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setlist from live concert

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: Slade at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 28/11/25

Glam rock, Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Rock music, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

I was lucky enough to see the original line-up of Slade on one of their annual Christmas tours a couple of times back in the early 1980s. Then, after Dave Hill reformed the band with Don Powell in the early 1990s, seeing Slade every Christmas pretty much became an annual tradition. Health issues meant that Hill, now the only original remaining member, had to miss a couple of years in recent times. But now he’s back on the road for a ten-date UK tour. As he approaches his 80th birthday next April this has been advertised as the final ever Slade Christmas tour. They are not giving up playing live altogether, Hill reassures us all later on. There will still be the odd show, just not these big tours.

Yes, there’s no Noddy and Jim, the ones who actually wrote all of those Holder/Lea hits being blasted out tonight. Don departed some years ago amidst a certain amount of acrimony and so Dave with his ever-flamboyant stage-attire is the last man standing. But it’s a chance to see a bonafide ‘70s legend less than a mile from my front door and, most importantly, a chance to celebrate all those hits with as much communal stomping, swaying, singing and clapping as all of us can muster. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Looking forward to getting crazee with Slade!

It’s not exactly an unfamiliar set-list, either for long-time Slade fans or, indeed, almost anyone who had more than a passing acquaintance with the chart music of the 1970s and early ‘80s. Only three of the songs being played tonight came in below the Top Five in the UK singles charts! And the only things that may even slightly resemble anything like a ‘deep cut’ are ‘Lock Up Your Daughters’, a minor hit for the band the year after their post-Reading comeback; and ‘My Baby Left Me’, another minor hit recorded as a tribute to Elvis following the King’s death in 1977. Familiarity is what’s it’s all about tonight and kicking off with ‘Take Me Bak ‘Ome’ the big hits come thick and fast.

The classic Slade live format of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums has been tampered with in recent years and rather than someone taking on Noddy Holder’s old role on second guitar, you now have Russell Keefe on keyboards. This works surprisingly well, especially given the prominence of the keyboards in so many of Slade’s mellower numbers, like ‘Everyday’, ‘My Friend Stan’ and ‘My Oh My’. What works less well is when Keefe takes lead vocal on several songs. Holder’s voice was gravelly but it was never gruff. In Slade’s glory days, Holder could yell louder than any of them but Tom Waites he was not.

Without trying to mimic Holder, Hill’s long-time bass-player, John Berry, does a much more sympathetic job on the songs where he sings lead. The other new-boy, Alex Bines, pounds away on drums as the audience clap and stomp along, and the soon-to-be-octogenarian Hill nails all those familiar, classic, guitar solos.

An impassioned Dave Hill imploring the crowd to look to the future

It’s the first night of the tour and towards the end Hill seems genuinely moved by the rabble-rousing response from the audience tonight. After a suitably crazy ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’ the band exit the stage but soon they are back for an encore with an epic singalong rendition of ‘My Oh My’, followed by a wonderfully raucous ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’.

But wait, it’s nearly December, it’s the start of the Slade Christmas tour and there’s obviously one song left to do. The roadies are on hand to distribute Santa hats, Dave Hill gives an impassioned plea about looking to the future, even though times might be right now, and soon we’re all yelling along to Merry Xmas Everybody’ at the top of our voices and leaving with a real spring in our step ready to face 2026.

Setlist:

Take Me Bak ‘Ome
Lock Up Your Daughters
Look Wot You Dun
Everyday
Coz I Luv You
Run Runaway
My Friend Stan
Far Far Away
The Bangin’ Man
My Baby Left Me
Gudbuy T’Jane
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
My Oh My
Cum On Feel the Noize
Merry Xmas Everybody

Related posts:

Book: ‘Slade In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson

Let there be drums! interview with Slade legend Don Powell

Interview with former Slade legend Jim Lea

Jim Lea at the Robin 2, Bilston 2017

Before glam: the debut 60s singles of Bowie, Bolan, Slade, Mud and Sweet

Slade, strikes and the three-day week: the story of the greatest Christmas record ever made

Slade at Donnington 1981

Slade at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 2015

Giants of Rock, Minehead 26-29 January 2018

Slade at Brighton 2019

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

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

I’ve been to several memorable gigs at the excellent dedicated live venue adjoining the Brunswick pub in Hove but until I turned up on Sunday afternoon I’d never even realised they also had a downstairs cellar bar venue. It was here in this small, sweaty cellar that the recently-formed X Generation X played their debut gig. As the tour’s official warm-up gig we were treated to a short but explosive set, followed by an equally lively band Q&A and some impassioned reflections from some of the old punks in the audience recalling those heady days of the birth of punk.

