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.
With a holiday getting in the way of my daily entry I have summarised the last week quickly below
3rd September
2015, Sufjan Stevens, Royal Festival Hall, London
A superb show in the cathedral like setting of the RFH. Reviewed here at the time.
2014, St Paul and the Broken Bones, Electric Ballroom, London
Our first time to see these guys headlining after their epic support slot a few months beforehand and of course they delivered handsomely again and reviewed here at the time.
4th September
2019, Charlie Parr and JD Wilkes, the Lexington, London
Another great Parr show reviewed here at the time.
2017 Courtney Marie Andrews, Bush Hall, London
Another great show from CMA this time with full band after a solo gig in a Guildford pub a few months previous. Briefly reviewed here at the time.
2016, Drew Holcomb, the Borderline, London
A great double set from the super talented Drew Holcomb reviewed here at the time.
1994. Lyle Lovett, Royal Festival Hall, London
A jump back twenty five years or so with John, Graham and myself for I think our first time seeing Lyle Lovett. After the superb Joshua Judges Ruth a couple of years previous Lovett is over here touring in support of follow up ‘I Love Everybody’. Aside from many tracks from that release the set is a nice balance from his back catalogue too. A super night from the country master.
5th September
2019, Frankie Lee, Native Harrow, the Railway Inn, Winchester
A great double header down the M3 in Hampshire which was reviewed at the time here.
2018, the Record Company, Omeara, London
A new band for Graham and me tonight and what a night of kick ass rock and roll which was reviewed here.
2012, Alabama Shakes, Concorde 2, Brighton
Over here for I think their first UK tour after their breakthrough hit ‘Hold On’ and it’s a fine soul rock show and you cannot fail to be impressed by Brittany Howard’s voice. This was a band at the creative peak and I think have tailed off since their debut.
1984, Queen, Wembley Arena, London
This was ‘The Works’ tour famous for the anthemic clap a long ‘Radio Ga Ga’. What can you say about a Queen gig? Freddie being arguably the most charismatic performer of all time never failed to deliver and tonight we have 31 songs. All the hits are there along with funky covers of ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Saturday night is alright for fighting’. Stunning show and so grateful to have seen them twice while Freddie was alive.
6th September
2019, Dylan LeBlanc, the Keep, Guildford
What a brilliant night down in the ‘burbs which I reviewed at the time here. You may have expected LeBlanc and his fine backing band the Pollies to have just gone through the motions for this small scale gig. No such problem as they delivered a barnstorming full set in this intimate venue and the crowd were in great form too. There is shared energy between performer and crowd which is hard to manufacture and just spontaneously happens. A super super night out and as an added bonus we are home within thirty minutes too.
7th September
2016, the Jayhawks, Islington Assembly Hall, London
Reviewed at the time here. It’s the Jayhawks, what more do I need to say. Pure class.
2015, Dawes, My Morning Jacket, Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Reviewed at the time here. A superb double header with Dawes providing the starter to the MMJ main course.
2010, Janelle Monae, Koko, London
This would have been Janelle Monae’s first proper tour of the UK after her fine debut album ‘ArchAndroid’ was released shortly prior to this. Given her newness as an artist this was not a low key show. There was a fully designed impressive stage set, great lighting and a fully colour coordinated band with backing singers in tow.
Sitting somewhere between Prince and Amy Whitehouse, Monae delivers the perfect pop, funk, soul set with her great band along with choreographed dance moves et al. Cant believe it took me so long to see here again as I did at Glasto last year.
8th September
2007, the Police, Twickenham Stadium, London
I have no idea why but I didn’t see The Police back in their heyday as I did like them a lot and Antony and I would be singing their songs all the time. Today it’s Anne, Mr Head and myself and we are transported back twenty odd years. The band coming back together settling their differences at least temporarily for these reunion shows they rattle through the hits. You know every word and I loved every minute. Great stuff.
2003 Willard Grant Conspiracy/Grand Drive, Union Chapel, London
A nice double bill tonight with WGC and support from South London’s finest Grand Drive. I don’t remember a lot about this specific gig but at the time I couldn’t get enough of the late Robert Fisher’s haunting baritone.
9th September
2000, Steely Dan, Wembley Arena, London
It’s our one and only attendance at a Steely Dan gig who were neither prolific in terms of either recorded output or live appearances on these fine shores. So it’s with great excitement that John, Graham and I make our way to North London. It’s a twenty song set taking in tracks from across their most excellent back catalogue. Music doesn’t get any better than this and I am so glad that I could tick the box of seeing these guys and thankfully so since Walter Becker died a couple of years back.
10th September
1985, Robert Plant, Wembley Arena, London
Graham and I saw Plant a few times during this decade and he was very hit and miss often resorting to a lesson in vocal gymnastics showing off his fine range rather than sticking to the songs.
This show was definitely a game of two halves. Plant struggled to generate any sort of atmosphere in the cavernous Arena at the start of the show which looking back at the set surprises me given the quality of the songs. It was around this time that Plant also recorded an album of rock n roll standards under the moniker of The Honeydrippers and it was only when he switched it up and performed a number of these that the crowd woke up and this momentum carried the rest of the set through to the end.
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.