Tag Archives: White Rock Theatre

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/

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: The Blockheads at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 7/11/24

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

I’ve found the way I choose which gigs to go to has really changed during the time I’ve been living in Hastings. When I lived in London, my approach was very must based on keeping an eye on what all my favourite bands were up to, checking out their UK tour schedules and working out which was the best venue to get to. 

My approach has now changed completely. I tend to look at what’s coming up in the two main venues closest to me (Hasting White Rock Theatre and Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion) as well as a selection of nearby smaller venues and choose accordingly. Because we are so well catered for in terms of live music on this small section of the East Sussex coast, it means I rarely travel further than a three-mile radius to get to gigs these days. However, it’s also meant I’ve tended to see a broader selection of artists, bands for whom I might be completely unfamiliar with but just fancy seeing or bands where I own just a single best-of compilation rather than their entire back catalogue. The Blockheads very much fit into that latter category. Although I ‘d seen and enjoyed them before, back when I first moved down here in 2016, I’ve still not progressed beyond that one compilation CD but I was hugely impressed with what I saw last time and keen to see them again.

There have been some changes since then, however. Derek ‘The Draw’ Hussey, the Blockheads’ frontman following the death of Ian Dury back in 2000, sadly passed away himself in 2022 and has been replaced by Mike Bennett. Veteran bass-player Norman Watt-Roy also stepped away in 2022 and Nathan King (brother of Level 42’s Mark) now does the honours. The first I knew about, the second came as something of a surprise. However, Chaz Jankel (keyboards, guitar and co-songwriter) is very much still part of the band, as is John Turnbull (guitar) and Mick Gallagher (keyboards) from the Dury-led glory years.

As Turnbull told the audience at one point the band’s main job, nay only job these days, is keeping these songs alive. And a great job they do, too. New frontman, Mike Bennett, adopts a somewhat more conventional interpretation of Dury’s songs (if anything Dury-related can ever be termed conventional) than the eccentric, larger-than-life persona of his predecessor, Derek the Draw, but his approach works well and he has an engaging stage presence. Musically, the band are as strong as ever. While I missed the charismatic presence of Norman Watt-Ray, his replacement ably delivers those funky bass licks and Chaz Jankel, John Turnbull and Mick Gallagher are clearly in their element. You can see how much joy it’s giving them still performing these songs.

As for the songs, those classics come thick and fast: ‘What a Waste’, ‘There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards’, ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’, ‘I Want to Be Straight’, ‘Billericay Dickie’, ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’, ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3’ and, of course, ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’. There’s a few I’m less familiar with and Turnbull even tells us they’ve been in the studio recording a couple of new tracks in time for Christmas. They encore with a riotous ‘Blockheads’ and a poignant ‘Lullaby for Franci/es’ with each member of the band exiting the stage one by one on the final number. A stand-out performance that celebrates the Blockheads’ back-catalogue in style and does Dury’s legacy proud.

https://www.theblockheads.com/

Related post:

The Blockheads at Hastings 2016

Live review: Tubular Bells – the 50th anniversary celebration at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 30/10/24

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

Mike Oldfield was just 17 years old when he started composing the music for Tubular Bells. Trying to find a record company to take it on proved something of a challenge but eventually Richard Branson took an interest in Oldfield’s demos and in 1973 Tubular Bells was the first release on the newly-founded Virgin Records. Still only 19 at the time, Oldfield played virtually all of the instruments on the album. It gained worldwide recognition when the opening theme was used for the soundtrack of The Exorcist and went on to become the highest-selling instrumental album of all time.

My own introduction to Mike Oldfield really came via an episode of Blue Peter, which showed Oldfield at work in the studio creating what turned out to be a new version of the theme music for the show. As a 13-year-old (probably a bit old for a kids’ show like Blue Peter by then) I was, nevertheless, absolutely fascinated by what I saw and rushed out to buy Oldfield’s version of the Blue Peter theme when it was released as a single.

Getting a copy of Tubular Bells itself took a while longer but, even so, the music was everywhere and it’s an album I play frequently to this day. Therefore, when I saw that the Tubular Bells 50th Anniversary Tour was coming to Hastings, getting a ticket was a no-brainer.

