St Vincent - O2 Academy, Bournemouth - 30th June 2025

St Vincent (or more accurately Annie Clark) is not a woman who you can easily categorise - You never know what she will do next.

With every album there's a new style/image and sometimes the shift is quite dramatic.

I'd seen her before, on the Daddy's Home tour, where the style was quite 70s and mellow.

They had been at Glastonbury the day before this gig, so I had an idea that this was going to be a hard-rock St Vincent and so it proved to be.

I arrived just before 8 to see one of two support acts just finishing, but I saw so little of their performance I can't really comment on it.

About 8:30, the expected support act, Cult oF Venus, arrived. This is just one woman with a flowing grey gown (a bit like a wraith!), long blonde hair and a box of electrics (which reminded me of the support act for Nouvelle Vague) although she also had an electric guitar.

Her sound was predominantly electronic and she was quite enjoyable, albeit rather etherial and the vocals were a bit lost in the mix (a near universal flaw with support acts!).

Some of the songs were quite melodic and she seemed to have a great voice, but then she'd tweak something on the box and there would be a discordant jar in the music - Odd, but interesting.

She got a good reception and deserved the loud applause when she finished.

We then had a prolonged wait for St Vincent, to the point at which people started slow clapping and whistling no doubt prompted by the fact that it was getting very hot in the venue, despite effective air con, but when the band did appear, at 9:30, that was quickly forgotten.

The tour was in support of the most recent album, All Born Screaming, so obviously we got a number of tracks from that, including the opener, Reckless.

This set the tone, Annie, wearing a grey jacket and shorts, over tights, with shoulder length black hair (rather than the odd blonde wig(?) of the previous tour) and her guitarist played with lots of thrashing and distortion, not heavy metal, but certainly on the loud end of rock.

"Fear the Future" (From her 'Masseduction' album) followed and then, possibly her best known song, "Los Ageless" (a great song and undoubtedly my favourite of hers) from the same album.

The stage looked bigger than I recall it from previous (many) visits to 'The Academy' (it was a nightclub of that name in my late teens/early twenties, so I've known it for many years), with a drummer to the rear right and a keyboardist to the left, and the guitarist and bass guitarist flanking Annie.

We then got another track from the latest album, "Broken Man" and then "Dilettante" during which she forgot to the lyrics and sang/spoke them for a verse, before the band joined in again for the rest of the song.

Another old favourite, "Birth in Reverse" and then "Pay Your Way in Pain", followed by "Flea" and "Big Time Nothing" from the latest album, sandwiching "Cheerleader".

At some point, I forget exactly when, Annie attempted to crowdsurf over the audience, but it seemed those in the front misunderstood her intention and they let her crash to the floor! She seemed ok, although jokingly pretended to have injured her back later on ("At least you have the NHS here").

She seemed pretty relaxed and convivial between tracks, probably talking more than most would have liked (perhaps we could have had another song or two), but it did make her seem a likeable performer, although in one manic moment, she hurled a cymbal stand from the drumkit into the crowd (this was more deftly handled than her, though, being caught by a couple of people before it could make substantial contact), so perhaps she was still a bit miffed about them dropping her!

"Marrow" from an earlier album, "Actor" followed and then "Violent Times" from the new album, which was a bit of a variation in tempo from the rest of the gig and excellent.

Another popular track, "New York" followed and then we had "Sugarboy" and a dramatic finale rendition of "All Born Screaming", the title track from the tour album.

By now we were close to the 11 O'clock curfew, but they came back for one more song, a stripped back "Candy Darling", demonstrating Annie's excellent singing voice after the loud and brash performance of most of the gig, although it had been apparent on some tracks.

Overall, the gig was, I expected, totally different to the last time I saw them. Noisy, thrashy, distorted guitars, even on the older tracks, but it was exciting and energy packed.

As on my first visit to see her, I'd worried that I may not like the performance after the Glastonbury coverage, but again, live, in a small venue, they were great and I'd happily go and see her a third time, if only to see the direction she takes next.

Definitely an imaginative, talented, artistic performer, but one who can put on a show that leaves you energised, entertained and excited.

Brilliant stuff from her and the band.

#stvincent

Setlist:
Reckless
Fear the Future
Los Ageless
Broken Man
Dilettante(Forgot lyrics of second verse)
Birth in Reverse
Pay Your Way in Pain
Flea
Cheerleader
Big Time Nothing
Marrow
Violent Times
New York
Sugarboy
All Born Screaming
Encore:
Candy Darling

The Police 3.0 - Acoustic Couch, Bracknell - 27th June 2025

Once upon a time, I was a huge Police fan.

I never really stopped liking them (and enjoyed Sting's solo stuff in the main), but somehow they dropped off my musical radar for a long while.

Recently, though, I spotted that a Police (and Sting) tribute band were playing in a venue near me, one I'd not been to before. The price was right, so I went along.

I hadn't been to Bracknell for decades, even though it is only about 15 miles from my home and I used to work there for many years - It was pretty unrecognisable to me and I had to use Google Maps to navigate the extensive shopping centre to reach what claimed to be the location of the venue.

All I could see was a very non-descript door, that looked like the outside of a fire exit from a shop or access to a machinery room, but a man standing outside asked if I was looking for the music venue and pointed at the door when I said I was.

Inside the venue is very basic, a large stage area at floor level dominates one end of the room, with a dance floor in front of it and seats and tables (some upturned cable drums) are around it. On the left, as you look at the stage, there was a reasonably large bar area, with very reasonably priced beer (£4 for a pint bottle of Doombar).

I'd arrived about 8:15, so had a half hour wait for the band to appear. I was stood by a pillar and didn't notice, but behind me the venue had filled up reasonably well, with probably 100-150 people by the time the 3 band members made their way onto the stage.