Read my interview with X Generation X’s Mark Laff here

A few hours later we’re back in that same tightly-packed, low-ceilinged venue for a full-length gig and an even more explosive performance. Assembled to mark the coming 50th anniversary of punk and to celebrate the music of Generation X, the band features Generation X’s own  Mark Laff  on drums, Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman on guitar, Westworld’s Elizabeth Westwood on vocals,  Vice Squad’s Michael Giaquinto on bass and, as a late addition, James Stevenson from the final Gen X line-up also on guitar.

Mark Laff shares memories with fans during the Q&A

Kicking off with punk anthem ‘Ready Steady Go’ and with Norman and Stevenson cranking out those fast and furious riffs, it’s the perfect opener and Westwood immediately proves herself to be an inspired choice to front this project. She’s not trying to be Billy Idol, of course, as Laff himself noted when I interviewed him ahead of the tour. But she truly inhabits the spirit of these songs with energy and verve.

Elizabeth Westwood

The earlier part of the set is heavily dominated by songs from the first Generation X album and a thunderously tight Laff and his bandmates more than do justice to old favourites like ‘Promises Promises’, ‘One Hundred Punks’ and ‘Kiss Me Deadly’. There’s a couple of songs from the second album, Valley of the Dolls, thrown in as well though: the title track and ‘King Rocker’, introduced by Laff as his “biggest hit” – the only Generation X single to almost make the Top Ten. Throw in the essential early singles, ‘Wild Youth’ and ‘Your Generation’, a couple of deep cuts in the form of a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’ (originally recorded as a B-side) and Gary Glitter’s ‘Rock On’ (originally recorded for a Peel session) and you’ve got the perfectly-curated Generation X set-list.

As things begin to draw to a close there’s one song left that we’re all expecting and we’re not disappointed. The band launch into a wonderfully raw and frenetic version of ‘Dancing With Myself’, from the third album and the album that Stevenson recorded with the band before the song went on to develop a more familiar life of its own outside of the confines of Gen X.

Steve Norman and James Stevenson

We’re then treated to an encore of Westood’s own “biggest hit”, Westworld’s ‘Sonic Boom Boy’, along with a cover of Norman’s debut hit with Spandau Ballet ‘To Cut a Long Story Short’ and a cover of the Skids ‘Into The Valley’. It’s an unforgettable gig and an energy-packed night to kick off the X Generation X tour in style.

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.

Setlist for the evening gig

Tickets and tour dates via: https://www.xgenerationx.com/

Related posts:

Interview with Mark Laff

Generation Sex at Crystal Palace 2023

Live review: John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest at Salle Pleyel, Paris 19/11/23

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

This is a somewhat unusual blog post for me, being part gig review, part crime report and part trauma therapy.

Starting at the beginning, I was fairly late coming to Barclay James Harvest. I was aware of the likes of ‘Mocking Bird’, of course, but picked up a second-hand compilation from a charity shop in about 2019 and my fasciation grew from there. By the time lockdown came, I found myself tracking down the band’s entire back catalogue on ebay. In fact, there’s only one studio album left I’ve yet to buy.

When I saw that John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest were doing their final tour I decided I just had to be there. With only one remaining UK date I wasn’t particularly keen on a trek all the way up to Huddersfield from my home in Hastings and so I hit on the idea of a trip to Paris. I could meet up with friends and make a long weekend of it. What could be more fun?

