Category Archives: Live reviews

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2026

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , , , , , ,

As we headed towards our usual rendezvous point in a Banbury layby so that our assembled group could drive in together and set up camp next to one another, there were two niggles on my mind. Would we cope with the heat during this latest heatwave? And would there  be an easy Plan B in place if the new-fangled ticket app didn’t work on my phone in the middle of a field with poor mobile reception?

The latter proved to be a doddle. Although the ticket app wasn’t loading properly, I gave my order details to a special helpdesk at the wristband exchange and they printed off old-fashioned tickets for me so we could pick up our wristbands. Phew!

Cropredy 2026 (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

As for the heat. It was bloody hot. Even when I’m abroad laying by a pool I prefer to be ‘sun adjacent’ and avoid direct sunlight by finding myself a large sunshade and, ideally, a big cluster of palm trees to plonk myself under. There were none of those at Cropredy, of course. On the plus side, I think we’ve got better at adapting to life at the festival in the middle of a heatwave: copious amounts of fresh water alongside all the beer and cider, hats, umbrellas, Factor 50, time spent standing at the front by the stage (which was naturally in shadow throughout the day) and not being afraid of giving some of the acts a miss and heading back to the campsite to sit under the awning if it all got a bit too much.

Fairport pride themselves on running a pet-friendly festival (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

This was the second year of the new slimmed-down version of Cropredy, now with a maximum cap of 6,500 on ticket sales and the line-up focused more on folk scene favourites and less on big-name headliners from the world of rock and pop. It’s working. There’s still a nice mix between the familiar and the not-so-familiar. Crucially, it’s ensured that the festival remains financially viable with a predictable income stream and a budget based around that.

Looking at the music, the new discoveries, for me, included the entertaining and highly energetic Banter; the rock-country-soul crossover band, Danny the Champions of the World (yes I know have been around almost 20 years now but it was my first time seeing them); and the Celtic folk band, The Haar, who performed breathtakingly unique version of traditional folk standards.

Danny the Champions of the World (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

More familiar favourites included Turin Brakes whose particular brand of laid-back, melodic, indie rock which went down so well when they last played Cropredy back in 2022 and was equally well-received this time. They’ve clearly built a special rapport with the Cropredy audience, partly because of the excellent music but also because of the lifelong connection to the festival that their drummer, Rob Allum, has – he told us been coming to Cropredy since he was a toddler.

Turin Brakes (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

Another set of familiar faces was the French Canadian Celtic folk group Le Vent Du Nord, who have never failed to woo the crowd with their fantastic musicianship and energetic performances at every festival I’ve seen them at over the years and Cropredy was no exception, as did Breabach.

Braebach (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

Hayseed Dixie, also made a welcome return to Cropredy with their tongue-in-cheek but hugely entertaining selection of Bluegrass arrangements of heavy metal classics.

Hayseed Dixie (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

And then we get to the perennial Cropredy icons: Namely, Richard Thompson, who headlined on the Friday night with a stunning set of solo acoustic RT classics, followed by an equally stunning electric set with some of his old Fairport bandmates. And then, headlining on the Saturday, of course, Fairport Convention themselves.

Fairport Convention – Dave Pegg (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

There has been no new studio album for some while now (2020’s Shuffle and Go) being the last. But the band’s huge back-catalogue of albums and total lack of Top 20 singles means there’s plenty of scope for varying the set-list. It was wonderful to hear a couple of songs from Rising For The Moon  (the band’s final album with Sandy Denny) and Festival Bell (my favourite Fairport album of the modern era).

Ralph McTell (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

While it was a shame Richard Thompson wasn’t available to return the favour from the previous night and do a guest slot with his former bandmates, I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of him next year when it’s the band’s 60th anniversary.

Vikki Clayton (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

In the meantime, we had guest spots from Steve Ashley, Ralph McTell, Vikki Clayton, Jen Butterworth and Anna Ryder to enjoy and by the time ‘Matty Groves’ and ‘Meet on the Ledge’ came we’d had a wonderfully varied delve into Fairport’s eclectic back catalogue.