The tour is the brainchild of arranger, composer and conductor, Robin A. Smith, who collaborated with Oldfield on Tubular Bells 2 and 3 and for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Although Oldfield is not directly involved in performing on the tour it has his full blessing support. Moreover, Smith has put together a hugely-talented group of musicians to re-imagine Tubular Bells as a stunning live performance piece.

In addition to Robin A Smith (keyboards/piano/musical director), he’s joined by Jay Stapley (guitar), Maxime Obideau (guitar and mandolin), Lisa Featherston (bass), Kwesi Edman (cello), Daisy Bevan (vocals) and Will Miles and Jack Davies (percussion).

Before we get to the performance of Tubular Bells itself, the first half is taken up with performances of other highlights from Oldfield’s back catalogue, including ‘To France’, Summit Day’, ‘Family Man’ and a wonderfully exhilarating version of ‘Moonlight Shadow’ with Lisa Featherston on vocals, as well as Smith’s own composition, ‘The Gem’. The sound just filled the auditorium, particularly the thunderous-sounding percussion, the stunning guitar work and exquisite pieces on the grand piano. It felt like there could have been at least three times as many musicians up there on stage. However, the best was yet to come.

After a short break we’re back for the main event. From the familiar opening bars of part one of Tubular Bells, through every second that followed the who thing was just a magical, mesmerising and utterly unforgettable experience. For something that was so clearly conceived as a studio project, to see it transformed into a live performance piece in this way will stay with me a long time. Hats off to Robin A. Smith for pulling together such a stunning interpretation of one of the all-time classic instrumental albums.

Robin A. Smith website Mike Oldfield website

Set-list:

First part:
Theme from Tubular Bells ll
Theme from Ommadawn
Theme from Return to Ommadawn
To France
Summit Day
Moonlight Shadow
Family Man
The Gem

Second part:
Tubular Bells, Part One
Tubular Bells, Part Two
Sailor’s Hornpipe

Live review: Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash – White Rock Theatre, Hastings 6/9/24

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

The revamp of the White Rock’s downstairs area into a more intimate studio space below the main theatre means the venue is now well-equipped to host two gigs simultaneously on the same night. Upstairs in the main auditorium was the Bob Marley tribute show – Legend, while downstairs in the studio we had a bona fide living legend in the shape of Martin Turner.

Turner was, of course, one of the founding members of Wishbone Ash and its bass-player and lead vocalist from the band’s formation in 1969 until his departure in 1980. Although he had a couple of reconciliations with Andy Powell in the 80s and 90s (the sole remaining original member of Wishbone Ash) for the past two decades Turner has been on the road with his own interpretation of the band’s legacy. I first caught Turner and his band in 2010 performing the classic 1972 Argus album in full at the first High Voltage festival in London and again doing similar at one of the Butlins Giants of Rock Festival a few years later.

For this tour things are fast-forwarded a few years, with a set-list focused around celebrating the Wishbone Ash Live Dates Volume 2 album, released in 1980. It follows a previous tour last year, performing the original 1973 Live Dates album in its entirety.

I’ve never actually owned either of the Live Dates albums and I’m generally a lot more familiar with the band’s early ‘70s studio material than with later releases – so the full set-list won’t all be entirely familiar to me. Nevertheless, it’s a gig I’ve been looking forward to for many months and Turner and his band have never disappointed when I’ve seen them live.

Performing two hour-long sets with a short half-hour interval in the middle, it’s a superb night packed full of Wishbone classics. I won’t say I haven’t enjoyed Andy Powell’s ‘official’ version of the band when I’ve seen them live but, for me, what gives Turner’s outfit the edge is being able to hear the original voice behind many of Wishbone Ash’s most famous songs live on stage. And his bass-playing is as majestic as ever. Moreover, the twin lead guitar work, courtesy of Danny Wilson and Misha Nikolic who have both been with the band a good number of years, is just absolutely stunning and does the band’s legacy proud.

Wilson also took the lead vocal on a couple of songs that had originally been fronted by Laurie Wisefield and his predecessor Ted Turner back in the day. The line-up is completed by the new boy of the band is drummer, Sonny Flint – son of Blues Band legend, Hughie Flint – who has been with the band since 2022. He gets a special cheer when he’s introduced, not only for his excellent drum-work but also for being one of Hastings’ many resident musos.

