Gigs

[R6GYY]

Bloody hell. Tyketto/FM/Dare next Thursday (May 18th). That has come around mighty quick.

[Nickslikk2112]

On 23rd February 2024 -Rick Wakeman, Birmingham Symphony Hall.

Saw his Six Wives/King Arthur show at the Palladium back in February, he then did Classic Yes/Journey to the Centre of the Earth the next night, couldn't afford to do that as well, but he's now touring it next year, so Mrs S gets treated again.

[David L]

La Villa Strangiato tonight in Abingdon!

[David L]

La Villa Strangiato tonight in Abingdon!

Brilliant! I mean, Available Light...... Available, bloody, Light 

[David L]

I thought I'd reflect a little on the LVS gig at The Northcourt, Abingdon on Saturday night. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a gig as much!
The set consisted largely of what I would call mid-period Rush with, I think, Moving Pictures being the album to have  most cuts featured.
Seeing as this is the period in which Rush employed the most complex production techniques, it really is an outstanding feat that a tribute band can produce this music so convincingly. Of course, it is reliant on the supporting technology working flawlessly and, fortunately, there were no problems.....that my ears detected anyway.
I've seen Neil perform a couple of times before (with Bravado) but I thought he was on top form on Saturday. Watching closely, I appreciated the amount of vibrato Alex employs during his solos.
Dave Mackintosh did an outstanding job of recreating Neil's drum parts, arguably the toughest job of the night.
Bibbi's vocals were well suited to 80's Rush, being in that lower register than the early stuff. I assume that's why they concentrate on that particular period.
I thoroughly enjoyed the setlist with standouts being Time Stand Still, Manhattan Project, The Analog Kid and Available Light. Curiously, no tracks from P/G (Kid Gloves would have been nice!). 'Proggers' were treated to a great rendition of Xanadu, complete with double-necks. A (second) encore of Overture (2112) segueing into TSoR sent an extremely enthusiastic crowd home happy.
A thrill for me - my good friend Richard attended with his son and even though they are not huge fans and have never seen Rush in concert, they thoroughly enjoyed the show, singing enthusiastically through the numbers they recognised.
A top night and the most enjoyable Rush tribute show I've seen. I'd see them again without hesitation - 10/10

[Pudders]

I thought I'd reflect a little on the LVS gig at The Northcourt, Abingdon on Saturday night. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a gig as much!
The set consisted largely of what I would call mid-period Rush with, I think, Moving Pictures being the album to have  most cuts featured.
Seeing as this is the period in which Rush employed the most complex production techniques, it really is an outstanding feat that a tribute band can produce this music so convincingly. Of course, it is reliant on the supporting technology working flawlessly and, fortunately, there were no problems.....that my ears detected anyway.
I've seen Neil perform a couple of times before (with Bravado) but I thought he was on top form on Saturday. Watching closely, I appreciated the amount of vibrato Alex employs during his solos.
Dave Mackintosh did an outstanding job of recreating Neil's drum parts, arguably the toughest job of the night.
Bibbi's vocals were well suited to 80's Rush, being in that lower register than the early stuff. I assume that's why they concentrate on that particular period.
I thoroughly enjoyed the setlist with standouts being Time Stand Still, Manhattan Project, The Analog Kid and Available Light. Curiously, no tracks from P/G (Kid Gloves would have been nice!). 'Proggers' were treated to a great rendition of Xanadu, complete with double-necks. A (second) encore of Overture (2112) segueing into TSoR sent an extremely enthusiastic crowd home happy.
A thrill for me - my good friend Richard attended with his son and even though they are not huge fans and have never seen Rush in concert, they thoroughly enjoyed the show, singing enthusiastically through the numbers they recognised.
A top night and the most enjoyable Rush tribute show I've seen. I'd see them again without hesitation - 10/10

Sorry I couldn't be there David, after our chat in the pub on Friday night had every intention of attending. Unfortunately Florence (our Granddaughter) was quite poorly over night and spent several hours in the JR so rather scuppered all other plans... Seems it was a rather nasty, but brief, viral gastro-enteritis bug and she's now on the mend.

Will hopefully catch them again!

