Recent gigs

[Paul]

Saw Flo and Joan at The Spring, Havant last night. They are the girls from the Nationwide ad, and went to the school where my wife taught.

The show was a tryout for the Edinburgh fringe. They are hilarious, and very very clever. I reckon I can sign a patter song pretty damn fast, but they can do their own stuff even faster, in two part harmony, and with lyrics that must be impossible to learn.

I really recommend that you go and see them if you get the chance.

Paul

[Andy]

I'm glad I went but I wouldn't have paid £200+ to see them.

To clarify, we paid £111 each, £20 of which was a mandatory booking fee.

[bassline (Mike)]

Just got back from the Hollywood Vampires at the Genting Arena/NEC.....whatever it is this month.

£60 for The Damned/The Darkness and the Vamps was great value.

It's the first time I've seen the Damned while seated, and it seemed a little wrong. I couldn't help but jiggle about for the mighty New Rose though, apologies to the three guys on right who were typing posts on Facebook while I did so. We also got Neat Neat Neat, Smash It Up and Eloise - marred a bit by there being no keyboards in the mix whatsoever, so the string part was inaudible. New song Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow was very good.

The Darkness - take a lump of early Queen mix in some AC/DC, add a dash of Zep, and the result is a nice little set of old skool rock. Good fun. Justin may court all the attention, but it's his brother who supplies all the good guitary bits. Frankie is still lanky bass dude, in dashing pink.

The Vampires were fabulous. Alice, one of his guitarists - Tommy - and drummer Glen - keys, bass, plus Aerosmith's Joe Perry - cool as ever, and Johnny Depp. Although the theatricals of Alice's usual set was absent, it wasn't all that noticable, as the band ran through a bunch of covers of various artists no longer with us - a la Cropredy, and a handful of original tunes from the album - co written by Depp -, none of which I'd heard before, but I shall be getting a copy soonest. The first couple of covers were I Got A Line On You and Seven And Seven Is (last time I heard that live it was played by the Bangles, gulp, thirty odd years ago!), which was a good start, followed by The Jack and Ace Of Spades. We got Alice's I'm Eighteen and Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion, then we got Depp singing Heroes very nicely, then the Bowie theme was continued with a surprise guest slot from none other than Ian Hunter for All The Young Dudes. This was very appropriate, as earlier that day, my copy of Ian's The Journey 3CD set came through the post. See you in a fortnight, Ian. Train Kept A Rollin' ended the set, then good old School's Out to end things.

Super.

[hendo (Dave)]

Played a festival yesterday when the final 2 acts on were Goldwater and King King.
Goldwater, cracking theatrical rock , really excellent charismatic lead singer ,and three girl backing singers
King King , were just a very , very good , old school , rock band doing their own stuff. Great sound and you could hear a thousand influences in there from rock to blues to soul. Some lovely Hammond and classic guitar lead lines .
We always say it but they would be a great Cropredy band.

[Bingers (Chris)]

Saw Flo and Joan at The Spring, Havant last night. They are the girls from the Nationwide ad, and went to the school where my wife taught.

The show was a tryout for the Edinburgh fringe. They are hilarious, and very very clever. I reckon I can sign a patter song pretty damn fast, but they can do their own stuff even faster, in two part harmony, and with lyrics that must be impossible to learn.

I really recommend that you go and see them if you get the chance.

Paul

Was contemplating going to see them in Colchester but the gig is sold out!   oh well next time maybe...

[David V B]

Saturday night at Blenheim for a superb line up - Elvis Costello, Waterboys and Nick Lowe. All on great form. Some great songwriters there and so it was pleasing (and a bit surprising) that the sound was good with vocals clear for all three. Good mixture of hits, oldies and new material .

And Blenheim seem to have got their act together with the organisation. No more getting stuck in a field for ages afterwards!

[davidmjs]

Psychedelic Furs last night in Liverpool.  Didn't expect a lot, but they were really great.  With the core group still onboard and giving it plenty, and a phenomenal set list.  One of the great band of their era imho.  BUT, they were still overshadowed by the support:The Phenomenal Rise of Richard Strange...who were (was?) outstanding.  Do go and see if you get a chance.  A great band including the phenomenal Terry Edwards and Steve Bolton (who once graced the touring lineup of the Who amongst others).  And Strange was just brilliant.  Selling loads of merch too including some tasty reissues of the Doctors of Madness albums...  