Thankfully (in my view), the 3 men make no effort to pretend to be 'The Police', just concentrating on playing the music.

I'm not a musically trained person, but the tunes sounded pretty decently played. The vocals were a little mixed, though, some sounding very Sting-like, others much less so.

I think 'mixed' is a good summation of the performance, some tracks (especially the more energetic, older ones) captured the spirit and energy of the originals while a few missed the mark.

They started with a Sting solo song, "If I Ever Lose my Faith in You" and then followed it with the Police hit "Message in a Bottle", which got a loud applause.

Most of the songs were singles (the gig was advertised as "The greatest hits of The Police and Sting", so fair enough) and of course, everyone knew them.

Some songs, "Walking on the Moon", "An Englishman in New York" (possibly the highlight for me), "Roxanne", "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "De Do Do" (a song I never liked) were really well performed and got a fantastic response.

I also particularly liked "King Of Pain".

A couple of songs fell a bit short, for me "Fields of Gold" and "Don't Stand So Close" particularly, but overall the songs were well performed and captured the energy well.

The sound wasn't great where I stood. Whether I picked a poor spot, they'd not done a great soundcheck or the venue's solid concrete walls, floors and ceilings don't help, I can't say. It wasn't so bad that the tunes weren't easily recognised, but the vocals were sometimes lost and some harsher notes seemed to dominate on some songs.

The band, though, were likeable and the gig had a very 'feel-good' atmosphere, with people clearly enjoying themselves.

The crowd wanted more and they came back for a last song "Next To You".

For a modest outlay, the Police 3.0 are well worth going along to see if you like the Police and/or Sting and I will keep an eye on the venue's website for future gigs.

Setlist:
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Message In A Bottle
Synchronicity II
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
(Spirits in the Material World)
Walking On The Moon
It’s Probably Me
Can't Stand Losing You
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Don't Stand So Close to Me
So Lonely
King of Pain
Driven to Tears
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Seven Days
Fields Of Gold
Every Breath You Take
Englishman In New York
Roxanne
Bring On The Night
ENCORE
Next To You
Setlist Courtesy of Police 3.0

Johnny Marr - 1865, Southampton - 19th June 2025

I can't pretend I was ever a great Smiths fan in period - I found Morrisey a bit of a tit (waving his gladiolis around, his fake hearing aid and his droning voice) and time has only soured me on him further, but I have come to appreciate Johnny Marr's contribution to the sound of the Smiths and also to Electronic, the New Order/Smiths spin off, and so it was that I found myself back at 1865 less than a week after seeing Heaven 17 there

Like Heaven 17, there was no support and I think this, too, was a pre-Festival season 'test' gig.

The schedule said the band would be on stage at 8, but it was about 8:15 (not too bad) before the 4 musicians appeared.

I'm guessing Johnny Marr dyes his black hair these days, but he still looks trim and fit.

I didn't expect to recognise many of the songs, having scanned back through previous setlists and never, to my knowledge, having heard any solo material.

That didn't really matter, though, as the songs performed where energetic rock performed with vigour and instantly catchy.

He started with a solo track "Generate! Generate!" and then a less well known Smiths track, "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" before some more solo material including a couple of new songs, which sounded good and fitted the set well.

He then said "I'm going to play another new one" and we got the opening chords of "This Charming Man" to a roar of appreciation from the crowd, who I suspect were mostly Smiths fans, although quite a few obviously knew many of the solo tracks.

The set continued with a mix of solo and Smiths' tracks, all being greeted enthusiastically, but the latter far more so.

The sound, if I'm honest, wasn't the best, certainly not as clear as Heaven 17 had been the previous week and very loud (writing this the following morning, my ears are still ringing and muffled), which probably didn't help. I was probably about 6 or 7 rows back, further than I'd been at Heaven 17.

That said, the overall effect was energy packed and feel-good and all the songs were well performed and fitted together well. Overall, it was a 'rockier' set than I'd expected, but certainly enjoyable.

The set ended on "How Soon Is Now?" and "Getting Away With It" (the only Electronic song, which was a bit of a disappointment for me).

Obviously, we had the charade of them leaving the stage, although I'm sure a drink was needed, the venue's air conditioning was doing a good job on a very hot evening, but even so it was sticky in the audience and I'm sure not much better on stage.

The first song of the encore was an excellent cover of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" and then he rounded out with The Smiths' hit "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out".

Marr commented a few times that this was the first gig in a while, but it didn't really show in any rustiness (perhaps it was apparent in the energy?) and I definitely left feeling glad I'd come along to see an artist who I may well not have considered before.

Most of the audience, though, were diehard fans and probably would have cheered as loudly if the gig had been awful.

Setlist:
Generate! Generate!
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (The Smiths song)
Armatopia
Hi Hello
Spirit Power and Soul
Bring On the Noise (Live Debut)
How Come (Live Debut)
This Charming Man (The Smiths song)
Somewhere
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (The Smiths song)
Down on the Corner (Johnny Marr + The Healers song)
Panic(The Smiths song)
Walk Into the Sea
Bigmouth Strikes Again (The Smiths song)
Easy Money
How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths song)
Getting Away With It (Electronic song)
Encore:
The Passenger (Iggy Pop cover)
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths song)
#JohnnyMarr #TheSmiths #electronictheband #NewOrder

Heaven 17 - 1865, Southampton - 13th June 2025

About halfway through the first song, the instruments all died!

I was back at the 1865 for the second time to see a band I've listened to for 40+ years and who I've seen a couple of times before, but not for 13 years - My last time was in Bournemouth in 2012.

