows back in the 70s but today i admire the way he handles his work and career over his music. No talking to the crowd at all apart from to introduce the band near the end.So a good but not great show and even die hard Dylan fans coming out of the show did not know what to think of it but thats a typical Dylan gig these days. ................................................ 14 April 2007.Osmonds + David Essex + David Cassidy + Showaddywaddy live at Wembley Arena, London.While i was going to all those famous punk and rock shows in the 1970s i also saw all this lot in the 1970s at various shows inc the David Cassidy one at White City Stadium in 1974. The crowd is mainly middle aged woman screaming for the teen idols that adorned their bedroom walls.Showaddywaddy were a bit corny but it was good to hear "Hey Rock And Roll" again in their 30 mins set.Ten mins changeover for each act worked well.Next up David Cassidy did a 45 mins set with hits like "Could It Be Forever","Daydreamer","The Last Kiss","Cherish", "How Can I Be Sure" and "I Think I Love You" but his cover versions fell on deaf ears.He still looks great for age 57.Next up David Essex who did 45 mins and was the best of the night.Loads of catchy hits with simple lyrics like "Hold Me Close","If I Could","Lamplight","Rock On ","Silver Dream Machine" and "Gonna Make You A Star".Final act The Osmonds were minus Donny but with Jimmy if that makes sense.They did a few cheesy dance moves and their voices were not that brilliant even though "Crazy Horses " and "Love Me For A Reason " went down well as did their long 70s medley of Jackson 5/Bee Gees/E.W.And Fire etc .Encore was "He Aint Heavy Hes My Brother" where they were joined by David Cassidy. So a decent enough show in parts overall......... 11 April 2007.Kings Of Leon live at The 100 Club, London.Invite only secret gig for XFM radio to launch KOL new album which is number 1 in UK charts this week.They played a 60 mins set but it all seemed a bit average to me and i cannot work out out how popular they are over here..... 10 April 2007.Bryan Ferry live at New Theatre, Oxford.Part of Bryans month long tour of UK to promote his Dylan covers album "Dylanesque".Even at age 61 he still looks and sounds great.The 10 piece band were superb and it was a great mix of Dylan ,Ferry solo and Roxy Music material. Well worth the 50 mile each way drive.......... 08 April 2007.Razorlight live at Earls Court Arena,London.A massive sold show here for some 18,000 punters.Lots of good songs like "America" "Golden Touch","Stumble And Fall" mixed in with some average album tracks .Johnny the singer took his top off as per usual but in his tight white jeans he looked more a ballet dancer than a rock star............................................. 05 April 2007.Glen Matlock live at Filthy MacNastys,London EC3.Excellent solo acoustic pub gig by this Sex Pistols legend.A great mix of Glen solo material ,a couple of Rich Kids songs and mega Pistols classics "God Save The Queen" "Pretty Vacant" and encore of "Anarchy In The UK" ........................................... 04 April 2007.New Young Pony Club live at The Science Museum,London.Invite only gig for some 300 comp winners and press for this T-Mobile Street Gig event where the free booze is flowing all night.NYPC put on a good 65 mins of indie electro dance music.They will be playing festivals all over the summer and will be massive when their debut album comes out................

Posted 28th April 2007