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Saw German prog band RPWL in London about a month ago, who were excellent, as is their new album, Crime Scene, which they were promoting. But probably the best gig I have ever been to, in 50 years, was on 20th April when I saw prog metal synth band Voyager (yes.... Australia's Eurovision band!!) who blew the Boston Rooms apart. One of the few bands of whom I have all their albums, they really are great musicians, self deprecating, good fun and, boy, they ROCK🤘🤘. Their drummer, Ashley Doodkorte, is Animal in human form - brilliant. Anthemic chorus after anthemic chorus had the crowd in the palm of their hand. As for "Promise", their cut above EV entry, the place went nuts. Over the whole gig, I have never jumped and arm-pumped like that since Quo at the Kursaal c1973. Highly recommended. PS make sure you vote for them
 

A bit of punk, hardcore and street punk, Canterbury .... early start... first band on at 5.30pm.

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Did they play much early stuff?

I am not really keen on anything after the Arcadia/Power Station side projects.
Yeah quite a bit. Handily enough for me they put the set list on twitter. They're a bit before my time but love their music. Dom Brown is no Andy Taylor but did a great job. Considering they're now in their 60's it was a great gig!duran duran set list.jpeg
 
My old flat mate was a roadie for a local band (who's name escapes me now). They supported Duran Duran at the Queens Hotel in Hamlet Court Road, back in the day. When he had to run on stage to pick up a drumstick etc he said the noise/shrieking was deafening.
 
Went to concert at Rayleigh Mill last night, organised by Paddington Blue, to raise funds to keep place open.
The singer was New York singer Dean Friedman, he had a few hits in late 1970s.
Good one man show, Dean was witty, polished, and talented on guitar and piano. His music had great political and social observations.
 
Mike and The Mechanics at the Cliffs yesterday. Outstanding and their new drummer Nick Collins (son of Phil) is a chip off the old block. 22 years old and has a bright future ahead of him.

Real showmen who put on a great show, a must see if you get the chance.
 
Orbital supported by Manami, O2 Academy Leeds, 2023

I don't know a huge amount about Orbital but I do have one album, In Sides which I like but haven't played for a long time.

I did recognise a few songs including Smiley, Satan, Halcyon and the current single Rat Race. A couple of songs I thought were a bit boring, but you can't have everything!

The problem I have with this type of band is exactly what part of the music is actually live and what has been prerecorded. For example, Rat Race has vocals provided by Seaford Mods and he was obviously not there.

The light and video show were fantastic but it had the effect of virtually obscuring the Hartnoll brothers. You could see their torch headsets bobbing around on stage.

The O2 Academy is a great venue for me as I can be home in around 45 minutes if I take the 22:56 service from Leeds. Previously the Academy had a 22:30 curfew which was great for getting that train. Unfortunately, as the gig was due to finish at 11pm, I had to leave before the end,

Support was provided by Manami and she twiddled the knobs of her machines for a full two hours until the roadies just wheeled her off just before Orbital came on. I have seen this type of music making before, with the support of DJ Shadow. I am not entirely sure how the music is made and whether we are watching a musician or not.

Overall it was enjoyable night. ORB00.jpgORB01.jpgORB02.jpgORB04.jpgORB99.jpg
 
My second gig in six days as I headed back to the O2 Academy in Leeds to see The Damned play for the 7th time.

The Damned have always had periods of inactivity caused by various reason like who owned the name, their record company going bust in the 80s, the strength of the material they were recording and the size of the venues they were playing as their popularity waned.

After Rat Scabies left singer Dave Vanian was the only original member and the Damned looked doomed!

A few years back Captain Sensible returned for the money as he freely admitted on stage at a gig I attended in Holmfirth, but more importantly, so did the fans! Recently the Damned have played the Royal Albert Hall and the London Palladium, and last year the original line up reunited for a one off tour playing songs from their first two albums, and I caught the Manchester gig.

For this concert we are back to the current recording and touring band. Paul Gray is back on bass, he was a member of the Damned in the 80s, but sadly no Rat Scabies who proved on last year's tour that he still had what it takes to pound the skins and is still a much better drummer than the current man behind the kit.

The show started well with some classic Damned but then they the did a mini set of material from their new album which was released after the gig. As much as I like the Damned, the new songs are just not as quite as good as their output from their heyday. I thought they played a couple of songs too many from the new album.

As with Orbital I had to leave before the end to catch my train, but I reckon I could have left 8 minutes later and still get to the station in time but i only missed hearing one song from the encore,

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the support band the Nightingales were awful. It just sounded like 30 minutes of noise to me. Worst of all was the lead singer, who seemed to be trying to convey a air of indifference to the audience, turning his back on us and wandering off during the instrumental parts. All well and good if you are a skinny 20 something, not so good if 50 something with a noticeable paunch. Also he seemed to be doing impressions of other better singers, I heard Ian Curtis, Lux Interior and Jello Biafra.
 

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The Zombies supported by Bruce Sudano, Holmfirth Picturedrome

This has to be my longest wait from getting a ticket and actually going to the gig. I have bought tickets a year in advance previously, but this was a Christmas present from 2020! The initial gig was cancelled during the second lockdown in 2021, then it was cancelled again in 2022 after one of the band needed non life threatening hospital treatment, finally going ahead on 27th April 2023.

The Zombies are probably best known for their 1964 hit She's Not There, famously covered by Santana in 1977, but they initially broke up in 1967 after further commercial success eluded them. A final album from the original band, the misspelt Odessey and Oracle was released and provided the hit, Time of the Season, but the band declined to reform and tour.

Different line ups of the Zombies have recorded and toured intermittently since then, including a completely fake version featuring two future members of ZZ Top!

So here we are in 2023 with original members, singer Colin Blunstone and keyboard player Rod Argent playing a selection of material from forgotten B sides to their biggest hits and Hold Your Head from Argent's next band Argent.

Normally I don't enjoy it when a band veers off from a well know song into an improvisation that allows the bass player to do a solo, but it is better than allowing the drummer to do one!

Overall, it was a very good gig, well worth the wait and the new material was very strong. And of course the highlights of the set were the still fresh sounding Time of the Season and She's Not There,

Generally, I am not a fan of support acts, but occasionally you get a good one, and this was one of those nights. Bruce Sudano kicked off the evening with a selection of his back catalogue which included songs that were hits in the US in the late 60s but never released in the UK, through to songs co-written with the 'Queen of Disco' and future wife, Donner Summer, and a few my besides.

A great night!
 

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I’m in Plymouth, went to the Muse concert at Home Park.

Royal Blood we’re the warm-up act, too.

10/10.

Get the beers in
 
Glad I decided to pop along to the Acorn Theatre here in Penzance to see TV Smith last night. I was very impressed with his acoustic performance. I didn't realise that his later material is quite political and it came across well.

I'm a bit naff with phone photos but I think you might just be able to make him out here.

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