Til the same time next year!

Fairport Convention – Simon Nicol (Photo credit: Simon Putman)

Related posts:

Interview with Chris Leslie 2026

Interview with Ric Sanders 2025

Interview with Dave Pegg 2025

Interview with Simon Nicol 2024

Live review: Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 2025

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2025

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2024

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2023

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2022

Book review: ‘On Track: Fairport Convention – every album, every song’ by Kevan Furbank

Fairport Convention at Bexhill 2020

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2018

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2017

Album review – Fairport Convention ‘Come All Ye: The First Ten Years’

Fairport Convention – 50th anniversary gig at Union Chapel 2017

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2014

Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 2014

Wirral teen band Pareidolls release debut single: ‘Jessie’

Live reviews, Music news, Rock music, , , , , ,

Released: 2 April 2026

Pareidolls, a five-piece teenage band from the Wirral, have released their debut single ‘Jessie’. Backed by B-side ‘Give & Take’, it’s being made available digitally and as a limited-edition physical 7-inch via Red Licorice Records.

Blending sharp-edged rock with melodic new wave influences, Pareidolls have quickly built a reputation for songs that balance attitude with pop sensibility. ‘Jessie’ captures the band’s driving energy and hook-laden songwriting, while ‘Give & Take’ showcases a darker, more urgent side of their sound.

Pareidolls are Georgia Attwood (vocals), Freya Wilcox (drums), Bethan Sheldrick (bass), Tabitha Law (guitar) and Biba Russell (guitar). Their sound and style recall the golden age of female-fronted rock bands, drawing comparisons to acts such as The Go-Go’s, The Bangles and L7, while remaining firmly rooted in the present.

Photo credit: Robert Russell

Drummer, Freya Wilcox, says: ‘We’re ecstatic to be able to share Jessie with this release; it encapsulates a lot about who we are musically and we hope it makes people happy!’

Newly established on the Merseyside music scene, the band regularly perform at Liverpool venues including EBGBS, Zanzibar and the O2 Academy. They have already supported notable artists such as The Lounge Society, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), XGENERATIONX (featuring Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet) and the late Clem Burke of Blondie.

The release of ‘Jessie’ marks an important milestone for Pareidolls, representing their first physical single and the start of their collaboration with Red Licorice Records.

Photo credit: Robert Russell

‘Jessie’ Released: 2 April 2026

Live dates:

London Launch Gig: Water Rats – 2 April 2026 – Tickets

Liverpool Launch Gig: Heebies Tunnel – 5 April 2026 – Tickets

More info via: https://linktr.ee/pareidollsbandofficial

Live review: On Thin Ice – Pink Floyd tribute at Blackbox, Hastings 6/3/26

Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

While someone banging out some half-decent AC/DC or Stones covers will invariably bring a smile to my face, when it comes to Pink Floyd you’ve either got to get the sound bang on or else it’s simply not worth bothering. And while I was never lucky enough to see the original Pink Floyd, I’ve seen a few Pink Floyd tributes over the years, from the internationally-renowned (Australian Pink Floyd) to the downright dodgy (remaining nameless to spare blushes).

Formed in 2014 and hailed as one of the UK’s leading Pink Floyd tribute acts, proudly proclaiming their commitment to authenticity, I had high hopes for On Thin Ice and was not disappointed.

Performing three sets that delved into songs from across the band’s career, the first set began with a convincing selection of classics from the Syd Barrett-era Floyd, followed by a couple of tracks from Meddle before moving on to a mammoth rendition of songs from Dark Side of the Moon. It was all done in QUAD sound, too, with four channels of sound filling the room, echoing the original Pink Floyd tours of the late ‘60s and ’70s and ensuring maximum sonic impact in terms of those memorable special effects on albums like Dark Side.

