Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, Somerset House, 8th July 2016

I've tried to attend concerts at Somerset House a few times.

The first was Franz Ferdinand, but they were on whilst I was on holiday. I actually booked tickets for the Ting Tings, but then they cancelled the gig!

So, 3rd time lucky and I booked to go and see Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, formerly of the Beautiful South (and Heaton of the Housemartins before that). Mandy and I had really enjoyed The South, but though there were mostly former Beautiful South members, the voices you recall from the "Beautiful South" are Heaton's and Abbott's.

I saw them perform at Glastonbury, via the magic of the BBC i-Player and thought there were OK, but maybe not great, but still, a gig's s a gig and usually fun.

Fortunately, amidst a dreadful Summer to that point, the weather played ball and it was a pleasantly warm, dry evening as I walked from Waterloo to the Strand and into Somerset House's open courtyard. There was a bit of a queue to get in and huge queues for the food and drink stands around the courtyard.

In the centre, at one end, was a stage, rather like those you see at Festivals, but a little smaller, I guess. I needed the loo after an hour on the train, so walked around behind the stage and downstairs to the Gents. Business done, I headed back upstairs where a long haired woman in jeans was smoking a cigarette as people passed by her. I did the typical double take, but sure enough, it was Jacqui Abbott! No-one else seemed to notice her and I decided to not be the tongue-tied fan (What would I say? "I hope your good tonight" or "Have fun" or "Do you think smoking is good for your voice, let alone your lungs?") and returned to the front of the stage.

As I'd queued to get in the support band had finished, so I can't tell you who the were or if they were any good.

The band appeared first and then Paul and Jacqui joined them.

They started with Wives 1,2 & 3, which whilst a post "B.S." song is very like their output and it was a good, upbeat number to start with, followed up with the classic "Old Red Eyes Is Back", which had all the crowd around me singing along.

They slowed things down with Real Hope and Have Fun (another Beautiful South song, but one I must admit I didn't recall) and then another more recent song "The Horse and Groom".

Whilst later, post "Beautiful South" songs were applauded, the real enthusiasm was for the big hits and it was good to hear some Housemartin tracks included, not least Caravan of Love, performed acapella as the finale to main set.

Rotterdam, Happy Hour, Perfect 10 (in a different, but really enjoyable arrangement) and Don't Marry Her (the naughty version, sung enthusiastically by the crowd) were all great and greeted with rapturous applause.

The audience were mostly 40+ somethings, but there were younger people there too, who clearly had come alone for a fun night out, although the 30 somethings just in front of me impressed me with their knowledge of Beauitful South lyrics - I guess it's not imposssible their parents were fans! There's a sobering thought...

The Setlist records two Encores, which I'd forgotten, but they weren't gone for long before either and delivered up "A Little Time" and "You Keep It All In" followed by

It had been a great night's entertainment. The venue was excellent, the sound impressively balanced and clear for an outdoor venue (maybe Somerset House is blessed with especially good acoustics and chosen for that reason).

Heaton and Abott and their band had been hugely enjoyable (much better than they'd seemed at Glastonbury, I thought, perhaps they enjoyed the smaller crowd?) and I will definitely be back to see other acts at Somerset House if I get the chance!

Setlist:
Wives 1, 2 & 3
Old Red Eyes Is Back(The Beautiful South cover)
Real Hope
Have Fun(The Beautiful South cover)
The Horse and Groom
I Can't Put My Finger on It(The Housemartins cover)
Prettiest Eyes(The Beautiful South cover)
Sundial in the Shade
The Queen of Soho
Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)(The Beautiful South cover)
I Don't See Them
Build(The Housemartins cover)
Don't Marry Her(The Beautiful South cover) (Somerset House additional lyric)
The Austerity of Love
D.I.Y.
Happy Hour(The Housemartins cover)
Perfect 10(The Beautiful South cover)
Caravan of Love(Isley Jasper Isley cover)

Encore:
A Little Time(The Beautiful South cover)
You Keep It All In(The Beautiful South cover)
Heatongrad
Woman in the Wall(The Beautiful South cover)

From the Jam, Guildford 24th June 2016

For a moment I felt like the student I could have been...

I was standing in the Guildford University Student Union bar listening to a "Town Called Malice" being played at 10 to the dozen (that's an odd phrase, isn't it? Suggest LESS than you'd expect rather than more!) amongst a load of people about the same age.

