Who did you see live last?

[Norris]

Just got back from seeing OMD. Fabulous!

 

Their new album Bauhaus Staircase is not bad either 

[Doctor J]

Just home from seeing Cynic, first time without Reinert. While I enjoyed them and the new guy is superb, it's not the same at all.

[Tandro]

Now returning from seeing Peter Collins. You probably don't know him. Heck, I did not know of him before 3 weeks ago. Not a bass to be seen, but for me, one of the best performances I've ever witnessed. 

Edited March 14 by Tandro

[Grahambythesea]

Latchepen last Sunday. Superb guitar playing with a brilliant fiddle player and talented young upright bassist.

[Rayman]

Filter, Manchester, Awesome.

 

Best gig in ages, Richard and Co are absolutely fantastic live. Top night.

 

[MiltyG565]

Hozier, supported by all-female The Last Dinner Party, who were brilliant and now in my spotify playlist.

 

Hozier was great too, although very stripped-back for a stadium tour. Certainly not taking the shock and awe approach that many big artists have on stadium tours, but it felt much more natural and less “on rails”.

[Peloquin]

I went to see XSLF the other day.... fantastic. 

Henry Cluney (original Stiff Little Fingers guitarist)  is such a nice bloke and I've rarely seen anyone having a much fun on stage as him. 

  If you like SLF then these are a stripped down, less serious version but really worth watching. 

They were so good I immediately got a ticket to go to the Northwich gig in a few weeks.  For around a tenner is the best value ticket ever. 

[Shaggy]

On 12/03/2024 at 23:54, Norris said:

Just got back from seeing OMD. Fabulous!

 

Their new album Bauhaus Staircase is not bad either 

 

Seeing them tonight, Swansea Liberty stadium.

Saw them last at the end of 1979 - at the time they were pretty much the “house band” at Liverpool Uni students union!   

 

Post gig edit:   Really enjoyable gig.  I had the venue wrong - it was at Swansea arena but daughter put me right en route.  Doh.  Not a venue I’ve been to before, but great that Swansea finally has a decent one to attract bands.

 

Band on top form; 4 of them rather than the duo plus big reel-to-reel tape machine I saw in ‘79, all the hits plus some impressive new material.   Really imaginative back drop projections, good clear stage sound.  Andy McCluskey bounded around the stage like a young ‘un and his voice as strong as ever, the only negative was that his bass guitar (black Fender Jazz) - such an important part of the early material - was mixed so low as to be inaudible.

Edited March 17 by Shaggy

[Doctor J]

Atheist in Whelans. It's just Kelly and a bunch of young hired goons, these days, but they are absolutely superb young hired goons. Note perfect, sublime stuff. Between this and Cynic last week, March has surpassed any reasonable expectation of quality giggage.

 

[toneknob]

Modern Standards Supergroup last night at the Forge in Camden. First time at this venue for me, quite nice!

 

As well as drummer Harvey Mason (an original Head Hunter, co-wrote Chameleon, which was in the setlist); sax Ernie Watts (played with just about everyone) and keys Neils Lan Doky (ditto), on bass was Felix Pastorius, who as we know is epic in his own right.

 

And the encore was "a little song my father wrote about where he grew up", Teen Town 🤯

[casapete]

Just back from Scarborough where we saw ‘Fire and Rain’ at the YMCA theatre.

 Some friends of ours put the band together to play James Taylor material ( with

a smattering of Carole King tunes ) and they were absolutely brilliant! A near

capacity crowd loved every song, and the band played them just superbly. Vocals

were sublime, and all the players performed so well, especially Tom Townsend

on guitar and vocals, and our friend Bob Walker on bass. A great evening of

classic songs, highly recommended.

 

 

[T-Bay]

Saw the Hives (again) last night and they were superb as always. Boy do they know how to work a crowd, proper show. The new album is the best in ages and great to see them headlining again. They were supported by Bad Nerves, a punk band from Essex according to their blurb. Proper high energy band and I will be checking out their stuff later today as sounded good last night.

[toneknob]

Thundercat last night at Koko, featuring indie bloke Damon Albarn for a few numbers at the end, including a smashing verion of Gorrilaz' Cracker Island

 

[Lozz196]

Saw Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators last night, at Wembley Arena,

 

Really good gig, great sound imo, without cacophonous bass drum which is always a plus for me. At time lead vocals could have been a bit higher maybe but you could still hear them, if not fully understand them.
 