It all seemed to be going smoothly but as soon as I got off the Eurostar at Gare du Nord I was followed on to the Metro platform by two men who began assaulting me on the train, one grabbing my bag and trying to pull me over and, unbeknownst to me, the other one making off with my wallet. As soon as I got out off the Metro I got onto my bank to report my cards stolen but in the twelve minutes since boarding the train and reporting my wallet stolen they had still managed to make off with £1,400 from my account. Fortunately, the bank have refunded the missing money but to say it put a damper on the weekend and left me fearful and traumatised was something of an understatement.

In fact, after several panic attacks over the course of the weekend the only time I properly relaxed and felt genuinely safe was when I got inside the Salle Pleyel. Thankfully, the robbers didn’t nick my ticket! A beautifully-designed theatre with the sort of security you’d expect of a venue of this size, I immediately felt the chances of me being mugged by a bunch of elegantly-turned out, ageing French prog fans was pretty much close to zero and I was able to put my experiences to one side and concentrate on immersing myself in the concert that I’d come especially to Paris for.

It meant my first and only time seeing John Lees Barclay James Harvest was memorable for all of the right reasons. An absolutely spell-binding performance, with original BJH member, John Lees (guitar/vocals), being joined by his regular band of Craig Fletcher (bass, vocals), Jez Smith (keyboards) and Kev Whitehead (drums), for two hours of BJH classics spanning a four decade period from the original band’s debut album in 1970 to the North album in 2013.

With a wonderfully-atmospheric light show and a big screen showing the relevant album covers from both the original band and John Lees’ latter-day reconfiguration with the current line-up, it was an emotional evening and Lees was visibly moved by the audience reaction on more than one occasion. This quiet, gentle, self-effacing but supremely-gifted man was happy to let his band-mates do most of the talking but there was, deservedly, a huge amount of love for him in the Salle Pleyel audience.

In terms of musical highlights there are far too many to list but I was particularly moved by ‘Child of the Universe’ (sadly, still all-too relevant in terms of the impact of the horrors of war on the very young); ‘North’ from the current band’s 2013 album of the same name (celebrating the land of my own Lancashire upbringing, from its industrial heritage to its near-constant wet weather); and, of course, the aforementioned ‘Mockingbird. For their encore the band finished with the ecologically-themed ‘Dark Now My Sky’ from the band’s debut album and a beautifully-poignant rendition of ‘Hymn’ which turned into a huge, communal singalong.

A bright spot in an otherwise painful weekend. Thank you John Lees and thank you BJH.

Setlist:

Fifties Child
Child of the Universe
Poor Man’s Moody Blues
In My Life
If Love Is King
North
Cheap the Bullet
Mocking Bird
For Your Love
Loving Is Easy
Suicide?
Medicine Man
The Poet
After the Day
Dark Now My Sky
Hymn

https://www.barclayjamesharvest.com/

Live Review: Suzi Quatro at Brighton Dome 13/11/23

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

Following on from her hugely enjoyable gig at the Albert Hall last year, Suzi Quatro is currently touring the UK once again. An almost capacity-crowd packed out Brighton Dome to witness Quatro mark her half-century since first topping the UK charts with ‘Can The Can’.

The set-list is largely the same as for the Albert Hall performance, spanning the Suzi Quatro back catalogue from 1973 right up to the present day. However, there have been a couple of new albums since last April’s Albert Hall gig and we get a song apiece from each of those: her covers release, Uncovered (here represented by Quatro’s storming interpretation of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Bad Moon Rising’.) and her duet album with KT Tunstall, Face To Face (here represented by ‘Shine A Light’).

Like last year, there’s no support – just two hour-long sets of pure unadulterated Suzi with just a short break in the middle. Of course, last year’s prestigious Albert Hall gig saw a handful of special guests take the stage, too, in the form of Sweet’s Andy Scott, Slade’s Don Powell and Suzi’s own son, Richard Tuckey. But in truth, hugely enjoyable though these cameos were, no special guests are needed. Quatro’s backing band (these days incorporating female backing singers and a brass section in addition to the classic bass-drums-keyboards-guitar configuration) are absolutely shit-hot.

