My Bruce was much tinier than that. But I’m back on Saturday in about that location. Great gig, as always.
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Noel Gallagher at Warwick castle. Great gig and venue.
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The Boss at Wembley 25/7/24
Seen the band a number of times over the years but this was right up there for enjoyment - a simply immense show. Had a great position on the pitch but really suffering from standing and not getting in until near 4am after a lot of driving! Getting too old for this.
Having said that - Bruce is 10 years older than me and he pulled out an incredible set of songs - the last dozen in the set were all huge and he didn’t play The River, Rosalita, USA etc. An artist on great form.
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Thursday night @ The Troubadour runnin’ the vooduu down with The Hippie Soul Sound supporting Ese and The Vooduu People…
Camera was acting up so not many photos but, a few glimpses…
The Hippie Soul Sound:
Fantastic singers, bass and guitar raising the Funk
Gail from Hippie Soul Sound jamming with the Vooduu:
David jamming, on trumpet:
The Vooduu Power, Jackson on keys and Kissangwa, drums (big up to Jackson covering keyboard bass on this gig. Manzarek lives!)
The Vooduu Machine is comin’ down, and we’re gonna have a party!
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Great show. My sixth of 2023/24 and the best for me. Had a great time with my two daughters. The 4 track stretch of Reason to Believe/Atlantic City/Youngstown/Long Walk Home was exceptional. And Racing in the Street a favourite song, like Land of Hope and Dreams as first encore alternative to Born in the USA.
So many great shows with this band since 1981, the memory obviously fades but this was up there as a great one of many.
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Can’t wait. I’m there tonight for my 5th of this 23/24 tour run. I agree with you that they’ve been amongst the best of my many over the years. Bruce and the band have been on great form.
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I thought Seeds was exceptional as well as those you have noted. Back again this evening 
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Grace Jones at Crystal Palace Park last night. Mad as a box of frogs but utterly brilliant. Venue about 300m from my house so travel was very easy
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Seeds has good Wembley history. Was similarly second song up in 2016 and premier performance 3/7/85 at the old Wembley when new and unreleased (and I was quite stunned by it). Hope you had a great Saturday night.
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The Boss! three hours of joy
A great set but the Wembley sound ststem isnt as good as Hyde Park was last year
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On Saturday night an intimate Vooduu get together at the Rose and Crowne Theatre Pub in downtown Walthamstow (kudos to Bun, a great Landlord!)
Ese and The Vooduu People in quintessential trio form: bass, guitar, drums - big up to Boo, stand-in drummer who played marvellously. An appreciative crowd, some of the bandfan vets, natch, some new fans and all loving it…
Joined on some numbers by Gennaro on classical/ flamenco acoustic: love these multifaceted additions to the Vooduu Sound!
Post-gig…get the shoes off and relax!
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A trip to London this weekend to see my friend Arthur and see a couple of shows together. Saturday night was the Blue Aeroplanes at the Lafayette near Kings Cross. The Blue Aeroplanes are a rock band from Bristol that formed in the 80’s. We concluded it was about 35 years since we saw them last when we both lived and worked in London. It was an amazing gig and they certainly haven’t lost any of their energy and they were possibly better than when we saw them last. The Lafayette was a great venue too, great sound. If you’ve not heard the Blue Aeroplanes, then I’d recommend Swagger!
Sunday night was Sons of Cream at the Ealing Blues festival. As the name suggests it is made up of two of the sons of the original line up, Kofi Baker (son of Ginger), Malcolm Bruce (son of Jack), and as I understand it guest performer, Rob Johnson - not be confused with Rob Johnson of “Cross Road Blues” fame, though they did play the song! Their aim is to keep the legacy of their father’s alive by playing many of Cream’s numbers, but also improvising always, in the same tradition. I had the honour of watching the set alongside Janet, Malcolm Bruce’s mum and friend of Arthur. I don’t really know Cream, but it was a great set and I’m definitely going to be listening to them, and Son’s of, now. I also learned the significance of Ealing to the R&B movement in the 60’s in the UK with the Ealing Club. If you’re not familiar with that history, then it’s definitely worth a googling “The Ealing Club”.
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Bruce Springsteen, Wemble Stadium, 27 July. Hard to choose which night was best of the two but let’s not be picky, both were great.
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Jacket Hang. Great track.
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Saw Ulcerate (top) supported by Pestilential Shadows on Saturday night. Excellent gig despite the venue being absolutely jammed-packed. I bought Ulcerate’s new album, Cutting the Throat of God in anticipation of seeing them live and was thankful that it comprised 75% of the set as it’s the only albums of theirs I know. The performance was flawless, with particular mention going to the drums, which were some of the most impressive I’ve heard live. The double-kick was so relentless and loud that I felt it reverberating through my feet, up my body and in my skull where the vibrations literally made my teeth chatter.
No hi-fi can replicate that.
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Pulsating gig by the Alabama 3 full band at Epic Studios Norwich. Saw the acoustic version a few weeks back, interestingly the set list was almost identical.
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Tonight at Crazy Coqs, Piccadilly…
The Coalminers (unprepossesing name but a FAB band). Want Louisiana swamp rock n funk? Look no further in 2024…
Singer Tommy Hare’s getting married tomorrow (er…today). Met his bride’s family from Texas, nice people…
Excellent gig. Wanna see them again.
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I got back from the Cropredy Festival yesterday, the mobile coverage was sparse to say the least which made for an even greater feeling of freedom from the world than normal for a festival.
Their policy of having just one stage makes for a feeling of being in it together, although for people wanting to avoid acts there are 4 fringe festivals around the village.
Highlights among the lesser known acts for me were:
Baskery- 3 Swedish sisters playing “banjo-punk”, excellent musicians and singers, guitar, banjo, double bass and drums (the eldest sister playing banjo or guitar while singing and playing drums). High energy, fine Neil Young covers and their own excellent songs.
Spooky Men’s Chorale. 16(?) man a capella group, harmonic style influenced by Georgian folk singing, their own amusing or poignant compositions as well as Central European traditional numbers.
Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening- The great Northumbrian piper with an excellent electric band, I’ve seen her a few times over the last 30 years or so and this may have been the best set, fantastic folk rock.
Ranagri- Top class Irish folk rock band who were having as much fun as the audience, again a band I know and who were at their very best.
Lots of other acts nailed it, I had doubts about Tony Christie going in, but he’s an old pro and really delivered. Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth was great, Focus played their hits and were great. For me there wasn’t a bad set in the whole show.
Musically the best Cropredy I remember for years.
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