However, I kept seeing reviews saying how good Heaven 17 were in recent gigs and when I saw they were playing a 'pre-Festival' gig at the 1865 (where I'd enjoyed seeing Nouvelle Vague) I snapped up a ticket.

There was no support (rarely a loss) and the schedule said Heaven 17 would be on stage at 8:30PM.

I arrived about 45 minutes earlier, treated myself to a decent pint of beer at pub prices (If only more venues offered this option!) and found myself a few rows back from the stage with a decent view.

As the 8:30 'on stage' time drew nearer the venue filled up and, while I can't say for certain, it looked near capacity to me.

At 8:30 sharp, 3 women appeared and took their places, one behind a large keyboard setup at the rear of the stage and the other two behind microphones to the right (from our viewpoint).

A few moments later a man in a silver suit and a glittery fedora appeared, followed by a taller man in a baseball cap. Obviously most of the audience recognised them as Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory respectively.

Martyn doesn't look that healthy, if I'm honest, despite only being 2 years older than Glenn, who looked quite good, despite the long departure of that mop of golden hair that once was as much part of his persona as his voice.

However, Martyn has always been the background maestro of Heaven 17 (and BEF and the Human League!) and Glenn very much the 'front man'.

Quickly the beats started and I recognised a favourite of mine, "Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry".

Things were going well, Glenn's voice sounded strong, the music was hard to resist moving to (but few seemed to fighting the urge anyway) and then Glenn and the backing vocalists were signing acapella, accompanied by much of the audience.

I (and I'm sure much of the audience) thought this was deliberate, but then Glenn stopped singing well before the end ofthe song.

It seemed the master sound console had 'died' - Not a great start, were we going to get half a song for making the trip?

Luckily not, a few minutes of fiddling upstairs, while Glenn chatted with the audience and the keyboards came back and then the vocalists were singing into their mics and audible and then so was Glenn.

Sadly, they gave up on "Crushed..." and moved onto their next song in the set, although few complained as it was "Fascist Groove Thang" and the glitch was forgotten.

Glenn talked a lot between songs (by his own admission), but we got a set full of old favourites (most were from the first couple of albums), which was probably to be expected and suited a Friday night audience familiar with the band and keen to enjoy themselves.

The set seemed quite 'front loaded' with many of their best known songs early on.

We had "Play To Win", "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls" (with an explanation that it was about going out in Sheffield!), "Come Live With Me" and "We Live So Fast".

As at Bournemouth all those years ago, Glenn and Martyn performed "You've lost that loving feeling" as a duo, something Martyn and Phil Oakey did in their Human League days. I could probably have done without that, to be honest, but it seems to be a bit of a 'party trick' for the duo.

After that, we had lesser known tracks "This is Mine", "And That's No Lie" and "I'm Your Money" and then the main set rounded out with "Let Me Go", a very energetic performance of "Penthouse and Pavement" (possibly my favourite H17 track) and then the inevitable "Temptation".

I'd have to say the female vocalist on this wasn't as good as the one had been in Bournemouth and it's not my favourite track, but the crowd loved it and it was energetic.

Glenn said they'd be back if we made some noise, to which the crowd loudly roared and Glenn joked "Not that much noise!"

The encore was 3 covers, sort of.

The keyboard player and Glenn returned first, to perform a slowed version of The Associates "Party Fears Too" in honour of Billy Mackenzie along with the revelation that Billy had given Glenn a whippet!

This was followed by a lively rendition of Bowie's "Let's Dance" and finally "Being Boiled", a song from Martyn's time with the Human League.

The audience loudly cheered and applauded and the lights came up.

So, had they still got it? Definitely! Glenn sounded good and, no doubt, the electronic nature of the music ensures that aspect doesn't disappoint.

An energetic, lively performance, enhanced by an enthusiastic audience meant this was a great night out.

#heaven17

Setlist:
Crushed by the Wheels of Industry
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
Play to Win
Geisha Boys and Temple Girls
Come Live With Me
We Live So Fast
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
This Is Mine
And That's No Lie
I'm Your Money
Let Me Go
Penthouse and Pavement
Temptation
Encore:
Party Fears Too (Associates cover)
Let's Dance (David Bowie cover)
Being Boiled (The Human League cover)

Martin Fry - The Barn, Ringwood - 28th May 2025

I'd never been to a 'book tour' event before, but the promise of some music between the chat from Martin Fry, front man of ABC, tempted me

We were told there were to be no phones or cameras at the event, so I have no images or video from the performance, but as I couldn't find any reviews before I went I thought I'd post one.

I booked the event at a venue in Ringwood, a town I know fairly well, but had never seen a gig at. Frustratingly, a week or so after booking, I saw he was also appearing in my home town, which would have saved me some petrol!

The venue itself is part of a school (We'd have called it the Assembly Hall in my day, but it's a bit fancier than that). I was a few rows back, but the angle of the seating meant everyone had a clear view of the stage.

As we waited, clips from various videos throughout ABC's career played over an instrumental medley of ABC tracks - It was quite slick.

As you can see, a keyboard and guitar were setup to the left of the stage, with a leather stool centre stage and a comfy armchair and another chair to the right.

At 7:30 (this was no music gig timetable!), the keyboard player and guitarist quietly appeared and took their places and then the lights went down and a voice asked us to welcome Martin Fry to the stage.

Mr Fry is now 67, but is still looking fit and trim, unlike some of his contemporaries.

I forget now if they started with a song or did some chatting first, but he did all the songs from the stool and chatted from the red armchair, where he was interviewed by a bespectacled man.

We got ABC's first single "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow" and "All Of My Heart" from "The Lexicon Of Love", their iconic debut album, along with reminiscences of recording the album and the early days of the band.