The first half sees the various phases of Quatro’s fifty-year solo career well-represented, as are the different sides of her on-stage musical persona. From the big glam-era hits like ‘Daytona Demon’ and ’48 Crash’; to the emotive balladry of ‘Can I Be Your Girl?’ from early ‘80s Unreleased Emotion album; to songs from the two critically-acclaimed albums written with son, Richard, No Control and The Devil In Me; to a blistering cover of Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’.

Now back on stage in her trademark leather jumpsuit, there’s another blast of her more recent material in the second half, including the magnificent ‘Motor City Riders’ celebrating Quatro’s Detroit heritage, as well as more Chinn/Chapman-penned hits and a stomping version of ‘Glycerine Queen’ from Quatro’s first album which is then followed by a pumping extended bass solo.

Soon it’s time for the two songs absolutely everyone has been waiting all night for: ‘Can The Can’ and ‘Devil Gate Drive’. And Suzi implores us all to get up on our feet for these. Sadly, we also know this incredible show is drawing to a close but there’s still time for a joyful, life-affirming communal sing-along to ‘Can’t Give Me Love’ followed by an incendiary rendition of Chuck Berry’s ‘Sweet Little Rock n Roller’. For her final encore Suzi puts down her bass and takes a stool to give us a spellbinding rendition of the Eagles ‘Desperado’.

An incredible show. An incredible fifty years.

Setlist:

The Wild One
I May Be Too Young
Daytona Demon
Tear Me Apart
Shine a Light
Stumblin’ In
48 Crash
No Soul/No Control
The Devil In Me
Slow Down
Rockin’ in the Free World
Can I Be Your Girl?
Motor City Riders
I Sold My Soul Today
Bad Moon Rising
She’s in Love With You
Overload
Too Big
Glycerine Queen
Can the Can
Devil Gate Drive
If You Can’t Give Me Love
Sweet Little Rock & Roller
Desperado

My book ‘Suzi Quatro In The 1970s’ published by Sonicbond is available here

Related posts:

Live review: Suzi Quatro at the Royal Albert Hall 20/4/22

‘Suzi Quatro In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson

‘Suzi Quatro in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

Live review: Graham Nash at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 30/8/23

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

“Can you recommend any decent hotels in the area?” a friend from London texted. “We’re coming to see Graham Nash at Bexhill.”

“Ooh that sounds quite interesting,” I thought, and after duly making my hotel recommendation, I went online and booked my own ticket.

Billed as ‘Sixty Years of Songs & Stories’ the ten-date UK tour celebrates the 81-year old Graham Nash’s six decades of writing, recording and performing.

I’m aware of his hits with The Hollies in the early days, of course, and (courtesy of a couple of compilations) I’m also pretty familiar with some of the best-known songs by both Crosby, Still & Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I can’t claim to have followed his solo career in any great depth but, nevertheless, I felt confident that this tour was going to be something rather special and something I didn’t want to miss.

You could be forgiven for thinking the ‘Songs & Stories’ moniker meant the evening was going to be based on that familiar format that’s become rather popular with performers of a certain vintage in recent years: a sofa, lots and lots of chat, anecdotes galore and a few songs thrown in for good measure. But no, this is a proper full-blown gig, with not a sofa in sight.

Nash is joined on stage by his two longstanding collaborators, Shane Fontayne (guitar and vocals) and Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals) – excellent musicians both of them. It’s truly magical hearing the trio perform classics likes of ‘Marrakesh Express’, ‘Find The Cost of Freedom’ (dedicated to the people of Ukraine), ‘Cathedral’ and ‘Our House’. Nash is in fine voice, aided by some beautiful harmonising from Fontayne and Caldwell.

There is even a new album to promote on this tour. Now was released earlier this year and we get to hear songs from that, too, including the poignant ‘A Better Life’ – described by Nash as a continuation of the themes expressed in ‘Teach Your Children’ and his hope for a better, more sustainable, more peaceful future for humanity.

