Month: March 2019

UFO , Tara Lynch, Rock city, Nottingham, 26-3-19

This one really made a change. For once I wasn’t going on the train ! My mate Andy T, drove us there. We set off around 2pm, weather looked a bit dark, but as we travelled further away from Bostonia, it got brighter. Shoulda took my sunnys with me. When we got to Nottingham, we walked from the station into town.(Via a slight diversion called FOPP) Then had lunch at The Roebuck. Surprised it wasn’t very busy. Next stop was Rock City to see if there was much of a queue or not. There was a small one. Also, they’d put barriers out the front, something that I’ve not seen them do before.
We’d still got an hour plus to kill, so went to Premier Inn & hung there for a while. (I had booked a room as it was so cheap)
About 15mins before doors, we went back to RC. Had to “jump the queue” so i could get a seat. Tonight, Andy was my “helper”, so a free ticket for him 😉 Managed to get a seat in my favourite spot (Thanks Kev) then the rest of the crowd came in. I Was surprised that it didn’t get very busy. But soon enough it did look a lot busier, which was good to see.

The opening act was “Tara Lynch”. Once again, they didn’t really impress me. As they were playing, I noticed the drummer was someone I thought I’d seen before. Sure enough, it was who I thought it was ; Joe Lazarus. Even he couldn’t “save” Tara Lynch band…that’s just my opinion.

By the time UFO hit the stage, Rock City has filled up a lot more. They amble on to the stage & start with a couple of old classics; “Mother Mary” and one of my faves “We Belong To The Night”

Instantly I notice Phil Mogg is in fine fettle tonight. As he’s now getting on a bit with age, it surprises me that he sings really well. Good on ya Mr Mogg ! ( I just wish that a couple of other oldie vocalists would wake up & realise they’re not as good as they used to be. Classic example : David Coverdale. There’s more guitar solos than him singing 😉 )
Tonight they also play “Venus”. According to internet chatter, this was the only time they played it on this tour. Lucky I caught it ;

It’s a cool song. Next they play “Lights Out”. It’s another song what they’re famous for. Phil tells us that they first played it at Rock City in 1982. Either someone gave Phil a wrong setlist or he had trouble reading it, he introduces “Cherry”, but they play “Baby Blue” !! hahah. He then says “I’m so sorry. Someone gave me the wrong setlist. This is called “Burn Your House Down”. What do they do? They play “Only You Can Rock Me” haha. He has a bit of a laugh about it 🙂 The  guitarist steps up to the microphone & says ” That was “Burn Your House Down”. I’m not keeping up with all these shenanigans !! Then they finally play “Burn Your House Down”.
We finally get “Cherry”

Next up is one of my all time faves ; “Love To Love”. Phil says there’s someone in the audience to dedicate it too. “Where is she ? Oh she’s in the toilet !” Sheer class !

It’s getting towards the end of the show now. What better way to finish with “Makin’ Moves” & “Too Hot To Handle”. Phil has a little joke about Andy being 52…but he said “I do apologise to him, it was a gross exaggeration & mischief making” . Wtf ? Erm, I’m lost now ! He then introduces “Too Hot To Handle”. I dunno if Phil had been back on the sauce again or what. I’m not remembering it all, maybe i got it wrong?

They appear to finish with the long version of “Rock Bottom”. But surely, that can’t be the end ? Of course not ! They encore with a quick couple of songs, namely “Doctor Doctor” & “Shoot Shoot”.
All in all, this has been a fantastic night out (Even though there was confusion from Phil, which in turn confused me haha)
These are the nights that I live for.
P.S. Didn’t take any photos tonight as I was mostly filming it & more importantly getting into the gig 🙂

 

Cats In Space + Blue Nation , Rescue Rooms, Nottingham , 15-3-19

This one was one of those “Last minute decisions”. So much so, that I printed my ticket at home. I’d heard a couple of people singing the praises about “Cats In Space” (Hello Dave Ling) so thought I’d go check ’em out. With the supposed line-up of Dirty Thrills, Rock Goddess & Cats In Space it was a no brainer really. Of course, shit happens as Jody from Rock Goddess got ill so they cancelled a few shows 🙁 Also Dirty Thrills didn’t turn up ! Oh well, lets make the most of it 🙂
Once again, I took a late train to Nottingham, arriving around 4.30 pm. Went straight to my hotel & chilled for a while. As per, I went to the venue 15mins before doors. Once I was in, I was shocked to see they hadn’t opened the balcony. Not only that, they put my seat on the only raised area near the merch. If you’ve never been to Rescue Rooms before, here’s a pic which shows where i was :  

