It has been a few years since I last saw Steve Harley. I have followed his career from the very early days when I first saw him at Sunderland Locarno with no less than Be Bop Deluxe as support act in around 1973 I guess. I recall one particular show at Newcastle City Hall where he announced that “Make Me Smile” was number 1 in the charts and the place just erupted. 1 of the best nights of my life.
Steve Harley is an enigma. Always outspoken, some great tunes and a following that remains incredibly loyal. The fire station is a great local venue and was completely packed for this performance and rightly so. The guy remains relevant today and has recently released a new album consisting of some original songs and some “reimaginings” (not covers, Steve insisted) of his favourite songs.
The concert comprised two sets. The first set focused on the new album and some great songs. Steve has immaculate taste. His acoustic ensemble consisted of a guitarist, violinist/guitarist and double bass player and they provided excellent accompaniment to Steve who sat, centrestage, singing and playing acoustic guitar.
So, his “reimaginings” included Cat Stevens’ “How Can I Tell You” (great choice), David Bowie’s “Absolute Beginners” (not so sure about this choice) and Paul McCartney’s “I’Ve Just Seen a Face” (marvellous, one of my favourite Beatles’ tracks). And he delivered great versions of each of the songs. He explained that he sent a copy of his version of the song to each of the writers, he said he knew Cat Stevens and got a lovely reply from him. He didn’t mention whether he received replies from the others; apart from saying that he was still waiting for his reply from McCartney. Alongside this he sang his own “Judy Teen”; as an aside telling us that he was hunting for a video copy of their performance of the song on Top of the Pops. Apparently the tapes were wiped and it does not exist….Unless you were sitting in front of your TV with an old cinecamera. He closed the first set with another marvellous classic song: the Rolling Stones, as interpreted by Chris Farlowe “out of time”. Lots of singalong, much to the delight of Mr Harley.
Set 2 consisted of a few more songs from the new album all of which sounded just fine. Thank you Steve for sharing these with us. And then we were into the final stretch. “Mr Soft” was followed by “Tumbling Down” and more singalong… “Look what they’ve done to the blues, blues, blues”. Steve seemed genuinely blown away by the audience reaction and the great strong voices from the crowd that accompanied each singalong section. I remember many happy evenings spent with Steve and Cockney Rebel where one of the closing songs was often “Tumbling Down”: Newcastle Mayfair, Newcastle City Hall, Redcar Coatham Bowl, Sunderland Empire and probably others. Then, Steve’s first single and the beautiful, haunting, twisting and turning ballad that is “Sebastian”. We all knew what was coming: “Make Me Smile” closed the evening. It doesn’t get much better Steve, long may you continue to come and sing to us. And thanks for returning to Sunderland (Steve made reference to the city: “some of you will have sung this with me at the Empire just next door” referring to (I think it was) the aforementioned classic “Tumbling Down”). Happy days.
Setlist: Set 1: Compared With You (Your Eyes Don’t Seem to Age); How Can I Tell You; Absolute Beginners; Lay Me Down; Only You; Judy Teen; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Out of Time
Set 2: All Men Are Hungry; Journey’s End (A Father’s Promise); The Coast of Amalfi; A Friend for Life; Mr Soft; Tumbling Down; Sebastian.
Encore: Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Thanks to Jan for taking the photos
Steve Earle
The Playhouse website describes Steve’s background much better than I am able: ” Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, he quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders, and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre.”
Steve came on stage exactly as advertised at 8:30 PM. I was told he would be finished by 10 PM. His set was a mixture of songs from throughout his career. Each song was delivered in his unique raucous blues style. At one point in the proceedings, he explained: “Townes Van Zandt once told me there are two kinds of music: the blues and Zipadee–Doo–Dah” and that was pretty much the logic behind Steve’s delivery. Each song came from deep within his heart and soul. This guy is the real thing and pulls no punches. He isn’t afraid to admit that he is a recovered/recovering heroin addict. At one point he sadly told us of the recent passing of his son as a result of drugs. Whiskey and hard drugs are part of Steve’s life; or at least they have been in the past.
His songs tell the stories of this guy’s life through his hard drinking and drug using days. He did a great rendition of “Mr Bojangles”; I had forgotten that this had been written by country star Jerry Jeff Walker, rather I associated the song with Sammy Davis Junior. Steve closed with his signature song “Copperhead Road”.