[Pudders]

In other gig news, saw Sparks last night in Oxford. Great fun from a slightly nuts band who, apart from 'that' song I was quite unfamiliar with. Will check out the more recent albums as a result as some pretty good stuff aired last night. Anyone else seen them over the years?

[David L]

Sorry I couldn't be there David, after our chat in the pub on Friday night had every intention of attending. Unfortunately Florence (our Granddaughter) was quite poorly over night and spent several hours in the JR so rather scuppered all other plans... Seems it was a rather nasty, but brief, viral gastro-enteritis bug and she's now on the mend.

Will hopefully catch them again!

Sorry for your misfortune. I hope Florence makes a quick and full recovery

[R6GYY]

So - the Tyketto / FM / Dare gig at the Tiv.

That isn't a running order that I would have chosen but anyhow.

TYKETTO
First off were Tyketto who I have been waiting many, many years to see but the stars have never aligned until now (just a figure of speech - I don't believe in that malarkey).

For 1 hour, I was enthralled. Tyketto were phenomenal and the new (old) drummer and guitarist took their places admirably. But then I never saw the old line-up.

1 hour of well chosen crowd pleasing rock-solid toons, and Danny Vaughn really knows how to work the audience. And what a voice!

I have seen Danny doing an acoustic slot supporting Journey (back in 2008 was it?) but not Tyketto. I was completely blown away. Fantastic, and 10 out of 10. No faults.

For a few days beforehand I had been saying out loud now and then "Oh I hope they play Reach" and to my delight, they opened with it.

<sigh.

FM
So Tyketto were a very tough act to follow, and I'm afraid that FM didn't really cut it for me after the highs of Tyketto. Don't get me wrong - I like FM and have seen them a few times, including last August.

Maybe a little FM-fatigue?

DARE
And so to local crew Dare who I had last seen supporting Asia in 2005.

They were terrific! They wisely stuck to their more rocky stuff rather than their more mellow Celtic offerings, and it was a great set. There were bass monitor problems for about 10 minutes, and a lot of anguish on stage, but that didn't detract from the show overall.

In fact, the bass sound over the PA was absolutely lovely. The player just couldn't hear it on stage.

All the time they were messing with this, Vinny Burns treated us to some random guitar twiddling.

All in all, a great night out.

I'd love  to see a full Tyketto set, but maybe this kind of joint headline thing is the way to go to save on band / promoter finances/costs?

Did I mention how good Tyketto were?

[Ali]

2023
1 Feb. Von Hertzen Brothers, Night & Day, Manchester
3 Feb. Epica/Apocalyptica, Academy, Manchester
11 Feb. StillMarillion, Live Rooms, Chester
18 Feb. Marisa and the Moths, Factory 251, Manchester
3 Mar. Heartbreak - the Tom Petty Show, St Bride's,  Liverpool
8 Mar. Ana Popovic, Live Rooms, Chester
9 Mar. Elles Bailey, O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
1 Apr. Mostly Autumn, the Wharf, Tavistock
5 Apr. The Damned, O2 Academy, Liverpool
14 Apr. Hushtones, Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool
15 Apr. Straighten Out, Tivoli, Buckley
22 Apr. Riverside, Academy 2, Manchester
23 Apr. Space Elevator, Eleven, Stoke
28 Apr. Hawkwind, Academy, Manchester
26 May. When Rivers Meet, Nightrain, Bradford
9 Jun. The Blackheart Orchestra/John Hackett Band, Zanzibar, Liverpool
10 Jun. Roger Waters, AO Arena, Manchester
11 Jun  Mostly Autumn, Robin, Bilston
16 Jun. The Blackheart Orchestra, Sacred Trinity Church,  Salford
18 Jun. Heaven 17, Tivoli, Buckley
20 Jun. Muse, John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield
22 Jun. Geoff Tate's Operation Mindcrime, Tivoli, Buckley
23 Jun. Peter Gabriel,  AO Arena, Manchester
29 Jun. Porcupine Tree, Castlefield Bowl, Manchester
1 Jul. Zio, Jimmy's, Liverpool
5 Jul. The Mission/The Cult, Piece Hall, Halifax
5 Aug. IO Earth, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
18 Aug. Franck Carducci, Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton
30 Aug. Mike Tramp, Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool
2 Sep. Wishbone Ash, Live Rooms, Chester
16 Sep. PiL, Tivoli, Buckley
20 Oct. The Dust Coda, Tivoli, Buckley
10 Nov. Death Cult, Mountford Hall, Liverpool
17 Nov. Mostly Autumn, Tivoli, Buckley
26 Nov. Mostly Autumn, the Met, Bury
3 Dec. Mostly Autumn, Robin, Bilston
10 Dec. Mostly Autumn, Crescent, York

