Tuesday 17 October 2022.

Tuesday 17 October 2022. WILKO JOHNSON BAND live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Blues rock guitar legend Wilko , has survived his cancer scare , and is still playing at age 75. I was lucky to see Dr Feelgood with and without Wilko Johnson in their late 1970s heyday. I have seen Wilko Johnson several times before with his own band. Legendary long-time bass player Norman Watt-Roy is still here...insaw himwith Ian Dury & The Blockheads in their heyday period...and he has done session work for The Clash and many others. On drums is Dylan Howe ( son of Steve Howe from Yes). The evening is promoted by Planet Rock Radio. ------------ Levels 2 and 3 are closed tonight and plenty of space in stalls and level 1...maybe only 500 max tix sold. Mainly older folks are here, and no doubt some collecting government pensions. WHEN RIVERS MEET arrived on stage at 7pm for their 45 mins set. When Rivers Meet is an English blues / rock band formed in 2016 in Essex, England by husband and wife duo, Grace (very nice vocals) and Aaron Bond. In May 2021, they won four UK Blues Awards, for: Emerging Blues Artist of the Year; Blues Band of the Year; Blues Album of the Year; and Most Inspirational Online Performance of the Year. Their current album "Saving Grace" made no 84 in the UK charts....they played a good set. KING KING arrived on stage at 8.05pm for their 60 mins set. I saw King King supporting Europe at The Royal Albert Hall in 2018. They played some nice blues tracks from their five albums, that featured some very nifty blues guitar solos. WILKO JOHNSON BAND arrived on stage at 9.40pm for their 65 mins. They must have the least equipment of any headline band i have seen at this venue. It was more like a set-up for playing on a small pub stage. All three members are dressed all in black. Wilko and his choppin' guitar as he darts around the stage is still great to see. Norman Watt-Roy funky bass is still very prominent. Some of his solo tracks seemed a bit ramshackle in places with overlong solos. The setlist was pretty much exactly the same as I saw in Ealing in the summer. Again four Dr Feelgood classics were the highlights "Going Back Home", "Roxette", "Back In The Night" and "She Does It Right"...an enjoyable evening of blues rock acts. For whatever reason , the older folks here started to leave in droves from halfway through the set. Level 1 had 100 folks at the start of the Wilko set, but by the last two songs , only 20 were here. ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Tuesday 17 October 2022. Fancy seeing THE DAMNED re-union tour at punk rockin 1976 prices of £19.76? Vive Le Rock magazine have these less than half price tickets offer. The five UK dates include two at Hammersmith Apollo on 28 Oct and 29 Oct. Plus great support bands too. Visit www.vivelerock.net and enter the code newrose Vive Le Rock current magazine features 12 pages on The Damned, along with The Buzzcocks, The Godfathers, Rusty Egan and many more.

Posted 18th October 2022