Setlist (something like): If I Should Fall From Grace With God; The Devil’s Right Hand; My Old Friend The Blues; Someday; Guitar Town; I Ain’t Ever Satisfied; Taneytown; Now She’s Gone; Goodbye; Sparkle and Shine; You’re the Best Lover That I Ever Had; South Nashville Blues; CCKMP; Transcendental Blues; Angel Is the Devil; It’s About Blood; Mr. Bojangles; Harlem River Blues; Tell Moses; Galway Girl; Copperhead Road.
Now, to my shame, 
St James Park proudly announced the concert thus: “Sam Fender has announced details of his first stadium headline show – and one of summer 2023’s hottest tickets – at St. James’ Park. Fender headlines at the home of Newcastle United on the 9th June 2023, following in the footsteps of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, and becomes the first Geordie musician to headline the iconic stadium. Over the past few months, Fender has solidified himself as one of the most celebrated and successful British artists of his generation, pulling a huge crowd on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury ahead of his own 45,000 sell-out show at London’s Finsbury Park. It’s been a huge 2022 so far for the North Shields hero, picking up a slew of BRIT, NME, and Ivor Novello Awards, and a first nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize next week, for his second album, the critically acclaimed number one album, Seventeen Going Under.
Ahead of a series of shows alongside Florence & The Machine in the US, and his first Australian shows since 2019, this latest announcement suggests 2023 will be his biggest year yet. Sam Fender said: “Ever since I started this band, I always used to joke with the boys that one day we might play St. James’ Park in Newcastle.
Laura was with her partner Dale and they were sitting in a different part of the stadium to my carer Jan and me. We were in the wheelchair area towards the back of the pitch, on a raised area located within the rear stand. The ground was absolutely packed and the atmosphere was, to use an old phrase, simply electric. To say Sam Fender is a local hero, is an understatement. The guy is simply massive in the north-east. He hails from North Shields and is a big Newcastle United fan. This was obvious when we saw the crowd, everyone turned out proudly in their black-and-white shirts.
The atmosphere was like I imagine it must be on a big match day, everyone in party mood, singing and chanting along and that was before Sam took to the stage. Sam’s allegiances were clear. His programme is black-and-white and the T-shirts on sale at the merchandise stand gave a choice between one with the Newcastle Brown Ale symbol emblazoned with “Sam Fender” and another with “Greetings from St James Park, Newcastle upon Tyne” obviously modelled upon Bruce Springsteen’s album cover “Greetings from Asbury Park New Jersey”. Sam is a massive Springsteen fan.
We arrived just in time to catch the last song of support band 
But everyone was clearly waiting for Sam to take the stage which he did shortly after 9 PM to a rapturous reception. This was a celebration of a local lad done good and a massive singalong, everyone knowing the words of every song. Sam stood proudly out front, with a rock band and brass section behind him belting out songs which have clearly become anthems for the Newcastle fans. Sam Fender was obviously overwhelmed by the whole thing; this was a young man living his dream.
I didn’t know any of the songs, other than Springsteen classic “I’m On Fire” but that didn’t matter. You couldn’t help but get swept away by the atmosphere. Black-and-white flags waving aloft, everyone singing along and so many Newcastle United strips. This was like a cup final day. The show was pretty spectacular. Great screens and visuals. Fireworks, flames and masses of confetti falling from the sky and blowing about everywhere: I was covered in it! I was hoping he would play “Winter Song” the Lindisfarne classic which I saw him perform on a television programme about the band and its leader the sadly missed Alan Hull.
But the fact that he didn’t play that particular song did not detract from my enjoyment of a great concert. Just read that AC/DC star front man and fellow Geordie Brian Johnson took the stage with Sam on the second of the two concerts. I wish I had seen that! Still, I was elsewhere witnessing a great performance by Steve Earle, which you can read about soon.
So, this was the third leg of our concert tour having taken in the Jeff Beck tribute at the Albert Hall two weeks ago, Bruce Springsteen in Murrayfield Edinburgh last week and now back down to London and the O2 to see 
The evening at the O2 started with the nice perks of having an O2 phone and O2 priority as a result. And a result it was. We managed to avoid the long queues, joining a very short O2 priority queue which swiftly led us into the O2 Blue Room where we were fed and watered with some lovely pizza and chips for me, burger and chips for the ladies and nice drinks (double Jack Daniels was my choice tipple). Plus 10% discount for using my American Express card.