Up on stage were Bruce Foxton and a moodily handsome, but sulky fellow performer giving their all.

But wait...

The people around me were rather old, weren't they and now I think about it, scissor kick or not, Bruce Foxton was looking a little older too...

And whilst there's something VERY Weller-esque about the lead singer, he's got grey hair and he's really not as sulky as Paul Weller and... I never WAS a student...

No, well into my 50s, I'd joined a group of, mostly dedicated, Jam fans to see "From The Jam", the name Bruce Foxton and Russell Hastings (not Weller, after all) perform under, in aid of "Wake Up Woking" at the Student Union at Guildford University.

There were a couple of support bands, the first presumably students, but OK, and the second lot I suspect I should have known, but I didn't, as they were very competent, but well into their late 50s and 60s on the whole.

Of course, like everyone else I was there to see Foxton 'from the Jam' (I guess he got fed up with saying "I'm Bruce Foxton from the Jam") and when they blasted straight into "A Town Called Malice" (probably my favourite Jam track) it was clear that the reports I'd heard of them being a great night out were true.

The pace was frenetic and unrelenting throughout. Foxton's looking quite old these days (Hell, we all are!), if I'm honest, but he had seemingly undimmed energy up on stage, even throwing in a few of those trademark scissor kicks.

Hastings is a great foil, looking a lot like Weller, but never straying into pastiche, he offers something a little different, but, whilst for some not the 'real' thing I'm sure, none the worse for that for me.

The drummer, no longer the original Jam drummer (allegedly upset at Foxton's latter day reconciliation with Weller, but who knows?), played his part faultlessly and the energy was infectious and intoxicating.

Through, "David Watts", "Smithers Jones", "When You're Young" and "Start!" they hammered on, I'm sure never sounding any better in their youthful heyday.

A few solo Foxton numbers are included, too and warmly received, but not as deliriously as the "Jam" hits.

To everyone's enjoyment the main set finishes with "Eton Rifles", seemingly more apt today than it was when current!

There's a few moments pause whilst the crowd demand the inevitable encore and they're back with "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight", "In the City" and end on "Going Underground", leaving those 'going home' happy, ears ringing and recalling when they were university age...

Setlist (From an earlier gig on the same tour, but the same, I think)

Town Called Malice
To Be Someone (Didn't We Have a Nice Time)
David Watts
Pretty Green
The Butterfly Collector
But I'm Different Now
Smithers-Jones
Boy About Town
When You're Young
Saturday's Kids
Now the Time Has Come
Picture and Diamonds
That's Entertainment
Liza Radley
Start!
Slow Down
Man in the Corner Shop
The Eton Rifles

Encore:
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
In the City
Going Underground

Travis, Bournemouth O2, 17th May 2016

Lauren and I went to see Travis in Bournemouth last night.

I'm certainly not a hardcore fan (as most there seemed to be), but I've always liked their stuff that I'd heard.

They put on a good, enjoyable evening, clearly a band who do what they do and don't pander to popularity.

After 20 years (blimey, I still think of them as a 'modern' band!) they seemed to be enjoying performing still.

Highlights for me were the hits "Driftwood", "Turn", "Side", "Re-Offender", the new single "Magnificent Time" (we all had fun doing the 'dance' from the video) and the finale "Why does it always rain on me?", but possibly the best moment was when Fran performed "Flowers in the Window" with just an acoustic guitar, no mike - Excellent moment that you could only do in a small venue like the Bournemouth O2 (one of my favourites!).

Kudos, too, to the sound engineer who actually responded when I went back and reported the vocals were inaudible in the middle after the first couple of songs. After that the sound was very good - I've done it before and just got a look that suggested I didn't know what I was talking about and they knew it all!

Setlist :

Everything at Once
Selfish Jean
Coming Around
Writing to Reach You
Love Will Come Through
Driftwood
Animals
My Eyes
Re-Offender
Side
Moving
Idlewild
Where You Stand
Sing
Closer
3 Miles High
All I Want to Do is Rock
Turn

Encore:
Flowers in the Window(Acoustic)
Magnificent Time
Why Does It Always Rain on Me?

