This was a warmup show for Blur’s major summer show at Wembley Stadium. Tickets sold very quickly and were all snapped up in a few minutes.
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.
Encore: Girls & Boys; The Narcissist; Tender; For Tomorrow; The Universal.
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
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.
was young watching Top of the Pops. He didn’t dare reveal his true ambition to his mother who would not have believed him so he kept it quiet until he met his friend Wild Willy Barrett and the two of them embarked upon a lifelong career, all with the ultimate aim of making John Otway a true pop star. Sometimes along that journey the two would fall out but destiny would bring them back together again as they are today. The strange marriage has now reached its 50th birthday (wow! Can it be true) and the odd couple are travelling the roads of England singing their songs to cult followers old and new.
Now it is long long time since I witnessed Otway and Barrett. I have seen Otway advertised solo many times over the years but have passed on the opportunity of joining our true pop star in concert until now. The last time I saw the duo was probably in Newcastle Cooperage on a tour where to gain entry, free, you had to take along their latest 45 rpm single. Or maybe it was at Maxwell’s nightclub in Tynemouth (long since gone). Whatever, it was in the late 1970s or early 1980s. So, time to renew my acquaintance with the one and only true pop star, John Otway.
Jackie, my carer, and I arrived early and on time to snatch a couple of seats close to the front (well actually everyone is close to the front in the Launderette). In fact, the kind man on the door made sure that I had plenty of room in my wheelchair and that we had a great view of the stage. Soon our heroes took to said stage and it was not long before Otway delivered his hit, which made him a pop star “Really Free” and brought the duo into our living rooms on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. Otway was on top form, really getting into the angst of his ballads, ripping his shirt open, and being, well, a pop star.
After a short interval, during which I was pleased to meet my old friend Mitch, who would often comment on my blog, we were away again with “Somewhere over the Rainbow”, “Two Little Boys” (yes the song which became a hit for he who shall not be named, but Otway sang it before that) and the wonderful “Beware of The Flowers… Coz You Know They are Going To Get You… Yeah!”. Soon we are close to the end and Otway tears out his heart in front of us to the beautiful Bob Lind ballad “Cheryl’s Going Home “; I can feel the emotion in his voice and his typically over-the-top melodramatic performance is well; just wonderful.” Choo-Choo “goes the train down the track taking Otway’s love Cheryl away for ever. My heart goes out to my favourite pop star. Melodramatic magic.
Now I must make mention of the many guitars and other instruments including a violin and a set of Bagpuss bagpipes played largely by Wild Willy and sometimes by Otway. And I just have to mention Wild Willy’s brown dustbin which he opens frequently to reveal a loud amplifier hiding within. Willy closes the set by sawing his guitar in rhythm to the music, hitting the same guitar with a claw hammer (I kid you not) and then stamping on it. He sells the guitar to a guy in the audience for £31.99 and promises that if you bring two of his smashed guitars along to a gig, you will be admitted free. And he means it. A couple of encores and then our two heroes are gone. Jackie is now convinced that Otway is indeed a pop star.
Mike Rutherford has come a long way since I sat cross-legged on the ballroom floor in Sunderland Locarno watching Peter Gabriel and the rest of Genesis unfold magical tales such as “The Musical Box”, “Return of the Giant Hogweed” and climaxing in the rather spooky, swirling tones of “The Knife”. Somewhere in the background keeping the beat was the tall slender form of Mike Rutherford. And of course he also co-wrote the material. Roll forward 52 years and I have the pleasure of being in the company of Mike Rutherford once again, this time as front man and leader of 
The announcement on the Sage website told me: “Mike & The Mechanics who have sold over ten million records worldwide – announce their ‘Refueled! 2023 Tour – all the hits and a drop of Genesis.” Now the mention of a drop of Genesis intrigued me and further enticed me to attend the show.
The website went on to introduce the band: “Mike + The Mechanics are Genesis founding member Mike Rutherford (Guitar) – one of the UK’s most prolific R&B singer, Andrew Roachford – Lead and backing vocals – (whose previous hits include Cuddly Tour and Family Man) and Canadian-born singer, Tim Howar – lead and backing vocals – who formed and toured with his band Vantramp, with the likes of Rod Stewart and Paulo Nutini. Tim shares vocal duties with Roachford and they both add a new soulful dimension to the band’s already established sound.” In fact the band also included, in another drop of Genesis, Phil Collins’ son Nic Collins on drums.
Finally, I was promised: “The ‘Refueled!’ Tour in 2023, will include tracks from their critically acclaimed latest album ‘Out of the Blue’ plus some Genesis. Their ninth album features re-workings of some of the band’s best loved tracks, including ‘The Living Years’ and the unforgettable ‘Over My Shoulder’, along with three brand new songs: ‘Out Of The Blue’, ‘One Way’, ‘What Would You Do’.”
Set 2 starts off with some acoustic versions of familiar songs including the Genesis hit “Invisible Touch”. We move forward and back into an electric set with more Genesis in the form of “Follow You, Follow Me” and “I Can’t Dance”. Great versions of great songs.The band is excellent with exceptionally strong vocals from the duo of Tim Howart and Andrew Roachford.
