Monday 14 March 2022.

Monday 14 March 2022. THE ROLLING STONES will today announce their 60th anniversary Tour this summer in Europe. The tour will celebrate 60 years since their very first live appearance on July 12, 1962 at The Marquee. Three UK shows have been confirmed. Two nights at Hyde Park ,London on Sat 25 June and Sun 03 July and and a show at Anfield Stadium , Liverpool on Thurs 09 June. Tickets go on sale Friday 18 March 2022, but Amex and others are selling now. ------------------------------------ Monday 14 March 2022. L'IMPÉRATRICE live at Shepherds Bush Empire. French disco-pop band, L'IMPÉRATRICE, are making a pit stop in London as part of their world tour supporting their smooth and majestic debut album, "Matahari" and their second album "Tako Tsubo". Support comes from another French act NOVEMBER ULTRA - female singer-songwriter bedroom pop. The show sold out in advance. ---------------- The audience tonight seems pretty much 50/50 French and English. NOVEMBER ULTRA arrived on stage at 8pm for her 30 mins set. She talks a lot in English between songs, but songs were too laid back for me. The crowd loved her though. L'IMPÉRATRICE arrived on stage at 9pm for their 90 mins set. The six member band arrive on stage in orange stage wear and are all wearing illuminated hearts on their chest...they are fronted by a female lead singer. It started off with a few dreamy space pop tracks then got livelier and livelier to create a disco pop party with all the seated areas up and dancing. A nice backdrop with lights bouncing off large reflective disco mirror balls hanging. Many times during the show the three at the front (two guitars and bass) would perform funny little dance routines like The Shadows which went down well with the crowd. A drum solo started the three song encore. Some of the songs sounded a bit samey but an enjoyable show. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ Sunday 13 March 2022. HALESTORM live at Shepherds Bush Empire. This show sold out very quickly. Halestorm are an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, her brother drummer and percussionist Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith.They are touring to promote their fifth studio album "Back From The Dead". Of their four previous studio albums, two have made the UK Top 10 chart. This show was the last night of their UK tour. ---------------- HALESTORM were on stage for 2 hours 10 mins over two sets of 45 mins and 85 mins. A whopping 13 photographers in the pit for the first three songs of each set. First set - 8pm to 8.45pm Second set - 9.05pm to 10.30pm Pretty amazing that the band had two different stage productions for each of their sets. The first set featured four solo tracks with Lizzy on the piano , then it was semi-acoustic with the band. An intimate setting where they were surrounded by eight giant lamps between the stage equipment. The second set featured a full on stage production electric set with loads of lights and Lizzy changed outfits from casual to glamour, as she wore a tight black mini-dress and skyscraper high heels. Halestorm is a band who like to mix it up musically, and the setlist changes every night. Throwing in a song from local rock heroes has been a theme on this tour and tonight we had a neat cover of The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go". The red haired drummer was visually great to watch, as his energy and arms were everywhere. We even had a drum solo from him. Lizzy Hale has amazingly powerful rock vocals, and plays a mean guitar too. "Daughters Of Darkness" and "Love Bites (So Do I)" had everyone singing along, but it was noticeable that the females in the audience could be heard loudest. The band’s charismatic singer has become a hugely inspirational figure to many women and girls, and it’s great to see that response live. The middle part of the set really shone for me with Joe and Lzzy both showcasing their skills on double-neck guitars for the twists and turns of " I Am The Fire", and then the funky, anthemic grooves of "Amen" turning into a massively memorable extended guitar workout with both the band’s six-stringers showing they have skills that any seventies rock behemoth would have been proud of. The four song, twenty five minute encore ended the night starting with the toast to the audience in "Here’s To Us" and ending with the now traditional extended "I Miss The Misery " with singalongs, remarkable screaming lead vocals and even a nod to "Freebird" in the extended dual guitar solo section. A really good show.

Posted 14th March 2022