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.
Five goodies on my look back trip down memory lane for you down the years.
2011, Fruit Bats, Hoxton Bar and Grill, London
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Great band, great venue, I love Fruits Bats and over here touring the excellent ‘Tripper’ album. My only complaint is justy one track from ‘Mouthfuls’ one of my favourite albums.
2003, Bob Dylan, Brixton Academy, London
Mmm my one and only time seeing Bob on his never ending world tour that has been going on for twenty odd years. Firmly ensconced behind keyboard where he doesn’t move or engage to any degree with the audience.
We all took part in the game of name that song which often involved waiting for two minutes, once you could make out a chorus. I’m sure the die-hard fans loved it and there could well have been some rare songs as I did hear someone say it was the first time he had played one song since 1983 in Milan or something like that. You couldn’t move for anoraks, taking notes, etc.
Yes there are some classics there but you are hard pressed to enjoy them such is the reworking. It was OK and I can tick it off the list but I won’t be venturing out again to see Bob.
1994, Elvis Costello, Shepherds Bush Empire, London
One of many Elvis gigs I have reviewed and this time hatchets have been buried temporarily and Bruce Thomas was welcomed back into the fold briefly to record ‘Brutal Youth’ and subsequent tour.
It was nice to see the gang back together and this was very much a greatest hits show. Great show and no real complaints over the set list.
1991, Lenny Kravitz, Brixton Academy, London
This was at the beginning of the height of Kravitz’s commercial peak after two excellent albums and just before the behemoth that was ‘Are you gonna go my way’. It’s a packed Brixton even after he had played Wembley the night before.
Of course the bulk of the set was most of those first two albums and there’s nothing wrong with that. Even though it was thirty years ago I remember that this was just a rock masterclass, great tunes, great riffs and solos and Kravitz’s unique voice.
1986, Elvis Costello, Royalty Theatre, London
This was part of a three or four night consecutive stint at the Royalty theatre for Elvis and the Attractions. I think John went to every night but I just tagged along for this one. This was my first time seeing Elvis and one of the first gigs I went to with John full stop as we had only met the year before. Whilst I was obviously aware of Elvis and the ‘hits’ this show really introduced me to the wonderful back catalogue of albums that I still go back to now.
This was also where Elvis introduced the spinning songbook wheel of about forty tracks. He would call a member of the audience up to the stage, they would spin the wheel and whatever it landed on they would sing while the member of the audience sat at a makeshift bar on stage. A nice gimmick and led to a lot of spontaneity. Of course I was hooked and have seen the great man many times since then. A truly memorable show with my best bud.
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.