Roachford gets to sing his massive hit “Cuddly Toy” and then we move forward and towards the end with the wonderful, moving epic that is “The Living Years”, “All I Need Is a Miracle” and closer “Over My Shoulder”. The band return to a standing ovation and play a much deserved encore: “Word of Mouth”.
And so the mighty 
The current line up of The Damned consists of: Dave Vanian; Captain Sensible; Paul Gray (on bass: I remember that name, yes he was in Eddie and the Hot Rods); Monty Oxymoron (crazy on keyboards) and Will Taylor on drums. And pretty great they remain!
We were soon on the home strait and the band crashed into classic after classic.”Love Song”, “Neat, Neat, Neat” moved into a mix of old songs including “Be Bop a Lula”! Class! Then “Eloise” (one of my favourite songs from the 60s, but hey guys, no one tops Barry Ryan and his version: the guy was my hero and role model when I was a kid!) “Smash It Up” and finally right back to the start and “New Rose”. These guys still know how to rock. Long may they do so.
Setlist: The Man With the Golden Arm; Street of Dreams; The Invisible Man; Wait for the Blackout; Lively Arts; Bad Weather Girl; You’re Gonna Realise; Western Promise; Beware of the Clown; Wake the Dead; Follow Me; Motorcycle Man; Leader of the Gang; From Your Lips; Born to Kill; Love Song; Second Time Around; Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow; Neat Neat Neat / 1969 / Folsom Prison Blues / Be Bop a Lula
is, in his own quiet way, a guitar innovator. His pedigree is strong and impressive and last night, reminded me just what a great guitarist the man is. As usual, and no apologies, the night brought back many memories of the man himself and of the venue. Steve Hillage currently has two identities (in fact, probably more): (1) as a reborn trance hero in the band System 7 and (2) he is now out on the road fronting a new Steve Hillage band, drawing from his classic mid – 1970s albums, such as my favourite L.
Firstly, memories of the venue came flooding back partly as I tried to work out in my head where Newcastle University Students Union Ballroom (or equivalent) might be these days. The last time I frequented said venue was during the 1980s witnessing great performances by bands such as Rip, Rig and Panic (featuring a fledgling Neneh Cherry, who had just left the Slits, and sometimes her father Don), Haircut 100 and The Cure. All of those concerts took place in the larger upstairs ballroom; a venue where I witnessed some great punk gigs during the 1970s including the Clash White Riot tour. (Tour advert from 
Some of the concerts including Sandie Shaw (rejuvenated by a collaboration with Morrissey at the time as I recall), Punishment of Luxury and the Au Pairs took place in a lower, smaller, hall named “The Canteen” (because that is exactly what it was during the day!). I was told that wheelchair access was via a lift through the students union building and the Co-op shop! Actually, those directions worked well and some helpful students directed me and my carer Jackie towards a lift which took us downstairs to the venue; I half recognised the hall, it may have been what I once knew as the Canteen. Anyway, sorry for going around the houses to say that we managed to get to the concert okay. However, by the time we arrived the hall was full and the best vantage point we could find was at the side of the stage. (picture of Steve from my ticket)
Secondly, Steve Hillage, psychedelic guitar wizard and inventor of the “glissando guitar” as exemplified by Steve’s wonderful soloing on his reinvention of the Donovan classic “Hurdy-Gurdy Glissando”. I have seen Steve Hillage several times over the years and he always strikes me as a quiet unassuming guy, and yet he has in his own quiet way achieved so much and forged a rich career along the way. I first came across Steve Hillage when he was a member of Khan, an early psychedelic band who I think I saw supporting Caravan in the early 1970s. I then saw him as a member of Gong and as part of Kevin Ayres band.
Roll forward to the Steve Hillage band 2023 in concert. Shortly after we arrived the band took to the stage, with lots of colourful lighting, wailing saxophone and electronica/psych keyboard wizardry courtesy of Steve’s long-term partner Miquette Giraudy. I am unsure who the rest of the band were, but I suspect they consisted of some current members of Gong, who continue to perform without any original members but with the blessing of Hillage and founder member, the late great Daevid Allen. After some wonderful twirling, swirling sounds the music soon took shape and morphed into Steve’s cover of the Beatles “It’s All Too Much” from L.
An excellent start to an evening of great music mixing tracks from throughout the band leader’s career. Some I recognised, several not, but they all featured great guitar dexterity from Mr Hillage. One he introduced as a Kevin Ayres song, in tribute to his former band leader. I suspect there was also a Gong track or two in the mix. Steve stood quietly centre stage sporting a short haircut (very unlike the 1970s proto-hippie Hillage we all know and love) and an intriguing looking guitar with no top stock. Soon we were at the end which featured further excellent guitar on “Hurdy-Gurdy Glissando”. The first encore started with some techno psych leading into The Move’s “I Can Hear the Grass Grow”.
As we left, the band came back for a second encore (I think from reports of other shows on the tour this may have been Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?”). The lift we came down on didn’t seem to work anymore, however a friendly guy soon took us to another much smaller lift, which we squeezed into, arriving at a different part of the University. We followed a few ramps and soon found our taxi, waiting to take us home.