As well as performing his own songs, Nash also expresses heartfelt appreciation for some of his closest collaborators, friends and musical heroes, paying tribute in the form of songs written by Allan Clark, David Crosby and Stephen Stills. There’s also ‘Buddy’s Back’ – Nash’s self-penned and wonderfully evocative tribute to Buddy Holly (“We were called The Hollies for God’s sake!”)

After an enthusiastic standing ovation the band are back on stage for an encore of Buddy Holly’s ‘Everyday’ and CSNY’s ‘Teach Your Children’. A joyous end to an incredible evening and a fitting way to celebrate the career of someone who has made such a positive mark on popular music these past sixty years.

Set-list:

Wasted on the Way

Bus Stop

I Used to Be a King

Find the Cost of Freedom

Military Madness

Right Between the Eyes

A Better Life

Buddy’s Back

Marrakesh Express

To the Last Whale (Critical Mass / Wind on the Water)

Love the One You’re With

Southbound Train

Sleep Song

Carried Away

Taken at All

Golden Days

4 + 20

Immigration Man

Cathedral

Just a Song Before I Go

Our House

Everyday

Teach Your Children

https://www.grahamnash.com/

Live review: the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park 3/7/22

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

It’s been over thirty years since attending my first and only previous Rolling Stones gig, when I went with my dad to Manchester’s Maine Road back in 1990. My dad’s thinking back then was that if I wanted to see them live then 1990’s Urban Jungle tour might be my last chance.

Thirty-two years later and they are still at it, well Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood anyway. The set opened with a poignant tribute to Charlie Watts up on the huge screens and Jagger dedicating the concert to him.

Opening up with a wonderfully energetic version of ‘Get Off My Cloud’ to get us all instantly in the mood, the hits keep rolling. Timeless classics all, I was particularly moved by a poignant rendition of ‘Angie’ and a beautiful ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, a song we played at my dad’s funeral back in 2007 so it has special meaning for me.

There was quite a lot of banter with the crowd, a playful Jagger welcoming us to the “American Express British Summer Time Covid super-spreader event” at one point. This is the fifth time the Stones have played Hyde Park, the vocalist reminds us. “The first one was free,” he says, recalling that legendary Hyde Park concert back in July 1969 following the tragic death of Brian Jones. “The following ones were not free,”  he says with a wry grin, acknowledging the hefty wads of cash that most of us had forked out for the privilege of being here tonight.

Keith Richards is in his element, taking lead vocals for a couple of songs,  ‘You Got The Silver’ (from Let It Bleed) and ‘Happy’ (from Exile On Main Street). It also gave Jagger a short rest back stage. But for the rest of the concert he’s bopping and preening and dashing out into the crowd on the famed ‘ego-ramp’, the same as he’s always done in a way that’s just impossible to believe he’s now almost 79.

As Matt, my gig partner for the day points out, it’s not a massive entourage of a backing band. Jagger, Richards and Wood are joined by the ever-present Darryl Jones, who took over from Bill Wyman back in 1994, and Steve Jordan filling in for Charlie Watts since the latter’s shock demise last year. Alongside them are Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford on keyboards, Bernard Fowler on backing vocals and percussion, Tim Ries and Karl Denson on saxophone, and Sasha Allen on backing vocals. Both the sound and on-stage vibe is perfection.

Jagger’s soon back on stage and the band launch into an extended, super-funked-up version of ‘Miss You’, an opportunity for a mass boogie by the Hyde Park crowd and communal “ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh-ooh” backing vocals before we move straight into a deliciously laid-back ‘Midnight Rambler’, with bags of harmonica from Jagger and Richards and Woods trading country-flavoured guitar licks.

And there’s still time to pack a whole more classics in: ‘Paint It Black’, ‘Start Me Up’, ‘Gimme Shelter’, ‘Jumping Jack Flash’. Another poignant moment comes as the big screens depict an eery tableau of bombed-out buildings during ‘Gimme Shelter’ as the band’s tribute to Ukraine, with backing singer, Sasha Allen, duetting with Jagger on this one and demonstrating what a fantastically soulful voice she’s got as she joins him on the ramp out into the crowd.