Turner is an entertaining and affable frontman, with his between-song patter bringing a touch of old-time music hall to the world of progressive rock, as well as providing some fascinating insights into the inspiration behind a number of the band’s classic songs.

It’s the songs, of course, that made this such a special gig. And there was no shortage of memorable classics, including ‘Doctor’, ‘The Way of The World’, ‘Rock and Roll Widow’ (with lead vocal from Wilson), ‘Time Was’ and, of course, ‘Blowin’ Free’ a song inspired by a love-struck teenage Turner being on Dartmoor with a visiting Swedish girl. Turner told the audience that the rest of the band wanted to keep the track off the Argus album as it didn’t fit the more serious, proggy themes of the rest of the album. Turner responded by going “psychotic” and the song remained. Phew!

https://www.martinturnermusic.com/

Related review:

Martin Turner at Giants of Rock 2018

Live review: Saving Grace with Robert Plant & Suzi Dian, White Rock Theatre, Hastings 23/3/24

americana, Folk music, Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , , ,

Like many regional theatres in the UK, the events programme for the White Rock In Hastings has been the typical mix of touring tribute shows, musicals and panto with the odd stand-out musical gem thrown. Recently, the theatre saw a change in operator with Trafalgar Theatres (who run many similar venues across the UK), giving way to the Guildhall Trust. The latter are a charity that operate the Portsmouth Guildhall and they came in promising “exciting times ahead” and a “broader programme of entertainment” for the White Rock. Certainly, having Robert Plant on stage sets high bar and is hopefully a foretaste of what’s to come once the new team get their feet well and truly under the table.

In the decades since Led Zeppelin’s demise, Plant has had a consistently fascinating career and some fascinating and highly inventive musical collaborations. I remember braving the mud to witness him with Strange Sensation at Green Man festival in 2007 and, more recently, his superb set with Alison Krauss at Hyde Park when they supported the Eagles two years ago.

His latest band is Saving Grace, composed of Plant, alongside Suzi Dian (vocals), Oli Jefferson (percussion), Tony Kelsey (mandolin, baritone, acoustic guitar), and Matt Worley (banjo, acoustic, baritone guitars, cuatro) have been around for five years now with several UK tours behind them. Somewhat rockier than previous projects they are a perfect amalgam of Plant’s long-standing interests in the realms of hard-rock, traditional folk, bluegrass and blues, offering up a compelling mix of rocked-up interpretations of traditional songs and folkified versions of Led Zep classics.

Again, we see him returning to the male/female duet set-up, that worked so spectacularly when Sandy Denny was recruited to provide co-lead vocals for ‘Battle Of Evermore’ on Led Zeppelin IV back in the day and more recently through the work with Alison Krauss. It’s a format that Plant is clearly comfortable with and this latest pairing is equally well-chosen. Whether she’s harmonising or taking the lead, Suzi Dian’s rich but delicate voice is just the perfect fit alongside Plant’s still instantly-recognisable vocal (albeit with a more restrained delivery these days…) The band behind them deliver powerful and at times almost almost hypnotic rhythms, with Tony Kelsey and Matt Worley working their way through a plethora of stringed instruments, both electric and acoustic, alongside Oli Jefferson’s pounding percussion. The effect is simply mesmerising with every song drawing you in completely.

Of all the ‘70s rock gods, Robert Plant is perhaps the one who has most has steadfastly refused to be pigeon-holed in the superannuated, stadium heritage rock act persona. It’s meant he’s continued to surprise and delight with new musical ventures. And it’s meant I could stroll along up the road to see him and his band perform an intimate gig in my local theatre.

https://www.robertplant.com

Set-list:

Gospel Plow

The Cuckoo

Let the Four Winds Blow

Friends

Is That You

Too Far From You

Everybody’s Song

I Never Will Marry

The Rain Song

As I Roved Out

It Don’t Bother Me

Four Sticks

Angel Dance

Gallows Pole

And We Bid You Goodnight

Related posts:

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss at Hyde Park 2022

“We were never about making the same album twice” – Led Zeppelin III: 50th anniversary interviews

