Bon Jovi - London O2 Arena 20th June 2010

So 9 months after the dates were announced here we are night 8 of 12 at the O2 Arena Greenwich.

I have been a fan since buying the debut LP on import from Shades(sadly long since gone London store)way back in 1984 but after the 2006 show we saw in Southampton I have to say felt they had had their day. On that nite they were uninterested had no chemistry between Jon and Richie and I missed the 2008 dates after the Lost Highway "Nashville"cd after that.

I enjoyed "The Circle" cd on its release but I didn't buy a ticket until after the "Circle"tour started. I wanted to see if the fire had returned and on seeing youtube footage of early dates I felt it was worth the chance.

Now not having thousands of pounds for a close seat I had to settle for a £75 ticket on Richies side for the O2 Arena experience. I remember for the New Jersey tour way back in 1988 being able to buy a ticket for row 2 at Wembley Arena just because I was first out of the traps for one!!

 

On arrival managed to get past the car park mafia into car park 4 after saying I was visiting the cinema so only paying £7 not £25 clever eh!!

Programmes were £20,t shirts £20 upwards with a hoodie at £50. I spent £0!!

 

Support were from One Republic who were a little too jangly for me. It says a lot when they biggest response was for a cover of Tears For Fears "Shout".

 

Tonite was my 12th time seeing Bon Jovi and the first indoors(tour) since 1993 although the Cardiff Millenium show in 2001 had the roof closed!!

Over the course of the next 2 and a half hours and this setlist my faith was restored.

 

Blood On Blood

We Weren't Born To Follow

You Give Love A Bad Name

Born To Be My Baby

Superman Tonight

In These Arms

When We Were Beautiful

Summertime

Captain Crash

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

We Got It Going On

Bad Medicine w/Roadhouse Blues(Doors cover)

Homebound Train(Richie on vox)

Bed Of Roses

Squeezebox(acoustic)

These Days(acoustic)

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night(acoustic)

Have A Nice Day

Work For The Working Man

It's My Life

Who Says You Can't Go Home

Keep The Faith

Encores of   I Love This Town

Wanted Dead Or Alive

Livin' On A Prayer

 

Have they still got it. It was apparent from the word go Jon sounded excellent and the chemistry between him and Richie is back.

Maybe it was just me or was Richie even set up more centre stage and the video footage was split between the 2 of them. They shared the microphone and looked fresh even after 5 months on the road.

Jon smiled his way through the whole evening and the rest of the band did their bit. Tico Torres on drums is a monster, David Bryan on keys(recent 4 time Tony award winner in his own right now!!) Hugh Mcdonald(bass) and Bobby Bandiero(2nd geetar) all played their part and kicked ass all nite.  So tight!!

 

The band have been moving the setlist for each nite so I was hopeful of Blood as first song done. Ditto with In These Arms,Nice Day and Faith.

2 I had my fingers crossed for were Homebound Train with Richie on vox and These Days.  Well what a lucky sod I was.

Train had only been played once at the O2 and I have to say I think it frightened most of the crowd as Richie sang his heart out,solo'd like mad and the band kicked ass.  Wonderful stuff.  For the acoustic set on the walkway we had These Days.   Played this way for the first time ever.  Utterly fantastic Jon sounding better than for a long time and Richie singing just fab and the solo just finished it off.  A real moment!!

 

The stage set was superb giving even the people in the Gods a view with the wrap round(at the back)video screen and the one in the roof which broke up into many sizes,angles or as one enormous one which blocked the view of the people at the back of the stage quite a few times.  The 5 robots that moved the other screens around behind the band were amazing at one time changing from screens to a walkway for Jon!!  Fantastic lights and sound too as you would expect from night 8 of 12.

 

150 minutes whizzed by and as an event just wow!!

Value for money. I think so. Aerosmith in the week was £106 a go even in the Gods I paid £75 for a superb view a 2 and a half hour set,spent nothing at The O2 and only £7 for the car park £18 at Wembley so for me a winner all round.

Home in 2 hours after show time too!!!

 

And the band are back too........................

 

ME 10/10

Green Day - London Wembley Stadium - 19th June 2010

So here we are, first trip to Wembley - home of English football exactly 24 hours after English football appeared to implode on a field in South Africa. Top place too.. padded seats, cup holders, leg room.. it's more like our local cinema seating than a football stadium.