The whole band played as tight as the proverbial, and Slash is just a monster on lead guitar.

[Rayman]

Happy Mondays in Manchester on Thursday night….. great gig, and great support from the Inspiral Carpets and Stereo MCs. Get your 80s on. 

[Nothingman]

Hot Water Music at the Brude last week. 
 

❤️

 

[casapete]

Just got back from seeing Band of Friends at Howden Shire Hall. A friend of mine asked if I could

supply Gerry McAvoy with a bass rig for the gig, so I took him my GK800RB and a 4x10 to go

with an Ashdown 1x15 that was there. The band are based in Europe ( Gerry lives in France),

and they were only doing two UK gigs so wasn’t worth them bringing their backline over.

My friend Ian Bolder ( Trevor’s brother) brought along a Fender Vibrolux for the guitarist

to use, so all good.
After the soundcheck we all went for drinks and some Italian food, and was great listening

to Gerry’s stories. I told him last time I saw him play was with Rory Gallagher

at Hull City Hall in June 1974. I was 16 and due to take my Maths O level ( GCSE) the next

day. My mum told me I should stay in and revise, but I convinced her I was up to speed and

went to the gig, which was ace. I got an ‘unclassified’ grade in the exam, so I blame Gerry

for my lack of qualifications! 

Gerry was great again tonight. He was using his 63 Precision and it sounded mint. Shame

there was only around a half capacity crowd, but the band still performed 100%. Cracking gig!

 

 

Edited April 7 by casapete
Grammer

[Paul S]

Mcavoy!  I'd have been a bit start struck!

[casapete]

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

Mcavoy!  I'd have been a bit start struck!

I was too Paul! An absolutely lovely bloke though, really grounded and funny. 
He likes a glass of wine too….

[Mickeyboro]

What I didn’t expect about Band of Friends was that not once in the evening was Rory’s name mentioned! Any idea why?

[casapete]

4 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

What I didn’t expect about Band of Friends was that not once in the evening was Rory’s name mentioned! Any idea why?

Not sure Mick - Gerry did mention Rory a couple of times, and from what we were chatting about

in the restaurant before the gig I’d say he still has immense respect for him.

[Mickeyboro]

18 minutes ago, casapete said:

Not sure Mick - Gerry did mention Rory a couple of times, and from what we were chatting about

in the restaurant before the gig I’d say he still has immense respect for him.

I am sure he must, Pete - but I know his book upset Donal Gallagher so wondered if there was any legal undertaking… seems unlikely, but people can be petty!

[Mickeyboro]

Lindisfarne. Original bassist Rod Clements the only survivor - now on guitar - but Dave Hull- Denholm, the late Alan’s son in law, to right of pic, was the star. 
 

[Elfrasho]

Slash at the Hydro. Myles Kennedy and the bassist/vocalist were on point. Could barely hear slash.

 

 

And Doogie White, Ex alcatrazz, rainbow, malmsteen singer

Edited April 9 by Elfrasho

[leroydiamond]

1 hour ago, Elfrasho said:

Slash at the Hydro. Myles Kennedy and the bassist/vocalist were on point. Could barely hear slash.

 

 

 

Not that I am a Slash fan but those who attended and are, must be infuriated, or maybe not?. With the advances in technology etc., surely you should be able to hear the bloody guitar player, particularly one of this status?. I am no longer a regular gig goer, for a number of reasons, not least because of my experience of increasingly poor audio standards at gigs.

 

My last major gig was Porcupine Tree in Amsterdam on November last. It just sounded like a bag of spanners for the most part, yet I heard precious few complain (well nobody), when chatting to other attendees when exiting the venue. The venue in question was a 17000 capacity arena, akin to a supersized shipping container.  I wonder as to whether the size of these venues are conducive to good sound reproduction. I understand that their upcoming DVD release is a recording of this show, the sound of which will be quite superb, particularly with Steven Wilson at the helm. It will bear nothing in comparison to the very poor live sound I heard that night.

 

On the other hand in June 2022, I caught Steve Vai at the Academy in Dublin, a comparitively small venue, with a capacity of 1000. The star of that show on the night in question, was the guy on the desk. Probably the best live sound I have ever experienced, other than Page and Plant on their 'No Quarter' tour in the Point Depot, Dublin 1995 (its a toss of a coin).