Caro Emerald, BIC, December 11th 2015

We saw Caro Emerald back in 2011, when she was still relatively unknown, at Shepherds Bush and, as you can read elsewhere, had a great evening.

These days, her tickets demand a premium price and I wasn’t planning to go and see her again (or go to any more events this year) until someone on a forum I frequent offered a couple of tickets near my home at a much reduced price. Lauren and I set off for the Bournemouth International Centre on a chilly December evening, parking in the Richmond Hill multi-storey and walking through the Christmas stalls and ice rink in the Winter Gardens before making our way in.

We were a little unsure about the fact that our tickets were seated, as we usually stand (and dance!), but once inside, it became clear that we were missing nothing as the ‘floor’ was covered in seats too! Our seats were in the first section of seats and offered and excellent view of stage.

At 7:45 sharp the support act came on. Andreya Triana is a singer with an impressive voice, although I struggled to think who she sounded like on the first few songs. She was impressively backed by just a single guitarist and it took a lot of nerve to perform to a venue the size of the BIC with just your voice and a guitar, but the duo did it impressively and deserved the warm applause they received.

There was a 30 minute interval (and a couple of drinks) and we were back into the hall for the main event.

The band appears in twilight and, expecting Caro to suddenly appear in a spotlight on stage, it was a shock/surprise to suddenly see and hear her a few rows down, on a staircase amongst the crowd.

She started with a heartfelt rendition of “The Other Woman” (oddly the track that I’d heard first on my MP3 player a few days earlier) before returning to reappear on the stage and rattle through “Absolutely Me” (“When it gets to Friday, what you get is absolutely me” – Very apt!), “Riveria Life” and her breakthrough single “Back It Up”.

She then performed a newer track “Quiksand” and a couple of other familiar tracks mixed in with a couple of enjoyable covers, “History Repeating” (a favourite of mine) and “All About That Bass”.

Eventually she turned to the audience and said “If you’re going to stand up, now is about the time to do it” and when people started to sit as she finished she said “Ah, ha, what are you doing?” – By then everyone (who could stand – The audience was pretty elderly overall, which hadn’t been so predominantly the case back at Shepherds Bush) was on their feet and stayed there through to the main set ending “Stuck” (She ticks my boxes, this being one of my favourite of hers too!)

Whilst the encore is a bit of a cliché these days, there was no disgusing the enthusiasm of the crowd for me as they clapped and stamped and called for a return.

Of course, return they did and delivered “Tangled Up”, new track “Helicopter Boy”, which would, I suspect, be a storm with a remix and summer release and the rousing “A Night Like This” which had everyone singing along.

After Shepherds Bush I wrote “In years to come, people who weren't there will tell you they saw Caro Emerald at Shepherds Bush!” and it’s true to say I didn’t feel quite the same way after the BIC.

Back in 2011, she was slightly shy, slightly bemused by her success and it had the feeling of an intimate gig with someone who only a (sizeable) few were aware of. In 2015, her success has made her more confident, more polished, but no less enjoyable or entertaining.

Quite why the BIC felt that such a feel good performer (and her entertaining band, at moments I had flashes of being at a Kid Creole & The Coconuts concert again - It had the same kind of all round entertainment, fun, feel-good vibe) would attract an audience keen to sit and not dance is beyond me, but overall we had a good time and came away humming and chatting excitedly about our favourite moments.

If you’ve not seen the ‘shocking Miss Emerald” yet, treat yourself to a fun evening out - We were certainly glad we had again and, so it seemed, had everyone else there!

SETLIST
Miss Emerald: Intro
The Other Woman
Absolutely Me
Riviera Life
Back It Up
Quicksand
The Lipstick On His Collar
Pack Up the Louie
Black Valentine
History Repeating (Propellerheads cover)
Dr. Wanna Do
I Know That He's Mine
All About That Bass (Meghan Trainor cover)
Just One Dance
Liquid Lunch
You Don't Love Me
That Man
Stuck

Encore:
Tangled Up
Helicopter Boy
A Night Like This

New Order, Brixton O2 Academy, 17th November 2015

Last time I was here was to see New Order for the first time, despite being a fan since their earliest days, and I thought it would be the last time for both venue and band.

I wasn't a huge fan of Brixton Academy (I much prefer Shepherd's Bush) and I figured New Order probably wouldn't tour again, but after releasing a brand new studio album, Music Complete, to some considerable acclaim, they were back on tour.

