Easter Sunday April 24th
COMING SOON
MARI WILSON
GIG: Mari Wilson
DATE: Saturday 5th March
VENUE: The Old Town Hall, High Street, Hemel Hempstead
COST: £14 (and that’s it, no booking fee, no postage charge.... (YES they post the tix out and cover the cost themselves!)
OUR VERDICT: Brill, glam, terrific
LINKS
http://www.mariwilson.co.uk/
The Old Town Hall is an intimate venue and is a great place to catch Mari Wilson up close and personal. She appeared on stage wearing a fab gold and black dress, long gloves and adorable open toed stillettos and kicked off with “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” recorded by Mari as the theme to the hit BBC comedy “Coupling”. Straight away we were captivated. Although we have seen Mari perform the songs in her set a few times, they never seem to age or get tired.
Tonight the 1st set repertoire also included a lovely “My Love” (which had a gentle guitar solo from Scott Firth), the fantastic cover of The Beach Boys’ “Disney Girls”, “Would You Dance with A Stranger” and Mari’s own compositions with her musical collaborator Adrian York, “Killing Time” & “Hits And Misses”, which is like an old classic you have known forever. Interspersed through the music were many whimsical tales from her time in the music business. She’s turning into Billy Connolly when he was in The Humblebums.... telling as many funny stories as singing songs!
The penultimate song of the first set was a great audience participation version of “Close To You,” before a knock-out “I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten”, her favourite song from when she starred as Dusty in the musical a few years ago.
The 2nd half (with a change of outfit, rounded off perfectly with a dazzling pair of high heeled mules), included a terrific rendition of “Be My Baby” with Adrian York tinkling the ivories, “Wild Horses” that worked really well with the piano and acoustic guitar and a cover of Peggy Lee’s “I Don’t Want To Play In your Yard” which had a lovely bit of a spanish guitar flair on it. We were also treated to another set of compositions by Mari and Adrian, “Forever Young”, “Right For You” and “Getting There” from her “Emotional Glamour” and “Dolled Up” albums.
The encore was “Cry Me River” with Mari sounding really strong and the the grand finale - the hit she will be remembered most for “Just What I Always Wanted”. There was no Taffeta dress tonight, but we got a great set of songs that really showed off Mari’s sensational voice.
It was a particularly good audience in the Old Town Hall tonight, and it didn’t take much encouragement to get everyone singing along when called to do so.
DATE: Saturday 5th March
VENUE: The Old Town Hall, High Street, Hemel Hempstead
COST: £14 (and that’s it, no booking fee, no postage charge.... (YES they post the tix out and cover the cost themselves!)
OUR VERDICT: Brill, glam, terrific
LINKS
http://www.mariwilson.co.uk/
The Old Town Hall is an intimate venue and is a great place to catch Mari Wilson up close and personal. She appeared on stage wearing a fab gold and black dress, long gloves and adorable open toed stillettos and kicked off with “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” recorded by Mari as the theme to the hit BBC comedy “Coupling”. Straight away we were captivated. Although we have seen Mari perform the songs in her set a few times, they never seem to age or get tired.
Tonight the 1st set repertoire also included a lovely “My Love” (which had a gentle guitar solo from Scott Firth), the fantastic cover of The Beach Boys’ “Disney Girls”, “Would You Dance with A Stranger” and Mari’s own compositions with her musical collaborator Adrian York, “Killing Time” & “Hits And Misses”, which is like an old classic you have known forever. Interspersed through the music were many whimsical tales from her time in the music business. She’s turning into Billy Connolly when he was in The Humblebums.... telling as many funny stories as singing songs!
The penultimate song of the first set was a great audience participation version of “Close To You,” before a knock-out “I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten”, her favourite song from when she starred as Dusty in the musical a few years ago.
The 2nd half (with a change of outfit, rounded off perfectly with a dazzling pair of high heeled mules), included a terrific rendition of “Be My Baby” with Adrian York tinkling the ivories, “Wild Horses” that worked really well with the piano and acoustic guitar and a cover of Peggy Lee’s “I Don’t Want To Play In your Yard” which had a lovely bit of a spanish guitar flair on it. We were also treated to another set of compositions by Mari and Adrian, “Forever Young”, “Right For You” and “Getting There” from her “Emotional Glamour” and “Dolled Up” albums.
