News and Reviews: 1st July 2007
30 June 2007.Rod Stewart + The Pretenders live at
Twickenham Stadium.The Pretenders are an ideal support for this show as they have loads of well
known songs.Chrissie Hynde still super slender and the coolest rock n roll chick in the stadium.
The 55 mins set inc "Message Of Love","Dont Get
Me Wrong","Back On The Chain Gang","Kid" and superb versions of "I'll Stand By You" and
"Brass In Pocket".We have great seats a few yards
from the stage on the pitch but its pouring with
rain.Rod Stewart at age 62 has had quite a year.
Awarded a CBE in January,got married to Penny a
couple of weeks ago and now another stadium tour
of the UK.Maybe it was because i was in the middle of a bunch of tartan wearing ,Scottish
flag waving loyal fans but this show was just
incredible.It rained for all of Rods set but
nobody seemed to care.Rod thankfully omitted all
his American Songbook material and stuck to all
his best songs of the last 35 plus years in the
two sets lasting 2 hours 10 mins.Some 29 or 30 songs inc "You Wear It Well","This Old Heart Of Mine","Some Guys Have All The Luck","Young Turks","Passion"(the first of Rods trips on the very wet and slippery extended walkway with a
wee umbrella),superb versions of Cat Stevens
"Father And Son" and "Every Beat Of My Heart".
Also "Stay With Me","Hot Legs","I Dont Want To Talk About It","Dirty Old Town","The First Cut Is
The Deepest","Tonights The Night","Youre In My Heart","Do You Think Im Sexy" and the crowd really singing along to "Sailing","Baby Jane"
and "Maggie May" and then a huge fireworks display.For the encores he was joined by wife
Penny for "Twisting The Night Away" and "I Was Only Joking".It could have been a wash out but
Rod and his fans really did make this special.
The whole evening really was a case of "singing
in the rain" but to be dry and in the seated area 500 yards from the stage was not an option.
If you had told me 2 weeks ago that Rod Stewart
would be a better show than recent big shows by
Aerosmith and The Who i would have laughed but
it was.One of the gigs of the year..............
28 June 2007. Tesla + Diamond Head live at The
Shepherds Bush Empire,London.A neat double bill
of bands tonight.Up first we have Diamond Head
who were part of the NWOBHM over 25 years ago.
They play "Lightning To The Nations" and "Am I Evil".Lars from Metallica loves them.Tesla have sold over 16 million albums.I saw them four times
between 1987 and 1991 at Hammersmith Odeon both
as support and as headline.They played a good
solid 1 hour 45 mins set that this crowd loved.
Some decent songs like "Cumin Atcha Live","Modern
Day Cowboy" and "Little Suzie".Their new album "Real To Reel" is a covers album and they
played UFOs "Rock Bottom" from that.Also good were "Heavens Trail(No Way Out)","Signs" and
encore "Edisons Medicine".The band are really
happy to be here and its a good rock show.
Met a nice chap from a heavy rock website called
www.rockersdigest.com so have a peek when you
have a few mins..................................
27 June 2007.The Who + Charlatans live at Wembley
Arena,London.Get off the plane at Stansted at 4pm then stop off for food and drink and then on to Wembley.Nice to see a big name support here
but its not one of the better Charaltans gigs.
The singer looks bored and washed out.Their 40 mins inc "The Only One I Know" and "How High" but
its totally lacklustre.The Who fresh from their
Glastonbury headline slot were just fantastic.I
have seen them a couple of times a year over the
last 5 or 6 years and they are always superb.
Tonight was 5th anniversary of bass player John
Entwistles sad death.Lots of big screens and a
set lasting just over 2 hours .Pete and Roger
on great form.Classics played inc "I Cant Explain","Anyway,Anyhow,Anywhere","The Seeker",
"Who Are You" and "Behind Blue Eyes".The middle
section featured a few new songs and tracks from
Quadrophenia then more gems like "My Generation",
"Wont Get Fooled Again" and superb encores of "The Kids Are Alright","Pinball Wizard" and
"Listening To You".Excellent show...............