Martin talked of their initial gigs in the UK and then touring around the world on the strength of the album and then coming back to Sheffield and the stark contrast that provided to their glamourous hotels and sights around the world, which impacted the style of their (difficult) second album, "Beauty Stab" - I'll admit it was a bit of a disappointment to me when it was released and didn't get played much, but it stands up better on relistening now, without the expectation of more of the same as "Lexicon".

They played "That Was Then But This Is Now" from that album and "(How to Be a) Millionaire" and "Be Near Me" from Zillionaire, which was a spell of greater success in the States for the band.

Martin then talked about his cancer and subsequent recovery, which fell between that and what I think is their second best album, "Alphabet Street", from which we got the famous "When Smokey Sings", the song that bought them back into the mainstream in the UK. Sadly we didn't get "King Without A Crown", one of my favourite ABC tracks.

A funny anecdote about Lady Gaga at the Royal Variety performance followed, along with some recollections of working with Hollywood and a significant missed opportunity to do so and then we had "Viva Love" from the "Lexicon of Love II" (Interestingly he mentioned it started life with the title "Lexicon of Lost Ideals", which might have lessened the burden of expectation the final title gave it) and a new song, "Never get to be the King" before the set rounded out with what Martin described as his signature song, "The Look Of Love".

Someone did video Look Of Love at another event on the tour

After a prolonged applause, Martin said that "It's all about the songs. The ones that changed the world like "What's Going On" and "Blowing in the Wind", but also about the ones you hear once and can never get out of his head and I'm going to pretend I wrote this one" and then performed the chorus of "Escape" by Rupert Holmes.

Sitting down the experience was quite passive, a dislike I have of all seated gigs generally, but in the context of an "Intimate Evening with..." it was acceptable - I've not been to see ABC for some years now, because all their gigs (with a full orchestra) are all seated, which I think is a shame and I wish Martin would tour with a more stripped back lineup again, although I'm sure the orchestral format is more lucrative.

I had no real expectation of the evening, imagining that it'd be a lot of chatting with a handful of songs, so the balance was a pleasant surprise and Martin's voice has held up well (As he mentioned at one point, there is 'nowhere to hide' in an acoustic gig) and I came away pleased I'd come along. #ABCMartinFry

Setlist:
Tears Are Not Enough
Poison Arrow
All of My Heart
That Was Then but This Is Now
(How to Be a) Millionaire
Be Near Me
When Smokey Sings
The Luckiest Man in the World
Viva Love
Never get to be the King
The Look of Love (Part One)
Pina Colada (Escape) - Rupert Holmes Cover

Skinny Lister - The Fighting Cocks, Kingston - 13th May 2025

"I tell people you're the most exciting live band out there today."

This is what I told Lorna of Skinny Lister I say to people about Skinny Lister, as we had a quick chat before the gig.

I first saw them at the West End Centre in Aldershot, where they literally burst onto the stage with the first note of their set and blew me away with the rest of it.

I've seen them since, but due to their relentless touring and recording schedule, recent gigs have nearly all been in the depths of December (It's the same again this year!), so when I saw they were doing an 'album launch' gig in Kingston (for Banquet Records) the day before my birthday with a CD copy of their new album included for just £16, it was a very easy decision to book a ticket as soon as they were available.

I had expected the gig to be at Pryzm, the nightclub/venue I'd seen all the other Banquet run events at, but this was just around the corner in the pub/venue called The Fighting Cocks.

I found the venue easily enough and there was virtually no-one there when I arrived, so I went back to the main bar, where the variety of beers was better, and purchased an excellent Stout.

The venue almost certainly counts as the smallest I've ever been to, making even the West End Centre seem capacious by comparison.

An email had arrived the previous day to say there was an 'issue' with their support and another followed early in the day to say "Man The Lifeboats" where the support - The presence of a support at all marked this out as unusual amongst the 'album release' events I'd attended, none of the others had one.

Two men appeared, one with a guitar and the other an accordian and they described themselves as "two-fifths of Man The Lifeboats" and started their set.

They are not dissimilar in style to Skinny Lister, 'Shanty Punk' being a term the Lister's termed but could equally apply to MTL.

They were lively, entertaining and quite humourous between songs. "We make a bigger noise with a drummer and two more members, but we go out of time a lot more, so this is probably as good as you'll ever hear us", the guitarist quipped after one song.

We even had an impromptu cèilidh at one point, stepping forward and back and clapping, although due to my location, I quickly gave up as I was mainly stepping on people sitting by the wall's feet!

An enjoyable 40 minutes or so passed with Man The Lifeboats, but, of course, we were here for the main event.

By 9PM, the venue was packed and it was feeling pretty hot inside, but that didn't stop the energy or enthusiasm of Skinny Lister or the audience, an interesting mix of 60 somethings and 20 somethings on the whole, all of who seemed to know at least most of the songs.

They started with a couple of songs from the new album, which I'd heard, "Yorkshire Belle", "Plough On", "Set Us Straight" (I hadn't heard that one before) and "Song From The Yonder" (the title track).

Then we had "Wanted", "Bristol Bound" (another new, very catchy, track) and then old favourites "George's Glass", "Tragedy in A Minor", "Unto The Breach", "Mantra" (better live than on the previous album, I felt), "13 Miles" (a great song) and numerous others definitely finishing out the 'official' set on "Rollin' Over", "Colours", "Cathy", "Company of the Bar" and "Trouble on Oxford Street" (their most famous song, perhaps and an energy packed one to finish on.

Lorna then, rather academically, asked if we were in a rush to leave and of course, got a resounding "NO!" and we had two more songs, one of which was a request from the crowd and a young man and woman picked from the crowd came up and joined in (The same happened with a woman who clearly didn't know the words to 'her' song earlier and for a bride to be, who did, for Forty Pound Wedding in the main set - hence the list below isn't 100% right for this venue) for Six Whiskies to end on.

