After carefully thinking of where to go on New Year's Eve and wanting
to have fun and not be far from home, it was off to Binfield to see
The Look.

Having three new members in the band and performing three sets the guys
did a great job.  Good to hear the Christmas songs and a couple of
classis Knocking on Heavens Door and a great version of Tie your Mother
Down.

The venue had a packed dance floor with a great party atmosphere and a
good time had by all. What better way to start the new year.

Look forward to fantastic 2008 from these guys.

Sue

Well 2007 was certainly an interesting year music wise. I thought I'd
jot down my top three fave albums of the year but there were so many
good releases that I've had to expand that somewhat, so here, in no
particular order, are the CDs that I've been playing over and over
and over again:

Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D - Switches
Yours Truly, Angry Mob - Kaiser Chiefs
The World Is Outside - Ghosts
Wait For Me - Pigeon Detectives
Free School Milk - Tiny Dancers
New York Kiss - Retrofect
Once Upon A Time In The West - Hard Fi
We'll Live and Die In These Towns - The Enemy
Calling The World - Rooney
These Things Move In Threes - Mumm Ra

This has to be the best time for great innovative music in the last
30 years and still to look forward to in 2008 we have new albums from
Boy Kill Boy and Simple Plan, the debut album from Elliot Minor and
hopefully the release of the new material previewed by the Kaiser
Chiefs on their recent tour.

Hi Sue,

It was a great night, like you said, lovely to see lots of great
friends, including some seasonal visitors!

The boys had experimented with a new track and mixing in some less
played songs the previous two nights, but decided to do the standard
set for such a long-standing tradition as The Six Bells.

Tonight is a booked out Cardinal Wolsey, very much looking forward to it.

Happy New Year everyone, and peace and prosperity to all in the New Year.

Carol

PS. Sue, you must get yourself some earplugs if you will insist on
standing THAT close to the PA!!!!

--- In doitalloveragain70smusic@yahoogroups.com, roadster333
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> Fantastic packed gig last night at the Six Bells in Brentford watching
> Crywolf who just never fail to deliver. My ears are still ringing lol
>
> Great to see so many regular's on a Sunday night.  I have made so many
> friends through going to watch this band this year it has become a
> social event most times I get to watch them play.
>
> Look forward to more fun in the new year.
>
> Sue
>

Fantastic packed gig last night at the Six Bells in Brentford watching
Crywolf who just never fail to deliver. My ears are still ringing lol

Great to see so many regular's on a Sunday night.  I have made so many
friends through going to watch this band this year it has become a
social event most times I get to watch them play.

Look forward to more fun in the new year.

Sue

Went along to Windsor Castle last night to see new band Neverworld.
The Venue was full and the guys delivered, by the second set the pub
was rockin and with echos of more more and cheering they proved how
good they are.

The band are a three piece with Ian on drums, Smithy on bass and
vocals and Jason on guitar and vocals.  They play rock covers but we
were treated to Doctor Doctor, Little Devil, Whiteroom and Alive and
Kicking ones which you dont normally hear even though they are great
tracks.  Smithy can carry off singing AC/DC Highway to Hell and
Whole Lot of Rosie with ease and Ace of Spades was great.  Jason
sings Thin Lizzy numbers Dont believe a Word and Jailbreak
spectacularly. The guys have great stage presence and enjoy
themselves. Good to see Freddie having a guest appearance with his
Smoke on the Water...and normal one-liners lol

The gigs start in February and they have a myspace page with all the
details on.

I would never have known this was their first gig very professional
and when you know they can only get better playing together every
week they will certainly be in demand. A great gig guys and look
forward to more in the new year.

Sue

Here's to a peaceful and happy Christmas for all. My first in the UK!

I saw it in in sterling style with Cry Wolf at The Windsor Castle in
Carshalton last night. Always a venue which loves its music, the boys
put on a great show, really rising to the occasion.

Previously this weekend I'd gone to see Fire & Water at local venue
The Globe in Brentford, since the first time I'd seen them, I'd caught
only the second half of the second set, dedicated to Led Zeppelin -
which is exactly where I bowed out this time, walking out of the pub
to come face to face with that almightly fog which took a day and a
half to lift!

It's probably no surprise that a band can focus on two such seminal
acts in UK music history - Free/Bad Company, and Led Zeppelin, and
keep themselves lucratively busy on the pub circuit. Indeed, just
recently I've read that Free's "All Right Now" was the most played
song ever - something I can vouch for, a few weeks ago having been to
see four bands over a weekend, with three of them playing the very
same (and the fourth going for Wishing Well!). The hoary old classic
is always good for a bit of audience participation, there's no doubt
about it.

My other weekend event was not a gig but a Christmas party at which
the musicians present started to speculate about a musical
collaboration - I can only hope that that one comes about! More on
that I hope later.

I've four gigs coming up next weekend as well as sundry get-togethers
with friends - just as well I have a break from work this week - I
shall certainly go back a tired but very happy woman!

Best wishes for the festive season, and lots of love,

Carol

I see Sweet, Showaddywaddy and the Rubettes are touring next year in
the Glitz Blitz & 70s Hits tour, no dates added yet though.

Saturday at Earls Court was all the more amazing because it was
actually the Kaiser Chiefs second night there - the Friday night
having sold out within hours of the tix going on sale.

