With the country still in the midst of lockdown and no sign of any live music in the foreseeable future if at all this year I thought I would take the opportunity to look back in the archives, sounds posh I know but it’s just an spreadsheet, and revisit gigs I attended on this day down the years. I will keep this going until I can attend my first gig again in person so hopefully this also brings back memories for my gig going chums who have joined me on this great musical journey down the years.
A very busy day today with seven on I think the busiest day of the year for today’s trip down memory lane for you down the years.
2018, James Hunter, Under the Bridge, London
It’s the usual high quality rock and roll show from James Hunter that I reviewed here at the time. So far never seen a bad gig at this venue.
2016, Black Mountain, Tufnell Park Dome, London
A groovy night with these Canadian rockers reviewed here at the time.
2012, Alabama Shakes, the Forum, London
Second London date of their debut tour. Anne and I saw a great show in Brighton in the September of 2012 and so this time around it’s the boys out in London. Being broadcast live over the t’interweb it’s an early start that caught us a little out and we missed the first song I think. Eschewing the usual convention of playing the hits at the end of the set the Shakes had their breakthrough hit ‘Hold On’ as song three.
It’s a good show as they run through their debut album plus tracks from their new as yet unrecorded album but it just lacked a little of the intensity of the Brighton gig. Maybe the bigger venue slightly detracted the atmosphere from the small intimate setting of Concorde 2 on the Brighton seafront.
A band with great potential that I think they never really fulfilled after calling it a day after their lacklustre experimental second album.
2009, Monsters of Folk, the Troxy, London
This, I think, was American indie supergroup Monsters of Folk only ever UK date. Consisting of Jim James, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and M.Ward plus Will Johnson on drums for the tour it’s a long thirty three song set that includes all of their album plus an even spread of tracks from My Morning Jacket, Bright Eyes and M. Ward
It’s also out first trip to the Troxy deep in East London and is an old fashioned music come bingo hall. A long room with a large floor plus a lowered level mosh pit. Of course there is no moshing tonight but we make our way down to that level to optimise our view.
It’s a superb night of fine music and watching the dynamics on stage was equally as interesting. Ward and James are the consummate professionals but with Oberst on stage there’s a constant edge with neither us nor the band really sure what direction he is going to take next. This all adds to the experience full of spontaneity and improvisation. A super show and here’s hoping they come back together again.
2008, Chatham County Line w Alan Tyler, Ye Olde King and Queen, Brighton
A trip down the M23 to Brighton on a cold November evening with Graham and John to see Bluegrass experts CCL. First up though is the Rockingbirds’ Alan Tyler with assorted ‘birds in attendance. The make shift stage which looks like a bunch of beer crates with a few boards laid over the top sits at one end of this big pub.
Tyler and friends deliver the usual excellent set but are swiftly on their way to ensure that they get their train home back to London. Onto the main act and CCL are the finest proponents of Bluegrass out there. It’s the classic setup with one central mic crowded around to showcase their beautiful harmonies and pickin. This would have been a tour in support of their fourth album which I think is probably their best. Its brilliant stuff and this stripped back arrangement leaves no place to hide and only highlights their musicianship.
1994, Ben Harper, Subterrania, London
Another debut show, this time for Harper on one of his first tours over here. It’s also my one and only time at Subterrania, a small venue in West London under the A4. With only one album behind him it’s a mix of originals and assorted covers from the likes of Wonder, the Wailers and Hendrix.
Musically it’s faultless and his guitar playing is astounding. It’s all gets a little political in places and I don’t mind some of this but it did get a little overbearing< That grumble aside it’s a great show.
1989, Aerosmith, Wembley Arena, London
A quick history lesson. A long long time ago shortly after the dinosaurs left the earth we didn’t have that thing called the internet. If you wanted to go a gig you had to either go the venue box office, find a ticket agency shop or ring the venue. Graham and I were big Aerosmith fans and their seventies albums are some of the best rock albums ever made. After some time away they were back and going to tour over here for the first time in years I think. With limited information on ticket details, etc. I picked up the phone one day at work and rang Wembley Arena to ask when tickets were being released. There are very few times when the moons align but the lady on the other end of the phone answered and said one minute ago. After a brief pause while I regained my composure and got back off the floor I bought two front row tickets. Result.
On to the show itself. It was just a joy to hear those old classics and to be fair the new stuff from ‘Pump’ and ‘Permanent Vacation’ their ‘comeback’ albums held their own. But of course it’s the likes ‘Rats in the cellar’, ‘Mama Kin’, ‘Sweet Emotion’ , ‘Draw the line’ and of course ‘Walk this Way’ we wanted to hear. I died and went to hard rock heaven. I still dream of seeing them in an intimate venue where they just play songs from the seventies but sadly I think that will remain a dream. Their sound is far more polished and sanitised now but hopefully they haven’t completely lost their rock n roll heart.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping we can get to some form of normality soon but with the new lockdown my last chance of a gig disappeared this month and I have now had my first gig of 2021 cancelled so that will take it to a full twelve months at least between gigs.
Support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.