Recent gigs

[ColinB]

I've posted a review of last night's gig by The George Harrison Project on my blog.

The shortened version is that we got about a dozen Beatles songs, another dozen from his solo records and various misc including Ringo's Photograph, a Dylan song unknown to me, a couple of Wilburys songs and a bit of rock n roll at the end with Everybody's Trying to be my Baby and Roll over Beethoven.

The sound wasn't great in the first half with the lead guitarist lacking the subtleties of Harrison's slide guitar playing and the keyboards almost inaudible. But things improved after the interval and there was a nice ukulele section which included I'll See You in my Dreams.

Longer write-up at https://colinbertram.blogspot.com/2026/07/george-harrison-project-at-lancaster.html

[Alan2]

Nev Clay.

Local songwriter  whom we treasure. In-store gig,  and his first such in 40 years,  apparently .

[ColinB]

The sound wasn't great in the first half with the lead guitarist lacking the subtleties of Harrison's slide guitar playing and the keyboards almost inaudible. But things improved after the interval and there was a nice ukulele section which included I'll See You in my Dreams.

Turns out that their usual guitarist had been taken into hospital for an urgent eye operation so they'd called in a friend to cover for him at short notice. Knowing that, I'd say he did a pretty impressive job.

[PJayBe]

Attended a concert about the 1826 Lancashire Loom Breakers riots when workers turned against the increasing mechanisation of their jobs and rampaged around East Lancashire for a week destroying the new fangled looms.
A mix of narration, song and dance, that was a wonderful afternoon. Of course it all failed. The mill owners hijacked the money coming in to look after the poor to rebuild their mills with even better equipment, but at least the workers tried.
Sadly some died, but many who were sentenced to death had their sentences commuted and were imprisoned for a maximum of 18 months.

See more here :

https://digspag.org.uk/riot-the-story-of-the-east-lancashire-loom-breakers-in-1826/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTLWUxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEejaWW-p7OqJGRseK2OQNWMFwNBPrX6lSpdYJ7KN2XTrlLPxtTqI5FuTRdq98_aem_Eq6oa1TO3T8ZvjFIcyEOCw

Sounds grand.  Who were the musicians involved?

Narration : Nick Caffrey, Julie Proctor
Song & Poetry : Mark Dowding, Sid Calderbank, Nick Caffrey, Robin Madge, Ed McGurk
Music : Robin Madge, Julie Proctor, Ed McGurk, Mark Dowding
Clog Dance : Alex Fisher

[davidmjs]

Narration : Nick Caffrey, Julie Proctor
Song & Poetry : Mark Dowding, Sid Calderbank, Nick Caffrey, Robin Madge, Ed McGurk
Music : Robin Madge, Julie Proctor, Ed McGurk, Mark Dowding
Clog Dance : Alex Fisher

Many thanks

[davidmjs]

Various Datblygu related bands/artistes (Patblygu, Malcolm Neon etc.) in Aberteifi on Thur - 250 crowd sell out.  Barely a word of English spoken all night, but the most welcoming atmosphere you could possibly imagine.  A gig for the ages.

Talking of which, Hawkwind weekend in Morecambe.  The mighty 'wind have a stable lineup (ok, well, plus the 18 year old drummer wunderkid depping for Richard who is still very present on bongos and vocs) and are amazingly at the top of their 21st century game right now.  All six offer so much.  They were brilliant on Sat night (and not just because I was old school mashed), and all reappeared for a fantastic TOSH (Technicians of Spaceship Hawkwind) set on Sunday afternoon which was more 70s flavoured.  Amazing to see my sixth form chum, Tanya, up there with them all... Loads of other highlights too and great to spend time with 40+ year friends.

[JohnP69]

Ronnie Wood LondonO2 Forum Friday 21st August

When this concert was announced a few months ago I got the pre-sale link and thought it would be nice to see him in a small venue.
The £200 price tag put me off so I gave it a miss.
It seems like the price put a lot of other people off too as over the months the ticket price kept dropping.
It came down to £100 which, is still a lot, but I decided to take the plunge.
Glad I went as it was an excellent evening.
Support was from Marcus Bonfanti whom delivered a short,punchy blues rock set.
Quick search online and it turns out he was frontman for Ten Years After between 2014 & 2024.
Ronnie and his Ammo band followed and we got 2 hours of songs from his whole career.
Top class band with Andy Newmark on drums, Willie Weeks on bass, Andy Wallace on keyboards, Jerry Lee Schell on guitar and Chanel Haynes on vocals.
Imelda May came on midway through the set and added her distinctive vocals.
All in all a top night!
What's not to like in this setlist?

Setlist
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It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (but I Like It)
(The Rolling Stones song)
Play Video
Am I Grooving You
(Freddie Scott cover)
Play Video
Take It Easy
Play Video
Flying
(Faces song)
Play Video
Hey Negrita
(The Rolling Stones song)
Play Video
Seven Days
(Bob Dylan cover)
Play Video
Remember (Walking in the Sand)
Play Video
You’re So Fine
Play Video
Wee Wee Hours
(Chuck Berry cover)
Play Video
Show Me
Play Video
Mystifies Me
Play Video
River Deep, Mountain High
(Ellie Greenwich cover)
Play Video
Country Honk
(The Rolling Stones song)
Play Video
Chain of Fools
(Aretha Franklin cover)
Play Video
Boogie
Play Video
Spoonful
(Willie Dixon cover)
Play Video
Ooh La La
(Faces song)
Play Video
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
(The Rolling Stones song)
Play Video
I Can Feel the Fire
Play Video
Plynth (Water Down the Drain)
(Jeff Beck Group song)
Play Video
Stay With Me / Gasoline Alley (intro)
(Faces song)
Play Video
Encore:
Breathe on Me
Play Video
Outlaws

[John From Austin]

We saw the Beard-less ZZ Top last night, and I'm very glad we did. After the first number, Billy Gibbons paused to acknowledge Frank Beard's passing, thank everyone for sticking with them, and compliment his new drummer Michael Monahan and current bass player Elwood Francis. They played a lot of early material, four songs from Eliminator, and not much of the more recent stuff. I am particularly pleased that they emphasized my favorite 1979 ZZ Top album, Deguello, with three songs: "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," "Cheap Sunglasses," and "I Thank You."

I've seen ZZ Top five times in my life (1986, 2013, 2015, 2019, and last night), but this was the first time without the original trio intact. The photo below was taken on 30 April 2015 in Cedar Park, Texas, after the show. R.I.P. Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, and long live ZZ Top.