Then came a little diversion and adventure. To my shame I had somehow purchased ambulant accessible tickets rather than wheelchair tickets. Ambulant accessible tickets are intended for individuals who are able to walk but have other disabilities which require them to need a companion. For example, my daughter Laura who is blind, qualifies for ambulant accessible tickets. However, this meant I did not have a seat in the wheelchair area. Rather, I had a normal seat. Totally my own mistake. I don’t know how I managed to do this. Anyway, after some cajoling and pleading we managed to get my tickets swapped to seats on the wheelchair platform. Thank you so much to the O2 staff who were incredibly helpful. So, Jackie and I took all seats on the wheelchair platform and Jan went up into the upper tier for her seat.
The show opened with the music of “Comfortably Numb” and the several screens rising up towards the ceiling of the venue. This was a very spectacular show with Roger and his band performing in the round, in the central area of the arena floor, surrounded above by a series of screens which displayed images and the band to every corner of the arena. Then came a series of tracks from The Wall including the hit song “Another Brick in the Wall” with the famous hammers video imagery. Roger moved around the stage so that everyone got a chance to see him. The images on the screens alternated between the band and visuals.
To say this show was political is an understatement. Roger displayed a number of anti-war slogans across the screens and images of US presidents each with their “war crimes” displayed across them. The first half of the show closed with some wonderful videos of Syd Barrett as Roger performed “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on you Crazy Diamond”.
Over the images of Syd, Roger told the story of how the two friends travelled from their home town Cambridge to London in order to see Gene Vincent in concert supported by the Rolling Stones, no less, and vowed to form a band, which of course they did when they returned to London as students a few years later. He then went on to display a story in words of how Syd became unwell (all of which is well documented and involved his descent into schizophrenia as a result of taking too much LSD) and was confused when they were playing in Los Angeles, believing he was in Las Vegas. All very sad and a fitting tribute to the genius who led Pink Floyd in their early days.
At one point Roger went into a long rant concerning how the media and the politicians were trying to “cancel” him as a result of the political elements of the concert and, in particular, the fallout from his recent Berlin show where he was criticised by the authorities for wearing a Nazi like uniform and for the flying pig which they believed contained anti-Semitic imagery.
Indeed, as we entered the O2, we passed a group of protesters with placards and who were asking us not to attend the concert. Roger had a long script for his aforementioned rant; this recent publicity has clearly annoyed the guy. At one point during the show Roger wore the military uniform which is actually not displaying Nazi swastikas, rather these are the hammers from The Wall imagery.
The first half of the show concluded with “Sheep” from the Animals album with a giant sheep slowly flying around the arena. All part of the wonderful spectacle that one has come to expect of a Roger Waters concert. A short interval and another double Jack Daniels later and I settled back into my perch in the wheelchair area.
The second half of the show started with the aforementioned flying pig slowly manoeuvring its way around the arena. The music consisted of Roger Waters solo material and more familiar territory including songs from Dark Side of the Moon including “Money” and “Us and Them” complemented by images from the Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd. Fantastic. Roger concluded the show with himself and the band around a piano while he performed a new song in tribute to his recently passed older brother. The screen displayed images of Roger as a child beside his brother and his parents.
A great concert, with a rich mix of old, new, spectacle and politics. But then I guess this is what we have come to expect from Roger Waters, now 79, still looking well and performing world-class music from throughout his career. On our way back to our hotel I managed to give my head a nasty clash. I misjudged the height of the side entrance to a black cab as I manoeuvred up the ramp. Perhaps the two double Jack Daniels didn’t help. I was soon back in my bed, my head still a little sore. However, by the morning I was okay and we made our way home to rest after our two weeks of adventures.
Setlist: Set 1: Comfortably Numb; The Happiest Days of Our Lives; Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2; Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3; The Powers That Be; The Bravery of Being Out of Range; The Bar; Have a Cigar; Wish You Were Here; Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-VII, V); Sheep.
Set 2: In the Flesh; Run Like Hell; Déjà Vu; Déjà Vu (Reprise); Is This the Life We Really Want?; Money; Us and Them; Any Colour You Like; Brain Damage; Eclipse; Two Suns in the Sunset; The Bar (Reprise); Outside the Wall.