With that it was nearing 10:30PM and as we left, we were presented with our signed copies (a really nice touch, which I hadn't expected) of the album in whichever format we had chosen.

So, were Skinny Lister still "The most exciting live band out there today"? It's a bold claim, but I struggle to think of a band who can so instantly engage an audience and deliver such an energy packed set from end to end, so prove me wrong!

Setlist: (From a different night, but close)
Yorkshire Belle
Plough On
Set Us Straight
Song From the Yonder
Wanted
Bristol Bound
George's Glass
Tragedy in A Minor
Unto the Breach
Mantra
13 Miles
Arm Wrestling in Dresden
Bold as Brass
John Kanaka ([traditional] cover)
Rollin' Over
Colours
Cathy
Company of the Bar
Trouble on Oxford Street
Encore:(more of a continuation really!)
Hamburg Drunk
Six Whiskies
#SkinnyLister

Tracey Thorn & Ben Watt - MOTH club, Hackney- 7th April 2025

The gig they said would never happen.

First a disclaimer/acknowledgement - Everyone had to put a sticker over the lens on their camera, so none of these photographs are my own, but were all shared on the Everything But The Girl facebook group.

Ben and Tracey are famous as Everything But The Girl, as well as having a prodigious solo catalogue each, but for years Tracey hasn't sung in public, citing stage fright in numerous books and articles.

I had seen, and enjoyed, Ben live in Guildford some years before, but noted then that I would love to hear Tracey sing, but it seemed it would never happen.

So, it was with great excitement that I read they were doing two small venue gigs in Hackney and I tried to get a ticket, but failed.

For a few days I thought nothing of it and then an email arrived offering me one from the waitlist and I eagerly purchased it.

As the day drew near, I seriously considered putting my ticket back on the waitlist. There was no way I could get back from Hackney in time to catch a train home, so I had the added expense of a hotel to pay for, but in the end I decided that I'd wanted to hear Tracey Thorn sing for so long, that it was worth a bit of money.

And so it was that I found myself in Hackney on a warm April evening. Hackney, if you don't know it, is not the loveliest part of London and the MOTH club is a pretty horrible place by the standards of Hackney.

Why the duo chose it, besides (I suspect) being local and a small venue as they wanted, is hard for me to fathom.

We all had to sit on hard, uncomfortable chairs, like a school assembly (the chap next to me quipped that it was worse as we'd paid for this!), except for some people stood at the back and, as it filled up, in the aisles between the chairs and some booths reserved for guests along each side, who obscured the view for others. It seemed the venue was too small for the tickets they'd sold - Why couldn't the majority stand in such a tiny venue?

Whatever the reasoning, and I'm sure there was one, we were there for the second of two gigs here.

People had raved about the first one, but I suspect many of those people would have raved about Ben and Tracey sitting there in silence, such is the fervour of EBTG fans, I find.

I'm a fan, undoubtedly, but a more muted one - I don't play one of their albums every day or even every month, my life isn't measured out in EBTG releases, I didn't play one of their tracks at my wedding and I don't imagine I will ask for one at my funeral. I like their music and I think Tracey has a great voice, but would it still be great, live, all these years on?

We didn't have to wait too long, as they started their set at about 8:05 with the first EBTG song, Night and Day. Not a favourite of mine, if I'm honest, I'd have prefered Each and Every One, but a logical place to start, I guess (in the absence of Marine Girls songs in the set), a retrospective of Ben and Tracey's solo and combined output.

Someone commented there hadn't been much chat between the tracks on the first evening, but there was a reasonable amount on the Monday and Tracey explained that they'd wanted to include songs from both their back catalogues as well as their combined work and to include songs that they'd rarely, if ever, performed live. It was certainly (as billed) a personal and intimate performance and why not? It was, to a great extent, an experiment, especially for Tracey, to see if she could overcome those much recorded fears of performing in front of an audience again.

So, here we go. Has her voice lasted? Was it worth the hassle and discomfort of sitting on those hard seats, having red wine spilt on me by people in the aisle (to be fair, the young woman who did it did buy me a drink to apologise and I suspect the overcrowding was as much to blame as her), in a grotty working men's club in a run down part of London?

Short answer. Yes.

Much has been written, by herself included, of Tracey's voice becoming deeper as she's grown older, but I'm not sure the difference is dramatic. Maybe there are some high notes she no longer aims for, but they weren't apparent in the songs they chose (including for that reason perhaps).

Next up was "No Difference", which was a song I like, followed by "Mine", which I didn't recognise and appears to have only been a single release.

Next up was a relatively recent song from Ben's back catalogue, "Hendra", the title track from his last solo album (I seem to recall it's about his sister). I saw Ben perform at The Boiler Room in Guildford back in 2017 and was impressed then by his voice and I was again on the songs he sang here. Tracey's voice is so distinctive and so much a part of the iconic sound of EBTG that Ben's vocal quality tends to be forgotten or, at least, overshadowed, but he's a great singer.

Tracey then told us that the first germ of the idea of trying to perform in public again was sown at a gig to see a singer called Bridget St John, someone she had been compared to in an early review, and performed one of her songs "Song To Keep You Company".

Ben and Tracey were joined on stage by their son, Blake, and Rex Horan (who'd been with Ben in Guildford) and Blake took the lead on a song by someone called Adrienne Lenker next.

"Smoke" (from Tracey's Record album) and "Winter's Eve", another Ben song, about getting through tough times to better ones with the line "There's still so much I want to do" featuring strongly and Ben remarked that he'd been quite ill again recently, but was through it and so grateful and happy to be performing as a duo again. It was obivously a very poignant lyric for him and we felt that.