Unlike the Eagles last week, who launched straight into their encore set without the hassle of going off stage and coming back on again, we did have to wait a couple minutes for the band to return and conclude with ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ and riotous, life-affirming ‘Satisfaction’.

I probably won’t get to see them again, regardless of the band’s future plans as they reach their sixtieth anniversary milestone. But this was special and something I’ll remember forever.

Set-list:

Get Off My Cloud

19th Nervous Breakdown

Tumbling Dice

Out of Time

Angie

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Like a Rolling Stone

You Got Me Rocking

Honky Tonk Women

You Got the Silver

Happy

Miss You

Midnight Rambler

Paint It Black

Start Me Up

Gimme Shelter

Jumping Jack Flash

Sympathy for the Devil

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

Related posts:

Review: The Rolling Stones ‘Exhibitionism’ at The Saatchi Gallery

Live review: the Eagles at Hyde Park 26/6/22

Live review: the Eagles at Hyde Park 26/6/22

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

My first BST Hyde Park festival since Blur in 2015, and I’ve not just got one this year, but two. First the Eagles then the Rolling Stones a week later.

Having long been on my bucket-list of must-see artists, I’d somehow managed to avoid seeing the Eagles until now so today was always going to be really special. It was made even more special by the early evening support slot from none other than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. It’s a superb fit as their lush bluegrass-soaked Americana perfectly complements the laid-back, west coast, country rock of the headliners. Giving us a selection of tracks from their stunning 2007 Raising Sand album and its recent follow-up, Raise The Roof, the pair also manage to chuck in a couple of Zep covers, too – ‘Rock and Roll’ and a majestic version of ‘The Battle of Evermore’, originally a duet between Plant and Sandy Denny.

The sun continued to shine and the Eagles took to the stage on a lovely warm summer evening in Hyde Park. If there’s one band you don’t want to see performing against a backdrop of typically unreliable British weather, it’s got to be the Eagles. But everything is on their side tonight.

Following the sad passing of Glenn Frey back in 2016, the Eagles these days are Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit and new boy, Vince Gill. It’s a masterclass of a performance and the classics just keep rolling: ‘One Of These Nights’, ‘Witchy Woman’, Take It To The Limit’, Lyin’ Eyes’, They just keep coming.

Glenn Frey’s son, Deacon, who was officially part of the line-up for a time following his father’s death, joins as a special guest for a couple of songs, including a stunning ‘Take It Easy’.

Ever the rock star, and never one to really go for the regulation, trade-mark, laid-back Eagles  persona, Joe Walsh brings his flamboyance to the performance and gets to do a couple of his solo numbers, too. He’s still in fine voice and his guitar-playing is just a delight. Drummer and founder, Don Henley, also gives us one of his solo numbers, dedicating ‘The Boys of Summer’ to Taylor Hawkins.

Those Eagles classics keep coming though. They’ll be on for two hours by the end. Probably mindful of Westminster City Council’s ultra-strict curfew policy and given that we are now well past 10pm, “We’re not going to do that walk on and walk off thing,” we’re told. Before we know it, it’s ‘Hotel California’ and it just felt magical being in Hyde Park late on a summer evening watching the Eagles perform the song they’ll always be most famous for. We’re not quite finished yet and there’s time to squeeze in ‘Rocky Mountain Way’, ‘Desperado’  and ‘Already Gone’ before the curfew hits.

A truly magical evening and a chance to finally see one of my bucket-list bands. And next week it’s the Stones!

https://eagles.com/

Setlist:

Seven Bridges Road

One of These Nights

New Kid in Town

Witchy Woman

Take It to the Limit

Lyin’ Eyes

In the City

I Can’t Tell You Why

Victim of Love

Tequila Sunrise

Best of My Love

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Take It Easy

Life’s Been Good

Those Shoes

The Boys of Summer

Funk #49

Heartache Tonight

Life in the Fast Lane

Hotel California

Rocky Mountain Way

Desperado

Already Gone

Related review:

Live review: the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park 3/7/22

Live review: Sweet at Islington Assembly Hall 28/11/21

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

Back in 2019, when Sweet were faced with some unexpectedly sudden changes in personnel, it became clear that not only was the band embarking on a change in line-up it was also undergoing something of a change in personality, too. When I interviewed Andy Scott ahead of Sweet’s 2019 UK winter tour he hinted that the band was now headed in a harder rock direction:

“We felt like we ought to go for a bit more like it used to be in the 70s when we did a festival set. You’d get down to the nitty gritty. You play a couple of the heavier rock tunes that people want to hear so that’s what’s happening. It’s a work-in-progress.”

