2024
....And A New One Just Begun
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A quiet start to the year with no gigs until mid-February. Thereafter they would be coming thick and fast. I had booked nearly 50 by the turn of the year, but many of them I would categorise as second or third tier, and the new year saw some "top tier" acts announcing gigs. I quickly realised my 2024 spreadsheet had become too big and needed paring back.
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The first one to go was the Stranglers in Dublin during March. I had seen them in their heyday and also their modern incarnation supporting Alice Cooper in 2019. I put the ticket up as soon as resale was available and recouped my total outlay within a couple of days. I also had Lyra lined up for Waterford on 15 February followed by Smokie on the 16th. Alas on the 14th I spent most of the day digging a 4 foot hole looking for a water pipe leak, The company I paid to help look for and seal the leak managed the first part, but could not handle the second as they had nothing that could cope with a 2 inch pipe. I say 2 inch and they told me that was the size. I set off for Dublin after checking stock for the right clamp seal and then set about trying to fit it. I spent most of the next 6 hours in that hole, eventually giving up around 8pm. Well at least I had seen Lyra supporting Sting last year.
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The following morning AC/DC tickets for Croke Park in Dublin went on sale at 9am. After going through the Ticketmaster queue system and getting a front standing/Gold Circle ticket the system threw me to the back of the queue with pretty much zero chance of a front standing ticket. Fortunately the Wembley Stadium tickets went on sale at 10am, and I entered that waiting room at around 3 minutes to 10, finding myself with less than 1,700 in front and I picked up a front standing ticket very quickly. The date clashes with a Paul Weller gig in Limerick, but I did see him 3 times in 2022, and that ticket will be put up for re-sale when Ticketmaster allows it.
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After the drama of picking up an AC/DC ticket I was back down that hole. I established the pipe was 61mm wide and the part I had only went up to 60mm, and was not going on this pipe whatever I tried. I then managed to get hold of a clamp for sizes between 56 and 63mm from a place in Wexford. Two more hours in that hole ensued, eventually giving up and calling for help, And the help also struggled. It took him an hour or more to fix it, but fix it he did. So no Smokie for me, although they are arguably just a tribute band with none of the original 70s lineup remaining.
Index
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Metal Gods
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I ended up waiting two and a half months for my first gig in 2024. The headliners were a band I had seen 44 years ago at Manchester Apollo (44 years and 5 days to be precise, and only when checking the details of that concert did I realise the support for that performance was a pre-Bruce Dickinson Iron Maiden). When I first got into music in the late 1970s Heavy Metal was one of the main music genres, and Judas Priest were making some of their best music. Today they were headlining at the 3Arena in Dublin, with Uriah Heep and Saxon supporting.
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I had never paid much attention to Uriah Heep. The band’s name conjured up an image of dour/miserable Dickensian Britain. They were formed in 1969, but they were not a band I recall appearing on the likes of Top of the Pops. However they had sold a lot of albums particularly in their early years. Their line-up had changed many times in the 55 years since their formation, but one of the founders, Mick Box, remained. Lead singer Bernie Shaw did comment that they had only been allowed a 35 minute set, but that seems perfectly reasonable for the first of two supports, and they were actually only used just over 30 minutes of their allocation anyway. I have no complaints about their performance which was certainly one of the better ones I have seen when there has been a second support to follow.
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That second support was Barnsley’s very own Saxon, who I had seen last year headlining at the 3Olympia. Biff Byford also had a bit of a whinge about time being limited, but Saxon actually played for nearly 70 minutes which is probably at the upper end of what I have experienced for any support act.
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About half way through the Saxon set I was getting quite a bit of pain in my right foot. During the week building up to the Friday night gig I had been feeling a bit of discomfort but I had brushed that off. I knew I would be standing for a further 2+ hours and ended up leaning much more heavily on the left leg until I started getting pain in that foot as well. I ended up switching between legs, although about halfway through Judas Priest I thought I was going to have to give up my place (which had only two people between me and the front barrier) and head to the back of the arena to find something to lean on or somewhere to sit down. I managed to stay where I was, albeit pretty much on one (or the other) leg.
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The audience were generally well behaved, except for a couple of incidents, one being someone who was clearly drunk barging his way through during the Saxon set only to disappear when he had finished his beer. There was then a bit of a ruckus a couple of metres behind me which resulted in a few shoves in my back, but it seems the guilty parties were “dealt with” by some of the people they had barged into. There was another incident of note when over to my left someone decided to crowd surf, only for the crowd to surf him all the way to the front barrier into the hands of security staff who then escorted him away.
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Saxon put on an excellent performance making the most of those 70 minutes and being a worthy support for an act I had pretty much forgotten how much I had liked in my youth. They had been my favourite band when I had seen them back in 1980. And the ravages of time have not overly impacted on their talents. They are arguably the great metal “survivors”. Rob Halford said they were the only metal band to have made albums of new music more than 50 years apart. Yes there have been a number of personnel changes, but Ian Hill had been with the band since its formation, and Rob Halford had joined in 1973. He had left the band in 1992 and rejoined in 2003, and is arguably the driving force behind them, being responsible for it’s unique sound. Tonight the band in general and Halford in particular were still performing at their best. Halford said they would be back and hopefully I will get the chance to see them at least one more time.