26 June 2007.Aerosmith + Chris Cornell + The Feeling live at Marlay Park, Dublin.This venue
was much better than Hyde Park as its half the
size but there is still 20,000 here and not a drop of rain and we get much closer to the stage.
The Feeling have some annoyingly catchy pop tunes like "Fill My Little World","Never Be Lonely","Sewn" and "Love It When You Call" then
up comes Chris Cornell who plays for 65 mins and its much better than Hyde Park gig."Spoonman"
"You Know My Name","Cochise" and "Black Hole Sun" all go down well.Aerosmith were just superb.
Steven Tyler is an amazing front man and its no
wonder there are loads of girls screaming as he
struts and poses on the extended walkway .Its the same 90 mins set with a mix of mainly hits and a couple of blues songs.See below for the best songs played.Same encore of "Walk This Way" was superb and great to watch as a punter got
past security and danced on the stage.Overall a better show than Hyde Park gig..................
24 June 2007.Aerosmith + Chris Cornell + Jet +
The Answer + Black Stone Cherry live at Hyde Park
Calling,London.A much bigger crowd today of some
45,000 to catch Aerosmith first UK show for 8
years(not counting that amazing Hard Rock Cafe
secret gig for 200 people earlier in the year).
Lots of rain today but luckily i could nip in and
out of The Hard Rock Hospitality Area all day.
Black Stone Cherry from Kentucky,USA have created
quite a stir and the second stage tent is packed.
They play old school classic rock and songs like
"Lonely Train","Hell And High Water" and "Maybe Someday" all go down well as loads here know all
the words.....The Answer always do a good blues rock set with some great vocals and guitar.......
Jet have some great rock and roll screams in their songs and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?","Rollover DJ" and "Cold Hard Bitch" all
went down well......Chris Cornell is looking
good these days.He plays a good mixture of past
and present.A lot of it seems pretty average
but "Black Hole Sun" is stunning..........at last
Aerosmith are here and its stopped raining.All
the band look cool and its straight into "Love In
An Elevator" and others like "Crying","Dont Want
To Miss A Thing","Jaded" and "Dream On" .I am a
lot further from the stage than i would like .
"Livin On The Edge" and "Sweet Emotion" are both
superb.Also "Draw The Line".Encore of "Walk This Way" they were joined by Run DMC.All over after
90 mins when i was hoping for a 2 hour set.They
made good use of the extended walkway but it
was proved tonight indoor shows are always better
than outdoor shows.Spotted in Hard Rock Hospitality were Brian May,Noel Fielding and tennis star Pat Cash.So a very good show but i
have seen better Aerosmith shows................
23 June 2007.Peter Gabriel + Crowded House live at Hyde Park Calling,London.Well the best news is
i have blagged weekend passes for The Hard Rock Hospitality Area where some 500 guests are treated to free food and booze all day along with
guitars and posters on the wall and big video screens.Crowded House have reformed but one of
the Finn Brothers is missing.They play a 75 mins
set that even with a few hits is soooooo boring.
The rain pours down at the end of their set.
Peter Gabriel has sold 25,000 tickets which is
pretty good.He plays a 90 mins set but all the
stage gimmicks from his in the round shows a
couple of years ago are missing.Lesser known tracks like "I Dont Remember","No Self Control" and "Lovetown" before the bigger songs like
"Steam","Solsbury Hill" and the encores "Sledgehammer" and "In Your Eyes".
It was good but the Wembley Arenas were better.
Run DMC , Andrew WK and rock legend Gareth Gates
were seen in the Hard Rock Hospitality..........