Last night we were again watching the Kaiser Chiefs, this time at
the Brighton Centre for the last gig on the tour.  Last year when I
saw them there, there were a lot of young children in the audience
but this time the age range was quite amazing with lots of golden
oldies (and I mean OLD) in addition to the usual pre teens through
to 40's.  Mind you we were in exulted company with Fat Boy Slim also
being up in the South Balcony.

Once again the opening act were Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong.
I'm not sure about the name, which is a helluva mouthful but their
last single Lucio Starts Fires is good and I might actually have
bought it had it come out on CD instead of just a vinyl release.

Sadly no Pigeon Detectives last night, their spot being taken by the
Cribs.  Not sure what to make of this trio from Wakefield.  The
songs they have up on their MySpace page are rather good but they
didn't come over well 'live', being way too loud and brash, and
neither my sister in law or my friend liked them .......

The Kaiser Chiefs were amazing again and last night all sorts of
things got thrown to the audience.  One young guy, Ben, was crowd
surfing and Ricky got him up on the stage with the band.  Once that
number had finished Ben duly went back into the crowd but a few
songs later, Ricky decided that what they needed was Ben to help
them out, so back on stage he went and was given a mike to get the
audience participation going.

My friend was suffering badly with the nasty cold/flu thing that is
doing the rounds but was pleased that she made the effort to come
along, whilst my sister in law thought it was the best gig that
she'd been to ...... my niece and her mate were both on a high too
and we had to stop off at the merch stand on the way out so Becky
could get a poster ..... and talked her Mum into buying her a T
Shirt !  Really can't understand why people pay mega bucks to see
the likes of the Stones or the Police when you can see The Kaiser
Chiefs for a very modest amount and have the most amazing nights
entertainment. Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em !

Glad you had such a great time Tina! A friend of mine was telling me
she was right down the front at The Kaiser Chiefs and cadged a
drumstick from the band (as they'd run out of guitar picks)! She was
in raptures, echoing your opinion.

For me the highlight of the weekend was actually Thursday night, with
the so-called Thin Lizzy at the Hammersmith Apollo - so-called,
because really isn't Lizzy without Phil Lynott, but it's about the
closest we'll get these days (barring one-offs like the Tribute gig in
Ireland last year).

The band featured latter day Lizzy guitarist John Sykes on guitar and
vocals, with stalwart Scott Gorham on the "other" lead guitar, none
other than veteran drummer Tommy Aldridge on percussion, and the
anachronistic Francesco DiCosmo on bass (with his spiky, pointy hair
and body piercings, looking like he was a refugee from some mu-metal
band!)

The gig was in fact the final concert from the Live and Dangerous tour,
http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/live_nation/thin_lizzy_2007_tour.htm
where the foursome were playing almost all of the classic live album.
Quite simply, I loved it. To add to the atmosphere, it was my first
gig at the famous venue formerly known as the Odeon, and there were
poignant memories too for the guitarist I was with, remembering his
turn at seeing his band's name up in lights on the front of the
theatre. He tells me it hasn't changed at all...

We sat through some of support band Diamond Head's set, but the
general opinion that the quality of the sound did not do them justice,
which is a shame. I was rather interested to see the band so often
name-checked as an early influence on Metallica, but the night truly
belonged to Lizzy.

I have a huge soft spot for the Celtic influences on their music, the
    and songs like Emerald, in all its grand drama, were faithfully
delivered by a band in truly electric form, but Lizzy have also
crafted some of the sweetest classic rock songs of all time, now
staples of the pub rock scene - The Boys Are Back in Town, Jailbreak,
Don't Believe A Word... and so on, and so on! It was all there.
Aldridge delivered one of the most arresting solos I've ever seen -
shirtless as is his trademark, he threw his drumsticks away halfway
through the drum solo and completed it by hand - fantastic.

Loved the gig and the company too, not to mention the occasional phone
call from our very own Dave right down the front, who stole the show
(well, a few picks from on stage, anyway) and then kindly gave them
all away!!! Even Pars got one... :-)

Saturday saw Cry Wolf playing a Bikers' Christmas party in Harefield.
Lots of fun, loved the venue and hope we get to do it again!

Carol

The Spice Girls played the O2 arena this weekend on the first of their
reunion shows in their homeland ...... thankfully I was at Earls Court
to see the totally brilliant Kaiser Chiefs.  As with their arena tour
last year they had a couple of support acts and last night it was Joe
Lean and The Jing Jang Jong plus the Pigeon Detectives.  The Pigeons
have gone from strength to strength this year and are a fabulous band
to see live with Matt Bowman rivalling Ricky Wilson in his antics as he
climbs all over the stage and equipment.  Their opening number was the
terrific I Found Out and they played all the songs from their Wait For
Me album, getting a really enthusiastic response from the crowd.
They're doing another headline tour of their own next spring,
thankfully including The Dome at Brighton and I already have my tix for
that one.

The crowd at Earls Court was huge, looking more like a festival crowd
and I was glad that we were safely tucked away in the balcony, with a
good view and no one getting in our way.  Opening with Everything Is
Average Nowadays, the set was a mixture of songs from Employment and
The Angry Mob with about three or four brand new songs thrown in for
good measure.  It's often not easy to take to new songs on first
hearing but these were somethng else, especially the first one they
played which I think was called something like Never Miss A Beat.
Hopefully this means that album nuber three is not far off and it
promises to be bigger and better than the first two - which is really
saying something given their quality.  All too soon the show was coming
to a close, even though the Chiefs themselves must have played for a
good hour and a half, the encore comprising of Thank You Very Much,
Love is Not A Competition and Oh My God.  An amazing evening.