At that stage the refreshed/revitalised Sweet (with Paul Manzi taking over on lead vocals and Lee Small coming in on bass, following the departures of Pete Lincoln and Tony O’Hora, and with Steve Mann guesting on keyboards/second guitar) had only performed a handful of gigs. Back in 2019, as Andy Scott stressed, it was very much a work in progress. Limited rehearsal time before hitting the road probably meant a complete revamp of the setlist was out of the question. However, with a vastly expanded period of preparation following eighteen months of Covid-related postponements and rescheduling, we can now see this new vision for the band coming fully to fruition. Quite simply, this new line-up has given the band a whole new personality.

Sweet now is perhaps less a celebration of the band’s persona as era-defining singles act (albeit all the notable ones are still there in the set). Instead, it’s far about reconnecting with what the original band set out to achieve when they entered the studio to record the likes of Give Us A Wink and Off The Record. Although Andy Scott is now the last man standing (following the sad death of Steve Priest last year) it’s as though this new line-up have bottled up the spirit of what propelled Sweet onwards from the glam years into the mid to late 70s and unleashed it here and now in 2021.

Andy Scott is clearly very proud of this new line-up – as well as being very obviously delighted to be back on the road performing at long last. However, he makes no apology for the tight Covid-related security procedures in operation throughout this tour: “Basically, me and Brucey don’t wanna fucking die,” he tells us. Quite right, Andy. As our last surviving member from the classic foursome we want to hold on to you and no Sweet fan in their right mind would want to do anything to jeopardise that.

It’s an incredible gig tonight though. Paul Manzi is a hugely talented rock vocalist, Lee Small is an equally talented bass-player, the trademark harmonies are all top notch and, together with guest keyboard player/second guitarist Tom ‘TC’ Cory, the three inject a massive boost of energy alongside the truly heroic guitar-playing of Andy Scott and powerhouse drumming of Sweet veteran, Bruce Bisland.

As well as the big hits, the band power their way through the likes of ‘Windy City’, ‘Set Me Free’, ‘Defender’ (a bonus track originally recorded for a 2015 compilation) and an exceptional version of the band’s current single ‘Everything’. The latter is a song that first appeared on the Sweet Life album in 2002 – in my view by far the best Sweet album since the original band released Level Headed back in 1978. It’s great to see a song from this era finally make it back into the setlist – amazing what you can squeeze once you jettison the likes of ‘Co-Co’ and ‘Peppermint Twist’!

For casual fans there’s still a chance to sing along like crazy to ‘Wig-Wam Bam’, ‘Teenage Rampage’ ‘Hell Raiser’ et al and, of course, the band encore with blinding versions of ‘Blockbuster!’ and ‘Ballroom Blitz’. However, it’s now almost impossible to imagine this latest version of Sweet touring provincial theatres on package tours with the Rubettes and Mud as it was only a few years ago. Sweet is back – and in full-on rock god mode packing out decent venues with some energetic, re-invigorated and uncompromising melodic hard rock. And a glorious thing it is, too.