The encore was “Cry Me River” with Mari sounding really strong and the the grand finale - the hit she will be remembered most for “Just What I Always Wanted”. There was no Taffeta dress tonight, but we got a great set of songs that really showed off Mari’s sensational voice.
It was a particularly good audience in the Old Town Hall tonight, and it didn’t take much encouragement to get everyone singing along when called to do so.
THE BMX BANDITS
GIG: BMX Bandits (25th Anniversary)
DATE: Sunday 23rd January 2011
VENUE: Oran Mor, Byres Road, Glasgow
COST: £12.50 plus a £1.75 transaction fee for the whole order
RATING: Friends Re-United
We were a few minutes late for the start of the gig due to the distraction of a rather nice curry at The Wee Curry Shop in Ashton Lane.
The venue for the gig is an old church, wonderfully converted into a classy cultural centre with bars and a restaurant. The gig took place in the catacombs...Goth Heaven!
Randolph’s Leap (www.myspace.com/randolphsleap) was already on stage and part way through their first song by the time we got into the venue.
DATE: Sunday 23rd January 2011
VENUE: Oran Mor, Byres Road, Glasgow
COST: £12.50 plus a £1.75 transaction fee for the whole order
RATING: Friends Re-United
We were a few minutes late for the start of the gig due to the distraction of a rather nice curry at The Wee Curry Shop in Ashton Lane.
The venue for the gig is an old church, wonderfully converted into a classy cultural centre with bars and a restaurant. The gig took place in the catacombs...Goth Heaven!
Randolph’s Leap (www.myspace.com/randolphsleap) was already on stage and part way through their first song by the time we got into the venue.
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| Randolph's Leap |
We first saw Randolph’s Leap around the same time last year, again as support to The BMX Bandits. What a difference a year makes. Last year we thought they were good and we liked their songs and their sound – this year they were really tight, much more confident and sounded great. The Beeb quipped that they have come in Randolph leaps and bounds!
What really works with this band, besides the songs and music that is, is the violin and the cello. They are subtle, but really add to the band.
Nick Garrie was up next (www.myspace.com/nickgarrie) – just him, his acoustic guitar, his mate Johnny with his guitar and Sarah Beth Brown doing some vocals. Oh, and a guest appearance from Duglas Stewart for one song. Duglas is a BIG fan of Nick’s and has been extolling his virtues quite a bit recently. It’s understandable when you hear the quality of the songs performed tonight.
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| Nick Garrie |
The third act was the headline band, The BMX Bandits (www.myspace.com/bmxbanditsgroup) who were appearing at this Celtic Connections gig, celebrating 25 years. Their set was amazing with many, many of our favourites.
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| The BMX Bandits |
Highlights for us were “The Sailor’s Song” (we think Duglas sounds like Mike Love from The Beach Boys on this one,) an exquisite performance of “Doorways” (during which incidentally, the audience were truly hushed, which rarely happens at this standing only type of venue), “Disco Girl” with a bit of synchronised disco dancing, “I Wanna Fall In Love”, “E102” and the great finale of “Witchi Tai To” which has the most amazing drum groove.
Jim Gash on drums was just great all night. As was his Pearlfishers partner, David Scott on keyboards, occasional guitar and a bit of tambourine.
The whole band seemed to have the time of their lives playing here.
Duglas T. Stewart is a fantastic performer, and with his trademark apple on stage, he is the most charismatic front man of a Scots band since the days of Alex Harvey.
The Bandits have changed line up over the 25 years and some previous members of the line up joined the party on stage throughout the set.
Former Bandit and current Teenage Fanclub member Norman Blake was part of the fun, singing “Serious Drugs” and also glocking the glockenspiel in a Phoenix Nights kinda way on “Sing the Things”, a track from their recent-ish album Bee Stings, one that they had not played live before. Gordon Keen was introduced as the Action Man of the BMX Bandits, and Sean Dickson emerged for one song, having been away from the Bandits for 23 years!
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| Norman Blake |
A special mention must be made about Rachel though. With her great voice, she adds so much to the whole BMX Bandits family. Some of our favourite Bandits tracks are ones she sings on (did we mention “Doorways”? Ah, yes we did!).
It may be an 800 mile round trip for us every time the BMX Bandits play in Glasgow, but it’s always been well worth the effort. We’ve never been less that delighted at being part of their audience.