22 June 2007.John Fogerty live at Wembley Arena,
London.Last years comeback show at Hammersmith
Apollo was sold out but its only half full tonight in this big venue.John and his band play
a good 2 hour set of bar room rock n roll with
tracks like "Travellin Man","Susie Q","Born On The Bayou","Looking Out My Back Door" and "Have
You Ever Seen The Rain?".Lots of Creedence stuff
from late 60s/early 70s tonight.Got rockier in
second half with "Down On The Corner","Bad Moon
Rising","Up Around The Bend","Who'll Stop The
Rain" and encores of "Rockin All Over The World"
(Status Quo made it a big hit but he wrote it)
and "Proud Mary".A good gig overall but next time
he should pick a much smaller venue..............
21 June 2007.INXS + English Beat live at Hammersmith Apollo,London.Nice to see the support band who play a lively set and play a
killer version of their hit "Mirror In The Bathroom".INXS come on to a blaze of white lights and from the first song the sound is just
perfect.Straight into "Suicide Blonde" and other
hits like "Mystify","Disappear" and "Taste It".
Their funky sound just makes you move your body
as the slick guitar riffs and lashes of sax
take a grip.The not so new now singer has a great
time with the fans as he chats to them nonstop
and hands out the drinks.The tracks from recent
album "Switch" like the superb "Hungry" mingle
well with the older classics.They play "Original
Sin" then stunning versions of "Need You Tonight"
"What You Need" and "Devil Inside".The 1 hour 45 mins set was finished off with great encores of
"New Sensation","Never Tear Us Apart" and "Dont
Change".INXS are a must see live band as they have so many big songs.Excellent gig.............
20 June 2007.Iggy Pop And The Stooges live at
the Royal Festival Hall, London.My first proper
gig at the refurbished RFH.This was one of the
shows as part of Jarvis Cockers Meltdown.Loads of
black curtains behind the stage meant they did a
good job of making it look like a gig venue.Iggy
is still amazing live.A bit like a punk Ozzy.
He really has done and seen it all.His skinny
body twists all over the stage and hes compulsive
to watch.The first 30 mins of the 70 mins set is superb with "I Wanna Be Your Dog","TV Eye","No Fun"(with a 30 plus strong stage invasion) all
totally brilliant.".After that it just
fizzled out a bit as he played too much new album material and the encores of "She Took My Money" and "Not Right" felt like a real
anticlimax.So a good show but the Iggy Pop And
The Stooges Hammersmith Apollo show a year or two
ago was much better.See afterparty page for this
show.............................................
19 June 2007.Ozzy Osbourne + Black Label Society
live at Wembley Arena,London.Zakk Wylde did a neat double tonight as he played with his own band before playing with Ozzy later on.BLS do a
decent 45 mins but its not memorable apart from
the amount of times Zakk keeps spitting.We are all gathered here for Ozzys first UK solo show
for some 10 years as hes been busy with his TV show and the Black Sabbath reunion.For 90 mins he
slurs the lyrics but we dont care.Ozzy is a rock and roll legend who has seen and done it all.
Loads of great songs like "Bark At The Moon","Mr
Crowley","War Pigs",2 or 3 songs from new album
"Black Rain","Road To Nowhere","Suicide Solution","I Dont Know" and great encores of
"Mama Im Coming Home","Crazy Train" and of course a mental version of "Paranoid".
In between it was vintage Ozzy as he threw buckets of water over the audience and security
and shouted "Lets All Go Fucking Crazy".Great
fun and a overall a great show..................
18 June 2007.Pearl Jam + Idlewild live at Wembley
Arena,London.Nice to see UK indie boys Idlewild
here at the special request of Pearl Jam.The venue is totally sold out as its PJ only UK
show as part of their European tour.We have got great views in the standing area which is just as well as there are no big screens tonight.
A nice long set lasting 2 hours 20 mins.Lots of great songs here played by great musicians but some of it was still a bit dreary and samey.
Setlist included "Comatose","Immortality","Down",
"I Got ID","Faithfull" and encores included a
great "Alive" dedicated To Marky Ramone along
with "Parachutes","Crazy Mary" a great cover of
"Rockin In The Free World" then "Indifference".