Setlist:

Action
New York Groove
Set Me Free
The Six Teens
Defender
Hell Raiser
Windy City
Everything
Wig-Wam Bam / Little Willy
Teenage Rampage
Love Is Like Oxygen
Fox on the Run
Blockbuster
The Ballroom Blitz

My book ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ is available from all major book retailers – visit here

https://www.thesweet.com/

Interview with Andy Scott

Review: Sweet at Bexhill 2019

News: All change at The Sweet

Review: Sweet 50th anniversary concert – Berlin

Review: Sweet live 2017, London and Bilston

The Sweet versus Bowie: the riff in Blockbuster and Jean Genie – origins and influences

Review: Sweet at Dartford 2015

Review: Sweet at Bilston 2014

Live review: Supergrass at Alexandra Palace 6/3/20

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

Without a doubt, for me, the greatest band of the Britpop era, I was at the Brixton Academy on the Supergrass farewell tour in 2010 and ten years later I find myself in a state of some excitement for their first of two nights at Alexandra Palace on this long-awaited reunion tour. Given there was no particular acrimony when the band originally broke up, and certainly no Gallagher-style public feuding, in the intervening years I’d long suspected (and certainly hoped) that a reunion would happen at some point.

Formed of members of Gorillaz and The Feeling along with producer and Libertines collaborator, Ed Harcourt, support act Loup Garoux are a supergroup of sorts and their alt-rock take on stoner rock is well-received but I suspect most of tonight’s crowd are still making their way up the hill to Ally Pally while they play their half-hour opening set.

The cavernous Great Hall, however, rapidly fills up for The Coral. An inspired choice by Supergrass, they proceed to deliver a masterclass in making the most of a half-hour support slot with devastating efficiency. Giving the crowd a tour de force of some of their best-loved songs (‘Jacqueline’, ‘In The Morning’ et al) by the time they finish with a glorious, crowd-pleasing ‘Dreaming Of You’ they leave the stage to the sort of thunderous applause that most headline acts would hanker after.

After The Coral’s storming set we don’t have to wait too long for Supergrass, however – and what else would you possibly want to open with on a much publicised and presumably lucrative reunion tour when you’ve written a song called ‘In It For The Money’?

“Gaz has done his neck in and we were advised to cancel these gigs,” drummer Danny Goffey tells the crowd. “But instead we found one of those London rock ‘n’ roll doctors who’s pumped him full of drugs.”

The rock ‘n’ roll doctor clearly knows what they are doing. Gaz Coombes and his band-mates go on to deliver a blistering, joyous and uproarious celebration of the Supergrass legacy.

When I last saw Supergrass, on their 2010 farewell tour, the set-list was carefully constructed with a representative selection from each of their six albums – all presented in reverse chronological order. Tonight, however, the set-list is heavily dominated by songs from their first album, the hyperactive teen insanity of I Should Coco is celebrated in all its glory with a whopping ten songs from this 1995 debut. It makes sense. While it’s ten years since Supergrass originally came to and end, it’s actually twenty-five years since I Should Coco first hit the shelves. And, phew, they include ‘Alright’, too, the crowd going suitably crazy as keyboardist Rob Coombes bangs out the familiar intro of that unforgettable slice of mid 90s pop perfection. I was getting close to 30 by the time this came out and, looking around, I’m about a decade older than most people in the room. So this was not exactly a teen anthem for me but, hey, I’m not too musically snobbish to say it will always be one of my favourites.

Crowd-pleasers from the band’s other albums aren’t neglected though and as well as a good smattering of songs from their second album (‘In It For The Money’, ‘Going Out’, ‘Late in the Day’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Sun Hits the Sky’) there’s still plenty of room for later hits like the introspective ‘Moving’ and the glamtastic ‘Grace’ and, of course, the unmissable ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ which is the grand finale of the encore.

What do you do a reunion for? In it for the money? Or in it for the adoration? Supergrass probably got a very healthy wodge of the former tonight but they most certainly got a huge room full of the latter as well.

Set-list:

In It for the Money
I’d Like to Know
Mansize Rooster
Mary
Moving
Seen the Light
Time
Sitting Up Straight
Late in the Day
Richard III
Rebel in You
St. Petersburg
Going Out
Lose It
She’s So Loose
Grace
Alright
Sun Hits the Sky
Lenny
Caught by the Fuzz
Strange Ones
Pumping on Your Stereo

supergrass tour

https://www.supergrass.com/

Related reviews:

Album review – Supergrass ‘Live On Other Planets’

Gaz Coombes at ULU 2018
Gaz Coombes at the Roundhouse 2016
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Vangoffey at the Social 2016