Brooooce, Brooooce the crowd cheered as we waited for The Boss to take the stage. 7 PM, exactly as announced, 
The first hour consists of songs which, to my shame, are not so familiar to me. After all, this guy has a massive 50 year catalogue to draw from. And that is exactly what he does throughout the evening, selecting songs from throughout his career. Bruce and I have travelled some of his long road together. My first experience of Springsteen was at his debut UK concerts in Hammersmith Odeon 1975. Since then I have seen him at Newcastle City Hall, St James’s Park Newcastle, Dublin Point, the O2 Arena London, Hampden Park Glasgow, Leeds Arena and the Stadium of Light, Sunderland. Two of those concerts have been immortalised on DVD: the legendary 1975 London shows and the Dublin Seeger Sessions show.
“Darkness on the Edge of Town” takes me back to more familiar territory and then “Kitty’s Back” goes even further back; in fact right back to the very start. Class! Soon we are into “Backstreets” which takes me to 1975 and more familiar material. The rest of the evening passes in a blur. So many great songs and so many memories. “Because The Night” is of course a signature song for Patti Smith, for whom Bruce wrote the tune; but Bruce also does a great version of this classic anthem. “She’s the One” is as great as ever. The set closes with the haunting mouth harp of Bruce leading us into “Thunder Road” which is as haunting as ever. The audience take over and sing the majority of the vocals.
Steve Van Zandt looks as cool as ever. He and Bruce bounce off each other throughout the night, with Steve playing some great guitar.
“Glory Days” soon follows, then another classic “Dancing in the Dark”. Back to 1975 and “Tenth Avenue Freeze–Out”, with some great images of the late, sadly missed big man Clarence Clemons, he of the magnificent sax playing in the original E Street Band. Bruce closes the evening, a lone figure on the stage, with “I’ll See You in My Dreams”.
We all file out of the stadium and into the cool Scottish evening. Well organised buses transport us back to our hotel in Rose Street, just off Princes Street and Waverley station. Then, next morning, luckily unaffected by the train strike which was taking place that day, we board our LNER service to Newcastle. All works like magic. A great day with a great performer, songwriter and someone who has so much energy that he can ignite any stadium around the world. Long may you continue to do so Bruce.
Setlist: No Surrender; Ghosts; Prove It All Night; Death to My Hometown; Letter to You; The Promised Land; Out in the Street; Candy’s Room; Darkness on the Edge of Town; Kitty’s Back; Nightshift; Mary’s Place; The E Street Shuffle; Johnny 99; Last Man Standing; Backstreets; Because the Night; She’s the One; Wrecking Ball; The Rising; Badlands; Thunder Road.
This was a warmup show for 
On the night we arrived early and took our place on the disabled platform. The staff were incredibly helpful making sure that Laura, I and our respective carers were safely in place with a great view over the standing throng who started to enter the venue. All of the seats had been taken out to allow a massive crowd to stand, go crazy and enjoy the evening. There were two support acts, apologies, I did not catch the names of the bands who warmed the crowd up as the venue slowly filled to capacity.
By the time Blur took to the stage the venue was absolutely crammed downstairs and upstairs. Everyone was waiting for the main act and and ready to really enjoy themselves. All I say is that Blur were simply incredible. Damon and the band were on top form and delivered a set of classic songs from throughout their career. I had forgotten how many great hits this group has had. “Beetlebum”, “Parklife” and “Song 2” all brought back so many memories. Damon switched effortlessly from electric guitar, to acoustic guitar, vocals only and to piano and was really up for it.
He threw lots of glasses of water over the crowd who simply loved it. The packed in people down the front were obviously suffering from the heat and were passed glasses of water by the security staff. The staff even came round onto our platform and gave us one ice pop each to cool us down. Thank you so much and it was very welcome. They also came round and took our drinks orders (double whiskey for me please :-))
I can see so many influences within Blur: the Sex Pistols (at times Damon reminded me of John Lydon), the discordant guitar of Public Image Ltd, the Englishness of the Kinks, the Cockney swagger of Small Faces. This band draws from the past and blends it together to create their own classic indie pop tunes. Of course after closing with “This is a Low” they returned for an encore which included more smash hits: “Girls and Boys”, the wonderful “Tender” and finished with “The Universal” with everyone singing along, arms aloft and swaying. A fantastic night and a great warmup for the band ahead of their massive Wembley stadium concert which I sure will be excellent.
Laura, I, Elaine (my companion for the evening) and Pete (Laura’s companion for the evening) all agreed that it was simply fantastic. A great evening with a classic English Brit pop band in an intimate venue. It doesn’t get much better. Many thanks to Blur for choosing Newcastle City Hall for one of their four warmup gigs. Laura, David and I attended a similar concert many years ago when Blur played Newcastle Academy as a warmup for their Hyde Park concert. We met David and Shauna outside and had a quick chat before I got into my taxi. They both thought that, like all of us, the concert was excellent. Thank you Elaine for taking the photographs.