They did not play "Jeremy" tonight.So a good show
but i still take the likes of Motley Crue or Ozzy
over Pearl Jam anyday...........................
16 June 2007. Muse + The Streets live at Wembley
Stadium,London.Mike Skinner is clearly well happy
to be here and the band play some great songs like "Dont Mug Yourself","Never Went To Church",
"Dry Your Eyes Mate" and "Fit But You Know It".
Just how did Muse get to be such a massive live
band?.Two nights here to 70,000 plus punters a
night is huge.They promised a big production and
we got it.They appeared from within a cage in the
middle of the venue to a confetti shower.Six giant satelite dishes and loads of behind stage
huge balls and a blitz of lighting mixed
in with great footage on the video screens.Near
the end we had two acrobats attached to balloons
hovering over the standing area which was superb.
I am not the biggest Muse fan as Matts voice gets
on my nerves a bit but as a live 3 piece they
really do rock .All their big songs played in the 2 hour set inc "Knights Of Cydonia",
"Supermassive Blackhole","Plug In Baby" and
"Stockholm Syndrome".Visually a fantastic show...
.................................................
15 June 2007.Faithless live at 02 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park,London.Faithless are one of
the biggest UK dance acts having completed an
arena tour earlier in the year and their greatest
hits album has sold a million copies.Its a lively
90 mins set with bald headed singer Maxi on top
form.Best songs were dance anthems "God Is A DJ"
and "Insomnia" and others like "Mass Destruction" ,"We Come 1" and encore "Salva Mea".There were a few average tracks as well but
overall a good show.............................
14 June 2007. The White Stripes + Queens Of The
Stone Age + Satelite Party + The Only Ones live
at 02 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park,London.
Pretty amazing to see The Only Ones back on stage
after last seeing them some 25 years ago.Peter
Perret still looks like death warmed up after many years of drug abuse but they have loads of
mega songs like "Programme","Another Girl Another
Planet" and "The Big Sleep"......next up is Perry
Farrells new band Satelite Party who are good to
watch due to Perrys stage antics and his sexy
female dancer in a skimpy outfit.They feature Nuno from Extreme on guitar and they do a good set inc "Been Caught Stealing","Hard Life Easy"
and "Mountain Song"..................next up are
Queens Of The Stone Age and they are much better
than that dreary 100 Club gig from last month.
Loads of good rockin tunes like "Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret","Go With The Flow","Feel Good
Hit Of The Summer" and "Song For The Daed"......
next up is headliners The White Stripes who are
all over the media promoting new album "Icky Thump".Its all red and white everywhere as usual and even the video screen footage is in red and white.They are a very unique duo who just make this blues racket that just works.Best songs were
"Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground","Hotel Yorba",
"Jolene" and encores "I Just Dont Know What To Do
With Myself" and "Seven Nation Army".A good 70 mins set and all four bands today all rocked.....
13 June 2007.Mattafix live at The Roundhouse,
London.Excellent invite only party for some 800
people to launch the new Fiat Bravo car and Fiats
new website.The venue has been tastefully decorated for the night and the freebie champers,
cocktails and Italian food are all flowing.
Mattafix play a 30 mins set inbetween the djs.
Catchy hip hop with a nice dance feel.They play
the singles "Big City Life" and "Passer By" from
their "Signs Of A Struggle" album.Good one.......
11 June 2007.Motley Crue live at Hammersmith Apollo,London.MC were the kings of Glam Metal
and their book "The Dirt" had many tales of sex ,drugs and rock n roll excess so its great all four original members are still with us.
However the bad news is Tommy Lee their legendary drummer has injured his shoulder the
day before and they have got the drummer from
Evanescence in at 24 hours notice with Tommy behind the amps coaching him .Lesser bands would
have cancelled but MC turn what could have been
a shambles into a stunning rock and roll show. Lots of hits like "Dr Feelgood","Shout At The Devil","Looks That Kill","Live Wire","Home Sweet
Home"(with Tommy Lee on one handed keyboards)
"Girls Girls Girls", their usual cover of Sex
Pistols "Anarchy In The UK".Every song was backed by explosions,flames and fireworks so
visually a treat.The songs were very messy at times but it just added to the overall fun.