July 2012: The night Jimmy Page asked if he could hang out with me

Live review: The Sensational 60s Experience at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 11/6/23

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

Regular readers of Darren’s Music Blog will not be surprised that my interest in glam rock has taken me to quite a few ‘70s-themed package shows over the years. However, although I’ve seen many such tours advertised I’d never actually been to one of the ‘60s-themed ones before now. I’ve always had it in mind to catch one while there’s still, at least, a chance of seeing one or two of the original performers from the era still touring. Walking along Hastings seafront a few days ago, I noticed the poster for the Sensational 60s Experience appearing at Hastings White Rock Theatre later in the week. I checked on my phone to see they still had tickets and booked then and there.

First up tonight are The Fortunes. Lead vocalist and founding member, Rod Allen, had kept the group going from its inception in 1963 through until his death in 2008. Guitarist, Michael Smitham, the longest serving member of  the current line-up has been around since 1983, however, with the others joining in more recent decades. Clearly, we weren’t going to see any of the original Fortunes tonight but they rattle through a few hits, songs like ‘Here It Comes Again’ and ‘You’ve Got Your Troubles’ from the 60s and (straying into the early 70s when The Fortunes enjoyed a bit of a revival in their own fortunes) ‘Freedom Come, Freedom Go’ and ‘Storm In A Teacup’.

Vanity Fare were formed in 1966, had three Top Twenty UK hits in the late 60s and even though their last original member, Trevor Brice, left them in 1979, they can still boast Guitarist/vocalist, Eddie Wheeler, who has been with them since 1970. Moreover, bass-player, Bernie Hagley, has been around since 1974 so they can claim a reasonable pedigree. I’m not too familiar with their material but they are good musicians – and as well as their own hits they throw in a couple of entertaining cover, too, including a lively version of ‘Spirit In The Sky’.

After performing several songs under their own steam, Mike d’Abo is then invited on stage to join them – a genuine, bonafide 60s hitmaker if ever there was one. Vanity Fare do an excellent job substituting for d’Abo’s former band as he powers through a selection of Manfred Mann hits: ‘Just Like a Woman’, ‘Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James’ and ‘Ha! Ha! Said the Clown’; as well as couple of d’Abo’s own songs that others enjoyed success with: ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ and the unforgettable ‘Handbags and Gladrags’. d’Abo is in strong voice tonight, exudes charisma on stage and is the stand-out act of the evening in my view. He leaves us with a spirited rendition of the pre-d’Abo, breakthrough hit for the Paul Jones-fronted version of the band. ‘Da Wah Diddy Diddy’ gets us all singing along before we hit the interval, and a chance to meet the man himself.

Mike d’Abo came out to sign CDs and meet fans during the interval

An appropriately double-denim-clad Swinging Blue Jeans then kick things off in the second half. Again, it’s another group on stage tonight without any members who played on their original hits. However, vocalist/lead guitarist, Alan Lovell, has been with the band since 1999 and did play alongside original members, Ray Ennis and Les Braid, for a number of years. The other musicians in the band can also boast some impressive rock and roll credentials between them, playing with the likes of Joe Brown, Cliff Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry among others. While the line-up might be the real thing, it’s probably the most authentically rock and roll performance of the evening, sticking to the basic template established by the first generation of US rockers back in the 1950s. As well as The Swinging Blue Jeans’ own biggest hit ‘The Hippy, Hippy Shake’ (which was originally written and recorded by US rock and roller, Chan Romero, in 1959), we get the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘High School Confidential’ and Little Richard’s ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’.

Next up are Tremeloes tribute, The Trems. Unlike the others on the bill tonight they don’t claim to be the actual band (a version of which is still going, containing two sixties-era members). Rather, The Trems are billed as “former members of the Tremeloes”. Joe Gillingham (on keyboards) has been playing with the Tremeloes/Trems since the late 80s while Jeff Brown (on bass and vocals) has been with them since 2005. Brown, who also did a long stint with Andy Scott’s Sweet throughout the 90s and early 2000s needs no introduction to me as I’d seen him numerous times before, albeit in 70s glam persona rather than swinging 60s! It’s the closest thing tonight to a straightforward tribute act but Brown is an entertaining frontman and he and his bandmates get a deservedly enthusiastic response from the audience.

Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch wouldn’t have been my obvious choice as headliner for a 60s tour but proved to be the real surprise of the evening. Former frontman, Dave Dee, sadly passed away in 2009 and the original Dozy also passed away in 2015 and we have a replacement Mick (drummer, John Hatchman who’s been playing with them since the early 80s), a new Titch (lead guitarist Jolyon Dixon, who’s been around since 2014) and a new Dozy (Nigel Dixon on bass, who joined in 2015). But it’s still the original Beaky and rhythm guitarist, John Dymond, carries the air of surprised, bemused delight that he’s still doing this 58 years after releasing their first single. It’s all rather glorious as they amp up the sound and blast out the old hits like ‘Bend it’, ‘Zabadak’, ‘Legend of Xanadu’ and ‘Hold Tight’ with a raucous rock and roll swagger. Full of energy, spectacularly bonkers and hugely entertaining, it was a great end to the evening.

The original Beaky (centre) with Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch

Related posts:

Live review: The Manfreds at Congress Theatre, Eastbourne 26/10/21

Live review: Francis Rossi – ‘Tunes & Chat’ at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 3/6/23

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

Always quite a Quo fan since being a young teenager, I’d originally booked to see Francis Rossi on his ‘I Talk Too Much Tour’ back in 2020. Covid came along and that got rescheduled and then cancelled altogether but Rossi finally makes it to Hastings’ White Rock Theatre on his follow-up tour, ‘Tunes and Chat’.

The previous tour adopted that well-established format for this type of evening: seasoned music journo chats to acclaimed rock star about their life and career, interspersed with some live songs. Sadly, (for the reasons given above) I didn’t get the chance to see Rossi do this with veteran rock writer, Mick Wall, when they went out on the road but Rossi clearly enjoyed himself because he’s back for more. However, this time he’s eschewed the standard format of on-stage bantering with an established music journo and it’s just Rossi and his guitar tech and accomplished co-musician, Andy Brook.

Brook famously doesn’t say a word during the show until right towards the end when he reads out some audience questions for Rossi to answer. So the “chat” part is very much Rossi in solo mode. It soon begins to remind me of one of those monologues that Ronnie Corbett used to do sitting on that massive big chair meandering away when he did his solo segment on The Two Ronnies. It’s very stream-of-consciousness with lots of ad-hoc, one-liners interspersed with recollections about growing up in an Italian family in south London, getting hooked on music and embarking on a potentially-lethal home experiment in trying to create his first ever electric guitar.

Along with the more generic chit-chat, there’s also some fascinating insights into how certain Quo songs came about. And, my, do we get the songs. Starting off with some of the early material like ‘In My Chair’ and ‘Down The Dustpipe’ before moving on to some of the songs recorded at the height of the band’s success in the 1970s and early 1980s, there is absolutely no shortage of Quo classics, including ‘What You’re Proposing’, ‘Paper Plane’ and ‘Rocking All Over The World’.

I’ve seen Status Quo perform acoustically in the past, of course, when they did their ‘Aquostic’ project some years back but this is a much more intimate affair and Rossi is in fine voice and clearly in his element. On stage, Rossi and Andy Brook spar extremely well together musically – even if not conversationally – and the evening ends with a wonderful, communal sing-along to ‘Caroline’.

Structured? Not really.

Insightful? Partly.

Entertaining? Absolutely!

https://www.francisrossi.com/

Related posts:

Status Quo – Aquostic at Hammersmith Apollo 26/4/15

Status Quo at Hammersmith Apollo 28/3/14

W.A.S.P. at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 12/10/17

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

This review is also published on Get Ready To Rock here

Loud, brash, obnoxious, Blackie Lawless’s LA metal outfit W.A.S.P. burst on to the scene in the early 80s and were never far from controversy. Over time, however, the band evolved and their output started showing signs of growing maturity. To be honest it’s not going to be too difficult for your music to start getting more mature if your first record is called ‘Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)’ is it?

The W.AS.P. of the early 90s had moved on to recording a full-blown concept album. ‘The Crimson Idol’ tells the story of a boy Jonathan and explores themes of estrangement, drugs, fame, money and suicide. It has become something of a cult heavy metal album and, twenty-five years since it was originally released, Lawless and his band are touring it in full.