Here’s to the next 25 years right enough!
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| Rachel |
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| Oran Mor |
JERRY SADOWITZ
GIG: Jerry Sadowitz
DATE: Saturday 8th January 2011
VENUE: Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7BX
COST: £24 plus booking fee
RATING: F@c*ing C#£t Ar#s@*le Funny.
It’s always good when we go into London for a night out. We got to Leicester Square only to find the whole square has been blocked of with a high fence to prepare something for the Olympics next year. The tourists must have felt cheated at that!
Anyway, after a bit of a queue delay, waiting on the Richard Herring audience emptying the Leicester Square Theatre, we took our seats for Jerry Sadowitz.
Jerry is now actually banned from TV. No one will have him on because he is such a loose canon with his material.
Live isn’t much different. He’s guaranteed to offend everyone at some point of the night. And he succeeded! He came on stage with the peyos curls hanging from underneath his top hat, wearing a kilt with a wee sheep for a sporran and a false beard that wouldn’t stick to his chin. He then introduced himself as the Scottish Jewish poet, Rabbi Burns.
He started firing off abuse at all and sundry at machine gun speed, then got even faster. He does have a real anger and chip on his shoulder for all the comedians who make a fortune these days from DVD sales and TV appearances. Michael McIntyre and Jerry Seinfeld came in for particular vilification. His bile is justified though when you think about it. He made you feel guilty for ever having laughing at Michael McIntyre.
It wouldn’t be right to write up his jokes and one liners in case you go to see him, but one that cracked us up was his wish for Heather McCartney and Abu Hamza to get together and produce a pirate!
Gays, Muslims, Madeline McCann..the list for abuse was endless. But the thing is... He WAS very funny. You should go and see him if you get the chance. Just as long as you know you WILL be offended at some point.
Jerry’s first love is actually doing magic tricks, and he did a couple for us tonight. Not sure if it was because he got off to a late start tonight, but a few more bits of magic would have been great, because he is amazing at it.
DATE: Saturday 8th January 2011
VENUE: Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7BX
COST: £24 plus booking fee
RATING: F@c*ing C#£t Ar#s@*le Funny.
It’s always good when we go into London for a night out. We got to Leicester Square only to find the whole square has been blocked of with a high fence to prepare something for the Olympics next year. The tourists must have felt cheated at that!
Anyway, after a bit of a queue delay, waiting on the Richard Herring audience emptying the Leicester Square Theatre, we took our seats for Jerry Sadowitz.
Jerry is now actually banned from TV. No one will have him on because he is such a loose canon with his material.
Live isn’t much different. He’s guaranteed to offend everyone at some point of the night. And he succeeded! He came on stage with the peyos curls hanging from underneath his top hat, wearing a kilt with a wee sheep for a sporran and a false beard that wouldn’t stick to his chin. He then introduced himself as the Scottish Jewish poet, Rabbi Burns.
He started firing off abuse at all and sundry at machine gun speed, then got even faster. He does have a real anger and chip on his shoulder for all the comedians who make a fortune these days from DVD sales and TV appearances. Michael McIntyre and Jerry Seinfeld came in for particular vilification. His bile is justified though when you think about it. He made you feel guilty for ever having laughing at Michael McIntyre.
It wouldn’t be right to write up his jokes and one liners in case you go to see him, but one that cracked us up was his wish for Heather McCartney and Abu Hamza to get together and produce a pirate!
Gays, Muslims, Madeline McCann..the list for abuse was endless. But the thing is... He WAS very funny. You should go and see him if you get the chance. Just as long as you know you WILL be offended at some point.
Jerry’s first love is actually doing magic tricks, and he did a couple for us tonight. Not sure if it was because he got off to a late start tonight, but a few more bits of magic would have been great, because he is amazing at it.
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| Flyer from the Leicester Square Theatre |
ARGENT
GIG: Argent (with support from Curved Air & Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash)
DATE: Monday 13th December 2010
VENUE: HMV Forum, Kentish Town, London
COST: £22.50 (plus 3.25 booking fee per ticket!)
RATING: I Do Believe In Miracles
http://www.rodargent.com/
http://www.wishboneash.co.uk/
Way back in 1972, a young freckle-faced 16 year old began his life-long love of watching live bands when he went with his mates to Greens Playhouse in Glasgow (later known rather more famously as the Apollo) to see Argent. And he was smitten!