Uriah Heep
3Arena, Dublin
15 March 2024
Saxon
3Arena, Dublin
15 March 2024
Judas Priest
3Arena, Dublin
15 March 2024
The walk back to the car was not as bad as I had feared. The leg pain seemed to improve with walking and I was able to drive home without incident.
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The following morning I could hardly put any weight on the right foot initially. Again movement seemed to ease things. Some pain remained through that day (the Saturday) and I experienced a similar pattern on the Sunday. It was the St Patrick’s Day weekend meaning the Monday was a Bank Holiday. The pain was a little better on the Monday and I had another gig lined up on the Tuesday – Queen Extravaganza at the 3Olympia.
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I took the opportunity to get my foot checked over when I got to Dublin. It was the same foot as was trampled by a horse just before Christmas. I was concerned that there could have been a hairline fracture that had not shown up on the original X-ray. After around 3 hours waiting around I had another X-ray which showed no fracture, so I had the go ahead for the all seated show at the 3Olympia
Queen Extravaganza
3Olympia, Dublin
19 March 2024
Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad
The first “overseas” road trip on 2024, involving the morning ferry from Rosslare to Fishguard and then a drive to Swansea to see a band with a history, but not really one I had followed. They had some big numbers during the 70s. The one that immediately springs to mind is “Dreadlock Holiday” because…. well because I don’t like cricket, I love it. They also had big hits with “Rubber Bullets” and “I’m Not in Love”, but by the 1980s their success had dried up. Only one “original” remained – Graham Gouldman, but both drummer Paul Burgess and guitarist Rick Fenn had originally joined around the time of the departure of Godley and Creme in 1976.
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I arrived in Swansea with plenty of time to spare and rather than trying to mess about switching parking arrangements I decided to head straight into the Arena car park. It looked like this was going to cost me around £25, but it gave me time to spend wandering around Swansea.
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There was a support, Paul Canning, and I was in my seat well ahead of his expected start time of 7:30. 3 guys arrived just before the support and sat next to me consuming the beers they had in plastic glasses.
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The support was quite entertaining – his music was good, and he had some amusing commentary to accompany it. 10cc arrived on stage at around 8:20 to perform their Greatest Hits. Alas it did become apparent why they had not sustained their success into the 1980s as there were a number of “lesser” hits included along with some completely new stuff. Shortly after their arrival on stage the guy next to me started filming with his phone, but with the phone light on. The one next to him did something similar and before I knew it a member of the arena staff was flashing lights into the eyes of each of them. Clearly such “filming” was frowned upon, and I felt the arena staff would be casting their eyes my way quite regularly thereafter.
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Around halfway through 10cc the three of them stood up and went past me on their way out of the auditorium, only to return 10 minutes or so later with fresh alcoholic supplies. A short time after that the one next to me got up and headed to the gangway and I did not see him again until I was on my way out of the arena after the show. Fortunately I did get some decent photos particularly towards the end when everyone was encouraged to stand up. They had just announced dates in Ireland for the autumn, but I don’t think I will be going out of my way to see them again.
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Back to the car park and an attendant was standing at the exit telling us that we could pay using contactless at the barrier, thereby avoiding any queue at the ticket machine. Alas the technology could not cope with my Irish number plate and the attendant had to radio back to get them to manually insert a figure. That figure was £10, saving me around £15, so that car park had turned out a pretty good choice. It was then a drive towards Cardiff for my hotel for the Saturday night.
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The following day it was a drive along the M4 all the way to the M25 and then heading into Watford. I had worked out the most flexible route into and out of London during that Sunday was to get a train in from Watford Junction, with the last train back from London Euston at 12:30am. I drove into a car park near to my hotel, but that was a private car park and it was not clear if they would be checking vehicles for pay and display tickets, or indeed if they could do so remotely, and after checking into my hotel I decided to park up at the railway station.
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This trip started off as fitting 10cc and Justin Hayward initially into the spreadsheet and being on the lookout for acts or sport to fit around them. It did not look very promising initially, but then the Teenage Cancer Trust line-up for the Royal Albert Hall was announced. This was going to be Roger Daltrey’s final appearance as curator of and driving force behind this annual event that he had started back in 2000. The Who had made two appearances during the week of these events, but Sunday would be a special event celebrating Daltrey’s involvement. Pete Townsend had another engagement in the US, but Daltrey would be joined by some pretty spectacular guests (all of whom had supported the event in prior years) at the Royal Albert Hall. Townsend the younger was at the Royal Albert Hall and performed a couple of his own songs, one during the Eddie Vedder set and the other with Daltrey.
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I was on the Hall’s website as soon as tickets went on sale and managed to get a decent place in the main arena. Pretty similar positions to my two prior events at the Hall in 2022, one of which was the Who’s acoustic performance in aid of the Trust.
