News and Reviews: 3rd January 2008
This time last year an unknown singer called
Mika was the hottest new act that music critics
and radio producers were dropping.Since then he has had a great year.This year its the turn of two female singers Adele and Duffy.Over the next
12 months they both should make it very big.
Adele has her debut album "19" out on Jan 28 and
plays a sold out show at The Bloombury Theatre on Jan 29.See www.myspace.com/adelelondon........
Duffy plays Pigalle Club on Jan 16,23,30 See www.myspace.comduffymyspace......................
One of my fave bands from the 1980s The Godfathers are reforming for a short european tour and they play The Kentish Town Forum on
14 Feb 2008......................................
Best selling acts of 2007 have been confirmed as
Best UK Album Sales 1.Amy Winehouse "Back To Black" with 1.85m sales...2.Leona Lewis "Spirit"...3.Mika "Life In Cartoon Motion"
...4.Take That "Beautiful World"...5.Westlife
"Back Home" and Best Selling UK Singles Of 2007
were 1.Leona Lewis "Bleeding Love"...2.Rhianna
"Umbrella"...3.Mika "Grace Kelly"................
31 Dec 2007.Take That + Sugababes live at The 02 Arena,London from 8pm to 2am.(live on ITV from
11.45pm to 12.45am).A massive NYE party that cost a whacking 99 quid for most punters.Handy
that my guest list tickets had access to media
and hospitality room on the 3rd floor with free
booze and food all night.Sugababes did a good 45 mins set with lots of hits inc "Freak Like Me",
"Round Round","Change","Red Dress","About You Now","Hole In The Head" and "Push The Button".
They always seem like down to earth girls.Tonight
was about two comebacks really.First Take That
finish off their 50 date european tour and whose
recent album "Beautiful World" was in the Top 10
best selling UK albums of 2007.Second this venue.
Its been left empty for a few years but in just 6 months the new American owners AEG have made
it THE venue to play in the world.I have seen so many A list bands there this year.Take That play
two sets of 55 mins each.The first set had "It Only Takes A Minute" and "Pray" but had a few
boring songs as all the hits were moved to the
second half when the live tv kicked in.Part two
was really good with "Shine","Patience" then
TV host Kate Thornton came on for the midnight
countdown."Relight My Fire" was superb with
members of the band setting themselves on fire
and the dancers and big stage production in full
flow.Then down the catwalk to the smaller B
stage in the middle for "Rule The World","Could
It Be Magic","A Million Love Songs","Back For
Good" then back to main stage for a great "Never
Forget" with Mark Owen again with a huge grin
on his face probably thinking we are getting
shitloads of dosh for this.Like the Take That show i saw a fortnight ago much better than i
expected.Also a word for the Guilty Pleasures
DJ team who played a perfect set of party anthems
all night........................................
Check Gary Lammins travels on this web link
http://soniclobotomy.com/page10.html.............
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23 Dec 2007.Bootleg Beatles live at The
Hammersmith Apollo,London.The biggest and best Beatles tribute on tour to celebrate their 25th
anniversary.The band played for 2 hours 20 mins
with an excellent mini orchestra over two sets that had 6 costume changes including Sgt
Pepper.They used lots of fab 1960s video
footage.The band look great and put on the accents etc and joke along.Nice mention of "Its Great To Be Back Here At The Odeon" which was of course related to the legendary 3 weeks of gigs the real Beatles played here Dec 64/Jan 1965.
They also played a new song?? "Wonderwall" which is by Oasis.They also joked about putting away
your mobile phones "As They Have Not Been Invented Yet".The crowd were up and dancing for the last 30 mins and it was a good fun show.
No real need to list all Beatles songs as they played lesser known tracks and hits like
"Yellow Submarine","All You Need Is Love","Blackbird","Get Back","Hey Jude" and many more and encores inc John Lennons "Happy Xmas(War Is Over)" and "Twist And Shout". See aftershow page for this gig......................