Mish B, one of two female backing vocalists, did an absolutely incredible job taking on the lead vocal for ‘Great Gig in the Sky’ and received rapturous applause for her own take on that stunning, other-worldly performance which session singer, Clare Tory, will always be best remembered for (Tory’s second most memorable performance being the theme song for BBC’s Butterflies, for all you trivia fans out there.)

After a short break, we are into the second set, which is a celebration of the Wish You Were Here album that is every bit as good as their exploration of the Dark Side of the Moon, before ending in an epic performance of ‘Sheep’ from Animals. It’s great to see Hastings’ Blackbox back on the circuit. As a gig venue it pretty much does what it says on the tin, a long oblong box painted completely black with the stage at the front and the bar at the back. The sound is great, the guitars, keyboards, sax and vocals are mind-blowingly authentic and in a venue like this you can half close your eyes and mentally transport yourself to some huge stadium somewhere seeing the real thing.

After another short break the third and final set, focuses on the band’s later studio albums with a couple of tracks from The Wall, and a track apiece from the post-Roger Waters albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, before drawing proceedings to a close with a stunning rendition of ‘Comfortably Numb’.

The guys (and gals) do put every ounce of effort into making themselves sound as close to Pink Floyd as humanly possible so if you are looking for a night of Pink Floyd classics in a live setting, On Thin Ice are absolutely worth checking out.

https://www.onthinicefloyd.com/

Related posts:

Review: ‘Their Mortal Remains’ Pink Floyd Exhibition at the V&A

Rock: album review – David Gilmour ‘Rattle That Lock’

Live review: Atomic Rooster at The Piper, St Leonards 25/2/26

Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , ,

For many years Atomic Rooster were one of those bands whose name was well known to me through my voracious reading of rock history, but whose material I was barely familiar with. That changed back in 2018, at one of the Butlins Rock & Blues weekends where the band’s outstanding performance was a complete revelation to me. Before  long I acquired a CD box set of all of all of their classic albums from the 1970s and became a firm fan of the band’s music.

Although all the original line-up led by Vincent Crane are sadly no longer with us, the band was reformed in 2016 by Pete French, who performed on the band’s third album and by Steve Boltz Bolton, who played on their fourth. However, since I last caught the band in 2022, there has been a change in line-up with French exiting. In other outfits this could have been a near-fatal blow, with the connections to the original band becoming even more tentative. But Adrian Gautrey, who has done a sterling job embodying the spirit of the late, great Vincent Crane on keyboards for much of the past decade, has now also taken on the role of lead vocalist. What’s more he’s an absolutely incredible singer and the band just goes from strength to strength.

The setlist is a mix of ‘70s-era Rooster classics and material from their excellent new studio album, Circle The Sun, which came out in 2025. With half the tracks on the latter penned by Bolton and half by Gautrey, the album really captures the essence of Atomic Rooster and most of the songs from the album are performed tonight. There’s still room for plenty of vintage Rooster, including blinding versions of ‘Can’t Take No More’, ‘Tomorrow Night’ and ‘Breakthrough’, as well as ‘Devil’s Answer’ the band’s surprise 1971 top five hit.

A formidable, driving rhythm, pounding Hammond and searing guitar, it’s one of those epic, small venue gigs that you’re not going to forget in a hurry. When it comes to a modern-day reboot of a legendary ’70s hard rock outfit, Atomic Rooster have undoubtedly become one of my firm favourites. There are few bands with as much energy as these guys on stage and I’m delighted to see that there’s also a recently-recorded live album to purchase from the merch stand, alongside copies of the excellent Circle The Sun. Highly recommended.

https://www.theatomicrooster.com/

Related posts:

Atomic Rooster at Giants of Rock, Minehead 2022

Atomic Rooster at Rock & Blues, Skegness 2018

2025 in Darren’s music blog – the ten most popular posts of the year

Folk music, Glam rock, Interviews, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Happy New Year to all my readers and my sincere thanks to everyone who has visited Darren’s music blog during 2025. As well as 65 posts covering an eclectic musical mix of folk, prog, glam, heavy metal, punk, hard rock and britpop, I also managed to get my fourth book completed (Steeleye Span On Track 1970-89) which was published by Sonicbond this Summer.