[David V B]

The Stones at Twickenham for a special birthday treat. And what a treat. Had expected to enjoy them but didn’t expect them to be that good, even in my wildest dreams. Last night of UK tour and they were really up for it. Roughly same list as Cardiff other than no Rolling Stone/ Cloud replaced by Bitch, blues of last album to mark their early days in Richmond, and Beast of Burden (with James Bay sharing vocals).

If anyone says they just rest on past glories, are past it etc, ignore them. One of the best concerts I have ever seen. I haven’t stopped smiling yet.

Managed to miss the transport mayhem by hiring a parking space in opposite direction. Announced at the end that Twickenham station closed. Utter bedlam.

[Andy]

Some pictures and videos from the Cardiff gig can be found here.

[blagden]

David Rovics at Rotherham Trades Club this Tuesday.

Great venue but woefully attended.

He was extraordinary, his politics were a little extreme for me (as they would probably be for Corbyn) but very inspiring ... recommended.

Here'e a concert recorded on this tour in Berlin - https://youtu.be/UM0uJedM_zY

[Shane (Skirky)]

Travis and Turin Brakes. Both bands in tremendous form and thoroughly enjoyable. TB plugging a new album, Travis playing the hits.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Travis and Turin Brakes. Both bands in tremendous form and thoroughly enjoyable. TB plugging a new album, Travis playing the hits.

Love TB - seem them loads of times and always a cracking set.

[John From Austin]

John Prine/Amanda Shires, last night, Bass Concert Hall, Austin, Texas.

Incredible show - every song is a gem, and his between-song stories are amazing. I don't have much to add to this review from the Austin American-Statesman: https://www.austin360.com/news/john-prine-caps-austin-filled-month-with-amanda-shires-bass-concert-hall/RG4R2HTgg7W9epHTC2KatK/

One introduction they omit from the review - introducing "Caravan of Fools," he said "This song has more verses than there are original members left in Trump's cabinet."

John Prine's UK/Europe tour starts in August, and I can't emphasize enough how good he is.  It's well worth everyone's time and treasure!

[bassline (Mike)]

Ramblin' Man Festival...
Saturday consisted of Main/Country/Up and Coming Stages.
 I spent most of this day hanging around the Country stage - oddly, as country isn't really my thing - in anticipation of Steve Earle's set, which was set to include all of Copperhead Road, which is one of my all time favourite albums. As the weather was glorious and the vibe mellow, this was no hardship. One band, featuring an ex member of the modern Lynyrd Skynyrd actually 'did Freebird' which was nice. Myles Kennedy of Alterbridge/Slash, and almost Led Zeppelin, did a decent acoustic set, then on came Steve to do his thing. There is a song on Copperhead Road that means a lot to me personally. That song is not Snake Oil, yet it was at this point, that I got all misty eyed and emotional. Odd. When the actual song in question,'Even When I'm Blue' had it's turn, I was a blubbering mess...good job it was sunglasses weather. As the last song from Copperhead faded away, so did I..off to the main stage for Mott The Hoople. It was strange that only Ian Hunter was the only member from the last set of gigs to grace the stage - of course two of them are no longer with us - R.I.P Buffin and Overend - and the other two had left and been replaced by Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher, and for this later line up reunion, they were present and correct. Morgan didn't look like Morgan..he did at the time of the Hammersmith shows, but not anymore. No 'tache - it's not natural. Ariel was inaudible for most of it..at least down the front..I could see what he was playing, but I couldn't hear a thing. Didn't matter though..there were enough guitarists on stage to make up for it. 'Unta was magnificent..fine voice, great playing and total dudeishness. The set was mainly from the Dudes album onwards, with some choice oldies like Rock 'n Roll Queen and Walkin' With A Mountain, which meant I got to hear some different songs like Alice. All good stuff.

Friday was Main/Blues and Prog Stages.

