Ray's Gigs

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Sunday 23 October 2022.

Saturday 22 October 2022. CHRISTONE "KINGFISH" INGRAM live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Christone is a 23 year old rising blues guitarist from America. On July 23, 2021 Ingram released his second record, an album called "662". Ingram is from Clarksdale, Mississippi and, says Ingram, "662 is the area code. It represents the whole north Mississippi Delta."On April 3, 2022, Kingfish won the Grammy award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album" for 662 at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. On September 18, 2022 Fender released a new Telecaster Deluxe specially dedicated to Kingfish. This guitar is called Kingfish Telecaster Deluxe. -------------------- Level 3 is closed tonight, but all other levels are full. Singer-songwriter MAX POPE arrived on stage at 8pm for his 30 mins set. Mainly him and his electric guitar, and a couple of songs with an acoustic guitar. His set included a really good cover version of "I'd Rather Go Blind". CHRISTONE "KINGFISH" INGRAM arrived on stage at 9pm and played for 1 hour 50 mins. Christone is short and chubby , but plays a mean blues guitar. His is backed by a three piece piece, including some nice keyboards that compliment his guitar. Maybe only a dozen tracks played in the set ,as pretty every song was several mins plus long, as each had a stunning guitar solo in it. Tracks played included "Another Life Goes By" and "Not Gonna Lie". After 45 mins he performed a great stunt as he played a solo in the stalls standing crowd, and then an even longer solo up in the Level 1 seats, and finished it by playing the guitar with his teeth........the crowd loved it. Encore included an extended cover of "Hey Joe". This really was blues guitar at its best...a really enjoyable show. During the encore he said he would be signing and meeting folks at the merch stand after his set. On our way out, there was already a long queue to meet him. ------------------------------- ------------------------------- Friday 21 October 2022. COUNTING CROWS live at Hammersmith Apollo. Counting Crows play the second of two shows at this venue, as part of their UK & European tour. I have seen them play three times before including in 2002 when i saw the them supporting The Who at The Greek Theatre,Los Angeles, USA. My fave track of theirs is "The Long December", which was released back in 1996. Lawrence Carroll directed the music video for "A Long December", which features American actress Courteney Cox, whom singer Adam Duritz was dating at the time....over 23 million YouTube views... They were signed to Geffen Records by the same guy that signed Nirvana. Counting Crows gained popularity following the release of its first album, "August and Everything After "(1993). With the breakthrough hit single "Mr. Jones" (1993), the album sold more than 7 million copies in the United States. The band received two Grammy Awards nominations in 1994, one for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" (for "Round Here") and one for "Best New Artist". The follow-up album, "Recovering the Satellites", reached number one on the US Billboard 200 album chart and reached number one in several other countries. All but one of their subsequent albums was top 10 on the Billboard 200 list. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide. -------- Not sold out tonight , but very full...maybe 4500 sold out of 5000 capacity...stalls standing... DAVID KEENAN arrived on stage at 8pm for his 30 mins set. Irish singer-songwriter with his acoustic guitar performed a few decent tracks. COUNTING CROWS arrived on stage at 9pm and played for two hours. Seven musicians on stage , including a very nice keyboard sound. Some nice soulful alt-rock tracks with the highlights for me including "Mr Jones", "Round Here" and "A Long December". A very enjoyable show. Full COUNTING CROWS setlist played tonight... Lullaby St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream (with Crimson and Clover tag) Mr. Jones Colorblind Butterfly in Reverse If I Could Give All My Love Mercy Miami God of Ocean Tides Start Again (Teenage Fanclub cover) Washington Square Catapult Round Here The Tall Grass Elevator Boots Angel of 14th Street Bobby and the Rat‐Kings Rain King A Long December Encore: Omaha Hanginaround Holiday In Spain ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Thursday 20 October 2022. MARK OWEN live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Take That member is touring the UK to promote his solo album "Land of Dreams". Take That reunion tour with Robbie Williams holds the record for most shows played at Wembley Stadium on the same tour - eight. ------------ Level 3 is closed tonight , but all the other levels are full. No surprise that it is a 90% female crowd here tonight. Lots of overseas fans here, judging by the flags and accents overheard tonight. His loyal fans gather tightly at the front half of the stalls standing. No support act tonight, and Mark Owen is on stage at 8pm for an impressive , lengthy set that started at 8pm and finished at 10.10pm after 2 hours 10 mins. Wilko Johnson stage show here two days before was dreadfully minimal but Mark Owen has a lovely big production, where the bands are on all raised platforms and we have a big screen showing live footage and pre-recorded images, along with a couple of neon signs. A few costumes changes for Mark Owen tonight. The band are all dressed in the same brown and white clothing. There were a few Take That classics performed including "Shine", "The Flood" and "Rule The World" that had all the fans swaying and singling loudly. Mark is nice and friendly and smiley when he chats to the fans between songs. A very enjoyable show. Full MARK OWEN played tonight.... Superpower (performed from the backstage area) You Only Want Me Shine (Take That song) Rio Are You Looking for Billy? Boy Clementine Four Minute Warning The Flood (Take That song) Ask Him To Makin' Out Us and Ours Green Man Come Back Starwoman Last of the Heroes Gone, Gone, Gone My Love Rule the World (Take That song) Hold Up a Light (Take That song) Encore: Stars Child Magic (ticker-tape fell over the stalls standing) These Days (Take That song) World Being Human