Who did you see live last?

[Stub Mandrel]

 

That's me and Ms. Stubz at bottom right 😎

[BreadBin]

Dave Grohl and a few mates. Wembley.

A once in a lifetime experience. 

[Rubbersoul]

Saw The Steve Ignarant band playing Crass, supported by Paranoid Visions and the Hoakers. Absolutely incredible night.

[Oddly]

Just home from The Rolling Stones Story tribute band's first trip to Dublin.

A pretty great show, the guy doing Mick Jagger nails it, and the guy on bass was excellent.

[Nail Soup]

Great new(ish) post-punk band Deadletter in Bedford

Bass player out of sight in this pic but very audible (and good).

Excellent band.

[SteveXFR]

We went to a Motorhead tribute show last night. I wasn't convinced i wanted to go but there was beer there do I thought why not.

I was really impressed by Motorheadache,  their Lemmy had all the right gear, some of it ex Lemmy. Obviously having all the gear is no good if its not played right but he was spot on and the vocals were really close. Their Fast Eddie and Mickey Dee were really good as well.

If you're interested, there's a load of details about the bassists gear here https://www.motorheadache.com/

 

[Nail Soup]

Los Bitchos, Bedford.

Whole band were great, but especially bass player- great lines and sound.

[Peloquin]

Went to see The Misfits in Chicago (special trip from uk just to see one band).

They were never going to live up to what I wanted but they were still brilliant.  The drums (Dave Lombardo) were amazing,  just a non stop pounding that moved your guts. 

Jerry gave it everything on bass, as ever.  Smashed 5 up through the gig. 

Doyle pounded and stamped around the stage beating his guitar into submission and getting through more strings than a get-through-strings machine.

Glenn Danzig did way too much talking and waffling about "back in the day" but his voice was good. 

  40 years I've wanted to see the original band together on stage,  no one ever thought I'd happen. 

Awesome. 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Peloquin

[Muzz]

Steve Hackett at the Apollo in Manchester. A sit-down, chin-stroking kinda gig, but the level of musicianship on the stage was unbelievable. 96% blokes in the audience, there we a few ladies looking dutiful but bored...first half was his solo stuff, then the whole of Foxtrot, with an encore of Firth of Fifth and Los Endos, all executed perfectly.

 

One thing, tho; there was a drum solo near the end, which went on a bit, and in The Quiet Bit, where said drummer tinkles about with stuff quietly, a voice soared from the the audience; 'Get onnn with it!' The place roared with laughter, but the drummer's face set like a handful of mince, and when they were doing the 'all bow in a line' at the very end, I clearly saw him say to the bassist 'Bunch of f**king tw**s'...

 

If drum solos are getting short shrift even at Prog concerts, I think it's safe to say they've very much had their day...

[obbm]

Not the usual sort of gig but for Mrs OBBM's birthday on Saturday we went to see Gary Barlow in "A Different Stage", a one man show, which is a combination of his life story interspersed with his songs.  For over 2 hours it was just the man himself surrounded by flight cases containing various props and multiple keyboards.  Originally he was going to do 2 nights at the Hall for Cornwall but they sold out in a matter of minutes so they added a third and then a fourth night, all totally sold out. Gary has been doing this show for a while now and certainly puts a huge amount of effort into it.  There was of course a large contingent of die-hard Barlow/Take That fans all of whom were in great voice including the 50-something guy in the seat next to Mrs OBBM.  Now I never took much notice of Take That back in the day but after Saturday I've been slightly won over to the point where I'm actually looking at videos on YouTube and playing along with the songs.  I need help, is there any form of therapy or medication for this? 

[BigRedX]

Saturday in Leeds to see The Last Cry at Carpe Noctum at The Lending Room.

 

It was their last ever gig and quite emotional...

 

 

 

My head is just visible down the front at the far side of the stage!

[cetera]

Richard Marx at the lovely intimate Union Chapel last night.

 

An absolute MASTERCLASS in songwriting, vocals, performance and crowd interaction. An incredibly engaging and entertaining songwriter with a wealth of fantastic songs to choose from and a voice still among the best, even now at 59. A revelation!

[Japhet]

 

Saw these guys last night in Cambridge. Seen them a couple of times before and never disappointed. Difficult to pidgeon hole their sound because they're rather unique, but a mix of Indie/Rock with a fair splash of folk I guess. Great songs with beautiful lyrics and the 3 of them drum up a great sound and atmosphere. They've got a few dates left around the country on their current tour and I'd highly recommend seeing them if it's your sort of thing.

 

 

[jazzyvee]

I saw James Taylor at Resorts World, Birmingham last night. Superb concert with a top class band that included, Jimmy Johnson, Steve Gadd, Mike Landau.

[tegs07]

6 hours ago, Japhet said:

 

Saw these guys last night in Cambridge. Seen them a couple of times before and never disappointed. Difficult to pidgeon hole their sound because they're rather unique, but a mix of Indie/Rock with a fair splash of folk I guess. Great songs with beautiful lyrics and the 3 of them drum up a great sound and atmosphere. They've got a few dates left around the country on their current tour and I'd highly recommend seeing them if it's your sort of thing.

 

 

Great band. Have seen their drummer play a few times with Martin Harley.