The first set ended with a classic EBTG song, Single, with the lines "Am I Coming Back?" and "Do you want me back?", which must have struck a chord with Tracey in the lead up to these gigs.

There was a 20 minute or so break and then the quartet were back for another 9 songs.

The first was a Charli XCX song, "I Might Say Something Stupid". Tracey has written that she's a big fan of Charli XCX, but it's not a liking we share, but I was just enjoying hearing her sing live.

I'd expected some songs from last year's album, Fuse, and next up was probably my favourite of what I think is a rather patchy album, if I'm honest (Tracey's solo "Record" strikes me as far stronger) "Run A Red Light" which seems to be about doing something reckless and deal with the consequences afterwards, maybe another lyric relevant to the event.

"Frost and Fire" was, I think, a highlight of the evening, with Tracey's voice seeming especially strong and confident, maybe the song just lends itself to that, but it was a favourite on the night.

Ben sang "North Marine Drive" and Tracey "Small Town Girl" and then Blake performed one of his songs, "Removed", with his mum on backing vocals to their obvious pride.

Ben's song "Irene" was next before they ended the set on two EBTG favourites, "Downhill Racer" and "Mirrorball" - which were enthusiastically applauded as they left the stage.

Of course, we had a slight pause and they returned to give us another song from Fuse, "Nothing Left To Lose" and finally "25th December", an odd choice for an April gig, perhaps, but a great song and when is the 'right' time to perform it unless you play a December gig?

They finally posed for us to take some farewell memory photos, but by the time I had a view unfettered by everyone else's cameras, they were leaving the stage, so here's someone else's shot!

So, was it worth the hassle and the cost of a hotel and a train into London and back? When the tickets were announced people were saying they'd fly from South America to be there, so for some easily.

For me, yes. Tracey's voice is still great, I was reminded of how good Ben is and Rex and Blake provided excellent support.

It did, as some other reviewers have said, feel a bit like we were sitting with them while they jammed in private and that was nice. Even the lack of cameras added an intimacy to the event, no doubt their intent.

It obviously worked for Tracey, too, as they've already said they will be back at the MOTH club again "soon".

I won't (one visit to the MOTH club and Hackney for that matter is enough for me), but if they play a better venue, easier for me to get to, I'd love to see them again.

If not this will be "The night I heard Tracey Thorn Sing"

#EBTG #TraceyThorn #BenWatt #EverythingButTheGirl

From The Jam (And the Ruts DC) - G Live, Guildford - 4th April 2025

I had seen From the Jam once before, at Guildford University Student Hall in 2016 (a gig that many lists seem to think never happened!) and greatly enjoyed the gig, but I had no real intention to see them again, especially as it seemed that the last remaining "The Jam" member, Bruce Foxton, had seemed to have to give up playing through ill-health.

However, when it was announced that Bruce (nearing 70 now) was returning to the band to finish one more tour, after knee surgery, and that the support at my local venue, G-Live, was to be Ruts DC (a band who I quite liked, especially for tracks like Babylon's Burning, In A Rut, Staring At The Rude Boys and Something That I Said) I decided I'd go along and see Bruce one last time - Someone also pointed out after I bought my ticket that it was, in effect, Bruce's farewell home gig, hailing from Woking as did all The Jam members.

I arrived at the venue about 30 minutes before Ruts DC were due on and found a grand total of 8 people in the auditorium!

The stage was sparse, but dominated by a huge photo of Rick Buckler, The Jam's drummer and original member of From The Jam, who sadly died a few weeks before.

There were lots of people outside by the bar, though, and the hall started to fill up as the time for Ruts DC to appear drew closer.

Listening to some people around me, I was surprised that some people had no idea who they were. They weren't Clash or The Jam big in their day, but some of those tracks were Punk staples. Equally, though a lot of people, like me, had come along to see and hear them almost as much as From The Jam.

They arrived a little early, the time that has passed since their heyday apparent as the drummer walked on with the help of a stick, which seemed to catch out whoever was responsible for the 'mood music' as it continued being played over the PA as the band readied to start.

Once that was sorted they started.

Despite their advancing years, the threesome put on an energetic, powerful set.

Bassist and Vocalist, John 'Segs' Jennings, delivered powerful vocals, the drummer, David Ruffy (the second original member of the band, their original singer died in 1980) put on an impressively powerful drum performance throughout (dodgy knees or hips don't matter if you're sitting down, I guess), while relative newcomer Leigh Heggarty was excellent on lead guitar.

They are no spring chickens (the same could be said of much of the audience, although being a university town, there were a fair number of much younger people in the crowd), but I suspect they didn't sound any better in 1979.

They played a selection of their better known tracks, some of 'Seg's introduction were a bit lost so I'm not sure what some of the lesser known ones (to me, at least) were, but it was a very enjoyable set mixing songs from their early Punk days through their reggae-influenced years to the more recent 'Kill The Pain', worth arriving early for, which is a rarity in my experience.

Unsurprisingly, they finished with "Babylon's Burning" which had nearly everyone singing along.

Setlist:
Faces in the Sky
Something That I Said
West One (Shine on Me)
Jah War
Kill the Pain
Staring at the Rude Boys
Psychic Attack
In a Rut
Babylon's Burning

After that we had the usual stage shuffling, but neither band had anything in the way of frippery.

At just after 9, 4 people appeared. Most I didn't know, but I quickly recognised Russell Hastings from 2016, the man who takes the Paul Weller position in 'From The Jam' and, I must say, does a great job after all these years.

He captures the essence of Weller's vocals, but never strays into mimickery or pastiche, as a tribute band would do.