Apart from the ever-present Blackie Lawless, W.A.S.P. has undergone numerous line-up changes over the years and no-one else on stage tonight originally performed on ‘The Crimson Idol’ album. Nevertheless, the band are in fine form and there is some powerful playing from new drummer, Aquiles Priester, and from lead guitarist, Doug Blair. Lawless’s distinctive vocals are as strong and as recognisable as ever.

Songs like ‘The Invisible Boy’ , ‘Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue) and ‘I Am One’ are superb tracks and stand up well on stage. Unlike when some acts choose to revisit an album in full and take the opportunity to reminisce on the history behind every track, there is little in the way of on-stage chat tonight, but Lawless is a charismatic stage presence nonetheless. Visuals from the accompanying film for the album play on three large screens at the back of the stage, adding to the atmosphere. It’s a great album and a great performance tonight.

However, throughout the show part of me was excitedly anticipating the encore and, hopefully, a run-through of some of the great songs from the earlier, dumber, stupider, trashier era of W.A.S.P. It wasn’t a long encore – three songs – as the band didn’t get on stage until 9pm, having only just arrived in the UK following the Scandinavian leg of their tour. But we did get gloriously over the top versions of ‘L.O.V.E Machine’ and ‘Wild Child’ which made a fitting end to the proceedings. Was I disappointed that we didn’t have a bit more of this? A little – but that has only made me more determined to catch Blackie and the boys again when they are next over…

Set-list:

The Titanic Overture
The Invisible Boy
Arena of Pleasure
Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)
The Gypsy Meets the Boy
Doctor Rockter
I Am One
The Idol
Hold on to My Heart
The Great Misconceptions of Me
The Real Me
L.O.V.E. Machine
Wild Child

https://www.waspnation.com/waspnation.htm

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From The Jam at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 15/6/17

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

This review was also published by the Hastings Independent on 7/7/17

For those who tend to overlook the White Rock Theatre for offering little more than a constant diet of musicals, panto and the sort of saccharine golden oldies shows your nan would go to see, tonight demonstrates why they offer more than that. Tonight the brash excitement and explosive anthems of The Jam came to town. The band may have split forever in 1982 and Paul Weller may not have shown much interest in revisiting his Jam-era back catalogue in his solo career. However, for the past decade bass-player Bruce Foxton along with guitarist/vocalist Russell Hastings have been touring as From The Jam.

The whole evening has a distinct flavour of the late 70s mod revival to it. Fellow Mod travellers, Secret Affair, are the support act. While no-one can really pretend they wrote the most epoch-defining songs of the era their soul-infused pop-rock is well received and the energy levels really go up when they end the set with their hit ‘My World’ along with a spirited cover of ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor.’

With From The Jam, however, the energy levels are palpable as soon as Foxton, Hastings and co. take the stage. The classics come fast and furious: ‘In The City’, ‘The Modern World’, ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’, ‘That’s Entertainment’ and, of course, ‘Going Underground’. In both looks and vocal delivery, Russell Hastings is not a million miles away from Paul Weller. It’s very much not, however, one of those weird tribute shows where band members start play-acting the roles of former personnel. Hastings has a charisma and stage presence in his own right. Foxton is as awesome a bass-player as ever and contributes occasional lead vocals as well, just as he did back in the days of The Jam. With superb drums and keyboards they are a tight and impressive foursome on stage. They certainly know how to work the crowd.

“We are, we are, we are the Mods” chanted the audience for what seemed like forever after the band left the White Rock stage to deafening applause. After perhaps the longest break I’d ever recorded between a band leaving the stage and returning for an encore, the guys are back with ‘A Town Called Malice’, ‘Saturday’s Kids’ and ‘Eton Rifles’. It’s a brilliant end to the evening.

A superb and much-cherished band, Bruce Foxton can be enormously proud of the part he played in The Jam. No-one can blame him for wanting to celebrate the band’s legacy in this way and the audience reaction from the absolutely packed-out White Rock shows there is still much love out there for the band’s music. So there should be.

https://www.fromthejamofficial.com/

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