When the tickets were released, I decided I'd give it a miss. I'd seen them and enjoyed the gig and I wasn't sure it'd be as good a second time around, but finally my resolve weakened, when a second date was added, and I bought a ticket.

Boy, was I glad I did!

After a support act, whose name I never heard, but actually sounded (amidst the usual awful support act sound - The singer being almost inaudible for the first 3 songs) quite interesting - I shall have to find out who they were - New Order, unlike last time, were pretty promptly on stage at 9:10 (I remember feeling - and reporting - that I felt they'd left their arrival a little TOO long last time), suggesting they were either keen to get going or desparate to get it over with, thankfully it proved to be the former!

The last tour had very much been a retrospective, showing off their extensive, influential back catalogue and proving, for any doubters, that New Order without Hooky were still capable of putting on a great performance.

What this show had was an energy, excitement and even innovation that had been lacking on the previous tour. A reviewer elsewhere said "At long last, they seemed to be enjoying themselves" and that's exactly what it felt like.

If Music Complete is their last album, it'll be a shame as it has some good tracks, but more importantly, the band seemed to have actually enjoyed the process of making it and seemed to have been reinvigorated by the process.

Of the original members, Bernard ('Barney'), Stephen and Gillian (returned for the last tour) remain, but the new-ish members fit in well, Tom Chapman on bass taking on the unenviable task of doing Peter Hook's bits with confidence.

In fact, enthusiasm and confidence were the key elements of this show.

The band were enjoying their performance and the enjoyment made it better, of course that meant the crowd were having a great time and even the new tracks were greeted with enthusiasm.

They started with Singularity, the current single, and then rewarded the audience with Ceremony and then a particularly impressive performance of Crystal, which stood out as easily a match for earlier, better known tracks 586 followed, with Restless (from the new album), Lonesome Tonight and Your Silent Face.

Elly Jackson, from La Roux, then joined the band on stage for a couple of tracks and was warmly welcomed and applauded - I like La Roux and think her involvement on Music Complete, and on stage, added a welcome vocal variety.

The main performance continued through Bizarre Love Triangle, Waiting for the Sirens' Call and Plastic (again from Music Complete) and then rounded out with The Perfect Kiss, True Faith and Temptation.

As all bands do, they came back a few moments later for the inevitable encore, giving us two Joy Divisons songs, Atmosphere and Love Will Tear Us Apart (a better rendition than the previous concert) and then rounded off with "Just one more", Blue Monday, which whilst it was a good finale and performed well, I still don't entirely think works as a live performance, maybe I've just listened to it too many times!

Overall, though, I came away thinking this was one of the very best concerts I'd been to. I'd said much the same about the last New Order gig and that was true at the time, but I suspect partly because it was the culmination of an ambition I never realised I had.

This performance was much more exciting and enjoyable, I thought, worthy of a new young band rather than a band retreading old material.

As "Storm Barney" blew across the UK, Barney (and the rest of New Order) gave us a storming performance that will remain impressed on my memory for years to come!

Judging from the audience's (of impressively varied ages, it was probably 50-50 20 somethings and 40-50 somethings) response most people felt the same!

Setlist:

Singularity
Ceremony
Crystal
5 8 6
Restless
Lonesome Tonight
Your Silent Face
Tutti Frutti (with Elly Jackson)
People on the High Line(with Elly Jackson)
Bizarre Love Triangle
Waiting for the Sirens' Call(Planet Funk remix)
Plastic
The Perfect Kiss
True Faith
Temptation

Encore:
Atmosphere (Joy Division)
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover)
Blue Monday

Milton Jones and the Temple of Daft, Basingstoke, 20th March 2015

My son (now 18) loves Milton Jones' humour, so part of his birthday present was tickets to see him in Basingstoke again.

The first time we'd seen Milton Jones we'd all really enjoyed it, but a second visit a couple of years ago left me wondering if maybe I'd seen enough.

So, having first encountered Milton on Radio 4, I was pleased to see "...Temple of Daft" is based on the same kind of premise as one of the radio shows, where he'd recount his various exploits in a particular career.

Temple of Daft (If the posters and the title don't give it away) was his attempts to revive his Archaeology career.