Setlist: Tales of the Unexpected (Theme); St. Charles Square; There’s No Other Way; Popscene; Tracy Jacks; Chemical World; Young & Lovely; Beetlebum; Trimm Trabb; Villa Rosie; Coffee & TV; Out of Time; End of a Century; Parklife; To the End; Sunday Sunday; Advert; Bank Holiday; Song 2; This Is a Low.
Sorry for taking so long to write this review. But it was an important evening and there was so much to write about! And I apologise in advance for any typos that have crept in to this lengthy (for me, anyway) account.
So, on the day three of us, Jackie, Jan (my carers) and I travelled down by train to London for the show at the Majestic Albert Hall. This was my first visit to the Royal Albert Hall since my accident. My last visit there was to see Clapton at his 70th birthday concert. And tonight, it was Eric Clapton and his band who opened and, to some extent, led the proceedings. The disabled access within the building is fantastic and we had seats quite high up looking directly down on the stage. Once we got ourselves and my wheelchair positioned, we had a pretty good view of the stage. People travelled from all of the world for this concert. I met a cool oldish guy in the bar who had travelled from New York. “Jeff Beck was The Man!” he proudly told me. Of course, I agreed.
The concert opened with a single spotlight on a white Fender Stratocaster standing proudly centre stage on a beautiful Indian carpet. Yes, this was one of Jeff Beck’s guitars. It was quite emotional looking down from our vantage point upstairs at the instrument. Above the guitar, a large screen showed images of Jeff Beck over the years, many displaying his beloved collection of classic cars.
Clapton opened the proceedings with his band and great performances of the Yardbirds classics “Shapes of Things” and “Heart Full of Soul”. Wonderful. Both favourite songs of mine and performed perfectly. Clapton took vocal duties on the former and his long-term collaborator and fellow guitarist Doyle Bramhall did a great job of singing the latter song.
The band was then joined by Derek Trucks on “Little Brown Bird”. Derek is an ace slide guitarist, to say the least Then Derek’s wife Susan Tedeshi did a great bluesy version of “Done Somebody Wrong” singing and playing lead guitar. I can see why my friend John is such a fan of the Tedeschi Trucks band. Susan continued to lead the band with the lovely song “The Sky Is Crying”.
Ronnie Wood then swaggered on stage; Clapton introducing him as “here comes the scallywag” which seemed quite appropriate. Ronnie was on stage for most of the evening. He proudly took the lead on bass guitar for “Beck’s Bolero” a favourite of mine from the Jeff Beck Group. Ronnie was, of course, a member of the band along with his old mate Rod Stewart, who would join in during the second half of the show. Ronnie reminded the audience that he often played bass guitar when he was in the Jeff Beck Group.
Next came a song unfamiliar to me: “Elegy For Dunkirk” with classical singer Olivia Safe on vocals and Robert Randolph on keyboards. The backing musicians changed from Clapton’s band to Jeff Beck’s band during the evening and sometimes involved a blend of both. All excellent musicians, particularly Beck’s female bass guitarist and female drummer and Chris Stainton on keyboards. Chris is a long-time member of Eric’s band. I remember seeing him for the first time back in 1972 when he performed as backing band to Joe Cocker who headlined the Lincoln Festival.
“Isolation” sees actor come rockstar Johnny Depp, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons (great hat and beard) take the stage. The next song is simply fantastic; a wonderful version of the Shangri-La’s “(Remember) Walkin’ In The Sand” led on sassy vocals by Imelda May, who looks (in a slinky red dress) fantastic and sounds tremendous. A highlight of the evening. Billy Gibbons remains on stage for the rest of the first half of the show, playing some great riffs. Johnny Depp looks so cool and is in his element playing along with his heroes. And this show must be so emotional for him, having toured with Jeff Beck only last year.
Then the mood changes substantially towards jazz and the elder statesman of the guitar, Jon McLaughlin who plays two instrumentals from the Wired period of Beck’s work. McLaughlin takes guitar playing to another level. He really is a master of his craft and looks a cool gentleman at 81 years young. Billy Gibbons continues to lead the band after McLaughlin departs, and the first half of the show concludes with a rocking version of “Train Kept A Rollin’” bringing back memories of the appearance of the Yardbirds in the 100 Club during the classic 60s film Blow Up, featuring Johnny Depp, Kirk Hammett, Ronny Wood, Billy Gibbons, Imelda May and the Jeff Beck Band. A great finish to the start of the proceedings.
