Thursday 13 July 2017

Some soul, some pop and plenty of rock from a slew of legends...

3rd July - 9th July 2017




A music heavy week this one, so the reviews are a little shorter as I don't like to do track by track dissections, so without further ado...

St Paul & The Broken Bones

We kicked off our week of gigging on Wednesday night with a trip to The Troxy in East London, an old converted cinema which now hosts live events too, to catch US soul/R & B outfit St Paul & The Broken Bones.

Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, they're fresh off of releasing their second album 'Sea Of Noise', the follow up to their storming debut 'Half The City', an absolutely stonking album.

Comprising eight members, including a compliment of horn players and an organist they manage to recreate the studio sound from the album superbly.

Most notably lead singer Paul Janeway who has a phenomenal voice, with strong touches of Otis Redding but with a gospel tinge, which is very powerful.










Replete in a bright red suit, Janeway took the stage with a cape performing the intro from the 'Sea Of Noise' album, 'Crumbling Light Posts Pt. 1', which he then flung aside as the band moved straight into 'Flow With It (You Got Me Feeling Like)'

Janeway at one point even got the security to lift him over a barrier to walk amongst the crowd whilst performing 'Broken Bones & Pocket Change'.

By the time they played their breakout track 'Call Me' they had the audience in the palm of their hands and even returned for a four song encore taking the entire show to nearly two full hours.

They may have only been around for a couple of albums but their sound and performance would suggest otherwise.

If you like great classic music, played very well then catch them next time they're over, you won't regret it.

The full set list was as follows:


Crumbling Light Posts Pt. 1
Flow With It (You Got Me Feeling Like)
Like A Mighty River
Flute Solo
I'll Be Your Woman
Tears In The Diamond
All I Ever Wonder
I'm Torn Up
Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)
The National Anthem
Brain Matter
Waves
Midnight On The Earth
I've Been Working
Broken Bones & Pocket Change
Call Me
Loran's Dance
Sanctify
Encore:
Is It Me
Eventually
Half The City

Burning Rome

The Jacksons

The following night we headed over to the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich for a show as part of the yearly Greenwich Music Time series of concerts.

This show was part of The Jacksons' 50th anniversary shows, which has been touring the UK for last few weeks.

Featuring the surviving four members of The Jackson 5, Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Marlon, we were treated to a set of Jackson 5 and Jackson hits, with a couple of Michael Jackson songs thrown in for good measure.

Jermaine took the lead of most of the Michael material, however they all contributed vocally, with Tito and Jermaine also playing some guitar and bass respectively.

The sound was a little quiet, however that's most likely due to the only speakers being the ones either side of the stage, this however didn't stop the crowd getting into hit after hit.

Particular highlights included the medley of 'I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save/Dancing Machine' and 'Shake Your Body To The Ground', it was also an unexpected treat to hear 'State Of Shock' for the encore too.

The band were on point throughout, and the Jacksons themselves proved they've still got the moves as they displayed a variety of their signature dance routines from throughout their career.

Interspersed throughout were archive photos and videos of the group, including a tribute section to Michael himself.






Overall it was a great show, and a rare opportunity to see some true legends perform.

The full set list was:


Can You Feel It
Blame It On The Boogie
Rock With You
Enjoy Yourself
Show You The Way To Go
Lovely One
I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save/Dancing Machine
Never Can Say Goodbye
I'll Be There
Gone Too Soon
When The Magic Happens
Can't Let Her Get Away
This Place Hotel
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
Shake Your Body To The Ground

Encore:


State Of Shock

Stevie Nicks

On Sunday, sans Mrs C, I headed over to the now annual BST Hype Park festival for it's closing night show, headlined by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame.

Taking the stage just after six, Nicks looked resplendent in her signature flowing outfit, and proceeded to power through a set list comprising hit after hit from her varied back catalogue from all eras of her career.

Mixing solo tracks, with Fleetwood Mac hits and even a Buckingham/Nicks track, the set was satisfying mix of the familiar with a couple of surprises thrown in too.

Nicks' voice was in fine form, still sounding familiar and powerful, and she seemed to be relishing every minute of playing to the sell out crowd.

She closed the main set with the classic 'Edge Of Seventeen' which set the crowd up for the final encore of a couple of Fleetwood Mac classics.

Obviously hearing the Fleetwood Mac hits 'Dreams', 'Gold Dust Woman' and 'Landslide' live was awesome, and when performing 'Rhiannon' during the encore she revealed that she'd never played a gig without performing it.






The only omission was 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around', however as that's a duet it seemed entirely possible that may make an appearance at some point later...

The full set was:


Gold And Braid
If Anyone Falls
Gypsy
Outside The Rain
Dreams
Enchanted
Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)
Stand Back
Crying In The Night
Gold Dust Woman
Wild Heart
Bella Donna
Edge Of Seventeen

Encore:

Rhiannon

Landslide

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

After Nicks, the stage was reset for the headliner, and about quarter past eight he took to stage to a rapturous reception.

This was their only European show this year so expectations were high, however we needn't have worried.

Kicking off with breakout track 'Rockin' Around (With You)' the classics just kept coming.







Hit after hit followed, spanning his entire career, with five tracks from the 'Wildflowers' album, (a personal favourite), being a particular highlight  for me.


Petty himself was on top form with plenty of sarcasm and humour in between songs, and the band were also superb as expected.

Nicks also made a reappearance to perform 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around' which was awesome and not something you get a chance to see at every Petty or Nicks gig.

The band were backed by loads of archive footage and photos which added an air of nostalgia which was fitting as this was part of the 40th anniversary tour.

The sound was fantastic as it had been all day, and the two hour set flew by, with the crowd relishing every moment.

Hopefully they'll be back for a UK tour as I'd definitely recommend catching them live.

A fantastic show!

The full set was as follows:


Rockin' Around (With You)
Mary Jane's Last Dance
You Don't Know How It Feels
Forgotten Man
I Won't Back Down
Free Fallin'
Walls
Don't Come Around Here No More
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (With Stevie Nicks)
It's Good To Be King
Crawling Back To You
Wildflowers
Learning To Fly
Yer So Bad
I Should Have Known It
Refugee
Runnin' Down A Dream

Encore:

You Wreck Me
American Girl

Next week sees a little comedy and a film preview so until then, get inspired...

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