Sunday 16 April 2023.

Sunday 16 April 2023. WILLIE NILE live at The 100 Club. 74 year old New Yorker is back for another UK tour. Willie has recorded 14 albums since 1980. Check out his classic track 'One Guitar' on YouTube where he is joined by his good friend Bruce Springsteen. I have seen Willie Nile at the sadly missed Borderline Club in 2014. Willie was at many punk gigs in New York in the 1970s. Following the release of his debut album, Willie Nile, he joined The Who's 1980 North American summer tour. He recently supported The Who at their Woodstock, New York show. After his second album 1981's Golden Down, Nile became involved with protracted legal problems which curtailed his career for a number of years. Willie has had great critical success, but not much sales success, but has managed to tick over ok. On the afternoon of the gig he was on Johnnie Walkers 70s BBC Radio Show promoting the gig etc. -------- MICKY KEMP BAND arrived on stage at 8pm for their 40 mins set. A nice country-blues set with some good tracks including a great 'Cold, Cold, Heart'. A couple of faces here tonight including guitarist JAMES STEVENSON who has played with many bands over the past 40 odd years, DAVID SINCLAIR ex journo from The Times who reviewed many legends at UK gigs and overseas over a 30 year period, and he has his own band, who i have seen. BBC Radio 2 legend JOHNNIE WALKER is here introduces Willie Nile to the stage. WILLIE NILE and his band arrived on stage at 9.05pm for their 1 hour 45 mins set. Just four club shows on this UK tour, and he has his American band with him, so hopefully they make a few quid after all the expenses like flight tickets and accommodation etc. Willie Nile is now aged 74, but still has plenty of rock n roll energy. He has plenty of stage banter , that mainly focuses on New York stories, and living in Greenwich Village. He said ' I have been looking forward to this show for months, as legends like The Who and The Sex Pistols have played at this famous club venue, that has not changed much". His band are great,mans several songs have great harmonies. It got livelier and livelier towards the end with great tracks like ' People Who Died' and his superb track 'One Guitar' where he was joined by support act Micky Kemp. A great show. See my Facebook page for my nice video of the band performing 'One Guitar' tonight. WILLIE NILE and band played 20 tracks tonight...( a couple of tracks missing from the setlist) Forever Wild Black Magic and White Lies Faded Flower of Broadway Life on Bleecker Street New York at Night Heaven Help the Lonely This Is Our Time Lost and Lonely World Children of Paradise The Day the Earth Stood Still Cell Phones Ringing (In the Pockets of the Dead) The Innocent Ones House of a Thousand Guitars Run Free People Who Died ( Jim Carroll cover) One Guitar Encore : California Sun (Joe Jones cover) Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (The Ramones cover) ------------------------------ ------------------------------ Saturday 15 April 2023. INSPIRAL CARPETS live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Inspiral Carpets were part of The Madchester indie-rock scene of the 1990s , that included Oasis, Stone Roses and Happy Monday's. They have released five studio albums since 1990. They had 11 x Top 40 hit singles between 1990 to 1995 , but none of them made the Top 10. On Friday 17 March 2023, the band released a singles compilation, featuring all of their hit singles on cd/vinyl from 1988 to 2015 and remixes of the tracks, and are touring the UK to promote it. I have seen them just the once, back in 2003 at The V Festival, Chelmsford where they were on the support band bill to headliners The Red Hot Chili Peppers. ---------- Level 3 is half empty but the venue gradually gets full after folks have left the nearby pubs. DJ DAVE SWEETMAN plays a perfect set of anthems to hype up this crowd before both bands, so we have Oasis, Stone Roses, The Smiths, James, Joy Division, Primal Scream, New Order etc. DIRTY LACES arrived on stage at 7.40pm for their 30 mins set. They are local friends of the headliners , and play a decent set of tracks with a Manchester sound. INSPIRAL CARPETS on stage at 9.10pm for their 90 mins set. They have visual images on the curtain behind them , including band logos, home video clips and punk poet John Cooper Clarke reciting a few lines from one of his poems. Also some cow images , so chants of "moo" rang out after most songs. The front stalls is soon a mosh pit of dancing bodies. The Hammond Organ type keyboards dominates the sound, and sometimes drowns out the vocals. Their big hit 'This Is How It Feels' was a played fairly early on, and was really good to hear again. 'I Want You' was another highlight, and the three song encore got everyone up and singing. The encore also included a video tribute to their drummer Craig Gill who died in 2016, aged only 44. An enjoyable show. Full INSPIRAL CARPETS setlist played tonight.... Joe Generations Weakness Butterfly She Comes in the Fall This Is How It Feels Two Worlds Collide Let You Down Caravan Find Out Why Move Sackville Directing Traffic Keep the Circle Around I Want You Uniform Dragging Me Down Encore: Commercial Rain 96 Tears (? and the Mysterians cover) Saturn 5

Posted 16th April 2023