[Paul S]

Consecutive nights and a massive contrast.  Thursday I saw Level 42 at the IndigO2 and it was just about as good a live performance as you could wish to see at one of my favourite venues.

 

Last night I went to Hockley Community Centre at a recently re-opened venue calling themselves 'The Soundry' to see Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash.  For contextv the Wishbone Ash album Live Dates from 1973 remains to this day one of my favourite albums and when they played the Kursaal at Southend the same year it, again, was up there with the best gigs I have ever seen.

 

God they were bad, I left at half time as I didn't want to hear them massacre any more of my favourite songs.  Both guitarists were mechanical with absolutely no spark, feel or soul.  Chap on the left looked like a rabbit caught in the headlamps and was WAY out of his depth.  Chap on the right was better but you'll see better players most weekends in most towns.  Martin Turner's voice - never the strongest - was weak and flat, backing vocals were flat - a shame given that vocal harmonies are such an important part of the songs.  I didn't appreciate the 3 or 4 minute lectures about the inspiration for writing the lyrics of each song.  They just didn't gel as a band. 

 

The one saving grace for me was Martin's bass playing.  I think he had the most amazing tone out of his Thunderbird, one of the best live bass sounds I have ever heard.  But even then he made a couple of shockinigly bad bum notes.  Maybe the clues were there - playing a 200 capacity venue must be indicative of something.  I've read interviews with MT and he seems very bitter about the success Andy Powell is having, referring to them as a 'Tribute band' as they hadn't written the songs and therefore had no meaning.  Well, he certainly laboured that point.  My advice to you, as a fan, is get a better band to do your wonderful songs justice.

[dmckee]

I saw Sigrid in the Usher Hall (Edinburgh) a few nights ago. Killer tunes and terrific bass from Liva Sværen. Adding bass has really lifted their overall sound (of course!). Fender P Elite I think, through a bunch of pedals by the sound of it.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by dmckee

[Nail Soup]

7 hours ago, Paul S said:

My advice to you, as a fan, is get a better band to do your wonderful songs justice.

Or unite with the Andy Powell version of the band?

[Paul S]

I would imagine that ship sailed a while back, sadly.  Be nice, though.  And Ted Turner.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Paul S

[Lozz196]

Just got home from watching The ELO Experience in Aylesbury, featuring our very own @casapete

 

Was a thoroughly good evening, the sound was excellent as was the performance by every member of the band. Great songs that have really stood the rest of time. 

[Paul S]

16 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

Or unite with the Andy Powell version of the band?

 

I just had a little read up about the twists and turns of the band.  Apparently Andy Powell sued Martin Turner to stop him using the name 'Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash' so I guess that puts a future reunion off the table.  

[ezbass]

39 minutes ago, Paul S said:

 

I just had a little read up about the twists and turns of the band.  Apparently Andy Powell sued Martin Turner to stop him using the name 'Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash' so I guess that puts a future reunion off the table.  

Friends of mine were in a WA tribute together and one of them is quite friendly with Andy Powell, so they followed the trial quite closely. Martin Turner was on a hiding to nothing, he even represented himself saying something along the lines that he didn’t believe in lawyers, in the the court no less. He lined up Upton, Turner and Wisefield as witnesses, but AP still won the day easily and I think MT declared himself bankrupt. All very messy. 

[Paul S]

25 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Friends of mine were in a WA tribute together and one of them is quite friendly with Andy Powell, so they followed the trial quite closely. Martin Turner was on a hiding to nothing, he even represented himself saying something along the lines that he didn’t believe in lawyers, in the the court no less. He lined up Upton, Turner and Wisefield as witnesses, but AP still won the day easily and I think MT declared himself bankrupt. All very messy. 

 

That doesn't surprise me.  MT's sense of entitlement and indignation comes across so strongly it was beginning to overshadow the evening - one of the reasons I left early, couldn't be doing with it.  I can easily imagine he was a nightmare to be in a band with.  

 

Nevertheless, I will spend this afternoon trying to somehow dial in a similar tone to his Thunderbird out of my Epiphone Classic Pro   I'm thinking more high mids.... we'll see.

[ezbass]

3 minutes ago, Paul S said:

 

That doesn't surprise me.  MT's sense of entitlement and indignation comes across so strongly it was beginning to overshadow the evening - one of the reasons I left early, couldn't be doing with it.  I can easily imagine he was a nightmare to be in a band with.  

 

Nevertheless, I will spend this afternoon trying to somehow dial in a similar tone to his Thunderbird out of my Epiphone Classic Pro   I'm thinking more high mids.... we'll see.

He is an @rse, great bass player, although I’ve never rated him as a singer. However, AP isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs either, not known for his laissez faire attitude to money. My favourite of them was always Ted Turner, quite the hippy,  with an interesting approach to guitar and had the best voice in that line up too. I also have a lot of time for Laurie Wisefield, another great player with a reasonably pleasant voice. I’ve seen the various, latter day incarnations of WA more times than any other band and I’ve always left underwhelmed.

[SteveXFR]

I was offered tickets to see Andy Powells Wishbone Ash in Frome  last night, unfortunately I couldn't make it. I had some communication with Bob Skeat about a bass I was selling. He came across as a nice bloke, offered tickets after deciding it wasn't the right bass. Hopefully I'll see them another time.

I heard from a friend the show last night was very good.