To recap on the year, here are the top ten most viewed posts of 2025. Here’s to 2026! 

1. Interview with Fairport Convention’s Dave Pegg

Ahead of Fairport Convention’s Winter Tour back in January, I caught up with Dave Pegg. We discuss the making of the Full House album, the crucial role that Jethro Tull played in Fairport’s resurrection, changes taking place at Cropredy this summer so that the festival remains financially viable and the forthcoming tour.

Read full interview here

2. Live review: Santana at the O2, London 21/6/25

There are not many world-class rock acts still performing that remain to be ticked off on my own personal bucket-list but Santana definitely fitted into that category and prompted the first of two trips to the O2 this Summer. From the off it’s very much a give-the-audience-exactly-what-they-want greatest hits set, interspersed with nuggets of Woodstock-era exhortations in favour of love and peace and togetherness. “I’m a hippy!” explains Carlos Santana.

Read full review here

3. Live review: Alice Cooper and Judas Priest at the O2, London 25/7/25

Kicking off with ‘Lock Me Up’, Alice Cooper’s set is as over-the-top and theatrical as ever. An exhilarating combination of blistering hard rock, glam-meets-horror showmanship and that unmistakeable, menacing vocal drawl, the hits come thick and fast.

Coming on stage to the strains of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’, Judas Priest launched straight into ‘All Guns Blazing’ from the Painkiller album. Released 35 years ago, songs from that much-celebrated album feature heavily in tonight’s set.

Read full review here

4. Live review: Uriah Heep / April Wine / Tyketto at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 27/2/25

I was still a pre-schooler when Uriah Heep released their debut album in 1970, although this year does mark 40 years since I first saw the band at Manchester Apollo back in 1985. Tonight’s performance proves beyond doubt that my enthusiasm for the band remains undimmed. I’m relieved to hear this is not quite the finale just yet.

Read full review here

5. Live review: Fairport Convention at Union Chapel, London 22/2/25

It’s now 40 years since Sanders played on his first Fairport album – Gladys’ Leap. Ric Sanders tells the audience that he was phoned up by Dave Pegg who had asked him if he was interested in contributing fiddle to three tracks but initially he had no idea he was being asked to contribute to a Fairport Convention album.

Read full review here

6. Interview with Fairport Convention’s Ric Sanders

Ahead of this year’s Cropredy festival, I catch up with Fairport Convention’s Ric Sanders. We talk about first learning to play the violin at primary school, about getting his big break with Soft Machine and the invitation to play on Fairport’s Gladys’ Leap album forty years ago this year – and, of course, this year’s Cropredy line-up.

Read full interview here

7. Live review: Supergrass at the Roundhouse, London 21/5/25

Given I spent the battle of Britpop firmly in the Blur camp, I passed up on the chance to buy tickets for the Oasis reunion when it was announced last summer. A couple of weeks later, however, when Supergrass announced that they would also be reforming to celebrate the 30th anniversary of I Should Co-Co, I was in the online queue as soon as tickets went on sale. Always my favourite band of the Britpop era, a chance to hear Supergrass’s debut album performed in full promised to be something rather special.

Read full review here

8. Live review: Sweet at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire 5/4/25

In the months and years to come, who knows how many more Sweet gigs there’ll be. Andy Scott shows every sign of wanting to continue for as long as he is physically able to walk on stage, pick up his guitar and perform. I hope there’ll be plenty more nights like this for the band and I hope I get to see a few more of them myself but I savoured every precious moment of this concert as if it were my last.

