Ray's Gigs

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Monday 04 April 2022

Sunday 03 April 2022. TWO PINTS PODCAST LIVE - Will Mellor and Ralf Little , Shepherds Bush Empire. Will Mellor and Ralf Little, of the cult British tv sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, take their smash hit Podcast out on tour around the UK in 2022 when they ask people to join them for Two Pints, LIVE! Building on the amazing response from their fans to their “Two Pints with Will & Ralf” podcast, the boys are taking to the road in 2022 for a UK tour. It started on tv around 20 years ago, with nine series over the next ten years. ----------- It is stalls seated tonight, and spare seats everywhere so maybe 500 or 600 here. It is a long show of 2 hours 25 mins , over two sets of 70 mins and 75 mins. The pair freely describe themselves as " two men chatting shit". It was pretty much them chatting over a beer, in a pair of cosy armchairs. There is a big screen showing clips of their tv series and their podcast. They made a few jokes about Shepherds Bush and Will growing up in Manchester. They said how honoured they were to have been on this stage which has seen many legends play here. They mentioned The Who, David Bowie, Oasis ...(I was at all three of these shows here). A couple of jibes related to Will Smith. A fun section called "Would You Rather?"...where the audience asked them in advance via the podcast. One was "would you rather have nipple sized fingers, or finger sized nipples?" The first set ended with "the electric shock game" Q n A which was also good fun. The second set started with popular moments from the tv series and some outtakes. Some chat about relationships and bad habits. Then it was "which one of these three stories is true?"...which they asked the audience , and the first to shout it out won a dodgy prize, including a loaf of bread and a six pack of crisps. For the encore they got the crowd up for some dancing and singing... Mustang Sally Biscuit Rap Finally, Will Mellor was presented with a cake from his wife for his 46th birthday which was tonight. It was an enjoyable evening. ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Sunday 03 April 2022. It was 45 years ago today that i attended a SEX PISTOLS midnight secret gig, with Sid Vicious on bass. 03 April 1977 - Screen On The Green Cinema, Islington, North London. -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- Saturday 02 April 2022. JOHN OTWAY live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Support act will be JOHN OTWAY and his on/off duo partner WILD WILLY BARRETT. John plays a special show to celebrate his 5000th gig. That is more than The Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan....but not as many as RaysGigs. Look out for a free newspaper he is giving out on this tour that lists all 5000 gigs. All the many miles and time totals John spent getting to gigs must be pretty stratospheric. The 36 page newspaper is much more interesting than most paid for tour programmes. Dates and venues of every gig, along with tour adverts, and reviews of major milestones. In October 2012, to celebrate his 60th birthday, Otway booked the Odeon Leicester Square to show the documentary of his life. Titled Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure: Otway the Movie, the screening saw cinematic history made with the final scenes of the movie being filmed from the red carpet on the morning of the film.The film was funded by fans becoming producers who, as with the Hit campaign, were all individually credited in the movie credits. Following the success of the producers' premiere, 2013 saw Otway take the completed movie to the Cannes Film Festival.Ever resourceful and still with an eye for a publicity stunt, Otway and 100 of his fans (who donned Otway masks and dressed up in Otway's traditional black jeans and white shirt) travelled down the Promenade de la Croisette to the red carpet.The film also had its theatrical release at Glastonbury Festival in June 2013, before going on a national cinema tour in the summer. I have seen John Otway live on stage several times since 1979. John Otway is an English singer-songwriter who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona. ----------------- As it expected it is an older crowd, with many no doubt seeing him back in the 1970s pub rock days. Indeed many of them look like they spend all their afternoons in a Wetherspoons pub. Level 3 is closed but there must be at least 1000 folks here, that included 100 on the guest list. Watching a John Otway show is half music and half comedy as every song gets some hilarious introduction in his eccentric English manner. JOHN OTWAY & WILD WILLY BARRETT arrived on stage and played for 55 mins. There are giant balloons at the back of the stage saying 5000. There are four film cameras filming the show for future use. John is 69 now, and his hair is proper bald on top, but grows long at the sides. John and Wild Willy play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, violin, banjo etc. They played their 1977 hit "Really Free" early on ,which got to number 27 on the chart. It's success was mainly due to manic performances by John on OGWT and TOTP at the time. A great version of 1980 track "Body Talk" where John attached mini drum pads to his body. A couple of covers played..."Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "Two Little Boys". JOHN OTWAY & BAND arrived on stage at 9.30pm and played for 75 mins. Opening track "We Need To Rock" was proper headbanger, and John got out his double necked guitar. His other hit from 2002 " Bunsen Burner/ Disco Inferno" was another highlight. Followed by its b-side "House Of The Rising Sun". He sung "Delilah" which featured in his Weetabix advert he did in 1993, and fans threw some Weetabix blocks and packs on stage. He used his Theremin (hand wave instrument) to superb effect on many tracks during the evening. "Cheryl's Going Home" was another highlight. His poor roadie was busy as John butted the mic off the stand and bent up the mic stand and wires. Encore : His performed his great track "Beware Of The Flowers" from 1976 , as fans threw flowers on the stage. For the final song of the night "Geneve" , Wild Willy Barrett arrived on stage and smashed his acoustic guitar. A very entertaining show that was just great.