Thousands of gigs, and 38 years later, that same boy, for it was The Beeb, was on his way to the HMV Forum in Kentish Town, London, to see Argent again. He wasn’t worried about the gig being a let down, because he’d seen Rod and Jim many times before with The Zombies and knew how good they were. A charity gig a couple of years ago where Russ Ballard was MD also proved the Shaded One still had “IT.”
We arrived at the venue just in time to hear the last couple of songs from Curved Air. The Beeb remembers having a poster of singer Sonja Kristina on his bedroom wall as a teenager. What we did hear sounded as if it wasn’t too bad. Sonja’s voice and hair still sounded and looked great though,
I thought seeing last weeks middle-aged Mods at the Paul Weller gig was an eye opener, but having a look around during the break here convinced me that old hippies never die...they just grey away! I can’t remember the last time I saw an ELP T-shirt and so much long hair. Still, you knew this was a crowd that liked good music too!
At the end during the band introductions, we got a bit of “Jingle Bells, “a short drum solo and guitarist Danny Wilson introducing Martin in a faux Spanish (Mexican?) accent for some reason. This was when we realised Danny played with Minty’s old favourites, Showaddywaddy when we saw them at The Stables. She cornered him afterwards for a chat and he was very gracious.
The speed of the turn around of the bands actually caught us on the hop. While chatting to Danny and Martin the next thing we knew Argent had walked on to the stage.Luckily we had great seats, three rows from the front and smack bang in the middle.
As The Beeb drooled at Russ’s Strat and Marshall stack, the first thing Minty said was “Oh, he looks fit!” It has to be said, Russ could easily pass for someone half his age. They opened up with the start of “The Coming Of Kohoutek,” the first track on the last Argent album Russ played on. Then we got “It’s Only Money” parts one and two before Rod went into “Keep On Rollin.”
Minty was particularly impressed by Bob drumming on “Dance Of Ages,” as well as Russ’s vocals on “Be Free.” There was some great bluesy guitar on “Sweet Mary,” before the crowd started a sing-a-long with Rod’s old Zombies hit, “She’s Not There.”
At this point Colin Blunstone was pointed out in the audience, before Russ took over the keyboards to perform a beautiful version of the song he wrote, and Colin had the big hit with, “I Don’t Believe In Miracles.” This is a personal favourite of The Beeb’s, and thought it was worth the near forty year wait for this one alone!
The HMV Forum really started to rock when, after Russ played an Irish jig, the band went into “Since You’ve Been Gone.” He even managed to somehow work the intro into the lead break during the song! The place was jumping by this time. And what better number to end with but, “Hold Your Head Up.” Always a favourite when Rod and Colin play together, this song is timeless.
Of course there was an encore, and that was “God Gave Rock And Roll To You.” The perfect one to end on. There was another great crowd sing-a-long with this. By this time Russ had his famous old Fender with the holes in it, and he did his trick of throwing it up in the air and almost firing it out to the audience too.
This may have been a bit of a trip down memory lane for The Beeb, but without a doubt this was a band that seemed glad to be playing together today. Who knows, maybe they could get back together sometime in a studio. We can’t wait another 38 years for that to happen though.
DATE: Monday 13th December 2010
VENUE: HMV Forum, Kentish Town, London
COST: £22.50 (plus 3.25 booking fee per ticket!)
RATING: I Do Believe In Miracles
http://www.rodargent.com/
http://www.wishboneash.co.uk/
Thousands of gigs, and 38 years later, that same boy, for it was The Beeb, was on his way to the HMV Forum in Kentish Town, London, to see Argent again. He wasn’t worried about the gig being a let down, because he’d seen Rod and Jim many times before with The Zombies and knew how good they were. A charity gig a couple of years ago where Russ Ballard was MD also proved the Shaded One still had “IT.”
We arrived at the venue just in time to hear the last couple of songs from Curved Air. The Beeb remembers having a poster of singer Sonja Kristina on his bedroom wall as a teenager. What we did hear sounded as if it wasn’t too bad. Sonja’s voice and hair still sounded and looked great though,
I thought seeing last weeks middle-aged Mods at the Paul Weller gig was an eye opener, but having a look around during the break here convinced me that old hippies never die...they just grey away! I can’t remember the last time I saw an ELP T-shirt and so much long hair. Still, you knew this was a crowd that liked good music too!
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| Martin Turner |
Next up was Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash. Another favourite band from The Beeb’s youth. There have been a lot of personnel squabbling over the years between band members, and to be honest we don’t know the politics behind it all. But seeing as we’re both big Beach Boys fans, we know how these things can be. So we came with an open mind just to hear the music.
The band came on with Martin looking a bit rock starry in his leather trousers and long white Nudie type shirt. “Argus” is what the words “Classic Album” were put together for, and the band played four songs in a row from it to start the set. “The King Will Come,” “The Warrior,” “Throw Down The Sword” and, as Martin described it, the happier “Blowing Free.”
We also got another classic in “Jailbait.” The famed Wishbone Ash twin lead guitar was expertly shown when the two guitarists played each others guitars at the same time! It was nice how Martin slipped into the background to let the guitarists do their showmanship bit.
At the end during the band introductions, we got a bit of “Jingle Bells, “a short drum solo and guitarist Danny Wilson introducing Martin in a faux Spanish (Mexican?) accent for some reason. This was when we realised Danny played with Minty’s old favourites, Showaddywaddy when we saw them at The Stables. She cornered him afterwards for a chat and he was very gracious.
Having come with open minds, it has to be said Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash are a class act. Great song and great harmonies, plus entertaining to watch. Although the set was old classics, we think we’ll have to check out some of Martin’s newer stuff because he’s obviously a great songwriter.
The speed of the turn around of the bands actually caught us on the hop. While chatting to Danny and Martin the next thing we knew Argent had walked on to the stage.
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| Russ Ballard |
Minty was particularly impressed by Bob drumming on “Dance Of Ages,” as well as Russ’s vocals on “Be Free.” There was some great bluesy guitar on “Sweet Mary,” before the crowd started a sing-a-long with Rod’s old Zombies hit, “She’s Not There.”
At this point Colin Blunstone was pointed out in the audience, before Russ took over the keyboards to perform a beautiful version of the song he wrote, and Colin had the big hit with, “I Don’t Believe In Miracles.” This is a personal favourite of The Beeb’s, and thought it was worth the near forty year wait for this one alone!
The HMV Forum really started to rock when, after Russ played an Irish jig, the band went into “Since You’ve Been Gone.” He even managed to somehow work the intro into the lead break during the song! The place was jumping by this time. And what better number to end with but, “Hold Your Head Up.” Always a favourite when Rod and Colin play together, this song is timeless.
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| Rod Argent |
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| Russ Ballard |
That wasn’t the end of the excitement for us tonight though. It was nearly midnight, and on the way home we were pulled over by the police just as we reached the house. Blue lights flashing and everything. They were just checking the car wasn’t stolen. Amazingly they already had our details before stopping us, so we were OK. Thank god they didn’t check the boot!!!
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| The Beeb after the gig, clutching the Set List! |
THE FLAMING CORTINAS
GIG: The Flaming Cortinas
DATE: Saturday 11th December 2010
VENUE: British Legion, Croxley Green, Watford, Herts
COST: freebie
RATING: Flaming Groovy
This time it is Minty reviewing The Beeb, as he appears with The Flaming Cortinas for their 2nd ever gig with this line-up. The band are a four piece who do 60’s and 70’s covers.
Dressed all in black, with fluorescent ties, the 4 piece takes to their stage and kick off with “Old Time Rock and Roll”. Their 1st set takes you through a bit of Santana and “Black Magic Woman” (with a guest on vocals – I think he is a member of another local band), and amongst others, John Lennon’s “Ballad Of John and Yoko”, T-Rex, Free and The Beatles being “Back in The USSR”. Some people were still wandering into the hall when they did a fantastic rendition of Badfinger’s “No Matter What” and you could see them giving a second look and “strutting” to their tables, singing along. The 1st set was rounded off with a bit of the Big O singing about his “Pretty Woman”. All members of the band, (Mark, Clive, Steve and of course The Beeb) share lead vocals which gave a great mix of voices and fitted the songs in the set just fine.
When The Flaming Cortinas started playing, with the venue being a club, rather than a music venue, most of the audience, who had only just arrived and were seated towards the back, generated an awful lot of background noise as everyone caught up with everyone else’s business. That kind of background buzz can be quite annoying when you are trying to listen to a band play, and it brought back memories of the notices up at London’ Luminere club telling the audience to go outside if they want to talk!!! If only.....
Even the raffle and auction in the interval was hard going, as everyone seemed to ignore the proceedings and carry on with their chatter! It was a wonder that £1,000 was actually raised!
The 2nd set seemed to get more attention, and even had some people up dancing and jiving. Included in the this set, alongside a bit of Bowie’s “Man Who Sold The World” and The Rolling Stones “Jumping Jack Flash”, was a Rock and Roll mix of “Rock Around The Clock”, “Oh Boy”, “Hippy, Hippy Shake” and a rather tremendous version of “Twist and Shout”.
“Living Next Door To Alice” was a bit of a highlight. This is a song not normally found in a covers band’s set and I don’t think the drummer, Clive, heard the back of the room singing along with the alternate version because he gave up on the official version and sang the “naughty” bit instead!!!
The night ended with a medley of “Money” and “Mony, Mony” which went down very well and sounded good and rounded off with the “Hokey Cokey” complete with the dance that accompanies it!!!!
So for a 2nd gig, this was not bad at all. The lighting was not great, so the video I shot had loads of shadow, and considering there was just a basic PA system, they sounded rather good.
DATE: Saturday 11th December 2010
VENUE: British Legion, Croxley Green, Watford, Herts
COST: freebie
RATING: Flaming Groovy
This time it is Minty reviewing The Beeb, as he appears with The Flaming Cortinas for their 2nd ever gig with this line-up. The band are a four piece who do 60’s and 70’s covers.
Dressed all in black, with fluorescent ties, the 4 piece takes to their stage and kick off with “Old Time Rock and Roll”. Their 1st set takes you through a bit of Santana and “Black Magic Woman” (with a guest on vocals – I think he is a member of another local band), and amongst others, John Lennon’s “Ballad Of John and Yoko”, T-Rex, Free and The Beatles being “Back in The USSR”. Some people were still wandering into the hall when they did a fantastic rendition of Badfinger’s “No Matter What” and you could see them giving a second look and “strutting” to their tables, singing along. The 1st set was rounded off with a bit of the Big O singing about his “Pretty Woman”. All members of the band, (Mark, Clive, Steve and of course The Beeb) share lead vocals which gave a great mix of voices and fitted the songs in the set just fine.
When The Flaming Cortinas started playing, with the venue being a club, rather than a music venue, most of the audience, who had only just arrived and were seated towards the back, generated an awful lot of background noise as everyone caught up with everyone else’s business. That kind of background buzz can be quite annoying when you are trying to listen to a band play, and it brought back memories of the notices up at London’ Luminere club telling the audience to go outside if they want to talk!!! If only.....
Even the raffle and auction in the interval was hard going, as everyone seemed to ignore the proceedings and carry on with their chatter! It was a wonder that £1,000 was actually raised!
The 2nd set seemed to get more attention, and even had some people up dancing and jiving. Included in the this set, alongside a bit of Bowie’s “Man Who Sold The World” and The Rolling Stones “Jumping Jack Flash”, was a Rock and Roll mix of “Rock Around The Clock”, “Oh Boy”, “Hippy, Hippy Shake” and a rather tremendous version of “Twist and Shout”.
“Living Next Door To Alice” was a bit of a highlight. This is a song not normally found in a covers band’s set and I don’t think the drummer, Clive, heard the back of the room singing along with the alternate version because he gave up on the official version and sang the “naughty” bit instead!!!
The night ended with a medley of “Money” and “Mony, Mony” which went down very well and sounded good and rounded off with the “Hokey Cokey” complete with the dance that accompanies it!!!!
So for a 2nd gig, this was not bad at all. The lighting was not great, so the video I shot had loads of shadow, and considering there was just a basic PA system, they sounded rather good.
PAUL WELLER
GIG: Paul Weller
DATE: Saturday 4th December 2010
VENUE: SECC, Glasgow
COST: a small fortune but well worth it!