Read full review here

9. Live review: X Generation X at the Brunswick, Hove 9/11/25

Making light of the seeming incongruity of launching a UK tour on a Sunday, Westwood asked the happy but clearly refreshed crowd at one point if they all had to be up in the morning. “No!!” the crowd yelled back in unison. “They’re all retired!” quipped Steve Norman. That’s as maybe but for 75 glorious minutes it was 1976 all over again and here in this sweaty cellar bar the spirit of punk was recaptured in all of its incendiary glory.

Read full review here

10. Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2025

There was a heavy Fairport bias to this year’s list, with interviews and live reviews bagging four of the top ten most popular slots. Just making it into the Top Ten is my review of this year’s Cropredy Festival which featured a guest appearance from none other than Robert Plant.

Read full review here

2024 in Darren’s music blog

2023 in Darren’s music blog

2022 in Darren’s music blog

2021 in Darren’s music blog

2020 in Darren’s music blog

2019 in Darren’s music blog

Live review: The Amy Winehouse Band at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 18/12/25

Hastings music scene, Live reviews, , , , , , , ,

My final gig of the year. And rather than my more typical diet of folk, glam rock and heavy metal, it’s the Amy Winehouse Band.

The project brings together musicians who played with Amy Winehouse over the course of her spectacularly promising career, which tragically came to a premature end back in 2011. The band members include Dale Davis, her musical director and bass player; Hawi Gondwe, Winehouse’s guitarist from 2007-11; drummer, Nathan Allen; backing vocalist, Adeleye Omatayo, and the brass section, Henry Collins and Dave Temple. The aim of the band, of course, is to perform and celebrate Winehouse’s music and to be much more than just another tribute act through retaining that very direct link to the late artist, herself.

The first part of the set was very much focused on the soulful jazz influences of the Frank album and vocalist, Beth Morris, (one of a couple of alternating female lead singers for the band) did a devastatingly good job at performing Winehouse’s material and really embodying the spirit of those songs. The musicians are on top form, too, and with the spotlights and dry ice the De La Warr stage takes on the vibe of a smoky, intimate jazz club.

The tempo and the mood change as the band move on to material from Winehouse’s second album, the soul-pop masterpiece that is Back to Black.

We are soon being invited by Morris to get to our feet and boogie and within seconds the entire De la Warr audience are bopping along to the likes of ‘Back to Black’, ‘Me and Mr Jones’ and, of course, ‘Rehab’. Not only did male backing vocalist, Adeleye Omatayo, take the lead vocal on a handful of songs himself, he also wowed the crowd with some impressive dance moves of his own, too.

The Amy Winehouse Band do a tremendous job in celebrating Winehouse’s legacy and keeping her music alive in a live performance setting. It’s a really impressive show and well worth seeing if you have the opportunity.

https://www.theamywinehouseband.com/

Setlist:

Know You Now
October Song
Mr Magic (Through the Smoke)
In My Bed
Stronger Than Me
Moody’s Mood for Love
You Sent Me Flying
Addicted
Cupid
He Can Only Hold Her
I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
Love Is a Losing Game
Tears Dry on Their Own
Back to Black
You Know I’m No Good
Me & Mr Jones
Rehab
You’re Wondering Now
Monkey Man
Valerie

Live review: Steeleye Span at Revelation, St Mary the Virgin Church, Ashford 13/12/25

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

After spending much of last year and the first part of this year living and breathing all things Steeleye Span while I worked on my book about the band (which came out this summer) it felt kind of fitting for this to be my penultimate gig of the year.

Steeleye Span are always a joy to watch live and they always seem to go that extra mile in putting together a set-list that’s unique for each tour. It’s never a case of merely churning out the same old favourites year after year. They delve deep into their back catalogue, dust down songs that have not been played in years, retire others that have been in the set for a little while and generally mix things up to create a live show that’s fresh-sounding and unique. And, because this is a band that is still eagerly releasing new music, there’s often some brand new material (or never-been-tried-before trad. arr material) to look forward to as well. This tour is no exception and we get some fantastic renditions of material from the band’s excellent new album, Conflict, released earlier this year.