[Ali]

Last minute decision on Friday to take a day off work and visit a few friends and relatives in East Lancs/West Yorkshire

Checked out the local gig guides to see if there was anything of interest and noted that the highly-rated When Rivers Meet were playing Nightrain in Bradford

So wandered down there on the night, paid on the door and was treated to an evening of fantastic music 😎

First up was Arielle, who had a feature in Classic Rock recently I think, playing a great, punchy set including a storming cover of Tom Petty's You Wreck Me 👍🏻 Slightly disconcertingly, petite lady that she was and with her hairstyle,kitted out in double denim whilst giving her guitars some welly she reminded of a young Malcolm Young! 😁

Onto the main act, I'd heard lots about WRM (noting they'd won lots of Blues Rock awards in the last few years) but only the odd snippet of songs. Totally blown away by them live, top quality songs matched by excellent musicianship topped off with Grace Bond's incredible voice and stage presence 👌🏻

Thoroughly recommend you check them out if you get the chance, big thumbs up to the venue too - Nightrain has a good size stage, great sound and lighting plus an excellent selection of beers 👍🏻

It's been a weird gig year for me in that I've seen quite a few bands for the first time, all in what you'd loosely term the blues rock genre (which I've seldom investigated previously, just the likes of Robin Trower, Chantel McGregor, Poppa Chubby spring to mind) - Ana Popovic, Brave Rival, Elles Bailey and now When Rivers Meet, they've all delivered superb shows

[Matt2112]

Good, friendly venue is Bradford Nightrain. Bit dingy but then all the best rock bars are.

[Matt2112]

2023
Fri 31st March
STEWART LEE, Salford Lowry ****
Thu 27th April
JOHN HEGLEY, Halifax Square Chapel ****
Thu 18th May
SIMON MUNNERY, Leeds The Old Woollen ***
Thu 25th May
RICKY GERVAIS, Leeds First Direct Arena ***
Sun 18th June
YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Tue 20th June
MUSE / ROYAL BLOOD, Huddersfield John Smith's Stadium
Wed 28th June
IRON MAIDEN, Leeds First Direct Arena
Sat 8th July
JAMES, Halifax Piece Hall

2024
Thu 18th Apr
STEWART LEE, Bradford St George's Hall
Wed 22nd May
RICHARD MARX, London Royal Albert Hall
Thu 23rd May
YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall

[captainkurtz]

In other gig news, saw Sparks last night in Oxford. Great fun from a slightly nuts band who, apart from 'that' song I was quite unfamiliar with. Will check out the more recent albums as a result as some pretty good stuff aired last night. Anyone else seen them over the years?

Saw them on Friday in Barcelona.  Fantastic stuff.

[Matt2112]

2023
Fri 31st March
STEWART LEE, Salford Lowry ****
Thu 27th April
JOHN HEGLEY, Halifax Square Chapel ****
Thu 18th May
SIMON MUNNERY, Leeds The Old Woollen ***
Thu 25th May
RICKY GERVAIS, Leeds First Direct Arena ***
Sun 18th June
YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Tue 20th June
MUSE / ROYAL BLOOD, Huddersfield John Smith's Stadium
Wed 28th June
IRON MAIDEN, Leeds First Direct Arena
Sat 8th July
JAMES, Halifax Piece Hall
Sat 25th Nov
FM / DARE, Holmfirth Picturedrome

2024
Thu 18th Apr
STEWART LEE, Bradford St George's Hall
Wed 22nd May
RICHARD MARX, London Royal Albert Hall
Thu 23rd May
YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall