Yeah Yeah Yeahs 9/12/09

I had high expectations from this gig but I have to admit they weren't met. I had got myself an unreserved balcony seat for this sold out gig and I was very glad as the standing area was packed even before the support act came on. They were "Duchess Says" from Montreal and I thought they were good. There was a tight and pacey rhythm section of drums and bass and a moog player who played some energetic lead and rhythm. The singer came on looking somewhere between Carol Baker as "Baby Doll" and Joan Crawford as in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane". She was also dancing like a convulsive marionette and shrieking quite a bit but it all hung together and was entertaining. She also did the most extreme audience immersion I have seen at one point standing on a table and swinging from a lighting scaffold before jumping on some guy's shoulders.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs came on and it rapidly became clear that as far as Karen and the audience was concerned this was mainly the Karen O show. I like a bit of showmanship but costume changes are a stage too far for me. The main point for me was that the music seemed to be less of a focus and rather than adding to what is on disc the show was a lesser version. The guitarist was very good and Karen's singing was also good most of the time but the drummer was workmanlike at best and the same applies to the fourth member of the band.

Some tracks stood out for me - "Hysteric", "Y Control" and "Turn Into" were all good and an acoustic version of "Maps" which began the encore. Otherwise it was a bit samey and not that long at about 75 minutes all told.

Lisa Hannigan 25/11/09

I only recently started listening to Lisa Hannigan so I wasn't overly familiar with the songs. In any case she introduced a number of them as new songs but the music was accessible straight away and it was satisfyingly layered and tight with Lisa's expressive vocal style the main focal point of the band. It reminded me of a cross between Kate Bush and Clannad. The fiddle player was very good without being showy at all but all the musicians played their part. There was a wide variety of instruments used including a bellows-based accordion style keyboard and various xylophones and banjos as well as a trumpet over and above the standard double bass, keyboards, guitar and drums. Keyboards and guitar was mostly played by Kevin Glass who also did the support act as a singer/songwriter. He was earnest and listenable to with a strong voice. Whilst the main LH performance seemed to be self written songs whose titles I do not know, the encore featured two more familiar songs. First she did the traditional "Blow the wind Southerly" accompanied by the fiddle. Then the band did a rousing version of "Personal Jesus" which showed off both the quiet vocal aspect and also the band at full tilt.

Jefferson Starship/Quicksilver MS 23/11/09

I would never dream of going to a tribute gig. I avoid bands just touring to trot out their old tunes who are no longer creating music. I resist bands purporting to be long-retired bands based on one or two of the lesser known original members only. However in the end I couldn't resist a midlands gig that featured Paul Kantner and David Freiberg from Airplane, two original members of Quicksilver(including Freiberg again) and Tom Constanten who played keyboards on some of the early Dead albums. I Have to confess I really enjoyed the gig even if the main act Starship did verge towards being a Jefferson Airplane tribute band a fair amount of the time.

Tom Constanten started the gig off with a short solo set at his electric piano. "Cold Rain and Snow" was followed by a Chopin piece and then "All Along The Watchtower" to the tune of "Werewolves of London". He also did an instrumental which was not dissimilar to "St Stephen" and finished off with "Carolina on My Mind".

Next up was Quicksilver Messenger Service as represented by Gary Duncan on lead guitar and David Freiberg on acoustic guitar with a drummer, keyboards player and singer (Linda Imperial) who were not part of QMS originally. I can't say I recognised many of the songs but they did play "Mona", "Gypsy Lights" and "Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder" in their set which lasted about an hour. It was fun. David Freiberg is an excellent singer and musician and Gary had a pleasant enough lead guitar style.

Starship (Kantner and Freiberg) came on stage with the same drummer and keyboards player as QMS and with their version of Grace Slick -Cathy Richardson. She was brilliant as Grace Slick making a not bad stab at the voice and playing the stage presence with aplomb. She actually also "does" Janis Joplin on Broadway and as vocalist for Big Brother and the Holding Company. We got just one track of Janis when the band did "Me and Bobby McGhee" and it was quite shocking to see and hear her change (vocally) into Janis Joplin. The band started off with a couple of Starship tracks "Ride the Tiger" and one other before donning their Airplane persona to do "Crown of Creation" followed by "White Rabbit". Good as Cathy was, that song really requires Grace Slick's voice and Jack Cassady's bass for full effect. Paul Kantner then left the stage for a while and David Freiberg took centre stage. In succession he played "Deal" followed by "Loser" two of my favourite Jerry Garcia tracks and a reminder that the West Coast bands hung out and recorded together.

The last part of the gig with Kantner back on stage included "Somebody to Love" as a final track and then an encore of "Volunteers". They were by now whipping up a really good Airplane vibe. There was a nice touch at the end. Remember that we had seen ten musicians plus a whole bunch of roadies who had come all the way from America and were now playing for less than two hundred people in a small obscure midlands venue. They weren't exactly making money from the gig. Some of the audience left but some hung on calling for more. A roadie came out and thanked the audience but said that they wouldn't be coming out again. The audience hung on and bugger me out they trooped and did a storming version of "The Other Side of This Life". The hippie vibe lives on. Top notch.

Asere 20/11/09 & 3/12/09

Yet another Centre Stage event - this time at neighbouring Norton Juxta Twycross village hall. This was a genuine Cuban band, hardworking and enthusiastic about the music they played with no noticeable tourist tunes. The trumpet player took the musical spotlight in terms of the overall sound but the two guitarists and two percussionists, bassist and main vocalist all played their part. The highlight for me was a song called "Oriente" from the Eastern Cuban province of that name. This was straight out of the real Cuban Son and together with one other track from that genre was alone worth the outing. It was immediately followed by a soulful song "Romantica" which Asere also delivered beautifully. The lowlight for me was the local Salsa class who had made this their Saturday outing. Prior to dancing they seemed more interested in chatting but the sight of massed ranks of clumsy retirees trotting out the same travesty of a simple dance step was a bit of an intrusion on the ambience. Still Asere are in our village in a couple of weeks so I'll catch them again then - hopefully without the Salsa groupies.

3/12/09 - More enjoyable show for lack of clumsy dancers and audience noise but otherwise very similar in terms of tracks played.

Tom McConnville 14/11/09

This was another of the Centre Stage supported village hall gigs although in a neighbouring village of Thringstone rather than in Appleby. Tom is a long-established fiddle player from Newcastle with Irish roots and is a hero of Seth Lakeman so that felt like some powerful arguments to take in the gig. The band was a trio - an acoustic guitar bass, acoustic guitar and Tom on violin. He went for audience participation from song one and for a number of songs patiently taught the audience the refrain. He was best however when letting himself go on his fiddle as he was a superb player and had a range of different styles he could play with accomplished ease. His gentle geordie accent with some hints of Irish and his friendly banter played well to the village hall audience. He did some traditional Irish tunes and some traditional Northumbrian tunes and some Scottish ones and covered a Richard Thompson song (Beeswing) as well as a Mark Knopfler song ( Why Aye Man). The thing I took away was his playing - a master of the instrument.

Steve Earle 5/11/09

Although separated by a couple of months from the St Alban's gig this was another date in the solo acoustic tour featuring songs by Townes Van Zandt. The setlist was much the same as previously although there were some changes in the order of the tracks but the gig felt different for a number of reasons. The venue was much different (the beautifully restored Birmingham Town Hall vs a modern leisure centre), our seats were different (middle of the front row vs anonymous stalls seats) and Steve's mood was also different. Whereas at St Albans he was on top form right at the start he seemed to start much slower at Birmingham. The first few tracks seemed more perfunctory than previously and he finished the tracks with strangled chords and choked off endings. The endings were in themselves little glimpses of a master guitarist at work. "Pancho and Lefty" which was about fourth track in, didn't have quite the same devastating power that it had at St Albans. For me the mood and the music went up a level with "Taneytown" which was utterly compelling. I can't honestly say I remembered it from the last gig although I guess he played it. This was followed by a brilliant "Goodbye" and the gig was pretty much on a roll from thereon in. The mandolin based tracks at the end were particularly good including the theme tune from the Wire and "Copperhead Road" and "Galway Girls" It's always an pleasure and a privilege to see Steve Earle, an exceptional musician at the top of his game.

Tinariwen 31/10/09

This was a last minute outing - in the end it seemed a lost opportunity to stay in in front of the fire with Tinariwen playing just an hour away at Warwick Arts Centre. They were supported by Two Man Ting a local duo who I only saw for their last track. Tinariwen's line up varies quite a bit - last time I had seen them in a hybrid band featuring three members of Tinariwen playing with members of Tunng (a UK folky-type band). On this occasion they had brought no women singers, and I missed the ululation which is a trade mark for me of Tinariwen. They were also missing founder and frontman Ibrahim who was ill apparently. Because they tend to play with one person taking lead guitar and vocals on a track and the rest supporting him they are in a position to cover such a loss better than most bands. Abdallah and Hassan took most of the leads with a younger guy who's name I am unsure of also taking a few tracks. As usual the desert groove lifts the spirits and unties a few knots in the brain. Perhaps this was not their finest groove but well worth the drive.

Dead Weather 26/10/09

I found it impossible to ignore a local Jack White gig even if he plays drums rather than guitar in his latest band. So it was off to the Birmingham Carling Academy to see Dead Weather. When I got there I found the place closed up - it had moved in September although you wouldn't know that from the ticket or website. Finding the new venue eventually I caught the last minute or so of the support act "Creature with the atom brain". They sounded OK but I wasn't distraught at having missed them. Dead Weather came on, rather bravely but also excitingly to "Sure 'Nuff Yes I Do" and started playing as it faded out.
With Jack hiding away at the back the band was fronted by Alison Mosshart who had attitude to spare. This was clearly the polar opposite of my previous gig listening to Appalachian folk music - this was bona-fide rock'n roll.

They played a number of tracks from their album "Horehound". "So Far from Your Weapon" stood out for me with Alison screaming out the lyrics and some heavyweight guitar from Dean Fertita whilst Jack pounded demonically on the drum. They did a Dylan cover "New Pony" which is also on the album.

After forty five minutes in the final pre-encore track Jack White at last strapped on a guitar and demonstrated that while he really is a good drummer he is a great guitarist. They played "Will there be enough water?" and it was riveting. Too soon the track was finished and the band were offstage after less than an hour. They came back for an encore of three songs and Jack again played guitar for part of a track. This time Dean Fertita was also playing guitar and he was hitting a fuzzy rhythm while Jack played his trademark screeching frenetic lead. I could have done with a whole gigs worth of that.

Buffalo Gals 22/10/09

Another opportunity to see a class band within walking distance of the house due to the Centre Stage subsidy for village performances. This time it was a largely British set of musicians playing American folk music mostly Appalachian. In fact the leader of the band was from West Virginia and she was an excellent fiddle player. Unusually her playing underpinned and unified the music whereas fiddle players are often relatively showy and solo instruments. The band also featured a 'percussive' dancer who had an amazing skill with a still upper body and her feet beating out a rhythm. The music included bluegrass and other folk styles. One of the stand out tracks was "In My Time of Dying" which has been covered by Led Zeppelin amongst others. It still echoes in the mind a week after the gig. Kate Lissauer the band leader did a lot of the singing but a second vocalist had a distinctive voice and it suited a Patsy Cline song she did down to the ground. I must get some Patsy Cline albums.

Joan Baez 15/10/09

The show started bang on 7:30 and was over by 9:20 but as Joan was on stage the whole time it was a good effort for someone in their late sixties. Her voice is still stupendous though it may be struggling a little bit more at times that it was five years ago. The band was excellent and in particular John Doyle played a mean acoustic guitar. The show was very much a retrospective with songs from five decades and a lot of old favourites included but there was also a wish to freshen up the selection. "Silver Dagger" for example came in a bluegrass version and there was a new song written by one of the band Dirk Powell. Also included were a couple of tracks from the most recent album one of which was an Elvis Costello song "Scarlet Tide" which she sang last time we saw her a couple of years ago. The other was a song from Steve Earle - "God is God" with characteristic chord progressions.
Old favourites included "Diamonds and Rust" as the first encore which was solo. In fact there was a fair amount of the show which was just her solo and she still plays an accomplished guitar. Other favourites included "Love is a four letter word" with a couple of lines sung imitating Dylan, "Farewell Angelina" which she delivers beautifully and hauntingly, "Joe Hill", and my personal favourite "Carrickfergus". Her voice was just amazing on Carrickfergus, so powerful and pure and dripping with poignancy. The band were good singers as well as musicians. There was a great gospel song involving harmonies from the whole band and they also finished the evening with an acappello gospel song. As the penultimate song she of course did "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" guaranteed to send the audience away in good spirits.

Rango 13/10/09

This has to be the most deeply roots African music I have heard. It was very much a fusion of percussion and a chanting style of singing. No hint of bass or guitar as you would find with someone like Tinariwen. In some ways it reminded me of Native American music although the vibe was definitely desert camp fires. The music is Sudanese and Rango are an Egyptian-based band. The gig featured wall-to-wall audience involvement - basically you had to clap throughout and there was audience singing and dancing too. This all added to the feeling of being part of a desert ritual.

The gig started with a four older men on stage who waited while a women brought incense through the hall. She then joined them after a few tracks and I wa surprised when three more performers joined about half an hour into the gig. Pretty much everyone had a go at lead vocals but there was a backing vocal response thing most of the time which all the band contributed to. Most of the band were on percussion instruments which included one that you tied round your waist. It percussed according to how you moved your hips. The band leader played some instruments I had never seen before - a sort of triangular mandolin-sounding instrument and a big old marimba-style instrument as well.

This was another Centre Stage funded event - eight amazing musicians from Africa for a tenner within walking distance of the house. It seems way too cheap.

The Unthanks 10/10/09

I decided to see the Unthanks after a newspaper review of their latest album so I was fresh to their music. They are from Northumbria and folk-based with the emphasis on female vocals so that is in itself a recommendation for me.

The support was a duo - she with a haunting voice, he with lots of songs and a guitar. They were good particularly a slightly offbeat ballad about Benjamin? Brown.

The Unthanks had apparently expanded their band since their last tour and now featured three violinists, a cello, piano, bass and drums as well as the Unthank sisters fronting on vocals. Actually the backing band did more changing around of instruments than I have ever seen - after almost every track people swapped around or changed their instruments. They also contributed a lot of backing vocals particularly one of the violinists who featured a couple of times as a third vocalist.

The voices were sweet, the music was mostly Northumbrian in origin. A gentle musical evening in front of a surprisingly sparse audience.

The Pixies 7/10/09

This was one of the few UK dates on the Doolittle Tour to mark 20 years since it was released. The support, Bombay Bicycle Club, were average.

After a The Pixies started with a few tracks from the 'B sides' compilation of singles B sides. They then did Doolittle from start to finish in order, before four or five encore tracks which notably included "Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)" and "Where is My Mind?"

Doolittle is a superlative album. "Debaser" is a great opening track which demands immediate involvement from the listener. "Wave of Mutilation" is a tiny gem of a track which can be listened to endlessly. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" features some of the best singing ever. I could go on.

There is often for me a song which grabs my attention more than I expected. I expected to love the three tracks picked out above. The surprise package for me was "Number 13 Baby". It just seemed to stand out whereas I had not particularly noted it before.

The Pixies are consumate live performers. Every track is tight and exciting. Black Francis' shouty but immensely tuneful singing is complemented by Kim Deals backing singing. Both guitars are precise and full of emotion. The rhythm section is driving with unfussy drumming and richly expressive bass. What more could you want?

Massive Attack 2/10/09

I had only recently started listening to Massive Attack so I wasn't quite sure what to expect and that added an element of excitement to the event.

The support act was Martina Topley-Bird who also was one of the Massive Attack vocalists. I found her support set disappointing. While she has a nice voice the music seemed too contrived and uninvolving. The best bit was after she had left the stage and the accompianist who played a number of instruments banged out an increasingly frenetic drum riff as a big finish.

Massive Attack were good right from the start. The early tracks I didn't recognise and as there was no recognition from the audience either I guess they are new tracks from the album currently in progress. The sound was good and all-enveloping. The musicians were individually good. The set up which featured two drummers and a variety of ever changing vocalists also worked well for me.

I think they included Daddy G, Horace Andy and the aforementioned Martina T-B.

The gig really took off for me when quite a way into the set they brought on Deborah Miller to sing vocals on "Safe From Harm". She came back later to sing vocals on one more track in the encore "Unfinished Symphony". She added a powerful emotional vocal which sat with the underlying multi-layered sound perfectly. "Safe from Harm" is also a damn fine song as is "Unfinished Symphony". Also good was "Teardrop" with M T-B on vocals. The gig was good from start to finish though and I was a little surprised that the audience wasn't more enthusiastic. I heard someone after complaining as he was wanting a more dance-based gig. Personally I didn't.

Jackie Oates & James Dumbleton 22/9/09

A local gig sponsored by Centre Stage which means that really good artists are seen in small local village venues. Jackie had a pure, sweet, folky voice and played fiddle and James accompanied on guitar and some droney sub-accordion from the sub continent. I do like drones. They should be mandatory in every band. The songs were both old and new but all in the English folk tradition. They deserved an audience bigger than the thirty or so who crammed into the cellar bar.

Steve Earle 14/9/09

I have seen Steve Earle a number of times and he is always, always good. This was a solo acoustic show and was Townes-Van-Zandt themed following the album of Van Zandt songs that Steve had recently released. It also included a range of Steve Earle's best songs so it couldn't really miss. In fact it was a masterclass in singing and acoustic guitar playing building on superb songwriting.

The support was Joe Pug a young singer songwriter who had obviously spent some time listening to Bob Dylan but he was pleasant enough

Steve started with a couple of run-of- the-mill Van Zandt songs before hitting us with "Pancho and Lefty". This is one of the best songs ever. Enough said.

The early part of the show featured a number of Van Zandt songs including the bluesy "Brand New Companion" and "Colorado Girl". He also did "Mr Mudd and Mr Gold".

Throughout the gig Steve in his inimitable and eloquent way weaved a narrative around his relationship to Townes Van Zandt including being roundly heckled by his hero at a very early stage in his career. He inevitably strayed into politics including advising everyone "not to throw the baby out with the bathwater" at our next UK election and warning Barack Obama to make sure he got out of Iraq as he had promised to do. He is never shy about voicing his opinions and they are always enjoyable.

He always seems to play "Goodbye" which is just about my favourite Steve Earle song and to hear it in an acoustic gig was a treat. I realise why it has a special place for him as he told us that it was the first song that he wrote after going straight. He also gave us another heartfelt tune of his - "Jerusalem". Another song of his that was perfect for the solo acoustic format was "My Old Friend the Blues" which came across with real feeling. Near the end there was a beautiful rendition of "Fort Worth Blues".

To start the encore Steve played maybe the only song not written by him or Townes and something that I was hoping he would play but not expecting he would - the theme song from "The Wire". He followed that with "Copperhead Road".

A great way to finish and I can't wait for the next edition of this gig when we see him in November.

Fleet Foxes 11/9/09

This was a difficult gig to get to, logistically-speaking. However the effort was worth it both for the Fleet Foxes and the excellent support "Blitzen Trapper". There are some support acts that you know you are going to like three bars into the first song and they were definitely one of them. The played a sort of electric indie folk with added attitude and did it very well. There were two good guitar players but they were never showy and the band did great vocals as well. On just one or two occasions I got a hint of the Grateful Dead - pretty good going for a support band.

Various members of the Foxes joined in some of their songs and the others also stayed in the wings watching the show.

Lead singer Robin Pecknold made a number of Roy Harper references during the gig starting with saying how great it was to play in Manchester the birthplace of Roy Harper and at one opint offering to buy any original Harper vinyl.

Live the Foxes sound was harsher, deeper and denser than the album and that added something important for me. As you would expect the vocals are just brilliant throughout. Pecknold spent lots of time medicating his throat with various herbal teas and there was some banter about that from the audience. Someone also requested "Freebird" during one of the pauses between tracks and the band enjoyed that request.

He played solo for a number of tracks and took this to an extreme at the begininng of the encore when he stepped to the front of the stage and sang and played with no amplification. The Manchester Apollo is a big old Odeon and the mostly standing crowd were not particularly quiet so I think that took some real nerve. It worked and there was a strict slience during the track.

Although the audience was a little on the noisy side the tracks that reduced them to silence and produced an amazing reaction that left Robin looking puzzled, was when he first performed solo.

Tracks that really stood out for me included "Your Protector" and "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" but basically that is just personal preference - the delivery of all the songs was pretty much faultless and was different in feel to the album.

It is always the sign of a great gig that it stays in your head for a while. This is still there despite having seen Steve Earle a few days later.

Vinicius Cantuaria 9/11/08

It is always good to be at a gig on your birthday and this was arranged by my sister as we were staying with her at the time. I had never heard of Vicinius but he proved a real find. Subtle bossa nova style guitar and a beautiful soft singing voice. The band included a superb jazzy pianist who had a distinctive and energising sound.

Eric Clapton 13/8/76

I am struggling a bit to separate out the Clapton gigs in my memory. I pretty much saw all of the tours in the seventies and eighties and often went to multiple gigs on a tour. I shall start with the certainties and fill in the rest as I can. This much I know - the 1976 gig at Bridlington Spa Theatre is one of the top gigs I have ever been to and is definitely one of the best ever Clapton gigs.

The whole evening was great. Driving down to Bridlington through the Durham countryside in my 1959 P4 Rover. My best gal (now my wife) in the front seat. A mate with some home made cider in the back. The venue on the pier at Bridlington - decayed but magnificent.

The support act vies for the title of maddest support act - it was Mr Pughs Magic Puppet Theatre and it was actually a puppet show. Utterly, utterly barking but very enjoyable. I remember an aerial puppet dogfight taking place at one point.

This was also a great Clapton band. George Terry, Jamie Oldaker, Carl Radle, Dick Sims, Yvonne Ellimand and Marcy Levy.

Yvonne Elliman with a soft and sweet voice and Marcy Levy, loud and edgy, provided the backing vocals and majored on "Can't find My Way Home" and "Innocent Times" respectively. George Terry as ever provided superb guitar back up. He was the guitarist of the many who played in the bands who could sound most like Clapton and sometimes the two of them just overlaid perfectly

Unusually Clapton majored on his big "spanish- style" electric guitar which has a beautiful rounded sound and powered through classic Derek and the Dominos tracks like "Bluespower","Tell the Truth" and "Key to the Highway". He was at that period when he used to call out the chord changes on "Ramblin' " and that track had the hairs on the back of the neck very active. There was of course Layla, at a time when it was still fresh and Clapton was at his peak. Great, great gig.

Leonard Cohen 11/11/08

I had never seen Leonard Cohen before. I appreciated his music in the early seventies when "Songs Of Leonard Cohen" and "Songs from a Room" were popular but I was never really enthusiastic. But when he released "I'm Your Man" in the late eighties I was a convert.

I had missed the earlier June gigs due to being on holiday and the rave reviews saw me heading to Bournemouth for the November show.

I have to see this was better than I could have hoped. His voice was incredible - it seems to have got better with age. The band were, without exception, exceptional. The show was somewhere close to three hours long and covered pretty much any song you might want to hear. The man himself bounced around whenever movement was called for defying his age but was not averse to getting down on his knees when that was appropriate.

It is actually difficult to pick highlights because the whole show was done to a superb standard and I pick the following tracks either because they are amongst my favourite Cohen tracks or because the particular delivery showed me something more in the song. In the former category would be "Ain't No Cure For Love", Tower of Song", "Everybody Knows" and "First We Take Manhattan". In the latter category would be "Bird on a Wire" and "Hallelujah" but really it was all superb.

Pink Floyd 9/11/74

Birthday gigs are always good and this was exceptional. There was a lot of hype at the time about the "quadraphonic" sound on this tour - which essentially meant that there was a set of speakers at the back of the hall. I sort of forgot about it until a horse began apparently galloping around the hall. There was inflatables - another first for me. I remember they did stuff from "Dark Side of the Moon" and I think they did "Wish You were here" but the specific tracks played are not coming to mind. What I do know is that I was blown away by the gig and that Gilmour's guitar playing was impeccable.

Paul Weller 22/11/08

I have always been a big Paul Weller fan since listening to and seeing the Jam. He had a rep as an angry young thing but he is a damn fine guitarist unlike some of the other people to emerge from the punk phenomenon. This gig was a disappointment and quite different to the previous time I had seen him at the same venue - the Trent Arena in Nottingham. There wasn't the usual focus on guitar playing and the audience was in sing-a-long mood. He did some tracks from "22 Dreams" such as the eponymous title track and he did some good tracks from "Stanley Road" such as "Broken Stones" and "You Do Something to Me" and he did some Jam classics - which is what I think the audience was after. Paul Weller needs to be seem in an intimate venue but it ain't gonna happen.....

Captain Beefheart June 74

This tour featured an entirely new Magic Band who have often been called the Tragic Band. That is a bit unfair but the quality of the previous tours' musicians made them a difficult act to follow. he was also promoting possibly his weakest album "Unconditionally Guaranteed" and the touring band did not play on the album. A tough ask for Beefheart. Onb the positive side he kicked off the show with "Mirror Man". He also did "This is the Day" which is maybe the strongest cut on the album. I can remember the musicians but not their music very strongly. The reality is that we preferred Rockette Morton, Zoot Horn et al and we missed them.

Oliver Mtukudzi/Baaba Maal 13/3/09

This was in fact the third manifestation of "African Soul Rebels" tours. The first group on were called Extra Golden and were a hybrid African/Western outfit who I enjoyed but they haven't lived on in the memory. Baaba Maal is a Senegalese legend and his voice and drumming were impressive but he was a little full of himself as if his presence alone was enough to excite the audience.
Oliver Mtukudzi, who came on last was the real deal. Absolutely in the groove that African musicians seem to specialise in, his playing was joyful, exuberant and deeply serious all at the same time.
There were some Zimbabweans in the audience who were ecstatic at seeing their country's musical legend live.
I first heard of him when Bonnie Rait did one of his songs at a gig which I loved. His live performance more than matched my expectations - I hope he tours the UK again.

The Who 7/11/73

For me the Who reached their peak with the 1971 release of "Who's Next". Their singles' days produced some outstanding hits but there was always something just a little bit off - maybe it was Roger Daltrey who moved seamlessly from hoping to die before he got old to owning a trout farm in deepest Kent and living like a country gentleman in between advertising American Express or whatever financial product he used to endorse. Pete Townshend was a real rock'n roller though and played a mean guitar as well as jumping around a lot.

There was a brilliant start to the set - "I Can't Explain" followed by "Summertime Blues" (I was big Eddie Cochran fan). Towards the end they did "Won't Get Fooled Again". Otherwise I am a bit blank about specifics.

I was personally pleased that Townshend didn't smash his guitar at the end of the gig - as he quite often did. It would have been a bit jarring for me. Overall I was impressed by him and his playing but could take or leave the rest of the Who.

Tinariwen/Tunng 19/3/09

I had seen Tinariwen a couple of times before and also seen Tunng as support on one occasion. For this gig there was a hybrid band featuring three members from Tinariwen and the whole of the current Tunng. The Tinariwen trio cranked up a few numbers of their rolling desert groove on guitar and then there were a number of collaborative efforts with everyone on stage. Some of these didn't quite gel or perhaps they hadn't been rehearsed enough to gel. Towards the end of the gig it became more Tunng-centric. An enjoyable gig but not the deep desert experience of the full Tinariwen. Tunng I actually enjoyed a lot more than when I had previously seen them. They did one beautifully melodic track that got my instant approval. I tried to track it down afterwards but failed. An interesting experiment to blend the Bedouin groove with the cool English folk but perhaps needed a bit more prep.

Rolling Stones 13/9/73

This was the Rolling Stones in their pomp. The previous two years they had released what for me are their finest two albums, "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Mail Street" and Mick Taylor was now a fully fledged and integral member of the band. For this gig I had seats about ten rows from the stage at Newcastle City Hall. The sound was so intense I had an effect early on that I have never had before or since at a gig which was that I lost the ability to sense which way up I was. The sound must have temporarily blown the spirit level in my ears that tells you about balance. I decided not to care but just to enjoy the music and the effect gradually faded.

The band kicked off in fine style with "Brown Sugar". That is one hell of a way to start a gig when you have Mick Taylor and Keith Richard on guitar. They were both awesome that night.

The set included a couple of "Sticky Fingers" tracks, some tracks from "Exile" and some tracks from "Goat's Head Soup" that had been released a couple of weeks before the gig.

Memorable, outstanding, tracks included "Let it Bleed", "Tumbling Dice", "Angie","All Down the Line" and "Streetfighting Man" which they finished with. Unforgettable.

Seckou Keita 26/3/09 & 27/3/09

One of the advantages of living in a village with a refurbished community venue (an early design by Christopher Wren) whilst there is a subsidised music programme called Centre Stage in the midlands is that you can get to see world class musicians appear a short walk from home.

Seckou Keita falls into that category being a leading kora player. The kora is an astonishing instruments with two many strings to count (well OK I counted 22 on his but that is just the single necked kora - he also plays a double necked one). It sounds like a cross between a harp and a guitar and the music just cascades from blurred fingers.

He and his band went down a storm in front of sixty or seventy privileged locals. During the gig I found out that he was playing five miles away in Asby the following day so we took that in as well.

Mahavishnu Orchestra 19/6/73

This gig had an extraordinary start that still lives vividly in the memory. We had seats in the front stalls at Newcastle City Hall. Mahavishnu Orchestra were at the peak of their fame (even if they were a minority taste) having just released "Birds of Fire" as their second album. The all-star line-up of McClaughlan (guitar), Cobham (drums), Hammer (keyboards), Goodman (violin) and Laird (Bass) didn't last much longer and the band exploded later that year to be reformed with McLaughlan and some different musicians.
They played fast and furious jazz-fusion in weird rhythms with the maniacally fast but always precise Cobham driving the tempo relentlessly. The soloists were constantly outdoing each other while the bassist tried to keep up. That's how I remember it anyway.
They came out on stage, the audience clapped and they started tuning up. After a few minutes people started wondering if there was a problem but they carried on, each individual apparently searching for the perfect tuning. After ten minutes or so the audience began getting a little restless but perhaps these devoted musicians deserved a bit of leeway. It seemed like fifteen minutes or so before they suddenly launched an avalanche of precision sound and the gig was underway.
I wonder whether each gig started the same.
McLaughlan was eye-catching - he had a guitar with two heads and one of those was a twelve string guitar. He switched between the guitars often and effortlessly.
They played stuff off the albums and I don't recollect what else but to experience it live and close up was astonishing.

Jackson Browne 8/4/09

A Jackson Browne tour was an unexpected chance to catch up live with a songwriter who I have been listening to for decades and the front row seats added to the anticipation. He wrote some great lyrics and I have a particular penchant for the following from "The Late Show". It's the way the detail is added to the analogy that I find compelling.

Look--
It's like you're standing in the window
Of a house nobody lives in
And I'm sitting in a car across the way
(Let's just say)
It's an early model Chevrolet
(Let's just say)
It's a warm and windy day

He didn't do this track but he did a number of classic tracks from his back catalogue as well as tracks from his most recent album "Time the Conqueror". After starting with a recent track "Boulevard" he did an older track that I hadn't come across before called "Barricades of Heaven" which was immense. "Fountain of Sorrow" came early on as well as one of the best of the recent tracks "Giving that Heaven Away". The incredible quality of the songwriting just kept coming as he did "For a Dancer" - so poignant; "These Days" - so introspectively honest; "Lives in the Balance " - one of the best angry political songs around.

There was some of his more upbeat output as well "Rosie" and "Running on Empty" before the encore of "After the Deluge" - another immense song and a perfect way to end.

Yet another contender for gig of the year

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee 11/6/73

I had seen a couple of blues package tours (can't place the dates yet) which featured some top notch bluesmen who were receiving more recognition in the UK than in the USA. You got four or five legends in one evening. A similar type of event has evolved recently with African acts. This was however the first straightforward blues gig I went to featuring authentic country blues. Strangely it was on at a local night club - the Top Hat at Spennymoor. I already knew some of their music but to be in a small club listening to them live was deeply moving and that was enhanced as you came face to face with their personal disabilities and saw how they had overcome those barriers.

Sonny Terry was an astonishing harp player, as good as anyone I have heard and I feel privileged to have been at the gig.

David Byrne 29/3/09 & 11/4/09

Having got the new Eno-collaboration CD "Everything That Happens, Will Happen Today" and loving the gospelly feel to it I was really up for the first David Byrne gig at Symphony Hall Birmingham. Travelling from Bristol for the gig and short of time, the accident we came across en route nearly made us late but it took just a few seconds of David Byrne to transport us to his wierd take on reality and for it to become a hot contender for "Gig of the Year".

This show featured three dancers as well as the excellent musician-type band members. Whilst I might normally look sceptically on such additions to a music show the point is that David Byrne has a clear vision for the gig and the dancers work really well in that context.

As ever the whole gig was strictly controlled and choreographed. It featured songs from the new album as well as songs from the previous eno Collaboration "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and some top notch Talking Heads favourites as well. His singing was sublime and the music was tight, dynamic and exciting. Pretty much all the tracks were brilliant but "I Feel My Stuff" was just exceptional. The Talking Heads classics included "Life During Wartime", "Take Me to the River", "Heaven" and as an encore "Burning Down the House". It doesn't get much better than this. The pace was relentless. The last encore was "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" and the haunting beauty of the music and words was a perfect coda to an outstanding gig.

After the gig I saw that he was playing Nottingham twelve days later so we took that in as well.

Captain Beefheart April 73

This was a very similar Magic Band to the one seen a year earlier with the exception that Elliot Ingber (Winged Eeel Fingerling) had been replaced by Alex St Clair on guitar. The tour was promoting the recent album "Clear Spot" more accessible than some of Beefheart's previous output but still distinctly Beefheart.

As before the gig started with Rockette Morton on bass and it wasn't long before there were four guitarists giving it some, front of stage. Alex St Clair wasn't the retiring sort unlike Elliot Ingber. Whilst the gig inevitably featured tracks from Clear Spot, I was delighted to hear him play a couple of older favourites that he missed on the first tour - "Mirror Man" and "Electricity".

One of the other highlights for me was "Big Eyed Beans from Venus". Beefheart's rasping voice said the appropriate words "Mr Zoot Horn Rollo - hit that long and leaning note and let it float".

This was Beefheart gig with a bit more emphasis on conventional guitar and a joy as ever.

Bob Dylan 29/4/09

I find Dylan a bit hit and miss these days. When he's good he's very very good but sometimes I find it a bit forgettable. This was one of those lesser occasions for me. It didn't help that it was the NIA and the sound was not good. I was amazed to find the sound so much better when I went to the Eagles later in the year at the same venue so I don't know what the issue was.

I like the way that Dylan is constantly reinventing tracks but sometimes that can mean you get a version that for you doesn't really work. I think a few old favourites fell into that category this time. "Desolation Row" should be searing but it was too upbeat. "Highway 61" and "Like a Rolling Stone" lacked venom. I think the generally ordinary band and the sound didn't help. Bob's singing was good given the other limitations, there was a good choice of tracks and I did enjoy it - just not as much as I could have done. There is always at least one outstanding track in any Dylan gig and for me that was "The Man in the Long Black Coat".

Jeff Beck 9/2/73

This gig was memorable for a number of reasons. It was my second date with my wife and one during which her handbag was stolen. So much for heroism and making a good impression but the reality was that we didn't know it had been stolen until Jeff had finished his encore.

The band was called either the Jeff Beck Group or Beck, Bogert, Appice - the situation was dynamic and the legalities convoluted. Nevertheless it was the combination of the former Vanilla Fudge rhythm section and Jeff Beck.

I have no recollection of the support and I can't name any of the tracks Jeff played. I do remember the gig as loud, exciting and with Jeff in typical virtuoso mood. Bogert and Appice were a storming rhythm section and the overall sound was dense and loud. The hall was small, the floor was sticky - this was definitely rock and roll.

Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham 6/5/09

This was an intimate and genial gig at a small Nottingham Uni venue. We were in the front row which helped in creating the cosy atmosphere.

Aly and Phil are the real deal in terms of British traditional music. Aly is the archetypal shetland fiddle player. The emotion he evokes is rooted and deep.

Phil accompanies on accordion although that sounds a bit mean as he is an exceptional musician also.

The material includes a lot of traditional tunes and also newer stuff. A couple of the gaelic ballady tunes were outstanding.

Eric Clapton 13/1/73

This review may be slightly out of correct order as at the moment I can't recollect the dates of any gigs between April 72 and January 73 - I'll add them as and when they become clearer in my mind.

For those that weren't around at the time, this was a momentous gig. Clapton had basically disappeared for two and a half years in his heroin phase and this return to the stage aided by an all-star band was big news for Clapton addicts like me.

The gig was driven by Pete Townshend who played rhythm guitar on the night. With Steve Winwood on keyboards and vocals, Ronnie Wood (guitar), Rick Grech (bass) and Jim Capaldi, Jimmy Karstein and Rebop on drums/percussion.

The music was not the best live music that Clapton has played but it felt great to have him back and the vibe from the gig was positive because of that. Winwood was awesome as usual - the voice is so distinctive and so soulful. Townshend stuck to rhythm guitar and really thumped it out, arm wheeling over his head most of the time. The percussion was superb, two rock drummers and inimitable Rebop on percussion.

The tracks included old Clapton stuff like Crossroads and Badge, lots of Derek and the Domino's tracks, stuff from Blind Faith and Traffic. I loved it live; the recordings released later show it was not inspirational Clapton guitar but still agreat night to be part of.

Mick Taylor 15/5/09

I have always been a big Mick Taylor fan particularly since I spent three months in 1971 with only five tracks of music to listen to and it was five tracks off "Sticky Fingers". I had seen him with John Mayall about five years previously and found that he still had that trademark fluidity that made him one of the best blues guitarists of his time. On this occasion he was touring with Stephen Dale Petit who I had not heard of before. The gig was very low key in that it was at the Market Harborough Leisure Centre.
I didn't like Stephen Dale Petit, neither his guitar playing nor his persona.

Mick Taylor came on for the second half of the show and thankfully played the majority of the lead guitar from then on. He was very good although a little older and slower. The most surprising choice of track was that he played the Stones' "No Expectation" off Beggar's Banquet which was recorded before he joined them. The only other Stones track I recollect was " You Gotta Move".

Captain Beefheart April 1972

These gigs featured a stupendous opening to the main act and prior to that one of the worst support acts (Foghat) I have seen. They were loud, played crude guitar and were full of themselves. Back to Beefheart. The opening featured first of all a ballet dancer followed by a belly dancer with a distorted backing track. Just as you were digesting them on came the amazing Rockette Morton prancing around the stage in his stockinged feet playing a freeform bass guitar solo. There was also a cigar-lighting hiatus in the solo. When it came to an end Rockette started the deep, heavyweight, floor-shaking bass riff from "When it blows its stacks" and then the Captain's amazing voice sang the first line from the song. At that point you were absolutely with the programme and in the zone.

The band were all bizarre and eccentric but in a nice way. Winged Eel Fingerling was at the back of the stage facing away from the audience as he played some amazing unconstrained lead guitar. Zoot Horn Rollo played slide. Ed Marimba was on drums. Orejon (Roy Estrada in real life) played a normal bass to add to Rockette Mortons bass which he played like a rhythm guitar.
Beefheart played a searing sax as well as vocals.

The gig was touring The Spotlight Kid album and so included a number of tracks from that as well as earlier stuff from Trout Mask and Lick My Decals Off. Apart from the opener the other tracks that stood out for were "I'm going to booglarize you baby", "Peon" and "Abba Zaba" but the whole gig was immense.

Always one for the clever pun, the encore was just the Captain singing "More".

Clapton 26/5/09 & 31/5/09

I managed to get seats for two of the gigs Clapton did as part of a stint at the Albert Hall. During the first gig I started to recognise guitar playing from the support act, ARC Angels, and it turned out to be Doyle Bramhall who I had seen playing with Clapton before. On the second night he went up a level and delivered some stunning guitar playing. Pretty much the last track the ARC Angels did featured him playing across and in between the rhythm and it was a joy to listen to.

Claptons band included old favourites Any Fairweather-Low (guitar) and Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon (keyboards) and Steve Gadd on drums, Willie Weeks on bass and back up vocals from Sharon White and Michelle John. In addition Doyle Bramhall joined the band towards the end of the set on the second night , which was the last gig of the tour.

It was a pretty standard set on both nights with just a couple of track changes. The first night we got an acoustic "Layla" whereas on the second night it was an electric version. On the second night "Lay Down Sally" got an airing. EC was in fine form on the second night, noticeably better than the previous gig and the whole band was definitely in the zone. Classic bluesy fare from EC. Standout guitar tracks were "Old Love" which was done early on and "Little Queen of Spades". "Lay Down Sally" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" were beautiful with the whole band in the groove. During the night there were some great Chris Stainton copyright keyboard thrashing solos and some Billy Preston like work from Tim Carmon. The last three tracks, "Layla", Cocaine" and "Crossroads" were graced with Doyle Bramhall's guitar and there were brilliant solos from Andy and Doyle on "Cocaine". Andy in particular played the best solo I have ever heard him play - he seemed to take up the challenge of Doyle's solo and just give it everything on this last gig night at the Albert Hall.

2009 has seen some classic gigs and this was one of them.

Hawkwind 5/2/72

Hawkwind were (and I guess still are) a strange phenomenon with their own niche and some devoted followers. For me they are a sort of cross between Status Quo and Pink Floyd but too much on the Status Quo side for me get too enthused. Nonetheless the gig was exciting and engaging. The riffs drove on incessantly, the synthesizers swooped and dived and the blue 'police car' light on the speakers circled endlessly.
The largely student audience at Durham was obviously not enthusiastic enough for the band though and the gig ended with a lot of swearing from the band and some puzzlement from the audience who had enjoyed the gig.

Christy Moore 1/6/09

If you have to have a gig the day after a Clapton gig then I guess something acoustic and gentle like Christy Moore is a pretty good option. Because of its proximity to the Clapton gig and the similarity of the gig to the previous Christy Moore gig I saw, I am struggling a bit to remember which specific tracks he played. It's also because I am not particularly familiar with his back catalogue having only a recent live recording in my collection.

I do remember his beautiful song "North and South" and also "Ride On" and a track that I hadn't heard before called "Does this train stop on Merseyside?".

As the last time I saw him this was an acoustic gig with accompaniment from Declan Sinnnot. I thought Declan was better this time more confident and assertive in his playing. Christy's banter was slightly more ascerbic this time but he still comes across as the nicest guy you've ever seen and his singing is beautiful and all done in that mellifluous Irish brogue.

Rory Gallaher 31/7/71

I have this down as a Rory Gallaher gig because he was the only act I both wanted to see and can remember from this early Crystal Palace Garden Party. Fairport Convention were also on the bill. The headliner was Elton John and Yes also performed. In fact I went because one of the guys working on the same building site as me had somehow got the job of organising a set of stewards and so I got paid to go to the gig.

Fairport I can't really remember and possibly I had some work to do during their set. Had Sandy Denny still been with them I am sure I would have clocked the set more closely. Rory Gallaher however definitely made an impression. He belted out some raw, bluesy guitar and put a lot of energy into it. He had previously been with Taste but had gone solo by the time of the Crystal Palace gig.

Neil Young 23/6/09

A Neil Young gig is pretty much top of the list now. You know he will deliver some great guitar and some great singing and he has a huge back catalogue of classic songs to choose from. Each tour is different so you are always in for a treat. This gig was at the Trent FM Arena (aka Nottingham Ice Rink) which for me is one of the better of the big impersonal arenas. As ever with such arenas you need to get a seat that has reasonable sound and we achieved that for this gig.

The support was Laura Marling a singer songwriter featuring quiet thoughtful songs. I enjoyed it but can't recollect any specifics.

Neil Young's band included Ben Keith on guitar, Chad Cromwell on drums, Rick Rosa on bass and Peggy Young on backing vocals.

He kicked off with "Hey, Hey, My, My (Into the Black)". Immediately he was off playing that inimitable guitar The grungy style of guitar was something he took up well into his long career but it is that which will keep me coming back to the gigs.

The stand out track for me was "Down by the River" which was late on in the set - it was a deliberate and powerful version. "Words" was another highlight - I am not sure I have heard this live before. "Pocahantas" was also outstanding - a grungy version rather than the usual more delicate form.
And then there were the old favourites "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" - for me he can play those every gig if he wants.

An extended "Rocking' in the Free World" followed by "A Day in the Life" ended the gig.
The thing about Neil Young is that he follows where the music takes him and nothing else matters. That is why he will never resort to concert tours to rake in money and why he continues to be edgy and innovative despite his age.

This immediately became another candidate for "Gig of the Year" and it was shortly to be followed by another (see Eagles gig).

Creedence Clearwater Revival 14/4/70

My first ever gig at the Albert Hall.

The support was Tony Joe White who I don't think I had ever heard of and he was brilliant. He was the first deep south singer songwriter I had come across and it is a genre that I have enjoyed greatly over the decades. It's partly a country-based music thing partly an accent thing and partly a sort of radical rebellious liberalism that you get from an area that has traditionally always been a reactionary stronghold. Tony Joe White's songs had a deep bayou ambience to them. The track that I can specifically remember from the gig was "Polk Salad Annie" which Elvis recorded at some point. Great song featuring 'gators and swamps.

Creedence were for me one of the most exciting pop/rock acts around - they had the same sort of rock 'n roll feel as maybe the early Stones although the music was very different. When I saw them the band included both Fogerty brothers although John was the main creative force. The gig was fast, furious, exciting and way too short. They ripped through a number of their hits and a few other songs and left the stage in under an hour. Great stuff but I am glad I also enjoyed Tony Joe White.

Jeff Beck 25/6/09

I really had no idea what to expect from Jeff Beck as he never followed a predictable path.
I think the last time I had seen him play was 1973 and he had spent a lot of the intervening time out of the limelight.
We had great seats in the fourth row at Symphony Hall in Birmingham and for once I had chosen to miss the support as I still had echoes of the Neil Young gig from a couple of days before in my head.

Jeff Beck was in a four piece but he was the centre of the music all night playing a loud lead guitar from track one and with no vocals. It was definitely jazzy rather than bluesy but also definitely lead virtuoso guitar. Being close to the stage we could see his extraordinary and unique style of playing which often involves caressing the strings with his whole hand rather than strumming or plucking. It enables an amazing subtley of sound.

The band musicians were very good and the bassist had a permanent wide smile as she was obviously enjoying every minute of the gig. I have never seen anyone look so pleased to be on stage.

He started with "Beck's Bolero" but other than that I only recognised "Peter Gunn" and "A Day in the Life" as I have not kept up with his own music. Weirdly he played "Day in the Life" as the first track in his encore and just two days previously I had heard Neil Young finish his gig with the same track. I am not sure I had ever heard it live before since it was released more than forty years ago.

The gig suffered a bit from being in the shadow of a brilliant Neil Young gig who has a guitar style I relate to more naturally, but I felt that I was present at a powerful and moving musical performance and I would welcome seeing another gig if he tours again.

Rolling Stones 5/7/69

This was the last of the free Hyde Park gigs I went to - it all seemed so exciting and natural at the time to have free gigs as the old order was apparently being overturned.

This was huge - much bigger than the Blind Faith gig the previous month and though I found myself a good niche position up against a tree which afforded me a little space and height, I was a long way from the stage.

There were a number of support acts but the only one that made an impression on me was Family - Roger Chapman's distinctive vocals and stage presence always commanded attention
King Crimson also supported but my memories of their performance are very hazy.

Jagger as usual was dressed to impress in a sort of white tutu thing. Mick Taylor was on guitar, maybe for the first time in public. For me this was a transitional moment as regards the Stones - adding a young blues guitarist with Mick Taylor's rep had to be a big musical step forward. At Hyde Park he was still finding his way with the Stones but nonetheless his contribution was distinctive.

As for the set; Jumping Jack Flash featured and a countryish version of Honky Tonk Women. The only other track I am sure was played was Street Fighting Man and that was possibly the highlight for me.

Seth Lakeman 3/7/09

Seth was playing at the National Forest Folk Festival and the venue is less than five miles away so it would have been rude not to go. I saw him once before and immediately took to the rhythmic modern folk music he delivers. The subject is often folky - cornish mining disasters, sea rescues, weird nightime phenomena on the moors, but the music is full of energy and pace. He has a distinct violin sound providing an edgy but driving rhythm to the songs.

Hand on Heart Band and The Monster Ceilidh Band provided the support.

Seth Lakeman's set majored on "Poor Man's Heaven" CD with some tracks from "Freedom Fields" and "Kitty Jay" all delivered with gusto.

The stand out track for me was "King and Country" - one of the slower songs and a powerful swipe at the effects of war. "Colliers" and "Poor Man's Heaven" were also memorable.

The audience responded energetically to the music and there was a lot of dancing at the front and the band seem to be enjoying the atmosphere.

I felt slightly short changed by the length of the set - I wanted more than an hour and ten minutes of music but no complaints about the quality.

Blind Faith 7/6/69

This was a gig I was very excited about. I was still smarting from being unable to get a ticket for the Cream farewell gig the previous year and the formation of Blind Faith was a great outcome if Cream had to disband. Effectively Jack Bruce had been replaced by Rick Grech on bass and Steve Winwood on keyboards and vocals but musically this was a very different band..

Unlike the previous Hype Park gig this was a massive affair and I was some distance from the stage. There were support acts - Third Ear Band, Edgar Broughton, Richie Havens and Donovan. The usual suspect really and I don't remember anything that distiguished them on this particular day. Blind Faith I loved although some of the music was new to me. Nothing stands out in the memory as regards the specific songs except for "It's All Right" which they did early on. I think I was into Buddy Holly at the time. But every track was a joy, it was a gorgeous day, Clapton and Winwood were playing and all was well with the world. The music had a laid-back feel to it but Winwood's voice was as strong as ever and the music just seemed to fit the day. I was exhilarated and looked forward to more Blind Faith gigs - alas that was not to be as they broke up not long after.
It was to be the last time I would see Clapton play before his drug problems took him out of the public view and the next gig I saw with him was at the Rainbow in 1973.

Lucinda Williams 29/7/09

Before I talk about the gig I just need to rant for a minute. This was my second visit to the Leamington Assembly and my impressions from my first visit two weeks ago were very favourable. Good sound, nicely done out, bars without queues - all good stuff. This time there was some sort of problem with either the tech or maybe the artists but we were kept queueing in an increasingly crowded and hot room for more than an hour past the advertised door opening time. The issue is this - complete and utter lack of explanation or apology even when asked. Amateur hour or what? Rant over.

Support was from Buick 6 who are Lucinda's current band. They played a guitar based set built around changes in rhythm. The groove kept changing and it was good to listen to. I am always a sucker for a bit of pedal steel or slide guitar and the that featured in a few tracks and just once or twice I got a small hint of Allman Brothers.

When Lucinda came on the band reverted to a a dutiful backing band at first. Lucinda strummed an acoustic guitar and the set was sounding good with her big distinctive voice dominating the sound. I love the southern US accent and I love the way that it comes through when being sung even though a lot of other accents disappear. However about six tracks in the gig just changed gear - the track was "Tears of Joy" and that was followed by "Blue" ,"Jackson", "Pineola" and "Out of Touch" (not necessarily in that exact order).
Now the band were back in the groove and the vocal was powerful and beautifully defined.
I think it was partly that she was visibly enthused by the venue and the audience, and suddenly there was extra energy and everything was a tighter and more dynamic and the gig just took off.

Towards the end of the gig I felt that Lucinda's voice was starting to struggle a bit but this is not surprising - she belts out the vocals without compromise and has been doing so for thirty years as she told us more than once.

The encore featured a track with just Lucinda singing "Passionate Kisses", followed by a couple of tracks off "Little Honey" with the full band. I am glad I eventually caught up with seeing Lucinda Williams and she delivers full-on. I'll catch her next time she is over here.

Eagles 8/7/09

I had never seen the Eagles before so this was definitely an itch scratched after a long time. In fact I had avoided the come-back gigs in the early 2000s as I had assumed it was a commercially driven thing which would have a parade of short recreations of the most popular songs and an audience drowning in nostalgia.
My change of mind had come following the purchase of "Long Road Out of Eden" which was released in 2006. I realised that the Eagles were still creating music and were doing it well.
I still hesitated as the tickets were expensive and the venue (Birmingham NIA) not ideal. I'm very, very glad I went for it. From start to finish (which was not far off three hours later) the music was fabulous. The four long-serving members of the Eagles (Henley, Frey, Schmidt and Walsh) together with Stueart Smith on guitar are all superb musicians and the show was brilliantly arranged to allow them to showcase their talent. For a start they had a second drummer so that Don Henley was not confined to drums but could spend half the gig out front playing guitar and singing front of stage. They also shared out the vocals and when your third and fourth best vocalists are Timothy Schmidt and Joe Walsh, then they need sharing. The guitar playing was a joy. I hadn't really picked up on Stueart Smith before although he features on the album "Long Road Out of Eden" but to have him and Joe Walsh on the same stage was stupendous. When they played lead guitar off each other it was perfect.

With such a huge back catalogue as well as a recent double album there was plenty to choose from and they did a brilliant job of picking a cohesive balanced set of songs
The set started with three songs off "Long Road Out of Eden" including "How Long" and "Guilty of the Crime". From the outset the tempo was great, the music vibrant and the singing sublime despite the ages of the singers.

Next up was "Hotel California" much earlier than I expected and the class of the numerous backing musicians kicked in with some great brass intro and of course supreme lead guitar from Stueart and Joe.

The rest of the first half was mainly older stuff of which "Lyin' Eyes" was simply outstanding and they closed with "The Long Run".

For once the short break was exactly that - fifteen minutes before possibly the highlight of the gig which was a short semi-acoustic set with the guys all on stools playing guitar.
A powerful version of "Waiting in the weeds" had the hairs on the back of the neck definitely moving. This is what live music is about for me - taking a great song and making it come alive in front of an audience. This mini set finished with "Take it to the Limit" and then to top that was a simply outstanding version of "Long Road Out of Eden". It rarely gets better than that.

I reckon there was another nine or ten tracks after that ranging over the Eagles and Joe Walshs' history before it was time for "Desparado" and then they were gone.
Wow.

Pink Floyd 29/6/68

The first of the free concerts in Hyde Park and much smaller than the other two I went to (Blind Faith and the Stones). I was actually sitting on the grass rather than standing a long way from the stage as for the other two gigs.
Support was from Roy Harper, Jethro Tull and T.Rex.
I distinctly remember Roy Harper falling off his stool and wondering who this stoner was. I had not heard of him before the gig but about three years later I started listening to "Flat, Baroque and Bezerk" and have been a fan ever since. I am afraid that Jethro Tull and T. Rex are a bit of a blur at this distance.
The memories of Floyd are also not as distinct as for the Hendrix and Cream concerts from the previous year. The one thing that sticks is "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". The song for me perfectly captured the feeling of the times. Floyd just seemed to be unconstrained as to the conventions musically or lyrically. The Beatles and the Stones were credited with redefining pop songs but for me Pink Floyd just took that to another level. A big part of that was Syd Barrett but by the time of this gig he had already left and Dave Gilmour had taken over on guitar.

Steve Winwood 14/7/09

The most recent of a number of occasions I have seen Steve Winwood in a small midlands venue. This time is was Leamington Assembley Rooms. The formula has been much the same in the last few years - Steve mixes in songs from his most recent album with a good trawl of his more famous tunes from over the last four decades. For me the guy is a legend. The Spencer Davis Group did great pop songs and Steve was only around fifteen when he sang and played with them. Traffic were legendary in the sixties and seventies and Blind Faith were definitely one of the first 'supergroups' despite the fact they didn't last very long. To top all that Steve's solo career has delivered some great albums - particularly for me the early ones. He still has that same deeply soulful but angelic voice and he still plays with all four limbs on his battered old organ beating out the bass lines with his legs as well as playing with his hands and singing.
Much as I rate his keyboard skills I enjoy his guitar playing even more. He generally plays three or four tracks on the guitar; "Dear Mr Fantasy" as standard and "Can't Find My Way Home" pretty regularly. At Leamington he also played lead guitar on "Dirty City" from his most recent album and that was a stand-out track. As usual "Higher Love" featured as well as "I'm a man" and an encore of "Gimme Some Lovin". The other memorable track for me was "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" which segued into "Empty Pages".
All in all two hours of classic Winwood as usual.

Cream 29/10/67

My second gig - probably the only gig that could live with my first gig, Jimi Hendrix, also at The Saville. The Saville closed not long after but it was the epitome of cool as a venue at the time. At least it appeared so to this fifteen year old. The music was listened to with rapt attention and even tapping your feet was a bit edgy. I wish those days of close focus on the performance would return.

The support was Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band which was extraordinary - a full frontal exposure to Vivian Stanshall, Neil Innes et al was definitely disorientating but in a nice way.

Cream's performance was breathtaking
It is a long time ago but certain elements remain etched in my memory. The first is Clapton's guitar. There had been guitarists with their own sounds before; Duanne Eddy and Hank Marvin come to mind as two that I liked as a youngster and there had been R&B guitarists before Clapton but he was the real deal in terms of bringing blues guitar to a white audience with an utterly distinctive and compelling delivery. The power and passion of his playing was unmatched.
The second thing was the band which essentially consisted of three musicians each with their unique style and it seemed that the three styles just slotted together perfectly even though with their particular sounds that seemed unlikely. Jack Bruce - a jazzy bassist with an idiosyncratic singing style, the frenetic violence of Ginger Baker's drums and Clapton's ethereal guitar.
I went to the Cream reunion concert in 2005 with worries that it would be disappointing but it took about 30 seconds to be reminded of what was so distinctive about Cream and how the three musicians just gelled.
The other enduring memory was of Ginger Baker's drum solo - I have never heard anything percussive to equal it since. A drum solo was an alien thing to me but this was long, fast and hypnotic with a mesmeric finale that got a reaction even from the Saville audience.
The first of many Clapton gigs for me but not many live so clearly in the memory.

Spiritualized 17/7/09

This was a very different Spiritualized gig compared to the only other time I had seen them in 2007. That was an acoustic gig and included a classical string section - this one was loud with dense guitar and keyboards. The music was great but I didn't enjoy the audience who were themselves loud and generally well-oiled. The same happened the last time I was at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham. I want to like the venue because they promote local bands but the arrangement is not good with a bar in the main area and the balcony is not good acoustically when people are talking upstairs.
The support act was Band of Skulls who were enjoyable at the time but the impression faded as soon as Spiritualized kicked off with an energy and pace they kept up for the whole two hour show.
"Shine a Light" came early on and it stood out for me along with the six or seven tracks off "Ladies and Gentlemen..." and "Songs in A&E" but I am pretty sure that is just because I am more familiar with those albums. The audience particularly relished "Think I'm in Love".
The encore was "Lord Can You Hear Me" and that may be a tradition as I seem to remember it was the encore from the previous time I saw them.
All in all this was a gig that deserved a more attentive audience,

Jimi Hendrix 27/8/67

The ticket was a thank you from the guy that I got a World Cup Final ticket for the previous year. My father had got me the footy tickets via a contact high up in the Wembley ticketing operation so I should thank my dad for getting to the Hendrix gig. As a first gig it's been a difficult standard to match since then but I'll keep trying.
The bill included three support groups, the first of which was Eire Apparent who I can only vaguely remember.
The second band on was Humble Pie, notable as being the band that brought Peter Frampton to the limelight who were a step up from the opening band.
Next came "the Crazy World of Arthur Brown" who was definitely memorable. This brings to mind the short list of deranged support acts which includes the Brownster and also Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (who I hadn't actually heard of before I saw them) but I think maybe the winner would be "Mr Pugh's Magic Puppet Theatre". If you have caught his show you'll know what I mean. However if you haven't I don't think it is possible to explain in mere words so I won't bother trying.
The thing that still makes me laugh regarding TCWOAB is his entrance in a dish which was lowered by chain from the ceiling whilst his head was on fire. Health and Safety - you're having a laugh.
Hendrix was just extraordinary. I am sure I sat with my mouth open for the whole show. In a way it was the same sort of effect he had when he first appeared on TV singing "Hey Joe" or when he blew the show Lulu was hosting wide open with his impromptu change of tracks to "Sunshine of Your Love". At each of those events I and many others sat with our mouths open at the audacity of the guy.
The whole playing the guitar with his teeth and the setting fire to it (again with the Health and Safety) was also extraordinary theatre. The highlight track for me was "Wild Thing" which had been a hit for the Troggs and came in the second half of the show. However the single impression burned deepest was the unimaginable sounds he made from an instrument that had previously been used in fairly limited ways in pop music. There was a whole percussive thing that he did and he also made music from feedback. And then he could hold a number of different guitar narratives in his head and play them all in the same track. It was as if the music had gone from two to three dimensions.
Luckily my next gig was to be just as memorable.......

Richard Thompson/Dave Swarbrick 24/7/09

This wasn't as I expected - but in a good way. I only found out that the support was Dave Swarbrick a couple of hours before the gig so we brought forward the arrival time to get a good seat. The venue is the 'tent' at the National Forest Waterside Centre near Moira and it's unreserved seating with latecomers having to use the very wet seats on the hill behind the tent.
Dave Swarbrick could barely walk but his fiddle playing was superb.
When Richard Thompson came on for his set, Swarbrick also appeared and did three numbers with him. In fact they were essentially more Swarbrick numbers with Richard Thompson playing guitar accompaniment. I reckon it was the highlight of the gig. I realised at this point that the gig was turning out very differently from my expectations which were based on seeing him in the same venue almost exactly a year previously.
Thompson then did his solo set and covered a number of favourites as well as taking some requests. The only request he slightly balked at was 'Hokey Pokey' but after saying that it was not in his current repertoire he then proceeded to play a one minute version which sounded pretty good.
I particularly enjoyed "Wall of Death" and "I Misunderstood" and the version of "Crawl Back" was high tempo. It is always good to hear "Vincent Black Lightning 1952" and also "Beeswing" although I've heard deliver them with more feeling.
"'Dad's Gonna Kill Me" was delivered with passion and there was some enjoyable bile as regards George Bush between tracks.
At most gigs there is a track that you clock in a new way and the track that did that for me was "Sunset Song" which he did early on.
The one other stand-out track was I think "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight". Other than that pretty standard Richard Thompson. Sounds good to me.