The line-up is a classic Span ‘Now We Are Six’ type formation, with guitarist, Spud Sinclair, and bass-player, Roger Carey, providing some real rock and roll oomph alongside long-time drummer, Liam Gernockey; multi-instrumentalist, Julian Littman, on guitars, mandolin and keyboards; the incredibly talented Violeta Vicci on violin; and, of course, the one and only Maddy Prior on vocals.

It means there’s bags of energy behind the band’s meaty renditions of songs like ‘Royal Forester’, and ‘King Henry’ which showcase Steeleye Span at their riffiest, folk-rockiest best. But, it being a church and all that, what became the most spellbinding moments in this beautiful setting were the choral, acapella versions of ‘Gaudette’, the band’s vintage Christmas hit, and ‘Dogs and Ferrets’ from the Commoners Crown album. Prior reminded us that the latter hadn’t been performed live since not long after the album was released over fifty years ago.

Vocally, the band are sounding superb. Carey, Littman and Sinclair all contribute and Prior’s voice has matured into something rich, warm and velvety while still being unmistakeably the voice of Maddy Prior. Meanwhile, the beautiful crystal-clear vocals of Vicci add a second female voice into the mix – and someone to “hit all the high notes” as Prior jokes. With an exceptional back catalogue, stellar musicians and incredible vocals, Steeleye Span continue to surprise and delight.

Setlist:

First set:
Over The Hills And Far Away
New York Girls
Lady Diamond
Roadways
Blackleg Miner
I Was An Oak Tree
Trees are Whispering
Royal Forester
Alison Gross
The Dark Morris Song

Second set:
Gaudete
Cruel Brother
Skip to Shore
Ghost Ship
King Henry
Dogs and Ferrets
We Shall Wear Midnight
Hard Times of Old England
Wintersmith
All Around My Hat
Dodgy Bastards

Presenting Maddy with a complimentary copy of the book after the gig

My book ‘’Steeleye Span 1970-1989 On Track: Every Album, Every Song‘ is available from Amazon or Burning Shed

Related posts:

‘Steeleye Span 1970-1989 On Track: Every Album, Every Song’ – Book reviews round-up

Interview with Maddy Prior

Interview with Julian Littman

Review: Steeleye Span at Hove 2023

Review: Steeleye Span at Hastings 2019

Review: Steeleye Span at Ashford 2019

Review: Steeleye Span at Hastings 2017

Review: Steeleye Span, London 2015

Review: Steeleye Span at New Forest Folk Festival 2014

Live review: Planet Enid Collective and Motörqueens at the Carlisle, Hastings 12/12/25

Hastings music scene, Live reviews, new wave of British heavy metal, Rock music, , , , , , , , , , ,

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of two iconic British bands: Motörhead, who need absolutely no introduction; and Painted Lady, who few will have heard of but who went on to have a huge impact on the UK’s rock and metal scene after they morphed into the much better-known Girlschool. The line-ups of both bands varied over the years but in at the start were the two founding bass-players-cum-lead vocalists, Lemmy Kilmister for Motörhead and Enid Williams for Girlschool.

Lemmy passed away in 2015, of course, but Enid Williams is still going strong and is one of a growing number of acclaimed rock musicians who’ve made Hastings their home. She’s been out of Girlschool for several years now but more recently bounced back fronting Planet Enid Collective, alongside Audrey M (bass) and Yair Katz (drums).

Italy’s Motörqueens, meanwhile, are Europe’s leading all-female Motörhead tribute act and what better way to celebrate the enduring legacy of both Girlschool and Motörhead than a double bill featuring both bands here at the Carlisle in Hastings.

Williams has enjoyed a rich and varied career between her two stints in Girlschool, running a vegetarian cuisine company, touring with the English National Opera, performing in West End musicals and working as a TV Astrologist. But tonight she’s in full-throttle rock and roll mode, alternating between lead and bass guitar and wowing the crowd with some vintage Girlschool songs.