Initially, Bruce didn't come out ("He's having a quick run around the block", Hastings quipped) and David Moore took the Bassist role for the first 30-40 minutes.

They started the "Setting Sons" tour set, with mostly tracks from that album (the only The Jam album I own on vinyl bought in their heyday, because I loved Eton Rifles),rattling through 'Little Boy Soldiers', 'Thick as Thieves', 'Private Hell', 'Saturday's Kids' and the Martha Reeves cover, Heat Wave with great applomb and, it seemed, not really missing Bruce all that much.

But still it felt that something was missing, so it was to a huge roar of applause that a rather frail looking Bruce Foxton finally appeared and took up his place next to Hastings at the front of the stage, although I struggle to recall exactly when it happened now!

I'm pretty sure he was there by the time they got to 'Pretty Green' and 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight' was driven by his distinctive bass sound.

A few The Jam songs I didn't recognise (and 'Lula' a song from a 2022 Foxton and Hastings album, which was a very differently paced song, but I enjoyed) followed and then we got 3 'bangers' to finish the main set, 'In The City', 'David Watts' (I always sing "Wish I could be like David Warnes" a very clever school friend of mine at the time, who definitely took his exams and passed the lot!I wonder what he's up to these days?)and 'Start!'

The lights stayed down, but the expected calls for an encore were remarkably muted, maybe people were conscious that Foxton may not be up to an encore. Just as they started to gather some momentum the band reappeared, complete with Bruce and we got three more of their biggest hits, sung uproarisly to the rafters (does G-Live have rafters?) by the appreciative audience.

I was especially happy that they finished on 'Town Called Malice' as it's probably one of my favourite songs by anyone and the one they opened with in 2016, a delicious symmetry.

The cheers were loud, the band bowed and clapped the audience and, poignantly, Bruce said how great it was to play a great gig in his 'home town'.

Maybe this is the last time Guildford will ever see Foxton delivering his bass performance that is as much a part of The Jam's sound as Weller's voice (in my view), but if it was, he left on a high!

A great night to remember how good The Jam were, how good The Ruts DC and From the Jam still are and to share in, possibly, Foxton's farewell tour.

Wouldn't it have been great if Weller, apparently friendly with Foxton again these days, had appeared for just one song at their 'home gig'? Sadly that wasn't to be.

Setlist:
Little Boy Soldiers
Thick as Thieves
Private Hell
Girl on the Phone
Smithers-Jones
Heat Wave
Wasteland
Saturday's Kids
The Eton Rifles
Man in the Corner Shop
Pretty Green
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
To Be Someone (Didn't We Have a Nice Time)
Ghosts
Lula
In the City
David Watts
Start!
Encore:
Going Underground
That's Entertainment
Town Called Malice
#TheJam #FromTheJam #BruceFoxton #RutsDC #Ruts

Paul Heaton - Pryzm, Kingston - 4th March 2025

I've always liked Paul Heaton's various musical projects and had seen him and the excellent Jacqui Abbott at Somerset House some years ago

Recent reviews of him (following a great set at Glastonbury last year) had been very positive, so when I saw one of the album launch gigs at Pryzm, courtesy of Banquet Records, I snapped up a CD and ticket.

Oddly, the album was released a few months before the gig, so I put it on in the car and listened to it as I drove to Kingston.

There were two sessions this evening (as is often the way for more popular acts here) and I had a ticket for the late (8PM doors) one.

I arrived about 8 and could see a queue, so nipped in the Wetherspoons across the road, before returning to join the queue.

I finally got in around 8:30 and ended up on a slightly raised area above the floor and directly facing the stage (I'd been to one side for Franz Ferdinand earlier in the year).

Screens above the stage informed us that Paul Heaton would be on stage at 9:10 and moments before that the lights went down and he, two guitarists and a blonde woman came on.

Paul pointed out there was no drummer, unwell and self-inflicted, apparently, and that we should all post to social media that it was better without a drummer - So, done!

The woman was Rianne Downey who has taken over the singing duties from Jacqui Abbott on recent tours and the latest album, The Mighty Several.

The first song was from that album, but the second came as a nice surprise.

'Ol Red Eyes Is Back' is a firm favourite Beautiful South song of mine, so I was delighted to hear it.

Only one clip from this event as I somehow managed to record all the subsequent ones in slow motion, without audio!

Rianne took the lead for another song from the new album, Silly Me. I'm a big fan of Jacqui's voice, but there's no doubt that Rianne is an acomplished singer and she delivered this song excellently as well as providing a great foil to Paul's voice.

She won't be my favourite of Paul's singer partners, but she was very good, of that there's no doubt.

The fourth song was yet another surpise as the opening line "Fun, Fun, Fun" echoed out and we got the old Housemartins' hit 'Five Get Over Excited' - While this was a, belated, album release gig, we were obviously getting a good selection of classic Heaton as well.

The excellent 'H Into Hurt' from the new album was next, getting an especially appreciative reception, and then we had Bell Bottomed Tear (a less well known Beautiful South song) and then 'Small Boats' and the catchy 'Fish 'N' Chip Supper' provided contrasting themes from the new album.

The final six tracks were all back catalogue, much to the delight of the packed venue.

Paul sang 'I'll Sail This Ship Alone' almost acapella and did any excellent job in my view.

'Heatongrad' is an odd sort of song, in my view, very spikey and not everyone there will have agreed with the sentiment, but it was good to hear it played.

In contrast, I don't imagine anyone was anything but happy to hear 'Don't Marry Her', 'One Last Love Song', 'Happy Hour' (another delve back into the Housemartins catalogue) and to round out the night with the ever popular 'Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)' after a litle over an hour.