The set only lasted 80 mins which meant there
were a few boos and plastic bottles thrown at
the end but even the dumbest rock fan must have
understood that was due to the lack of rehearsal
with the stand in drummer.It was so much better
than that Velvet Revolver show last week.Superb.
.................................................
10 June 2007.George Michael live at Wembley Stadium,London.GM sneaks in before Muse to be the
first music act to play the new Wembley.Some 70,000 punters per night is very impressive.Its the same big production i saw 3 times indoors just before Christmas and its pretty much the same setlist with a 2 hour show over 2 sets.We have a decent view on pitch right near the walkway.It must be amazing to headline such a big
show.Everyone here just to see George.Lots of good songs like "Fast Love","Father Figure",
"Everything She Wants","Shoot The Dog" with its
funny giant inflatable "Outside","Jesus To A Child".The lightshow kicked in for the second set
goodies like "Faith","I'm Your Man" and encores of "Careless Whisper" and "Freedom" .So a very good show and fun was had by all.................
09 June 2007.Sex Pistols Experience + Steve Diggle live on The Queen Jubilee Boat,The River Thames,London.Excellent party for 250 hardcore
Sex Pistols fans who have come from all over the
UK to celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the most famous punk rock events.The Sex Pistols
Boat Trip Of 1977.Up first we have Buzzcock Steve
Diggle who does a good 30 mins set which inc a
couple of Buzzcocks classics "Harmony In My Head" and "Ever Fallen In Love".Its a lovely sunny evening as we head down to the Docklands
area and beyond.From a boat all the buildings on the Thames look great.Even more so at night.The
Pistols tribute band play a 75 mins set full of
total classics "Liar","God Save The Queen",
"Seventeen","EMI","Pretty Vacant","Anarchy In The
UK" and many more.Half the crowd cannot see the
band as there is so much jumping around in front
of the band.It may not be the real thing but its bloody good.At 11pm when we pull up it appears the captain of the boat has called the police
"just in case" and we are greeted by a dozen coppers as we get off.Just like it was in 1977.
What a great night..............................
08 June 2007.Noon to 3pm.Darren Hayes live at
Soho Revue Bar,London.Lovely lunchtime press event to launch Darren Hayes new album "The
Delicate Thing We've Made" out 20 August.Lots of
free booze thanks to a 3000 quid bar tab and
canopes.Darren i have seen before play a full show but today its just 6 songs in 30 mins inc
"Step Into The Light" and "On The Verge Of Something Wonderful" which are both quality. His old band Savage Garden were pretty massive but
thats behind him as his great voice sits nicely
in with Justin Timberlake/Scissor Sisters which
means radio stations like Magic and Capital will
love him.A full tour is planned for September and
it obvious the album and tour will both do well.
More info on www.darrenhayes.com.................
07 June 2007.Paul McCartney live at The Electric
Ballroon,Camden,London.Like the Prince show this
secret gig was only leaked out 12 hours before the show.This venue for the last 30 years has been used by punk,indie and metal bands (i saw
Sid Vicious only UK shows here in the late 70s)
and to see Macca on this stage is pretty surreal.
All tickets were free to comp winners and press.
About 1100 people are in here.Only 5 new songs in
the 20 song 90 mins set with loads of Beatles hits.I am in second row just a few feet from Macca who looks great and is having plenty of
fun banter with the crowd.His band are rocking.
New songs are pretty simple but they mix in well.
"Here Today" was dedicated to fallen heroes John,
George and Linda and Paul got very emotional.
Beatles songs non stop in the second half of the
show brought the house down with "Hey Jude" one
mass singalong.To see this legend who virtually
co invented music as we know it up close in
Camden of all places was a total dream and needless to say one of the best gigs of 2007.