22 Dec 2007. Jeff Waynes Musical Version Of "The War Of The Worlds" at 02 Arena,London.Back in 1978 at the height of punk rock and new wave
the vinyl version of this event sold loads even
though to me it was just boring old sci fi tosh.
Anyway only 6 weeks ago Jeff Wayne won "The
Showman Of The Year" from Classic Rock mag so i was at least hoping for a massive stage show.
The venue is sold out with a very polite crowd.
We get 2 sets of 50 mins each with some 50 people on stage inc the band and orchestra.
Justin Heyward sings and talks a few songs and
the main guitarist is Chris Spedding.The first
half has "Forever Autumn" and "Thunder Child"
sung against a massive screen showing martians
and some dodgy storyline.The actual production
is nothing special with just a 3 legged martian
lowered from the ceiling in the first half and a
staircase in the second half.In the second half
i just got bored with the whole thing.The music
was so bland and lame i just gave up............
20 Dec 2007.From The Jam live at The Kentish Town Forum,London.The band feature Jam originals Bruce Foxton and Rick Butler playing Jam songs
together for the first time since their heyday.The crowd are up for it as from the start they are jumping around
madly at the front.The 85 mins set was full of Jam classics inc "Modern World","News Of The World","David Watts","In The City",a stunning
"Thats Entertainment" then "When You're Young",
"Start","Strange Town","Eton Rifles","Going
Underground".The tour has been a
really great idea and it ends tonight(Friday
21 Dec) with a massive show at The Brighton Centre.Encores of "Down At The Tube Station At
Midnight" and "Town Called Malice" sealed a really good show.See aftershow page.............
19 Dec 2007.Bruce Springsteen And The E Street
Band live at The 02 Arena,London.Another major
coup for this venue as they get yet another mega
act.One off English show that sold out in a few minutes that is to basically promote Bruces
bigger shows later in the year.No massive production or gimmicks here which means no big
screen behind the stage so there is seating there.Two video screens up in the gods are all
thats here apart from the band,and what a band.
Bruce and the boys play a stunning 2 hours 35mins set of just great great songs.I am lucky
enough to be in the gold circle stalls standing
a mere dozen rows from the stage with space galore.Not many faces here but i did see Bill Wyman and Mike Peters from The Alarm.Starts off
with "Radio Nowhere" then other gems like "Lonesome Day","Magic",a superb "Because The
Night","Shes The One","The Promised Land","Waiting On A Sunny Day","Racing In The Street","The Rising" and it got even better with
"Badlands" and stunning encores of "Jungleland",
"Born To Run" and "Dancing In The Dark" with
all the houselights on.Finishing up with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" with all the band in
red and white Christmas hats.A brilliant show
that was one of the best i have seen this year.
Bruce and the band return for some UK stadium shows in the summer inc two at The Emirates
(Arsenal F.C.) on May 30 and 31..................
18 Dec 2007.Hard Fi + Rumble Strips live at
Wembley Arena,London.Rumble Strips are tipped for
big things in 2008.They arrive on stage with a
clothes line with their bands name hanging from it.Some 30 mins of ok indie tunes.Best thing about them was their constant use of sax.A couple of years ago Hard Fi sold out 5 nights at
Brixton on the back of debut album "Stars Of CCTV" but now they have their second album out
tonight is not sold out so that means they have lost half of their London fans as they are not
flavour of the month anymore.They start off
looking awkward on the big stage but gradually
put on a decent 90 mins show with tunes inc
"Cant Get Along(Without You)","Television",
"Better Do Better","Surburban Knights", and their
big hits "Cash Machine" and "Hard To Beat" and encores inc "Stars Of CCTV" and "Living For The Weekend".Lots of sax and trumpet beefed the sound up and the crowd loved it.A good show
but still not in the major league yet............
16 Dec 2007.Spice Girls live at 02 Arena,London.
Spice Girls play show number 2 of their quite
staggering 17 shows at this venue.The stage set
is massive with huge screens,lights,lasers and
a bunch of male dancers.Their comeback single may have been a flop but their show is great.
We have prime seats in Block A just 20 rows from the stage and closer when they use the walkway.