I suspect the delay between the album release ('This is usually where I ask if you've bought the new album, but you had to, to get in!' Paul quipped and then compared this kind of album marketing to 'Taking anabolic steroids for your egg and spoon race') and this gig meant there was less pressure to play the new tracks (It's a good album, btw!) and that allowed them to deliver a mini-greatest hits night which was hugely appreciated by everyone, I'm sure.

I certainly did and headed home happy to have made the journey out on a freezing early March night.

Setlist:
Just Another Family
Old Red Eyes Is Back (The Beautiful South song)
Silly Me
Five Get Over Excited (The Housemartins song)
H Into Hurt
Bell Bottomed Tear (The Beautiful South song)
Small Boats
Fish 'N' Chip Supper
I'll Sail This Ship Alone(The Beautiful South song)
Heatongrad (Paul Heaton + Jacqui Abbott song)
Don't Marry Her (The Beautiful South song) (followed by band introductions)
One Last Love Song (The Beautiful South song)
Happy Hour (The Housemartins song)
Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) (The Beautiful South song)
#PaulHeaton #BeautifulSouth #HouseMartins

Ting Tings - Bush Hall, Shepherds Bush - 28th February 2025

I've always liked the Ting Tings, but had never seen them live.

I had a ticket for a gig in (I think) 2014 that was cancelled and they'd been so quiet over the last few years that the chances of seeing them seemed to have been filed under 'Missed'.

So, when I read there was a new album coming and a one-off gig to support the album was being held at Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush, I got in quick and got a ticket.

I'd never seen Bush Hall and I was a bit skeptical about the gig happening at all, but the 28th February rolled around and all seemed well, so I drove up to Westfield to park and walked the half mile or so down to Bush Hall.

I hadn't planned to arrive especially early for 'doors open 7PM', but when I arrived, there was a small queue outside (at 7:15) around the corner in the road alongside the Hall. They opened the doors shortly afterwards and I made my way in, dropping my essential coat (it was cold, forecast to drop below zero later, outside) in a makeshift cloakroom and then walked into the main part of the hall.

The venue is, these days, rather like a large, ornate, village hall. The ceilings are high (there's a small bar with a balcony at the back on the first floor), but the floor space is modest, if not as tiny as somewhere like Aldershot's West End centre or The Boiler Room in Guildford.

The support act was a band called "Coco and The Lost" and when I'd done a quick search on YouTube I thought they sounded pretty good, so I was glad to be there in time for their set.

The band are Coco (presumably), a dark haired young woman and three young men. They were, Coco informed us, playing a stripped back acoustic set with limited instruments, but they were pretty good live and I'd be interested in hearing them in full band form sometime.

The sound was good, too, suggesting the room had good acoustics, which bode well for the main event.

After 30 minutes or so, Coco and The Lost departed the stage and the roadies took away their limited equipment leaving a considerable amount still on the stage.

The Ting Tings are Katie and Jules, that's all they've ever been, so the plethora of instruments and microphones was a bit of a surprise, but one thing you could always say about The Ting Tings was that they never stayed one thing and I already knew that the forthcoming album (their 5th) was taking a diversion into 'Yacht Rock', inspired, they said, by bands like Fleetwood Mac and Steeley Dan.

I did wonder if, perhaps, I'd find this change in style one I wouldn't enjoy, but there was only one way to know for sure and after waiting all this time and giving up hope of seeing them, I wasn't going to miss the chance to find out for myself.

Around 9PM the stage filled up with Katie and Jules initially to be joined by a female backing singer, a bass guitarist, another 2 guitarists, a man on keyboards, a drummer and another percussionist - The tiny stage was packed, this was not going to be a 'backing track' set, it seemed.

In their social media, The Ting Tings promised this would be a set of new songs and old favourites and so it proved, with a twist.

They started with the well known single "Great DJ", but it was definitely a version of the song, rather than a straight performance of the original version from their first album.

Importantly, though, they sounded good. The backing musicians were tight and the overall sound was powerful, even if the version of the song had a mellower sound than the familiar one.

The next 3 songs were all new ones (unless I've missed something).

"Song For Meadow", we were told by Katie, was inspired by meeting a young girl and "Good People Do Bad Things" proved to be a natural long term favourite on first listening, with a very Fleetwood Mac feel to it.

What has always impressed me about The Ting Tings is their ability to make a big sound from two people. On record that's easier to do with multi-tracking, but in this tiny venue, they managed to produce a 'stadium-rock' sound in an intimate setting, which struck me as both impressive and remarkable.

"Good Bye Song" and "Winning" were also new (I think) and sounded pretty good live and then we had a very different version of their iconic "Shut Up and Let Me Go", very slowed down and melodic, but actually, great!

The next couple were new songs and then we had a version of "We Walk", which again was different to the original, being more acoustic, but closer to the original than some of the older tracks.

"Danced on the Wire" was one of the first of the new songs released and followed by the old favourite, "Be The One".

New songs "Dreaming" and "Down" rounded out the main set nicely.

Of course, the audience bayed for an encore and, in case you should think they'd lost the ability to rock, they came back with a very true to the original rendition of "That's Not My Name" that pleased everyone!

I'd waited a long time to see The Ting Tings live and I can only say that it was a pleasure.

Maybe a little part of me regrets not seeing them in their earlier, louder, form, but even if I had I would have loved this gig.

As a comeback, it was triumphant!

Setlist:
Great DJ
Song For Meadow
Good People Do Bad Things
Good Bye Song
Winning
Shut Up and Let Me Go
In My Hand
Home
We Walk
Danced on the Wire
Be the One
Dreaming
Down
Encore:
That's Not My Name #TingTings

Someone has posted this YouTube playlist of the gig.