The yellow line marks where the merch table went up to, whilst the red X marks where my seat was !  Tbh, it didn’t really get over busy. But the people who were there seemed to enjoy the show.
First act was “Blue Nation”. I’d never seen or heard of them ! They were a bit “Pedestrian”, but solid. In fact, I actually enjoyed their set. The singer was having a laugh with a couple of people in the audience. (Hello “Uncle Mick” & “Aunty Linda” 🙂 )

Later in their set they play a melody of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” & “I’ve Got A Feeling”. Wish I’d filmed that as it was quite decent.
The singer mentions George Harrison. Someone in the audience shouts out “Legend”. Next they play “She’s A Storm” .
They finish their set with a sing a long song “Down By The River”

After a while, the intro tape starts a rolling for “Cats In Space”. It’s a version of the old “Stray Cats” song, “Stray Cat Strut”.
They then come on stage to play a 1-2 of “Johnny Rocket” & “Too Many Gods”. Unfortunately, they have some sound problems during “Johnny Rocket”

They then play “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” followed by “Clown in Your Nightmare”.    Before “Mr. Heartache” Paul Manzi says it was their first single. Then he says to us “I wanna hear some of your voices on this one….this is Nottingham right ?!” (Huge cheers)

As I’ve not seen the band before, i don’t know all the titles of their songs. But there’s good crowd interaction.
Later on they play “Hologram Man”

After that one, they played “The Greatest Story Never Told” ?
The main set is finished with “Five Minute Celebrity”

But it’s not all over yet, as they come back to encore with “Thunder in the Night”. As I’d not seen them before tonight, I was rather impressed by their show. I’ll definately go see them again if I can. After everything’s finished, I have the short walk back to my favourite Nottingham hotel, Roomzzz

 

 

TYKETTO, Kane’d, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham , 9-3-19

I’ve started taking later trains to Nottingham, so today I left good old Bostonia at 14.50. Journey was ok, no hold ups. Once in Nottingham, I went strait to Roomzzz. They know me there now as I stay so often. Even ask me which gig I’m going too 🙂 Basically stayed in hotel till 15mins before doors. Walked round to the Rescue Rooms & there was a fair sized queue. Spoke with a couple of security guys about needing a chair & got in early. Originally the lass put a seat over on the right side, looking over the stage. I don’t like being there, so got it moved to centre of the balcony. The prime spot position.
First band on tonight were “Kane’d”. Pretty sure I’ve seen them before, maybe at Camden Rocks festival, but for sure saw them opening for “Romeos Daughter” at Yardbirds, Grimsby back in 2014. They’ve certainly improved since then.
The lads in the band hit the stage first. Started jamming away, then the lasses came on. Everyone on stage gave it their all & I’m sure they won over a few of the crowd. Their set list tonight was :

Wasted, Show Me Your Skeleton,3-2-1, Hey, Hello, I Won’t Bite, I’ll Bring You Home, Reckless, Invidia, Covered in Roses, La di da (From setlist FM)

So to the main attraction : TYKETTO ! Over the years I think I’ve seen them about 10 times. Mostly at either the Rescue Rooms or Rock City. There’s always one thing that’s guaranteed with a Tykes show ; A quality night out ! Tonight’s show is SOLD OUT, so I’m sure the audience will make themselves heard.
The band kick off with ” Inherit the Wind ” & next play ” Meet Me in the Night “. Great stuff 🙂

Danny tells us that they’re recording tonight (same with the rest of the UK tour) which brings loud applause from the ever faithful crowd. Apologies for the darkness of the video clips, I just wasn’t on my game that night.
Danny then tells us the story about being dropped from the label (Geffen?) before “Strength In Numbers” could be released & also that “Music For Nations” was the best label they ever signed to. (Though sadly, MFN is no longer around)
After “Catch My Fall” it’s another classic “End Of The Summer Days”. At least we don’t have to Wait forever for the next song (Yeah, I know, not a good pun)

After that, we get a different version of “Wings”. The girls from Kane’d come onstage to give vocal support 🙂 Good to see all that hair on stage shaking around…& I’m not just talking about Danny 😉
Next up we get “Ain’t That Love”, closley followed by “Write Your Name in the Sky”

Soon enough we’re getting absolute classic Tyketto to finish the main set : “Rescue Me”, “Strength in Numbers”, “Forever  Young”. What a way to finish the show ! Bloody loved it. But wait, there’s more to come 🙂
The encore consisted of “The Last Sunset”, “Reach” & the superb “Standing Alone”.
Danny said he was struggling, so he expected the crowd would help him out…and they did

All in all a great night out. These shows are what I live for. I didn’t hang around afterwards because I was feeling quite tired. It’s VERY useful that Roomzzz is just around the corner.

Tyketto set list tonight was : Inherit the Wind, Meet Me in the Night, Catch My Fall, The End of the Summer Days ,Wait Forever,Wings ,Ain’t That Love, Write Your Name in the Sky, Why Do You Cry?, Rescue Me & , Standing Alone.