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.
Another three for today’s trip down memory lane for you down the years.
2018, Jess Malin, Bush Hall, London
This was supposed to be a Chuck Prophet review but he cancelled minutes before he was due to go on so instead Jesse Malin, the support act, asked if we wanted him to play a bit longer and so as we were there we said yes and play he did. All reviewed at the time here
2012, Calexico, the Forum, London
This one would have been the Algiers/Spiritoso double album tour and I think maybe the first time that we had seen Calexico live. Why it had taken us so long to see them I have no idea as I had been a long-time fan. I am pretty sure this was Graham and myself but John may have been there too.
Whilst the new stuff dominates the set there was also a nice balance of selected tracks from their previous albums to satisfy all but the diehard fans. It was a great set full of energy and that really sparked the crowd too with much swaying and dancing and this created a nice vibe throughout the night. I have seen them subsequently in all seated venues and it’s been difficult to generate this sort of energy with the crowd when sat especially when they crank up the tempo with those salsa rhythms and you just want to get up and boogie.
A fine night with these super talented musicians.
1983, Rainbow, Michael Sobell Sports Centre, London
A huge leap back in time for this one and I am not sure the fascination Rainbow had with the Finsbury Park area but after seeing them at the Rainbow a couple of years before we find ourselves back in North London in the local community leisure centre. Rock and roll this aint. Weirdly for a London gig we drove and could actually park in the centres car park.
First up was Lita Ford who belted out her thirty minutes set doing her very best to raise the roof.
This would be have been the ‘Bent out of Shape’ tour which was Rainbow’s last ever album (I discount the 95 comeback album on the grounds of quality and common decency). It’s fair to say by this stage Rainbow had lost a lot of its core metal values with the influx of Americans into the band with Joe Lynn Turner retaining vocals but the great Bob Rondinelli had been replaced by Chuck Burgi on drums. The set focussed on the last three albums and very little from those early brilliant rock albums.
It was Ok but after the epic Rainbow show a couple of years before this one whilst still clear, lives in the memory more for the strange venue than the music itself.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping we can get to some form of normality soon. Support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.