Upcoming gigs

[PaulT]

Pete Roth Trio at West End Centre in Aldershot 28th November. A chance to see the wonderful Bill Bruford...

[PaulT]

Friday 4th September 2026 (!)
Fantasy Forest festival at Hatfield House... Corvus Corax

[davidmjs]

Friday 4th September 2026 (!)
Fantasy Forest festival at Hatfield House... Corvus Corax

Holy Moses.  Just had a look at the FF website.  That's a whole 'thing' I know absolutely nothing about....

[Glen S]

The Monochrome Set, Oxford, Jericho Tavern, 29th of November.

A couple of new band members (keyboards & drums) since I saw them last, but still founding songwriter & frontman Ganesh Seshadri "Bid" and long time bassist Andy Warren, who incidentally was an early member of Adam and the Ants (1977 to 1979).

Feeling very fortunate to be able to catch this brilliant and so often overlooked little band again locally...

[davidmjs]

There's a few Robin & Bina Williamson shows next Autumn...

As well as the sold out London shows, there's also one showing at Canolfan Bethlehem, Newport, Pembrokeshire on 26 Sep.

https://www.pigswhiskermusic.co.uk/dates.htm

Not quite made it onto Pigs Whisker yet is this one

Hereford De Koffie Pot Sat 17 Oct 26 organised by those nice Weirdshire chaps (Sproatley Smith)

https://wegottickets.com/event/682942/#

[PaulT]

N'faly Kouyate in Stroud on Sunday. Hope I can get a copy of the latest (last?) Afrocelts album from the merch...

[Nick]

Off to London tonight for the second time this week.

A couple of nights ago we went up to Shepherds Bush Empire to see Kate Stables, Jesca Hoop and others in an excellent tribute to Joni Mitchell. (Should've gone in Recent Gigs, sorry!)

Tonight it's Chris T-T at the 100 Club for a one-off band performance. Will be quite lively I suspect.

Cheers

Nick

[John From Austin]

“Foreigner” and “Lynyrd Skynyrd” have announced a joint tour in 2026, and I could not be less interested. This version of Foreigner has no members from the band’s 1970s-1980s heyday. This version of Lynyrd Skynyrd has (1) Johnny Van Zandt (joined 1987) and Rickey Medlocke (left circa 1971 and rejoined sometime in the 1990s). The bands have become franchises, or juke boxes, or tribute bands, but they’re charging full price and playing sheds as though they’re the real deal.

OTOH, Carl Palmer’s virtual ELP experience is coming around next year, and I’m very interested. He’s got an excellent excuse for not having E or L in the band.

And before anyone else notices, I am aware Lynyrd Skynyrd’s original members have all passed away and thus are unavailable for touring. Nevertheless, I feel the continued tours are borderline fraudulent.

[davidmjs]

“Foreigner” and “Lynyrd Skynyrd” have announced a joint tour in 2026, and I could not be less interested. This version of Foreigner has no members from the band’s 1970s-1980s heyday. This version of Lynyrd Skynyrd has (1) Johnny Van Zandt (joined 1987) and Rickey Medlocke (left circa 1971 and rejoined sometime in the 1990s). The bands have become franchises, or juke boxes, or tribute bands, but they’re charging full price and playing sheds as though they’re the real deal.

OTOH, Carl Palmer’s virtual ELP experience is coming around next year, and I’m very interested. He’s got an excellent excuse for not having E or L in the band.

And before anyone else notices, I am aware Lynyrd Skynyrd’s original members have all passed away and thus are unavailable for touring. Nevertheless, I feel the continued tours are borderline fraudulent.

In general I'm with you on this, but when tribute bands (Australian Pink Floyd etc etc) charge the full whack themselves I guess the blurred lines like here don't really matter quite as much perhaps?  But overall, yep, madness....

[davidmjs]

Unthanks orchestral shows.

2nd row Circle booked for Manchester

They've just released a few more tickets for the Barbican if anyone was looking for them....previously sold out.  

[John From Austin]

And speaking of tribute bands, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings (Winnipeg's Lennon/McCartney) have rebranded themselves as "The Guess Who" after an out-of-court settlement with Jim Kale and Garry Peterson, and will tour under that name in 2026. So far, no other alumni are in the fold.

Having missed my opportunity to see the fully reformed band in 2000-2003, I will seize this chance. I've seen them both on their own, and the songs really hold up. I can't wait for this one, and I'm liable to hit several stops next year!

American Woman, Undun, These Eyes, Share the Land, Laughing, Hand Me Down World, Guns, Guns, Guns, Albert Flasher, Runnin' Back to Saskatoon, Sour Suite, plus Burton solo tunes (I'm Scared, Break it to them Gently, Stand Tall) and Bachman Turner Overdrive classics (Takin' Care of Business, Let it Ride, Hey You, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet). Yay!!!!!

[mickf]

Lindisfarne tonight at The Tramshed, Cardiff. It was the 30th anniversary of Alan Hull's death earlier this week, as well as being Rod Clements' 78th birthday. When I saw them earlier this year, Rod sat for the entire performance.

[davidmjs]

Waterboys Fisherman's Blues Review shows:

The Waterboys will perform a special series of dates in August and September 2026 under the banner THE FISHERMAN'S BLUES REVUE. The shows will celebrate and explore the music of the Waterboys' classic Fisherman's Blues era of the mid-late 1980s.

Legendary Waterboys fiddler Steve Wickham will rejoin the band for the shows, and in an exciting development the ensemble will be graced by great American singer/songwriter Steve Earle, who will perform as a member of the Revue, singing his own songs while adding vocals, guitar and mandolin to Waterboys numbers.

The shows will follow hot on the heels of the release of ATLANTIC RAIN, a 3-disc set of previously undiscovered music from the Fisherman's Blues sessions, to be issued July 17 2026 on Chrysalis Records.

Waterboys leader Mike Scott: says "The Fisherman's era was a transcendent time for The Waterboys and it's always exciting to delve into its spirit and see what happens. We'll be performing with an eight-piece band including the mighty Steve Earle who I've wanted to do a project with for many years. He'll bring Americana roots and killer songs to the party, and these promise to be among the best Waterboys shows ever."

Other band members include Brother Paul (organ), Famous James (piano), Aongus Ralston (bass), Eamon ferris (drums) and Norwegian Pedal Steel ace Roar Øien.

ATLANTIC RAIN will comprise 3 discs of previously unheard songs and alternate versions recorded during Fisherman's Blues but forgotten due to the sheer volume of music recorded. Says Scott: "We made so much music during those days - hundreds and hundreds of individual recordings - that I'm still discovering magical stuff in the vaults. This set contains the best I've found so far - the music is every bit as good as the original album.".

Tickets for these shows go on sale Thurs 27 Nov at 10am.

Sat 29 Aug - GLASGOW, OVO Hydro

Sat 5 Sept - DUBLIN, 3Arena

Thurs 10 Sept - AMSTERDAM, Afas Live

Fri 11 Sept - ANTWERP, Olt Rivierenhof

Sat 12 Sept - LONDON, The 02

[davidmjs]

Waterboys Fisherman's Blues Review shows:

It does seem a little weird to be doing this with the current band plus Steve Earle though, doesn't it?  I'm trying to imagine the absolutely rocking band I've been watching videos of folking out on this material, and where on earth Earle fits in.  Pity it's so few shows in enormodomes too, so I strongly suspect I won't find out in person.

[Jules Gray]

Mike had wanted to get Anto on board, but he had prior commitments.

Jules