As well as early Girlschool classics, like ‘Emergency’ and a revisit to the band’s much-celebrated covers of ‘Race with Devil’ and ‘Tush’, I’m particularly pleased to hear some of Williams’ material from her final album with Girlschool, 2015’s Guilty as Sin. These included the rousingly defiant ‘Come the Revolution’ and the starkly eco-themed ‘Treasure’, both of which combine hard, heavy riffing with powerful, thought-provoking lyrics. There’s guest spots aplenty, too, including some blinding lead guitar contributions from another local boy, Tino Troy of Praying Mantis, and Baz Roze of the Kent-based metal band, Black Roze. It’s all a bit of a NWOBHM dream!

Headliners, Motörqueens, deliver a high-octane, sassy and unbelievably powerful celebration of Motörhead’s music, even if the authentically Lemmy-esque rumble blasting from the amps sends the Carlisle’s famous, life-size cut-out of Lemmy flying off the side of the stage at one point. It’s a hugely entertaining tribute delivered with passion, conviction and true rock and roll grit.

An extra treat comes towards the end of the set when Williams is invited back on stage to play ‘Bomber’. As the curfew approaches, there’s time for one final song. Motorqueens and Enid blast out a gloriously raucous ‘Please Don’t Touch’ with the rest of musicians from the evening having a glorious  time belting out the choruses. Suddenly it’s 1981, everyone’s singing along and we’re all 15 again. A superb finish to a fantastic evening.

https://planetenidcollective.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/motorqueens

Live review: Sweet at Birmingham Town Hall 4/12/25

Glam rock, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

A rare occurrence for me but I missed Sweet on their tour last December. As it turned out, however, so did band-leader, lead guitarist and the last surviving member of the classic ‘70s foursome, Andy Scott. A fracture in his pelvis (on top of a debilitating long-term cancer diagnosis) left him completely unable to move so his place was ably taken by Jim Kirkpatrick. Never one to be kept down for long, however, Scott resumed touring in the Spring and as well as a hectic live schedule this year, there’s an impressive roster of European dates lined up for 2026, too.

On previous Christmas tours over the past few years I’ve tended to catch Sweet either in London or down here on the south coast at the De La Warr Pavilion. However, with nothing scheduled for the South East on this tour, I cunningly worked out I could spend a night in Birmingham en route to a pre-Christmas family get-together up in Preston. In fact, this is not the first time I’ve made the long trek to see Sweet in Birmingham. I was here back in 2017 to see Andy & Co. supporting Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow at the Genting Arena.

At the time, I expressed a slight degree of disappointment that the then line-up stuck to a tried-and-tested greatest hits setlist, rather than exploring some of the more hard rock-oriented deep cuts that were likely to have particularly appealed to an audience made up of hard-core Ritchie Blackmore devotees. It was only much later that Scott revealed to fans that he’d had to begin a gruelling course of chemotherapy that very week, obviously leaving no time to rehearse a revised setlist. I felt bad about making my disappointment known once we’d all learned the truth but there is absolutely no such complaint about the setlist tonight.

Ever since the current line-up was unveiled (fronted by ex-Cats in Space lead singer, Paul Manzi), there’s been a much greater emphasis on the album-oriented hard rock side of the band’s DNA, besides the more well-known glam-era big hits. Plus, there’s been an album of brand-new, hard-rocking material, too. Accordingly, we get an explosive set on this tour, featuring incendiary versions of tracks like ‘Lost Angels’, ‘Windy City’ and ‘Set Me Free’ and a couple of songs from the excellent new album, Full Circle, as well as all the well-known big hits.