RATING: That WAS Entertainment
(Just The Beeb reporting on this one)
The last time I saw Paul Weller was in 1977, when The Jam played their first ever gig in Glasgow. That was in a tiny little club where the band had to stop playing a few times because the P.A. system kept threatening to topple over because the crowd was so energetic and up-close. 33 years later, having followed and enjoyed his oeuvre, I got to see him for the first time since. Strangely enough, back in Glasgow again. This time it was in the rather larger venue of the 12,000 capacity SECC.
It was funny seeing all those people, many of whom I’d imagine would have been safety-pin faces teenagers the last time I saw him, strolling into the SECC looking so middle aged. I bet lots of them also went to see Michael Buble recently too!
The fact that the gig was actually ON in the first place was a bit of a relief, because the next night’s gig in Aberdeen had already been called off due to the worst weather in Scotland for 50 years.
Paul took to the stage looking his usual cool self and started off the set with the title track from his new album, “Wake Up The Nation.” Straight away we knew this was a band that were going to enjoy what they were going to play. This was the case as they proceeded to play the title track from the LAST album, “22 Dreams.”
His new songs are amongst the best he’s ever done, but the excitement level did rise when he then went into the old Jam classic, “Eton Rifles.” After a further mixture of Jam and solo songs, including “Strange Town” and “From The Floorboards Up,” we were treated to the real psychedelic experience of a five track suite from “22 Dreams.” This was just amazing. What a masterpiece this is, and to hear it being done live brought home how good Paul’s band are. Steve Craddock and Paul both work really well together on guitars, and I enjoyed being geeky and taking in all the guitar changes they both made.
After a nod to the very under-rated Style Council (Shout To The Top) a few more new songs then led into “Pretty Green” and “Start” from The Jam. “Echoes Round The Sun” finished the first set.
When the band came back they went into more psychedelic magic in the shape of “Andromeda.” I just LOVE this stuff! A couple more songs and then we had the second encore.
This was to take us right back to the very start of his career with a powerful version of “Art School,” and the very last song was an electric version of “That’s Entertainment.” I was quite pleased with the whole gig, but my daughter was up in arms because he didn’t do “A Town Called Malice.” I had to remind her he had hundreds of songs to choose from, and he had to leave a load of classics out.
On the way out I couldn’t believe crowds of people were singing “We are the Mods.” Well it made us laugh! A top gig from a top bloke live.
DATE: Saturday 4th December 2010
VENUE: SECC, Glasgow
COST: a small fortune but well worth it!
RATING: That WAS Entertainment
(Just The Beeb reporting on this one)
The last time I saw Paul Weller was in 1977, when The Jam played their first ever gig in Glasgow. That was in a tiny little club where the band had to stop playing a few times because the P.A. system kept threatening to topple over because the crowd was so energetic and up-close. 33 years later, having followed and enjoyed his oeuvre, I got to see him for the first time since. Strangely enough, back in Glasgow again. This time it was in the rather larger venue of the 12,000 capacity SECC.
It was funny seeing all those people, many of whom I’d imagine would have been safety-pin faces teenagers the last time I saw him, strolling into the SECC looking so middle aged. I bet lots of them also went to see Michael Buble recently too!
The fact that the gig was actually ON in the first place was a bit of a relief, because the next night’s gig in Aberdeen had already been called off due to the worst weather in Scotland for 50 years.
Paul took to the stage looking his usual cool self and started off the set with the title track from his new album, “Wake Up The Nation.” Straight away we knew this was a band that were going to enjoy what they were going to play. This was the case as they proceeded to play the title track from the LAST album, “22 Dreams.”
His new songs are amongst the best he’s ever done, but the excitement level did rise when he then went into the old Jam classic, “Eton Rifles.” After a further mixture of Jam and solo songs, including “Strange Town” and “From The Floorboards Up,” we were treated to the real psychedelic experience of a five track suite from “22 Dreams.” This was just amazing. What a masterpiece this is, and to hear it being done live brought home how good Paul’s band are. Steve Craddock and Paul both work really well together on guitars, and I enjoyed being geeky and taking in all the guitar changes they both made.
After a nod to the very under-rated Style Council (Shout To The Top) a few more new songs then led into “Pretty Green” and “Start” from The Jam. “Echoes Round The Sun” finished the first set.
When the band came back they went into more psychedelic magic in the shape of “Andromeda.” I just LOVE this stuff! A couple more songs and then we had the second encore.