Former Arrows guitarist (1976-77) Terry Taylor
is a founding member of the band
Bill Wyman's Rhythm King's, as guitarist-musical director.
Last monday Dec. 10th '07, Terry and the Kings
opened up for Led Zep's epic reunion show in London
at the 02 Arena.
Paul Rodgers, singer of the bands Bad Company and Free
joined the Rhythm Kings for a few numbers
on stage.

Friday went along to the cardinal for the birthday bash of Dave and
to watch a band called Land of Kane.  These were four youngish guys
playing rock covers.  They were refreshing to watch, and the singer
even though he was tiny had a voice and half on him... excellent and
what charisma.  It was great to hear differant songs from Metallica,
Black Stabbeth, Megadeath than the usual ones you hear played.  Then
it was quick drive back to Slough to the Rising Sun to catch MRG's
second set.  We were treated to a guest appearance from Jason who
played Whisky in a Jar on guitar with our own 'Freddie' singing.
Dave actually got to sing his favourite Smoke on the Water ... could
tell he had a good drink when he sang the same verse twice!!  Great
fun shared with friends.

Saturday I went along to Lingfield to see The Look.  Such a shame
that this venue is having trouble getting people along but I suppose
its a sign of the times.  Totally new line-up with Dazzling Dave back
on drums, Cliff Silvermoon on bass and Rikki on guitar.  The guys did
well as its only the third time they have played together... and as
the saying goes 'it will only get better'.  Leader as usual managed
to keep the whole show together and even though it was a small
audiance they were up from the first number and danced their socks
off.

I will mention Thursday even though its not 70's and have had the
micky taken out of me... saw Take That at the 02 on Thursday night
and was blown away.  Very good show, loved the audience participation
and had good company to enjoy it all with. I am expecting to see the
dance moves in the not to distant future ;-)

Sue

Great to get confirmation that The Rumble Strips will be supporting
Hard Fi on their forthcoming gigs.  I've been wanting to see them for a
while now so Wembley on 18 December promises to be another good
night !

Talking of support acts, check out Elliot Minor who have been
supporting Mc Fly on their recent arena tour.  I haven't seen them yet
but their music is really good and they're reckoned to be the next big
thing in the music world.  Their debut album is out next spring and
they're touring on their own at that time - playing the Astoria on 12
April '08.

To keep us going until then there's the third Simple Plan album finally
due out in January, along with the second Boy Kill Boy offering.
Something to brighten an otherwise dull and miserable month/

The answer was right in front of us all the time...!

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/doitalloveragain70smusic/message/3994

...and, never seen him play live, but definitely on television!

--- In doitalloveragain70smusic@yahoogroups.com, <jan.stevenson@...>
wrote:
>
> He only plays in his local these days, or occasionally at Blues
Weekends if asked.
>
> I dont doubt that you probably have seen him play before though.
>
> Jan
> >
> > From: blackfootsu <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: 2007/09/17 Mon AM 09:49:05 BST
> > To: doitalloveragain70smusic@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [Do It All Over Again  70's Music] 'Fess up, Jan!
> >
> > Sitting in O'Neills last night watching yet another band* play - my
> > first exposure to these particular musicians - it got me me to
> > wondering about your "other half", Jan! I might have been watching him
> > and not known it!
> >
> > Who is he, who does he play with and where does he play? Enquiring
> > minds would love to know! Hell, you might even gain some extra
> > audience members!
> >
> >
> > Carol
> >
> > * Stone Pony, also featuring some ex-members of Crisis last night...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Email sent from www.virginmedia.com/email
> Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software and scanned for spam
>

This week started with a trip to Brighton on Tuesday for Joan Jett,
Motorhead and Alice Cooper.  We arrived early so we could shop before
we headed for a meal before the concert at the Brighton Centre.  I
agree with Tina, its a great venue and I find it very personel and
prefer it to Wembley.

Was not impressed with Joan Jett but Motorhead made up for my
disappointment and whow were they loud... Alice Cooper was
sensational and his backing band included the drummer from Kiss.
Great entertainment and had the whole centre up for classis Posion
and Schools Out.

Friday was Shepherds Bush as Carol has mention.... nightmare of a
journey but then it was a Friday night heading into London.  First
time I had seen Gary Moore, I to was swept away by his playing and
thought he had good stage presence.  Got chating to a couple of nice
fellars who were talking about Crywolf... small world.

Saturday night I went along to Binfield to see The Look...  seems an
age since I last went.  Good gig and caught up with some friends that
I worked with many years ago...

The guys have had a major line-up change of late.  Larry has moved on
with a new business venture so has been replaced by Cliff Silvermoon
who was in the band when I first saw them play some 13years ago.
Linyl is leaving by the end of the year due to work committments he
will be missed having started in the band 10 years ago at the tender
age of 16.  I wondered how we would replace him as he is such a big
part of the band... but hey along comes Richie, tallented, good
looking, and has gone for a whole differant image.

The band are working on new material, costumes and makeup, cd and dvd
all though 2008 which I feel will be one of our best and exciting
years so far.

I stood watching them on Saturday with a smile on my face thinking
what a great entertaining band they are. The audiance loved them and
so do I.  'Simply the Best'.

Sue

Not many gigs in my neck of the wood here in darkest Suffolk, but it does
mean I can wander over to Vauxhall Holiday Park for their weekenders! (and
be home for tea!)

Jan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tina" <tina1406@...>
To: <doitalloveragain70smusic@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 9:45 PM
Subject: [Do It All Over Again 70's Music] Saturday night's alright for
....... gigging !


> Have to admit that I was not in the mood for going out on Wednesday
> night so didn't get to see The Hoosiers ...... not too much of a loss
> though having already ssen them twice this year supporting Ghosts and
> and at V.
>
> Last night though I did make the effort and got myself down to Brighton
> for Boy Kill Boy at the Barfly.  This is a lovely venue if it isn't too
> full but is not so good when it's packed to the rafters as it was last
> night and it can be quite difficult to see ...... especially if you
> have a 6'6" man mountain in front of you.  I wouldn't have minded quite
> so much if the goon had actually been listening to the music and
> watching the band but he and his sidekicks were more interested in
> pratting around, chatting to one another and taking pictures of each
> other ...... snarl ....... why do these people bother going to gigs ????
>
> There were two support bands.  Haunts who are from London and who were
> not really my scene and, first up, a quintet from Littlehampton called
> Retrofect, who were excellent.  Another very young and talented band
> who sing very catchy pop songs.  They have an album out called New York
> Kiss which I shall endeavour to track down and purchase as soon as
> possible.
>
> There is a curfew at the Barfly as I remember Sonic Hearts getting
> their set cut short when they supported Tiny Dancers a couple of months
> back so I was somewhat concerened as the time ticked by and it was
> obvios that BKB were not going to be on stage at their scheduled time
> of 9.30.  They eventually made it at aboyt 10pm and then I was fretting
> about how much of the set I was going to see before having to dash for
> the last train at 11pm - only in Britain do they make the last train
> back half an hour earlier on a Saturday than it is during the
> week ......
>
> Having opened at V with one of their new songs at a time when no one
> had heard any of the new material before, last night they played safe
> and kicked off with Back Again, swiftly followed by On and On.  A few
> of the new songs such as No Conversation, A OK and Rosie's On Fire were
> mixed in with other established favourites such as Friday Friday and
> Six Minutes, Civil Sin and Shoot Me Down - when all of Pete's keybords
> packed up and Chris, Shaz and Kev had to play on without him.  There
> was also a nice cover of Dream A Little Dream Of Me.  I think they were
> just starting to play Look Away as I had to hoof it for the station and
> perhaps I'll find out the remainder of the set list on Tuesday at
> Hoxton Bar and Kitchen ........
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Have to admit that I was not in the mood for going out on Wednesday
night so didn't get to see The Hoosiers ...... not too much of a loss
though having already ssen them twice this year supporting Ghosts and
and at V.

Last night though I did make the effort and got myself down to Brighton
for Boy Kill Boy at the Barfly.  This is a lovely venue if it isn't too
full but is not so good when it's packed to the rafters as it was last
night and it can be quite difficult to see ...... especially if you
have a 6'6" man mountain in front of you.  I wouldn't have minded quite
so much if the goon had actually been listening to the music and
watching the band but he and his sidekicks were more interested in
pratting around, chatting to one another and taking pictures of each
other ...... snarl ....... why do these people bother going to gigs ????

There were two support bands.  Haunts who are from London and who were
not really my scene and, first up, a quintet from Littlehampton called
Retrofect, who were excellent.  Another very young and talented band
who sing very catchy pop songs.  They have an album out called New York
Kiss which I shall endeavour to track down and purchase as soon as
possible.

There is a curfew at the Barfly as I remember Sonic Hearts getting
their set cut short when they supported Tiny Dancers a couple of months
back so I was somewhat concerened as the time ticked by and it was
obvios that BKB were not going to be on stage at their scheduled time
of 9.30.  They eventually made it at aboyt 10pm and then I was fretting
about how much of the set I was going to see before having to dash for
the last train at 11pm - only in Britain do they make the last train
back half an hour earlier on a Saturday than it is during the
week ......

Having opened at V with one of their new songs at a time when no one
had heard any of the new material before, last night they played safe
and kicked off with Back Again, swiftly followed by On and On.  A few
of the new songs such as No Conversation, A OK and Rosie's On Fire were
mixed in with other established favourites such as Friday Friday and
Six Minutes, Civil Sin and Shoot Me Down - when all of Pete's keybords
packed up and Chris, Shaz and Kev had to play on without him.  There
was also a nice cover of Dream A Little Dream Of Me.  I think they were
just starting to play Look Away as I had to hoof it for the station and
perhaps I'll find out the remainder of the set list on Tuesday at
Hoxton Bar and Kitchen ........

Believe it or not, 2008 starts off over here with Elton John on Jan
24th! Although at the moment we're not holding our breath as this
years debacle with Keane proved.

It is on the website though, although the venue is wrong.

Welcome to Tenerife as they say over here. Manana, siempre manana!

Music is the reason I moved to the UK, and a weekend like this simply
reinforces what a great decision I made. After years of going with my
head, and concentrating on building a career, I went with my heart,
and I couldn't be happier.

First up was a Thursday night gig with Cry Wolf at local premier music
pub The Globe in Brentford. Not much to add that hasn't already been
said about these boys, except that with a special guest for two
numbers, we had four Farmers on stage instead of the usual three!
Ricky was great, particularly with his vocals on Under The Bridge,
spine-tinglingly close to the original. All in all, it was a fun night
surrounded by a bunch of great people, and a unique trip home for
me...(;-p)!

And then there was Friday night. It was my first trip to Shepherds
Bush Empire, and I have to admit, though I got myself right down the
front pretty much as soon as I arrived, I spent a lot of the support
act's set gazing up at the architecture of the place - three tiers of
pretty, curved balconies above our heads, the high vaulted ceiling -
gorgeous. I had seen Otis Taylor supporting Gary before, but this time
he played solo. Not really my kind of music, being acoustic Delta
Blues style meanderings, but there's no doubting the guy's ability.

As the place got more and more crowded, any hopes for keeping a place
for Sue and Miranda, then in transit somewhere on the motorway towards
London, were dashed, but to my delight, I got a text message that they
were in at last, seconds before the lights dimmed and on came Gary!

Though still essentially the same set I saw in Reading, to my mind it
was a heavier, rockier rendition of the songs, and though still
steeped in the blues, the guitar solos are timeless - they could be
Gary in any era, from the prog rock-fusion of Colosseum II, to his 80s
rock god incarnation and on into the blues and the later cross-genre
material - no matter what, Gary Moore is Gary Moore, and that guitar
is an extension of his body, and it sings sweetly and eloquently indeed.

He brought tears to my eyes once again, as that music is soul-stirring
in the very purest sense - it's impossible not to be moved.

After I waded through the crush to get out afterwards, I finally
caught up with Sue and Miranda and had a belated, tasty dinner while
we nattered, before heading off home.

Then, last night, fanfare!, I drove to Carshalton for Raw Glory, whom
I had not seen for a while, though they'd played in Bracknell the
previous night and had gone down very well. And last night was a
stormer! The Windsor Castle has got to be my particular favourite on
the circuit - the locals are welcoming and friendly and absolutely
love their music. New entry to the set, "It's A Man's World," was
perfect for Johnny's voice, he was in fantastic form, Mick's solo was
possibly one of the best yet I've seen and heard, and Cosmo was
steaming on the Les Paul.

And, sacrilege though it might be, I have to say that their rendition
of the Thin Lizzy version of "Don't Believe A Word" was better than
Gary Moore's the previous night. Twice now that I've seen, Gary and
the band have rushed it, and the subtlety of the rhythm is lost at
high speed, when it starts to veer towards thrash metal, but Raw Glory
were spot on.

Oh, and an honorable mention for the bass drum head - it really did
look great!

A top evening, capping off another superb gigging weekend. In the
meantime, the 2008 calendar continues to fill, and I now have a
Megadeth date for February. :-)

Love,

Carol

Next year is already starting to look interesting with Hanoi Rocks at
Astoria 2 early in March, The Enemy doing three nights at the Astoria
proper at the end of March, not to mention The Osmonds at Wembley in
May.  The Hoosiers are also playing some of the larger venues next
March but I'll reserve judgement until I've seen them at the Barfly
this week.  I'm hoping that Boy Kill Boy will be back on the road too
in the New Year and it has to be a distinct possibility what with the
release date for their second album having been put back from today to
sometime in January.  Having not paid out for the expected BKB album I
spent the dosh on the Wombats debut CD "A Guide to Love, Loss and
Desperation", which arrived today and is already downloaded onto my MP3
player to be listened to en route to the office tomorrow. I'm already
familiar with the singles Backfire At The Disco and Let's Dance to Joy
Division so the album promises to be a belter .....

Carol what a gig..... fantastic and a great day spent with friends
talking about what we love music and other things !!

All I can say is the old one's are the best and Ronnie's voice is as
strong as ever. What a view good old Dave, I have never been that near
before.

See you Friday but I have Alice Cooper tomorrow in Brighton, can't wait.

Sue

Given the turbulent state of the band scene here in the SW, it's no
real surprise that the band I went to see on Friday night was billed
in the pub as "Rushmore", was in fact calling itself "Prezence", and
it was the first time that this particular line-up had performed live.
Featuring one member of Rough Justice (Hog, on vocals), one member of
Airplay (Ian on bass), Chris from Black Rose (or whatever the
replacement for Bad II The Bone are calling themselves this week!) on
guitar, as well as newcomer Matt on drums, and our very own Rob (CC,
to those in the know!) on keyboards, they played an entertaining and
proficient gig to a good turn out at The Dog & Partridge in Staines.
The set list was a great mixture of songs, taking in everything from
Black Sabbath (more on THEM later) through to Blink 182, taking in the
staples such as All Right Now and Mustang Sally, plus other excursions
into familiar territory such as Zeppelin, Whitesnake, Blur, Nirvana,
AC/DC, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Foo Fighters, Joe Walsh etc etc.

An enjoyable evening at a good venue, and it's always nice to meet up
with friends who had, like me, eschewed the very, very late start over
in Hayes with Cry Wolf in favour of the curiousity value of this gig.

However, the highlight of my weekend just had to be Heaven & Hell, aka
the Ronnie James Dio-era Black Sabbath line-up, at Wembley Arena. Not
one to be shy and backward, Dave led us right down to the very front,
where we had the most fantastic view - often only feet away from
Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio when they came to the
front of the stage. Indeed, one of the picks thrown out into the crowd
at the end by Tony hit my fingertips, I swear! I decided to keep my
dignity (and fingers!) intact, however, and not get involved in the
frenzied rugby scrum which developed amongst the people scouring the
floor, looking for black picks amongst blackened, ancient gobs of
chewing gum...

Well, what can I say about the gig itself? I'd been waiting a long,
long time for this indeed, and the band did not disappoint. Though
playing songs only from the three Dio-era Black Sabbath albums, Heaven
And Hell (1980), The Mob Rules (1981) and Dehumaniser (1992), plus the
three new tracks they've recorded recently, there were was still a
wealth of tracks to select from.

I've never heard any of the Dehumaniser tracks live, so they were a
highlight, particularly the anthemic "I", but in truth I loved every
single minute of it. We were on Geezer's side of the stage, and it was
riveting watching his fingers flying over the bass strings, when I
wasn't mermerised by the elfin Dio whirling about the stage, still
singing about "dragons and kings" with that fantastic voice, so much
bigger than he is! On the opposite side of the stage, Iommi powered
through his monstrous riffs, and behind them thundered Vinny Appice
and his equally monstrous kit. We had Iommi right in front of us for
the opening solo of Die Young - I was so impressed with the guy -
still so clearly enjoying himself after all these years, still a
master, if shamefully under-recognised amongst so many lesser guitar gods.

I couldn't help the occasional twinge however, on watching Ronnie - I
so wanted to close my eyes and imagine it was 1976, and Ritchie
Blackmore was on one side of the stage, and my beloved Cozy Powell
behind them, under the electronic rainbow - an illusion the stage
lighting cleverly emulated in Heaven & Hell!

We loved it so much we were beyond superlatives by the time we left
the arena, regrouping briefly before I left for my bus and the
intrepid foursome headed off to terrorise the train network!

I should also give an honorable mention to Iced Earth, on second
support - favoured by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, he brought these guys
out to Australia with him in 2005, so it was my second experience of
their old-school style thrash. Good to see and hear them again, though
we were tossed off the balcony by an over-zealous usher after we
ventured in for a quick look, and then a second time were not even
allowed to stand and look through the glass door when we found an
excellent vantage spot directly opposite the stage!!! So we went and
bought our T-shirts, had a last drink at inflated arena prices, an ice
cream for me, and then took the plunge and went on into the arena
while first support Lamb Of God were playing. As Dave said, it was
enjoyable enough and had the right kind of energy to keep the crowd
happy, though growled death-metal style vocals are not to everyone's
taste!

Brilliant. A fantastic afternoon spent with great friends, and a
wonderful night's gig to share with them. Cheers, one and all!

I'm already looking forward to next weekend's special treat, my second
dose of Gary Moore for the year, and I have also started filling in a
few dates in my 2008 gigging calendar. The pub dates are starting to
trickle in, while I have just booked myself to go and see Nightwish,
introduced to me by my mate Brent back in Australia, on my recent trip
back. They are playing the atmospheric Astoria in late March, it
should be great!

Carol

Sue,

You must let us know when these gigs are on, and where. Now that I've
got wheels... ;-p

Ronnie and I were discussing the logistics of the Hatton Cross gig,
funny you should mention that. Hopefully we'll get quite a good turn
out, not to mention a bit of video footage.

Catch you later!

Carol


--- In doitalloveragain70smusic@yahoogroups.com, roadster333
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> Friday night was a first time at The Bell to watch Twos Company.  It
> was  refreshing to hear differant songs from artists like
> Whitesnake, Prince, Thin Lizzy and many more.  Jason is just a
> superb guitarist which an incredible voice..... he certainly knows
> how to make an audiance take notice. Clive does a good job on rhythm.
>
> Jason is the guitarist/singer in the new band in my previous post.
> We are at present running through names and have a few gigs lined up
> in February and busy with demos etc so it is all very exciting.
>
> Great to see Dave adding another number to his set list... Whiskey
> in the Jar. lol
>
> Carol pleased about the car...  Hatton Cross here we come ;-)
>
> Sue
>

Friday night was a first time at The Bell to watch Twos Company.  It
was  refreshing to hear differant songs from artists like
Whitesnake, Prince, Thin Lizzy and many more.  Jason is just a
superb guitarist which an incredible voice..... he certainly knows
how to make an audiance take notice. Clive does a good job on rhythm.

Jason is the guitarist/singer in the new band in my previous post.
We are at present running through names and have a few gigs lined up
in February and busy with demos etc so it is all very exciting.

Great to see Dave adding another number to his set list... Whiskey
in the Jar. lol

Carol pleased about the car...  Hatton Cross here we come ;-)

Sue

Thursday night started the gigging weekend off, but badly... when I
got to The Prince Regent in Sutton for the evening's gig, it was all
dark and closed up - a quick call around revealed that the night
before, the pub had been "raided". A speedy cascade of calls caught
most people before they had set out, fortunately, and as it had been a
last minute booking in the first place (Cry Wolf taking Bad II The
Bone's place at extremely short notice), hopefully most people didn't
have a wasted journey.

One can assume that the gig at the end of the month at The Prince
Regent is very doubtful now as well - we are losing more venues all
the time, alas, and the December roster is looking particularly thin
at this point in time.

On Friday night there were no such hiccups, with Cry Wolf playing up
in Essex at The Shark. It was lovely to see some of the old Waltham
Cross crowd in the audience, they've been starved of gigs of late, and
were very appreciative. It was such a late night though, with a long
trip back home! (The rumour that evening was that, rather than having
been raided, the publican of The Prince Regent had run off with the
takings - we'll probably find out the full story when next in the area.)

Saturday saw me much closer to home with Brainchild at The Cardinal
Wolsey. I've not seen them before together as a combo, though Smash,
the drummer, I've known for a long time, as he's a Cry Wolf dep, and
vocalist/guitarist Chris I know from jams at The Red Lion and The
Cardinal.

The band is a 5 piece, featuring 2 guitarists, bass, drums, and saxes,
with a more laid-back first set, during which Chris played an acoustic
guitar, and a heavier second set, where Chris became electric and
Smash had more chance to stretch out and show us how capable he is.
The band's material spreads right across eras and genres and defies
catagorisation, though mixed in with Chris' excellent original songs
was everything from XTC to Queen to The Who to Zep to Motorhead to
T.Rex, with forays as far afield as reggae and all ports inbetween!

Offstage there was some drama involving a glass of beer thrown over a
  woman and the thrower (a roadie, so I thought) storming off out of
the pub, leaving me with the belief that hardly any band in the local
gigging scene is entirely free of its own little soap opera!

Very enjoyable, all up, and as well as that I caught up with a few
people I hadn't seen since before my trip to Australia.

Sunday was a non-live music day, though it featured a preview of the
newly released Gillan box set. Firstly, all the singles have been
reissued as CDs with reproductions of the original 45 picture sleeves
- lovely stuff! Secondly, and the real gem, was the DVD of promo
videos - Mick was absolutely chuffed, he didn't even remember filming
some of the clips (he probably blanked out the incredibly tedious
process of filming, which he has readily admitted he abhors). I was
absolutely chuffed as I'd not seen any of them before except Sleeping
On The Job. In a word, wow.

Then I got a sneak preview of the live Strapps CD, due out by Angel
Air on January 14th. Strapps were around in the later part of the 70s,
but you would have undoubtedly blinked and missed them, since their
brand of rock was running against the flow, with the British music
scene all caught up with caught up with punk and its slightly more
cultured successor, new wave. Indeed, the band was filmed at The
Rainbow Theatre in 1977 as a support act to the equally little known
Ian Gillan Band, Gillan's post-Purple rock fusion project. Thanks to
the powers that be, not only was IGB filmed for all properity, but so
also was Strapps, and the recording also included audio of sufficient
quality to merit this beautifully packaged release.

Ross Stagg, a fellow Australian (and an incredibly erudite and
fascinating guy!) was lead singer for Strapps, with a penchant for
bitingly sarcastic lyrics in which he openly gunned for the music
press - possibly not a politically astute move given the musical
climate at the time! The live tracks reveal a deliciously tight band
with prog rock stylings, and as Mick pointed out, definite echoes of
the legendary Quatermass, particularly in its use of keyboards, not to
mention a bit of pre-Gillan Gillan rapid-fire power! The bonus studio
tracks show Stagg's early Bowie-esque vocal leanings, which, Mick
cheerfully told me, they "gently" led him away from to the more
raunchy style delightfully evident at The Rainbow.

Can't wait for its release, and I also hope that Angel Air give some
consideration to the release of the accompanying video footage, which
would be a stunning legacy for a criminally little known band. I ought
to add that despite general indifference in the UK, Strapps went on to
be Big In Japan, releasing an additional two albums in the Far East
and commanding an enduring loyalty which amazed and delighted Mick
when touring there some years later with Gillan - fans were constantly
proferring any and all of the Strapps albums alongside any Gillan
recordings he was asked to sign!

And my other "preview" was of Mick's new bass drum head - it's nice to
know it turned out so well, since I was working on a design
effectively 3" square on my computer screen - blown up to 24" on the
drum head, it really looks the ticket. See it for yourself at a Raw
Glory gig very soon!

Right, that's my lot for the weekend. Hope yours was as good... and
I'm loving my new motor as well. Freedom!!!! :-)

Love,

Carol

Sue, you lucky girl if it's who I think it is. Look forward to hearing
more - big things are afoot, I'm sure!

Carol


  --- In doitalloveragain70smusic@yahoogroups.com, roadster333
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
>
> Carol I don't know how you you keep going....
>
> My Thursday night's have been taken up with going along to rehersals for
> a rock band that are going to be up and running in January...
> hopefully. They might have to start as a three piece as the other
> guitarist has commitments but not for long.  I just love their style
> and enjoy listening to them. Will keep the site posted with gig dates
> as soon as I know them.
>
> Friday was along to the cardinal for Crywolf another great gig was good
> to hear a couple of numbers back in and to see the usual crowd.
>
> Saturday was in Aylesbury to see a duo called Twos Company. They play
> classic rock including Purple Rain, Don't believe a Word, Give me all
> your Lovin, Whiteroom to name a few. Jason is the singer/ guitarist
> and he is talented but he did come recommended by Pars lol. Good to see
> Dave singing Smoke on the Water with his usual charisma!!
>
> Sue
>

Carol I don't know how you you keep going....

My Thursday night's have been taken up with going along to rehersals for
a rock band that are going to be up and running in January...
hopefully. They might have to start as a three piece as the other
guitarist has commitments but not for long.  I just love their style
and enjoy listening to them. Will keep the site posted with gig dates
as soon as I know them.

Friday was along to the cardinal for Crywolf another great gig was good
to hear a couple of numbers back in and to see the usual crowd.

Saturday was in Aylesbury to see a duo called Twos Company. They play
classic rock including Purple Rain, Don't believe a Word, Give me all
your Lovin, Whiteroom to name a few. Jason is the singer/ guitarist
and he is talented but he did come recommended by Pars lol. Good to see
Dave singing Smoke on the Water with his usual charisma!!

Sue

If I was utterly mad, this could have been night 7 out of an
uninterrupted stretch of 9 gig nights in a row, but I have a little
more sense - or perhaps a little less stamina!

Therefore the weekend started instead with Friday night in Sutton, and
The Zombies - strictly speaking, this band does not exactly qualify
for a newsgroup about 70s music, being as they broke up in 1967,
ironically just as the beautiful lilting ballad "Time Of The Season"
from their final album, the enduringly misspelt "Odessey and Oracle",
started to make an impact (and lives on today, most recently used for
a cider advertisement).

However, I can qualify that by pointing out that alongside Colin
Blunstone on vocals, the band featured Rod Argent on keyboards and Jim
Rochford on bass, two founder members of 70s prog rockers Argent,
performers and  writers of not only the classic Hold Your Head Up, but
the song which Kiss made a mega-smash hit in the 80s, God Gave Rock
And Roll To You.

What can I say? Colin Blunstone remains one of life's quietly spoken
gentlemen, and when he started to sing, that voice is still so pure,
powerful and true, I was mesmerised. The band was rounded out by Jim's
son Steve on drums, and Keith Airey (brother of Don (Rainbow, Deep
Purple, etc)) on guitar, who, though playing a Strat, comes from the
old style Gary Moore school (think Colosseum II, early solo work),
much to my delight! Add to that Rod Argent's instrument of choice
being the Hammond XK-3, pitch-perfect 3-4 part vocals (Rod was
suffering badly from a throat infection and couldn't always
contribute), and you have a fantastic night.

And yes, we got all the right tracks - the perennial She's Not There,
as well as all the afore-mentioned hits, and some brand new tracks as
well which prove that both Colin and Rod are still brilliant song
writers. I went straight back to the merchandise stand after the gig
and bought the DVD, so I could wallow in the magic all over again to
my heart's content!

On Sunday it was two staples of my gigging life - the jam at The Red
Lion, Twickenham, in the afternoon, with all the usual suspects plus
my mate Mick at least getting to stretch out a little on two tracks,
and then, where else on the final Sunday of the month, but The Six
Bells in Brentford with Cry Wolf! You've heard all about them before,
so I don't need to say much, but a highlight was the inclusion of
Whitesnake's Here I Go Again, not often played by the boys.

Monday was more PR than simply just band watching, with the four of us
heading down to The Bull's Head in Barnes for Never The Bride - the
place was utterly packed out, though partly that was because there
were chairs in the club - if it had been standing room only the crowd
wouldn't have been all crammed into the only doorway right at the back
and straining to see! Singer Nikki was celebrating her birthday in
fine style by belting out the songs as only she can, and though it was
deliberately billed as an "acoustic" gig, there was still enough power
and amplication to appease the "noise"-loving such as myself! Smoozing
done, we headed on our separate ways.

I also, to my astonishment, got offered Led Zep tickets in the ballot
this week. Checking the website for which seats were still available,
I found that the best ones left were right up high and to the side of
the stage, not affording much of a view. Given our previous discussion
in this newsgroup of those very seats at the O2 and Wembley, I decided
that I didn't love Zep THAT much to want to fork out £125 for a bout
of vertigo. Strong rumour has it that there will be other gigs, so
I'll wait (though privately I'm not convinced), and if all else fails,
I'll buy the DVD!

The gig weekend starts early again this week, on Thursday, though I
also have two (conflicting) invitations for this evening which I think
I had better not take up, simply for the sake of my own health.

Whatever you all get up to, enjoy!

Carol

Well it's a bit cloudy here at the moment. May get rain for the
first time since February.

Just a short update on the proposal I had to organize something out
here. It seems my idea may have been hijacked but I can't be sure.
The guy who originally made the proposal hasn't been back since he
spoke to the radio dj. I know he's avoiding me becuase I spotted him
down our row in the week but he didn't bother to come in.

Maybe there something planned, but if there is they need to get
their finger out. I did contact a couple of bands, but was declined
as it was too short notice.

If they try to do something using the artists out here it will fall
spectacularly on it's arse as the only two decent bands here are
leaving at the end of the year.

Thanx to everyone for their feedback on this subject, perhaps if I
can find somebody more reliable, maybe 2009 would be a more
realistic prospect.

Pat Travers Band next Wednesday (31st), can't wait. Don't often get
quality like that on the island, and a bargain at 15 euros a ticket.

blackfootsu <no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Tina, you were just around the corner from my office... or
rather, the Hard Rock Cafe is. As I was on my way back into the
country at the time, I missed out...
>
> Carol

Having done the Hard Rock gig my mate and I have escaped to Boston
for a few days.  We've done the Freedom Trail, been up to Cape Ann
(Rockport) and walked along the beach and the coastal path and
discovered just how much cheaper everything is in the Hard Rock Cafe
over here compared to London and Germany ..... they seem to charge
the same price in dollars as they do in Euros in Berlin and Cologne
and quite how they work out the sterling price is anyone's guess -
think of a figure, double it, add 20 ..... etc etc !  Still to hit
the shops properly but we still have a few days left ....... Sinead
O'Connor is playing Boston tonight but we decided we'd rather just
sit with a drink after quite a busy day.  Back in time for the next
Ghosts gig at Koko on Friday !