Due to the usual logistics of getting anyone other than just myself to a gig, we end up in our seats just after Joan Jett hits the stage. We missed Frank Turner but the people around seemed to think he was really good, so maybe I'll check him out.  I'll be honest I don't know any Joan Jett songs apart from the odd Runaways number or her biggest singles, but she played around a dozen and got a really good reception from the crowd. We missed "Bad Reputation" (the American Chopper theme tune) but caught "Cherry Bomb", "ACDC", "I love Rock and Roll" and my personal fave "I hate myself for lovin' you".

I reviewed Green Day on their last tour (just HERE actually) and said it was one of the best gigs of my life, had I not seen that one and known what to expect, then this would have taken the prize. It was certainly as good, and considering that they are playing an Enormodome like Wembley Stadium , it speaks volumes as to how they still manage to interact with the crowd and make every one of us think we're involved. I'm not just talking about the usual "wave your arms in the air" stuff that me and many men of my age refuse to do at gigs (without the copious amounts of alcohol)...frankly at a Green Day gig you get drawn in and you end up shouting, clapping, singing and, yes, waving your arms in the air like a teenager that just drunk it's first pint of Snakebite.

 I won't repeat what I said on the last review (go read it!) but everything I said is still true.. Billie Joe is so underrated as a vocalist, he sings note perfect all night...and all night is a 3 hour, non-stop set.

Nice to see some more older tracks this time around - and judging by the response a large portion of the crowd knew them all not just fans that had come on board since American Idiot.

It's not a gig, it's a party and you feel like you've personally been invited.

Edit this setlist | More Green Day setlists

                        
All photos (C) Amy Robins
NR 10/10                    

Premier of the new Feeder single - "Call Out"

Iron Maiden - New album & tour details + free MP3 of new track

Go to http://www.ironmaiden.com/download/ to get a free download of the new Iron Maiden track "El Dorado"

According to Blabbermouth.net British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN kicked off their "The Final Frontier World Tour" last night (Wednesday, June 9) at the at Superpages.com Center in Dallas, Rexas.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. The Wicker Man
02. The Ghost Of The Navigator
03. Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
04. El Dorado
05. Paschendale
06. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
07. These Colours Don't Run
08. Blood Brothers
09. Wildest Dreams
10. No More Lies
11. Brave New World
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Iron Maiden

Encore:

14. The Number Of the Beast
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name
16. Running Free

IRON MAIDEN's much-anticipated new studio album, "The Final Frontier", will be released in North America on August 17 (one day earlier internationally) via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), the centralized U.S. catalog and special markets entity for Universal Music Group. The CD features artwork (see below) illustrated by Melvyn Grant.

The band reunited with long-time MAIDEN producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau to record the album and then moved to The Cave Studios in Malibu, California to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band, it was where they recorded the "Piece Of Mind" (1983), "Powerslave" (1984) and "Somewhere In Time" (1986) albums.

30 years on from their eponymous debut album in April 1980, "The Final Frontier" will be MAIDEN's 15th studio album, making a remarkable average of a new album every two years for 30 years and totaling over 80 million album sales during this period.

"The Final Frontier" track listing (total running time 76:35):

01. Satellite 15....The Final Frontier (8:40)
02. El Dorado (6:49)
03. Mother Of Mercy (5:20)
04. Coming Home (5:52)
05. The Alchemist (4:29)
06. Isle Of Avalon (9:06)
07. Starblind (7:48)
08. The Talisman (9:03)
09. The Man Who Would Be King (8:28)
10. When The Wild Wind Blows (10:59)

Following the U.S. dates, the tour will ship over to Europe starting in Dublin on July 30 and playing a few selected major festivals and stadiums , finishing in Valencia, Spain, on August 21 and including a concert in Transylvania.

John Norum - Play Yard Blues

Europe seem to be undergoing a bit of a renaissance at the moment. Their most recent album, 2009's critically acclaimed "Last Look at Eden" was a belter. This was in no small part down to the magnificent guitar work of John Norum. He is without a doubt one of the most underrated guitarists around.  "Play Yard Blues" is his long awaited seventh solo album and features 10 new studio tracks, including covers of : "It's Only Money" by Thin Lizzy, "Ditch Queen" by Frank Marino and Mountain's "Travellin' in the Dark".  This is very much a John Norum project as he plays guitar (obviously), performs lead vocal, he mixed and produced the album. His Europe bandmate, Mic Michaeli appears on keyboards on a few tracks. Tomas Torberg (Bass), Peer Stappe (percussion) and Thomas Bronman (Drums) make up the rest of the band.

This is the kind of blues album I like. It's not the "woke up this morning.... my dog was dead" kind of stuff, instead think more like early Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy or Pat Travers. Indeed Norum's vocals were a surprise to me, sounding like Phil Lynott on the Lizzy cover, and definite Coverdale intonations throughout. Then of course there is his trademark and distinctive guitar style, not flash for the sake of it just perfectly balanced and skillful.