Faces spotted inc David Gilmour,Jeff Beck,Pierce
Brosnan,Stella McCartney,Kate Moss,and that
publicity seeking twat Gareth Gates.
1.Drive My Car.2.Only Mama Knows.3.Dance Tonight.
4.C Moon.5.The Long And Winding Road.6.Follow
The Sun.7.Calico Skies.8.That Was Me.9.Blackbird.
10.Here Today.11.Back In The USSR.12.Nod Your
Head.13.House Of Wax.14.I've Got A Feeling.15.
Matchbox.16.Get Back.17.Hey Jude.Encores.18.Let
It Be.19.Lady Madonna.20.I Saw Her Standing There............................................
06 June 2007.Guy Pratt book launch "My Bass And
Other Animals" at The October Gallery, London WC1. Guys book has many quality stories from his
25 years plus of playing bass starting with
Sylvain Sylvain and Icehouse in the 1980s and
Pink Floyd and more recently David Gilmour and
Bryan Ferry amongst others.Not just a great bass
player he also is held in high regard as a person
judging by the faces here inc Jon Lord,Richard
Wright,Gary Kemp,Phil Manzernera and comedians
Roland Rivron,John Thompson,Mark Lamarr and
Kate Robbins.The book is out this week on Orion
Books and is well worth a purchase.
Guy also is on tour now so check his website
www.guypratt.com for more info..................
05 June 2007.Velvet Revolver live at Hammersmith
Apollo,London.When VR first played here some 2/3
years ago there was a real buzz as they
feature members of Guns And Roses but this
time around its just not the same.They all look
pure rock and roll cool and play a 90 mins set to a sold out crowd.Scott the singer moves
his skinny hips all over the stage but its hard
to hear his vocals over the loud guitars.There
were some goodies like "Big Machine","Sucker Train Blues" and "Fall To Pieces" but there were loads of fast average songs and the tracks from the upcoming second album "Libertad" do not
sound that brilliant.Encores were great fun.
Pink Floyds "Wish You Were Here" then Guns And
Roses "Its So Easy" a dodgy version of Talking
Heads "Psycho Killer" that baffled most of the crowd and then "Slither" went down well.They
may have members of GnR but they are just good
not great........................................
02 / 03 June 2007.Beyonce live at Wembley Arena,
London.I went to both these Beyonce shows.The
Sunday show was totally sold out but the Saturday
show had empty blocks of seats at the back.
Nice big production with video screens and a 13
piece all female band along with some female
dancers for the boys and male dancers for the
girls.Two hour show with Beyonce the total
professional.How she can dance and sing so well
at the same time is amazing. She looks fab and
when the wind machine gets her curly mane of
hair flowing it looks very sultry.There were also
7 or 8 costume changes which meant her being
offstage for 3 mins at a time as the band and
dancers filled in for her.Best songs were "Crazy In Love","Baby Boy","Naughty Girl", a neat medley
of Destiny Child hits inc "Bootylicious","Say My
Name" and "Survivor".Finale of "Irreplaceable"
was superb with the whole crowd singing and swaying and encore "Deja Vu" was also very good.
With last years acting success in "Dreamgirls"
under her belt she really is a true megastar.
Visually a very entertaining big arena show even
though there were a few average songs mixed in with the big hits......................
June/July are always excellent months for live music with loads of quality big names playing.
One of my faves is the Guilfest in Guildford.
This years festival is on the weekend of July 13,14,15 and features Madness,Squeeze,Supergrass,
Saw Doctors,Uriah Heep,Jimmy Cliff and many more.
Ticket info on http://www.guilfest.co.uk or 0871 4240050.......
also The Royal Festival Hall reopens after
a massive refurbishment with highlights inc
Motorhead(16th),Devo(19th),Iggy Pop And The Stooges(20th) and Jesus And Mary Chain(22nd).
More info on www.southbankcentre.co.uk and 0871
663 2500.................. Posted 1st July 2007