During the Intermission there is a little time for some people watching and another double whiskey topped off with some lovely salted popcorn! The screen shows more video of Jeff Beck and many clips of fellow guitar heroes commenting upon his genius including fellow Yardbird Jimmy Page.
Soon we return to the music with Eric Clapton and his band. “I Put A Spell On You” features fantastic, soulful vocals by Joss Stone. ”‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” and the very cool looking Gary Clark, Jr. adds more bluesy guitar to the mix.
A song or two later Ronnie Wood’s old mate Rod Stewart takes to the stage, starting with “Infatuation” and then moving into two songs which he sang with the Jeff Beck Group: “Rock Me Baby” and “I Ain’t Superstitious ”. It’s great to see the two old mod rockers jamming together again. Brings back memories of The Faces.
The concert closes with the entire cast performing the Curtis Mayfield classic “People Get Ready”, followed by “Going Down” which ends the concert and brings back memories of the first time I saw Jeff Beck live at Grangemouth Festival in 1972; I feel sure Beck, Bogert and Appice played that song there.
It really couldn’t have been much better and was a fitting tribute to a true guitar warrior and legend. Yes, I would have liked to have heard “Morning Dew”, “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (but then Jeff never really liked the song) and it would have been great if Jimmy Page had appeared. But none of that mattered. I will remember this concert for the rest of my life.
Setlist: Blue Rainbow; Shapes Of Things; Heart Full Of Soul; Wee Wee Baby; Little Brown Bird; Done Somebody Wrong; The Sky Is Crying; Beck’s Bolero; Elegy For Dunkirk; Isolation; Walkin’ In The Sand; Goodbye Porkpie Hat; You Know You Know; Stratus; Rough Boy; Rice Pudding; Train Kept A Rollin’
Freeway Jam; I Put A Spell On You; ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers; Let Me Love You; Infatuation; Rock My Plimsoul (Rock Me Baby); I Ain’t Superstitious; People Get Ready; Going Down
This tour was entitled “Tunes and Chat” as opposed to the previous 
Arrived in time to have a nice double whiskey. No merchandise this time around. Accompanied by carer Elaine and old mate Norm.So Francis started at the beginning with some tales of his Italian origins and Italian songs such as “Papa Pickalino” (or something like that) and how they introduced him to music, songs and the guitar shuffle which would be the backdrop to many of the Status Quo tracks. He talked about how psychedelia and pop led him to write “Pictures of Matchstick Men” and then moved on to explain how Status Quo became more rocky and the shuffle became songs like “Spinning Wheel Blues” and “In My Chair”. Then we got the great “Gerdundula”, “Down the Dustpipe” and others. “Burning Bridges” (“some people like it, some people hate it” said Francis) closed the first set. Time for ice cream (Ben & Jerry’s; lovely)
During the interval the merchandise stall was selling the latest Francis large format coffee table signed book, which I already have courtesy of his website. Before I forget to mention it, the second guitarist was excellent and played quite a lot of lead guitar; both men on similar looking electric guitars. The second set comprised more tunes and some questions from the audience. One in particular sticks in my mind. Francis’ sidekick read the questions from cards collected from a pile placed on the stage by audience members. “What makes you so successful and to have continued success over so many years?” After a little thought Francis replied “Well I am basically insecure. I always wanted to be famous and to feel loved. And I still do feel that way. So to fulfil my dreams and overcome my insecurities I have to keep coming out and performing to audiences like yourselves”.
Another question. “Which do you prefer? Large arenas or small theatres?” Again, after a pause, “I suppose I like the intimacy of smaller venues where I can actually see the audience and sing and talk directly to them”. Then we are into the final stretch and Status Quo favourites “Margarita Time”, “Rockin’ All over the World” and finally “Caroline”. All good fun. Elaine, Norm and I all enjoyed it. But hey Francis time to get the Quo back on the road.