Do they sing well?? ,Are they miming?? ,Who wears
the most fake tan??, Why does Mel C never show her legs??.Who cares when they put on a show like this.I have seen them before at Wembley in
their heyday when they were massive stars and its like they have never been away.There are costume changes and dance routines and its all
fun.The 1 hour 45 mins set had all their hits and a few covers inc "Spice Up Your Life","Stop",
"Two Become One","Who Do You Think You Are",
"Are You Gonna Go My Way(Mel B),"Its Raining Men(Geri),"Mama","Celebrate","We Are Family" and of course "Wannabe" near the end.An enjoyable
show that is a visual treat.David Beckham and kids were sitting near us in the front row where
the walkway comes out.They sneak in with their security after a few mins of the show starting and leave a few mins before the end.............
15 Dec 2007.Status Quo live at Wembley Arena,
London.The Quo are one of those rare bands that still do proper 6 week UK tours rather than just
play a few shows.They are not the same Quo as i saw in the 1970s but more of a rock band all the
family can like as there are kids here as well
as some who must be at least 70 years old. Its pretty much the same great set they always do.
A big knees up for their fans pre Christmas.
A nice big light show and tunes that just make
you shake your head and move your body.The 1 hour
50 mins set inc "Caroline","45OO Times","Rain",
"Paper Plane","All Stand Up","Big Fat Mama",
"Roll Over Lay Down","Whatever You Want" and
encores of "In The Army Now","Rockin All Over
The World" and "Bye Bye Johnny".The band are really enjoying it and the fans loved every second.Another great Quo show....................
13 Dec 2007.Thin Lizzy + Diamond Head live at Hammersmith Apollo,London.Great double bill of
classic rock acts here on the last date of their
month long UK tour.Diamond Head played a really good 45 mins set with some pukka tracks inc
"Heat Of The Night","Helpless" and their anthem
"Am I Evil?" which was superb.I have seen Lizzy
so many times over the last 30 years and they
always put on a great show.Scott Gorham may be
the only original Lizzy member in the band but
the other musicians on stage have great rocker
credentials inc John Sykes on guitar/vocals and
the amazing Tommy Aldridge on drums.The tour
is to promote the release on DVD of the classic
1978 Thin Lizzy live recording of "Live And Dangerous " with bonus features inc the "1983 Sight And Sound Concert" which is a must buy purchase.The entire 85 mins set was one Lizzy
classic after another inc "Jailbreak","Waiting
For An Alibi","Dont Believe A Word","Are You
Ready","Emerald","Dancing In The Moonight",
"Southband","Suicide","Cowboy Boy" which as always leads into the brilliant "The Boys Are
Back In Town".Scott Gorham and John Sykes share
the solos but its best when they are duelling
together.Encores "Rosalie","Cold Sweat" and
"Black Rose" sealed off a great set..............
12 Dec 2007.La Dolce Vita Christmas Ball feat Billy Ocean + Jamelia + Kid Creole And The Coconuts live at Battersea Arena,London.This was a very posh bash where most of the 900 strong
crowd paid over 400 quid each for live acts,djs a 3 course meal and EIGHT hours of free booze. Kid Creole And The Coconuts who play a short but fun set inc "Stool Pigeon","Im A
Wonderful Thing Baby" and "Annie Im Not Your
Daddy" then next up we have Jamelia who looks great as usual.She also plays a short 25 mins of hits inc "Superstar","Thank You","Beware Of The
Dog" and a cover of "Hey Ya".Then its 1980s star
Billy Ocean who has been touring again after a decade away.He has long grey dreadlocks and is
a born again christian i read recently.Lots of
hits in his 50 mins set inc "Love Really Hurts
Without You","Red Light Spells Danger","Get Outta My Dreams Get Into My Car","When The Going
Gets Tough The Tough Get Going" and finally
"Caribbean Queen".All the acts got everyone dancing.A few faces here inc Michael Portillo,
Anthea Turner,Lord Brockett,Eddie Irvine and
Peter Stringfellow.A great party.................
Posted 3rd January 2008