After praising Scott’s incredible feats of endurance, Manzi summed up his current state of health as “85% back to full fitness” meaning he had to take a scheduled breather part-way through the set. Accordingly, the rest of the band remained on stage to deliver a sing-along medley of ‘ Co-Co’, ‘Funny Funny’ and ‘Poppa Joe’ while Scott caught his breath. Observant Sweet fans will already know that Scott never played on the studio versions of these early bubblegum hits anyway so it was the obvious place in the set for a well-earned break. Elsewhere, however, wherever Scott’s familiar signature guitar sound is heard on the original records, he’s up there on stage delivering those pounding Sweet riffs and searing Scott solos.

For anyone seeing them on this tour, it’s an incredible line-up of the Sweet performing these days. In my mind, even though 2002’s Sweetlife remains my absolute favourite post-Brian Connolly Sweet album, what we have on stage now is one the strongest live line-ups of Sweet since the demise of the classic foursome. Whatever life has thrown at him in recent years, Andy Scott shows no sign of giving up quite yet. Here’s wishing him a good few more tours!

My book ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ is available from Amazon here

Setlist:

Action
Hell Raiser
Burn on the Flame
Circus
The Sixteens
Don’t Bring Me Water
Lost Angels
Windy City
Set Me Free
Co-Co / Funny Funny / Poppa Joe
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Love Is Like Oxygen
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Live review: John Illsley – The Life & Times of Dire Straits at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 29/11/25

Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , ,

John Illsley, legendary bassist and Dire Straits co-founder, wound up a 21-date music and chat tour at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings. I never got to see Dire Straits back in the day, sadly. However, the fact that this was a chance to see John Illsley perform some Straits classics with a full band, as well as a chance to get a first-hand insight into his long career, made it too good an opportunity to pass over, even though (following Dave Hill and Slade the night before) it meant a second trip to the White Rock in the space of twenty-four hours.

A full two-hour show, the format was a Q&A session, with Illsley in conversation with long-time friend and former Dire Straits co-manager, Paul Cummins. This was followed by live music from the band then a short interval, followed by a further Q&A session and then more live music.

The first half of the show focused on the early part of his career, with the second part focusing on the Brothers In Arms days and beyond. Those early days and hearing about Illsley sharing a flat in Deptford with Mark Knofler’s brother, David, while studying at Goldsmiths held a particular fascination for me, as a former student of Goldsmiths myself who ended up spending twenty-odd years living in the Deptford area, not too far from the small council flat were Dire Straits was originally formed. An articulate, urbane and thoughtful man (even if he lived in what sounded like a filthy hovel at the time!) it was a fascinating insight into the early days of the band and the fairly swift pathway to their first hit single. The inspiration for that first hit came after an evening at a local pub, where Mark Knopfler heard a jazz band playing who called themselves ‘Sultans of Swing’. The rest is history…

The musical segment saw a clutch of songs from the first Dire Straits album, including the aforementioned ‘Sultans of Swing’ as well as a song apiece from Making Movies and Love Over Gold. The band are excellent and Illsley’s vocals are not a million miles away from Mark Knopfler.

After the interval it’s back to more chat, with a real focus on the story behind the astronomical success of Brothers in Arms. Illsley describes it as a perfect storm: Knopfler’s song-writing reaching another level, digital studio technology being newly available, Sony keen to push an album that could help propel sales of their new-fangled CD players, and MTV launching in Europe just a few months before the album’s release date. Both they and their US counterpart keen to give airtime to a single that name-checked them. Neither Illsley nor Mark Knopfler seemed particularly keen on the superstardom that followed, however, and in spite of monster world tours, Live Aid and Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday gig at Wembley, there was to be only one more studio album.

Before long we’re back to more music. Unsurprisingly, songs from Brothers In Arms feature heavily. As well as the title track, there’s ‘So Far Away’, Walk of Life’ amd ‘Money for Nothing’ there’s also a song from Illsley’s most recent  solo album. ‘It’s a Long Way Back’ is all about those early days in Deptford. Proceedings wrap up with ‘Where Do You Think You’re Going’ from the Communique album. Illsley and the band leave the stage to a well-deserved standing ovation.

https://www.johnillsleymusic.com/