I got to the arena field in time for breakfast and coffee, before seeing new Psych/Prog Goldray. I'd not heard a thing by them, but I fancied the look of...them, so I checked them out. They do this sort of thing : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eblJG-nPmN0 and I like it.
A bit more wandering about and chilling, and it was back to the Prog stage for Mostly Autumn. They were very much Mostly Autumn and that's a good thing on the whole. I always enjoy them live, but I still don't feel the need to buy any albums.
There was a bit of bovva at this point....the stage crew appeared to have made a mess of the mic set up for MA, so they went on late but did a full set. Next on was Fish, but it wasn't until his set was underway, that the stage manager passed him a note, saying that he still had to be off stage at the original time, because the main stage headliners didn't want the sound bleeding over while they played. Fish was miffed, but professional. He cut out the none Clutching At Straws songs to give us as much of that album as possible, only losing one. I did get to hear Sugar Mice at last...and the blubbering started again...same reason as the Steve Earle song...but I sang along, noting that Mike Portnoy, ex of Dream Theater and playing the festival with  Sons of Apollo, was at the side of the stage doing the same. Incommunicado ended the set to a rousing finish, Fish making the band draw out the trash can ending to make sure that they finished Exactly On Time ! As Fish had time to spare the last time he played Cropredy, maybe this year we will get the whole shebang along with his solo tracks...the two we did get are really good. The Cult ended the weekend. They were OK. I had to wait the entire set to hear ...Sanctuary, but hear it I did, so that's good then.

[Nick Reg]

Ramblin' Man Festival...
 It was strange that only Ian Hunter was the only member from the last set of gigs to grace the stage - of course two of them are no longer with us - R.I.P Buffin and Overend - and the other two had left

Ralpher has suffered a stroke and would have been unable to play. Would still have liked to have seen it though.

[davidmjs]

Ramblin' Man Festival...
 It was strange that only Ian Hunter was the only member from the last set of gigs to grace the stage - of course two of them are no longer with us - R.I.P Buffin and Overend - and the other two had left

Ralpher has suffered a stroke and would have been unable to play. Would still have liked to have seen it though.

Apparently, it was "with his blessing" though.  Not sure how much that cost.

[Shane (Skirky)]

Among many others I caught Danny and The Champions of the World at the Maverick Festival this weekend. Barnstorming performance. Like Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes would look if they were fronted by Ray Winstone. But what a voice!

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

The Cure at Hyde Park on Saturday.

29 songs in a blistering set, in blistering heat. What a day! I'm in awe - still.

[Jim G]

The Cure at Hyde Park on Saturday.

29 songs in a blistering set, in blistering heat. What a day! I'm in awe - still.

I was at Hyde Park the day before (Friday) to see Roger Waters (plus Squeeze and Seasick Steve). Music was good but prices a bit steep at £6.50 pint of IPA or Cider - no grub for less than £8.00 and T shirts £30 each!  

Waters put on a fantastic quadraphonic show at one point morphing the main stage into Battersea power station, complete with smoking chimneys and flying pigs.  Did most of Dark Side of the Moon, some stuff from Wish you were here,  Animals and the Wall plus a couple from his latest solo album Is This the Life We Really Want?

I have no idea how they would have cleaned up the site in time for another performance the next day.

[Dan O.]

Ok, Bridge and Jim - those two gigs must've been excellent, can I just ask you what the sound was like at Hyde Park ?

The reason I'm asking is because I went there to watch Bruce Springsteen in 2012, the night they were jamming "Twist & Shout/La Bamba" with Macca and broke the curfew, causing the PA to be faded out before the musicians on stage had finished playing.

The sound that day was so quiet, it was no louder than a hi-fi at a "ooh, the parents have gone out, shall we be naughty and crank the stereo up a bit ?" level. People next to each other were holding normal level conversations. Now I don't go to live gigs to be deafened, but I certainly like to be overwhelmed by what I've paid to see. The E-Street Band were terrific that day - just shy of 20 musicians on that stage giving their all - but they were simply not loud enough.

Pricing and crowd aside (those are separate issues), along with the hassle of travelling to London from the provinces to get there, I vowed never to go to Hyde Park for a gig again, so underwhelmed I was by the experience. I've missed various gigs there over the last 6 years, simply from digging my heels in and saying "I'd go but not if it's at Hyde Park." These range from Paul Simon, Carole King, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and the aforementioned Roger Waters and The Cure, etc...

So, please let me know - have things improved since 2012 ? Is it worth giving Hyde Park another go ? I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on this matter, as I don't wish to miss out on more big occasions due to my opinion and experience of the venue being based on the way things were 6 years ago...