Of course it was really just a loose premise to include the kind of puns, one-liners and word plays that Milton is famous for, but I, personally, found the plot added something (other reviewers, seemingly not familiar with his use of this style in the past, seemed confused by it).

It's been far too long to recall any of the jokes, but, as usual they came thick and fast and were mostly very funny and only one or two were familiar from previous shows or TV appearances (unlike some comedians).

In the past Milton has started the show as his grandfather, in a kind of prequel, but this time he was his explorer Great Uncle Randolph Digby Jones, recounting stories of his daring-do's!

We had a rather poor support act, who's main point of 'comedy' was how racist the audience was towards him. Not funny, at all, but (his act would say) I'm probably only saying that because he was Asian or Chinese or Black or Welsh or whatever. He wasn't funny and I can't remember anything else about him than that!

Fortunately, once Milton was back after an expensive ice-cream (for us, I don't know if he had one), the rather bad taste left by the support act was swiftly washed away by the clever puns, word play and generally good-natured and distinctly oddball comedy that Milton Jones is famous for.

As a fan of the "Very World of...", I really enjoyed the plot driven construct of "Temple of Daft". Sure he (I suspect deliberately, as I've read it happened elsewhere) sometimes seemed to get a bit muddled with the plot, but it moved things forward in a distinctly "Indiana Jones" way all the time supporting his jokes and wordplay.

Personally, I found this more enjoyable than the last time I'd seen him. Straight stand up is fine, but it's a finite resource and one man constantly throwing out one liners is funny, but less so the more you see it.

Temple of Daft offered something different to support the one-liners and, for me, was a great success.

Both my wife and son enjoyed it greatly too and, if there were unhappy members of the audience, I didn't cross paths with them as we made our way through the streets as all I heard were people recounting their favourite joke or saying how they'd definitely go and see Milton Jones again.

I suspect we will too...

The Specials, O2 Academy, Bournemouth - November 18th 2014

This town was most definitely NOT a Ghost Town!

I've never seen the O2 Academy so busy, even the KFC across the road(where my daughter and I grabbed a bite before going in) was buzzing with excited 50 somethings.

As with The Beat (we had seen a couple of weeks earlier in Reading), the audience was most definitely 'of a certain age', but there were hundreds of people whereas the excellent "Beat" gig had been pretty quiet.

We squeezed in and found the place heaving.

I must admit, by the time I arrived I wasn't really looking forward to this gig as I'd only arrived back from a business trip to the US that morning, but as it went along I found I couldn't help but enjoy myself.

They started well, with "Ghost Town", which was always a favourite of mine and then rattled through a top notch 'greatest hits' performance.

Terry was his usual 'non-plussed' self and the rest of the band (all of them!) were performing well, it was, it has to be said, a very polished performance and you'd need to hate Ska or be in a foul mood not to have enjoyed it.

A lot of the 50 something men there were clearly reliving their skinhead days and it got pretty boisterous and we shuffled backwards away from the fat blokes barging into each other as the evening went on, but the Academy is a small venue, so we never felt like we were out of the action or distant from the performance.

Highlights for me were "Rat Race", "Gangsters" and "Man at C&A", but you got the distinct impression the band have been doing this a long time and could turn out a good performance in their sleep.

They ended their short encore with "Enjoy Yourself" (in spite of my tiredness, I had, and clearly most others had too!) and "You're Wondering Now" - made famous again as the theme to "Death In Paradise".

Maybe it was me, or maybe it was just a tad too slick, but whilst I'd enjoyed the gig and didn't think it bad value for money (although I did blanch a little when I saw the tickets were £50 a head!), it hadn't been the sheer fun that "The Beat" gig in Reading had been a month earlier.

It was good to see "The Specials", but I think that's done now...

Setlist (From London gig a couple of days earlier, so probably the same).

Ghost Town
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Do Nothing
International Jet Set
Stereotype
Man at C&A
Pearl's Cafe
Hey Little Rich Girl
Rat Race
Blank Expression
It's Up to You
Why?
Doesn't Make It Alright
Nite Klub
(Dawning of a) New Era
Do the Dog
Gangsters
Monkey Man
Concrete Jungle
A Message to You, Rudy
Little Bitch
Too Much Too Young

Encore:
Guns of Navarone
Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)
You're Wondering Now