This was to take us right back to the very start of his career with a powerful version of “Art School,” and the very last song was an electric version of “That’s Entertainment.” I was quite pleased with the whole gig, but my daughter was up in arms because he didn’t do “A Town Called Malice.” I had to remind her he had hundreds of songs to choose from, and he had to leave a load of classics out.
On the way out I couldn’t believe crowds of people were singing “We are the Mods.” Well it made us laugh! A top gig from a top bloke live.
THE BEATLES EXPERIENCE / JAY MCGEE / IN HOUSE ENTERTAINMENT!
GIG: The Beatles Experience, Jay McGee & Matt+Duncan+Christie
DATE: Friday 26th / Saturday 27th November 2010
VENUE: Hoburn Naish Holiday Park, New Milton
COST: shared cost of a Lodge, with the entertainment included
RATING: Not such a breakdown afterall
RATING: Not such a breakdown afterall
The annual Girls Weekend away (Minty only on this one) kicked off Friday afternoon, with a surprisingly quick drive down to the South Coast, to New Milton’s Hoburn Naish Holiday Park.
Venturing out of the Lodge in the snow flurry that evening, we dined in the “pub” area, and then headed into the entertainment lounge where we found a spare table in a corner and caught “Ticket To Ride”, the last song from the 1st set of “The Beatles Experience” – yep, you’ve guessed it, a Beatles tribute band. |
| The Beatles Experience |
Their 2nd set was late 60’s Beatles material, kicking off with “Help!” and progressing through “Taxman”, “Nowhere Man”, “All You Need Is Love” and “We Can Work It Out” (which was apparently No1 on Mary’s birthday) to name just a few. Not sure if the guys were actually from Liverpool, or if their scouse accents were put on, but they sounded and looked like the Beatles.
Their final (planned) song was “Hey Jude”, a song I always associate with the Queens Golden Jubilee concert when this song went on forever as the TV cameras panned both the throngs of people in the Mall and the mass of artists on the stage at Buckingham Palace!!!
The band did an encore, although they never left the stage! They did get the crowd up and dancing and to be honest, they were not bad at all.Their final (planned) song was “Hey Jude”, a song I always associate with the Queens Golden Jubilee concert when this song went on forever as the TV cameras panned both the throngs of people in the Mall and the mass of artists on the stage at Buckingham Palace!!!
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| Jay McGee |
Night 2 did not quite go according to plan. We were expecting Amen Corner to be on the bill, but as we entered the entertainment lounge the audience were being tickled by a comedian instead.... Jay McGee (from the Rockin Berries) was entertaining everyone as (we were told later), Amen Corner’s Tour Bus had broken down and so they were unable to make the gig. Jay was really quite amusing, with some seriously funny jokes (some quite close to the knuckle) and some great singing (really liked his version of Elvis' American trilogy).
He did meet his match with Mags who was more interested in getting our buckets of wine rather than bantering with him just after we had entered the room and she cut him short to tell him she needed alcohol and walked off to the bar!!!!
He did meet his match with Mags who was more interested in getting our buckets of wine rather than bantering with him just after we had entered the room and she cut him short to tell him she needed alcohol and walked off to the bar!!!!
The 2nd half of the night’s entertainment was provided by the resident “entertainment managers”, Matt and Duncan, with a bit of help from Christie who had been called up from another holiday camp to help out.
What we got was an hour or so of fun, frolics and really good entertainment without it being the stereotypical holiday camp in-house type of thing, with the guys making a fantastic night out what could have been quite a disaster.
The guys were very funny, mixing jokes, ad-libbing and a bit of singing to keep our minds from the disappointment of Amen Corner’s no show! Christie was a really strong singer, and wore a lovely dress to boot as well.
The guys were very funny, mixing jokes, ad-libbing and a bit of singing to keep our minds from the disappointment of Amen Corner’s no show! Christie was a really strong singer, and wore a lovely dress to boot as well.
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| Matt & Duncan |
At the end of the night, we all agreed that we felt we enjoyed their impromptu show more than we would have enjoyed Amen Corner.
Again Mags showed her comedic form, when the guys said they were called “Symbolic” and Mags heckled, “Shambolic, you mean” which had the whole audience in hysterics!!!A great weekend..... apparently the Rockin Berries are on the bill next year...
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| Duncan meets The Girls |
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