"Play Yard Blues" is released in the UK on July 5th by Mascot records.

NR.

FM/Romeo's Daughter Birmingham O2 Academy 23rd May 2010

One I have been looking forward to since well the last time I saw these 2 at Oxford Apollo in October 1989!!
A new venue for me this one and apart from the incredibly sticky floor as soon as you step inside very good. The floor was so sticky if you didn't move for a while you could lose your shoe!!
Anyway Romeo's Daughter were playing only their second gig in 18 years with the previous show being at last years Firefest giving the band the impetus to carry on.You would never have known I can tell you. Led by the incredible voice of Leigh Matty(Merv from FM'S other half!!)they blew the sizeable crowd away with a set culled from most of their first cd.
They played
Heaven In The Backseat
Velvet Tongue
Attracted To The Animal
Stay With Me Tonight
I Cry Myself To Sleep At Night
Wild Child
Don't Break My Heart
Their brand of commercial and accessible AOR fitted in perfectly for this evening and the crowd enjoyed every single second of the 40 minutes or so they were on.
Lets hope it isn't 18 years before we see them again.

Tonite was the 10th time I have seen FM . They have played with the likes of Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, Gary Moore during the 80's. I love the band, have from day one, and think that Steve Overland(vox) is one of the greatest vocalists this country has ever produced. In the time the band had off till 2007's Firefest reunion we have had Steve produce total quality with the Ladder(including Pete Jupp on drums)(2cd's),Shadowman(3 cd's) and recently with his 2 solo cd's Overland.
With FM now reformed and in support of the quite brilliant METROPOLIS cd how would they fair in the live setting.
No worries on that score I can tell you.Jim Kirkpatrick(geetar)has fitted in like he has been in the band forever. His riffs and solos and interplay with Steve's vox is just stunning.
The setlist was;
Wildside
Face To face
That Girl
Dont Stop
Only The Strong
Blood And Gasoline
Hollow
Metropolis/Over You
Flamingo Road
Hard Day In Hell
All Or Nothing
Burning My Hear Down
Heard It Through The Grapevine
Encores of Frozen Heart
Bad Luck
American Girls.
A near perfect 90 minutes with the back catalogue plundered but a good smattering of new songs too. The Radio 2 hit Hollow shows how rock can be played on the radio in the year 2010. Led by the voice we went back to the 80's for songs I have played millions of times and all the crowd sang along to every word. Every member played their part Pete Jupp on drums,Merv Goldsworthy on bass and Jem Davis on keys and I could go on for days.
As it ended Steve thanked us for all the support and they wouldn't be their if it wasn't for the fans and the Pete Jupp led us into 3 cheers for the life of Ronnie James Dio
who passed away from stomach cancer recently.
It shows there is a market for this sort of material and hopefully the guys will get the success they richly deserve.
After these 4 dates there are 2 in Cardiff and London in early July and the promise of more to come.


ME 12/10

{STOP PRESS}
Yesterday it was announced that FM have been put on the bill at the Download Festival replacing Ratt who pulled out on Monday. They will be on the main stage on Sunday which is fantastic news and so richly deserved. To put a UK band on the main stage to replace a band who I was due to see next week but for the 3rd time in 3 years have now cancelled UK dates shows there is a God. You now get a band who love their fans to a band who don't care a jot. Officially a hernia op for the singer yet today we learn Bobby Blotzer(drummer) was arrested shitfaced in charge of a boat and probably not allowed out of the country. Lying sods.
Now if only I could go on Sunday!!

Joe Bonamassa – Rotherham Magna Centre – 29th May 2010

It has taken me a little while to decide what I made of this gig. On the one hand the sound was excellent, and Joe Bonamassa and the band were in fine form, but the venue really spoilt it for me. For those that don’t know the Magna Centre is an ex steel works which now holds a science museum. To get to the concert area you have to walk down a rabbit run of corridors. Once in the arena jammed packed and quite frankly claustrophobic you couldn’t move. No chance of getting a drink.  The queues to leave at end were also quite unpleasant, not somewhere I would want to try to leave in a hurry.

As I say, Joe and the band put on a fine performance. This is the 4th time I’ve seen him and even though there were some new songs from the Black Rock CD in the set I did feel the show now needs a bit of a revamp.

I also did a bit of star spotting, meeting ex Oxford United player/England Manager Steve Mclaren, before the show.

Joe Bonamassa great – Magna Centre, - well I won’t be rushing back

NH