Setlist: Set 1: Pictures of Matchstick Men; (April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays; Spinning Wheel Blues; In My Chair; Gerdundula; Rock ‘n’ Roll; Claudie; Break the Rules; Down the Dustpipe; Burning Bridges
60 years on and you can’t keep a good band, like 
These are the songs of my childhood and youth. Yes this band may not be 100% “cool” but hey who can forget the jangle of “Needles and Pins” or the thumping bass of “When You Walk in the Room”? Pure 1960s pop classics. By the way, check out the originals by Jackie De Shannon (there are some great videos of her performing the songs on YouTube). John McNally, now 81 (wow!) still plays a mean 12 string Rickenbacker and Frank Allen, new boy to the band (he joined in 1964 and is 79 years young) is the consummate front man. “New Comer” Spencer James who joined in 1986 takes the honours in singing lead vocal on most of the songs. And a great job he does too.
We arrive in time to buy a couple of programmes, one for me and one for my friend John in the USA, a T-shirt and a fridge magnet for my eldest daughter who loves to collect small memorabilia, a double whiskey to get me in the mood and quickly to our seats down the front. They start, well right back to the start with “Sweets for My Sweet” and the wonderful “Don’t Throw Your Love Away” and then John gets a chance to really jingle jangle his 12 string on the Byrds/Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”. More hits follow including another favourite of mine “What Have They Done to the Rain?” followed by “Goodbye My Love” a great version of Del Shannon’s “Runaway” and “Someday We’re Gonna Love Again”. Yes they did have loads of hits during the period 1963 – 1966. They close the first half by returning to their roots and covers of “Peggy Sue”, “Oh, Boy!” and “Running Scared”.
The interval allows time for a lovely Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and more hits and covers: “Ain’t Gonna Kiss Ya”, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”; back to the start again with “Sugar and Spice” and another favourite of mine that I have on an EP somewhere “Love Potion No. 9”. A few more covers and they close with “Needles and Pins” and “When You Walk in the Room”, followed by their version of the Isley’s “Twist and Shout”. Finally we get a medley of all the hits together: “Sweets for My Sweet; Don’t Throw Your Love Away; When You Walk in the Room; Love Potion No.9; Sugar and Spice; Needles and Pins”. That’s it. Will it be the last time. I suspect not.
Music and performing is in the blood of these guys. They just can’t stop. If you told me when I was 15 that at 66 I would be watching a band of “pop” stars in their 80s still singing their hits I would have said you are crazy. But hey why not. It’s all good fun. Happy days. “I saw her today, I saw her face, it was a face I loved, and I knew I just had to run away, and get down on my knees and pray, but then they begin….” You just can’t beat it. Pure magic.
Second set: Ain’t Gonna Kiss Ya; All My Sorrows ; Where Have All the Flowers Gone; Sugar and Spice; Somebody Told Me You Were Crying; Love Potion No. 9; Four Strong Winds; Have You Ever Loved Somebody?; The Rose; Young Girl; Needles and Pins; When You Walk in the Room; Twist and Shout; Medley of Sweets for My Sweet; Don’t Throw Your Love Away; When You Walk in the Room; Love Potion No.9; Sugar and Spice; Needles and Pins.
It is some years since I first saw 
The obvious one is Eric Clapton. My friend, John who hails from the North-East and now lives in the USA, is a massive Joe fan and has seen him many times. He feels that Bonamassa is on par with Clapton at his best and I can’t disagree. I also see and hear music that reminds me of all of the great blues guitarists: Jimi Hendrix, Alvin Lee, Peter Green, Jeff Beck and, of course, Paul Kossoff. Joe Bonamassa is a big fan and disciple of Paul Kossoff and owns at least one of his guitars.
I love Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and T-Bone Walker and stuff like that, but I couldn’t sit down. I was always forcing myself to listen to whole records by them, where I’d rather listen to Humble Pie do “I’m Ready” than Muddy Waters, you know? I think, the English interpretation of the blues just hit me a lot better, you know?”
His songs are his own, yet firmly grounded within the tradition of the old blues man alongside the aforementioned 1960s and 1970s artists who brought the blues to a wider international audience. There are many guitar changes from Stratocaster to Les Paul to Gibson Flying V, and many long but enjoyable guitar solos. Each solo takes the audience away on a journey deep into the blues, returning to the song with Joe delivering lyrics himself, accompanied by the lady singers. He closes the set by proudly talking about the first time he played at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a UK memory of which he is clearly very proud, and rightly so. The encore is a slow soulful blues ballad entitled “Mountain Time”. I really enjoyed the concert and I intend to invest more time getting to know Joe Bonamassa’s songs before I go and see him next time round.
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