This man is a walking jukebox! Not only did he write/co – write all of the hits of the magnificent 10CC, he also penned many of the hits, all songs I loved and still love, from the 60s. So, when I saw he was appearing at the Fire Station in Sunderland I just had to go along.
Graham started acoustically with one other guitarist Andy song which I didn’t know he had written: “Pamela, Pamela” which was a UK hit for the late Wayne Fontana. A simple song with a very catchy tune. Lovely. Then he started to sing a series of songs which mean so much to me and were such an important part of my youth. With each song, Graham introduced a new band member until the stage was full of a set of four excellent musicians. And so he delivered: “Heart Full of Soul” which was a hit for the Yardbirds, the late great Jeff Beck’s guitar solo still jangling around my brain; the bittersweet tale that the note in a milk bottle can bring (Graham explained his father brought him the title for the song after seeing a milk bottle with such a note one day): “No Milk Today”, a hit for Herman’s Hermits, and then moving forward to a 10CC hit “Good Morning Judge”. It doesn’t come any better than this.
A few more songs in and then another classic, again inspired by a conversation with a family member about looking through windows as the bus passed by each house: “Look through Any Window” a big hit for The Hollies, one of my all-time favourite bands. Graham explained that when he was inducted into the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame there was only one song he could choose and that had to be his favourite (and mine) “Bus Stop” which he wrote, again for the Hollies. Another excellent 60s pop song. Somewhere in there he sang a big hit which, to my shame, I had forgotten: “Bridge to your heart” which he co-wrote with the late great Andrew Gold in their short lived collaboration band Wax.
Sometime in 1971. Sunderland Locarno upstairs bar. I see a tall black guy in the corner of the bar and wonder who he is. I go up and have a quick chat. An hour or so later the band take the stage and the same tall black guy is fronting them. They are called Thin Lizzy and are pretty good too! The black guy is, of course, Phil Lynott. I am 14, Phil is 21.
1973 and I’m watching Top of the Pops. Thin Lizzy appear, playing “Whiskey in the Jar” which is in the chart at the time. I go out and buy the single.
Early 1980s. Middlesbrough Town Hall. Quite empty. Phil Lynott’s Grand Slam are appearing. Phil doesn’t look well. His face is bloated. The performance is not very inspiring.
Early 2000s. Thin Lizzy are headlining Newcastle City Hall again. This new version of the band comprises Scott Gorham, drummer Brian Downey and front man Ricky Warwick, who sounds quite a lot like Phil Lynott. They are surprisingly good and do justice to the Lizzy legacy.
2012 and Thin Lizzy become 
We arrived late and Michael Monroe was already on stage climbing up onto the balcony. By the time I said to my carer Jackie “Quick. Take a photo” Michael was hanging down from the balcony and dropping back onto the stage. He was just as I imagined, a manic blonde showman. I never got to see Hanoi Rocks but I can imagine them as a crazy glam punk power rock band. The closing song is Credence Clearwater Revivals’ “Up around the Bend”. I tell my daughter Ashleigh who was a big Hanoi Rocks fan. That’s a Hanoi Rocks song she tells me so I figure they must have recorded it! It gets a great reception from the crowd who probably also think of it as a Hanoi Rocks song rather than a classic by Credence Clearwater Revival. John Fogarty is one of my heroes and one of the best gigs I ever went to was seeing him at Manchester Apollo. But that’s a story from a past blog entry! I buy Ashleigh a signed Michael Monroe CD and she is over the moon with it!
After a short wait, at 9:30 PM spot-on time, the Phil Campbell backdrop disappears and is replaced by a very impressive Black Star Riders drop. I suppose I’m amazed how much of a following the band has amassed in its own right. This is not the remnants of Thin Lizzy or a Thin Lizzy tribute band. This is a fully fledged rock band of its own right, led by the very impressive Ricky Warwick who continue the Thin Lizzy legacy in their own way, producing new songs which hark back to Lizzy and yet have a significance of their own. Magical. Phil must be up there proud of how his legacy continues to thrive and move onward and forward.
A few songs in and they perform a wild heavy version of the Osmond’s “Crazy Horses”. Well, I always knew it was a heavy rock song! After a few more songs they are joined by Scott Gorham who looks older, and yet cooler and still playing great guitar. His long mane of blonde hair has somehow been transferred to the young guitarist in Black Star Riders. There really is some sort of magic in the air! At one point in the set, they are joined by Phil Campbell and later on Michael Monroe comes on for one song also.
A few more songs into the set and we are treated to Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe a Word”. Class; it all takes me back to the 1970s. Towards the end they play “Jailbreak”. One more song and then it is 11 PM and time to go home, content in the knowledge that the legacy of Thin Lizzy remains safe in the hands and voice of Ricky Warwick and the rest of Black Star Riders. You have done a great job Scott, continuing to fly the Lizzy flag and somehow, miraculously, managing to hand it safely over to the Black Star Riders. I wonder what that young 21-year-old Phil I chatted to over 50 years ago would make of it all? Happy days
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