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As I entered the Royal Albert Hall they were only checking bags, and as I wandered round the concourse there was music to my eyes when I saw signs saying the performance would be recorded and people were allowed to take their own pictures.
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The advertised start time was 7:10pm, and everything was pretty much on time. Paul Weller was first up, with Daltrey joining him for one number. Next up was Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics and then Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, with Irishman Glen Hansard joining him for a couple of numbers. Robert Plant with Suzi Dian and Saving Grace were the 4th and penultimate act before Daltrey himself took to the stage for the finale. Daltrey was on or near the stage throughout, and each of the acts performed for around 30 minutes (including Daltrey) pretty much filling the near 4 hour event.
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The show finished as advertised around 11:05pm, and then it was a brisk walk to South Kensington underground station getting to Euston in time for a train that got me back to Watford around 12:45. I then parked up on a meter near the hotel, needing to get up before 8am on Monday to avoid any charge applying. Monday morning involved a trip up the M1 to Wellingborough and then on to Sheffield to discuss auctioning off some more of my music and football memorabilia.
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I had only been to "old" Brighton once before. By old I mean the one with Hove and Albion attached. That was in 1980 and involved a 7 hour supporters club bus journey to arrive at the ground a minute or two before kick-off. The local police then decided to search everyone as they left the bus with many already queuing up on other buses ahead of us meaning I actually got into the ground halfway through the first half. This was arguably the most significant league match Brighton and Hove Albion had hosted in their history to date, and the local police were almost certainly not used to dealing with a fanbase like that of Manchester United. And to cap it all, it was a miserable 0-0 draw followed by another near 7 hour journey back to Manchester. I vowed never to venture to Brighton (or indeed Hove) again
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Fast forward to 2024 and I have the opportunity to go to New Brighton. Far detached from that old one, although it is another seaside town, fortunately on the right side of the River Mersey estuary. Justin Hayward was to be the final leg of this triple header.
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I had been due to see Hayward in 2022 but that London gig was postponed due to a clash with the funeral of Mrs Windsor on the same day. The gig was put back one day but with the world descending on London for the funeral there would have been no accommodation options if I had decided to make the trip
This time I had planned to head over to Holyhead after the gig to catch the overnight ferry back to Dublin. I knew he would finish before 10 leaving more than enough time.
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I arrived at the venue shortly before 7, parking up in a free space about a 5 minute walk from the theatre. I knew the support, Mike Dawes, would be on around 7:30. Dawes was at his merchandise stall chatting to people as I picked up a souvenir hoodie for the headline act (I had already picked up 4 t-shirts on the trip).
Then at around 7:20 there was an announcement. I thought we were to be invited to take our seats. But no, this was one of those "unforeseen circumstances" announcements. The gig was postponed, which obviously came as a surprise to us all including Mike Dawes. They would let us know in a few days of a new date. I was guessing that meant no-one had died this time. Although I had suffered postponements and cancellations before, particularly as the result of the Pandemic, there was always plenty of notice. This was the first time I had encountered a postponement on the day of a gig let alone within a few minutes of the expected start time.
So onto Holyhead it was for me with nearly 4 hours to kill when I got there.
It turned out he had strained vocal chords. As I was heading back to my car I was chatting to a lady who had travelled from New York. She is also due to see him the following night in Darlington, which was the final date of the tour (which was also to be postponed)). I got the feeling she was a proper groupie though and had probably seen him throughout the tour (she had certainly seen him the previous night in Llandudno).
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So another place visited but the experience of New Brighton was not that much better than that of the old one, although at least I did not have to pay for parking...
Paul Canning
Swansea Arena
23 March 2024
10cc
Swansea Arena
23 March 2024
Paul Weller
Teenage Cancer Trust
The Royal Albert Hall
24 March 2024
Kelly Jones
Teenage Cancer Trust
The Royal Albert Hall
24 March 2024
Eddie Vedder
Teenage Cancer Trust
The Royal Albert Hall
24 March 2024
Saving Grace
featuring Robert Plant & Suzi Dian
Teenage Cancer Trust
The Royal Albert Hall
24 March 2024
Roger Daltrey
Teenage Cancer Trust
The Royal Albert Hall
24 March 2024
What A Load Of Crap...
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3 days later and back up to Dublin for Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators at the 3Arena.
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The day itself was pretty similar to the one ahead of Judas Priest a couple of weeks ago. I parked up about 50 metres closer than I had for Judas Priest, but that spot had a 7pm rather than 6:30 finish to the charging period, meaning I waited around 30 mins to get my 3 hour ticket at €3.50 per hour. Well actually the charging time ended at 6:59, meaning I only had to pay €10.48 when I got my ticket at 4pm.
I walked into Dublin to get something to eat and a coffee, and then headed back to the car to drop off an album I had bought. Unfortunately my foot was starting to play up as I approached the arena, and it was likely to be another 5 hours or so standing in the queue and then the arena. Well I hoped it would be.....
The doors opened on schedule at 6:30 and I was far enough up the queue to get a place a couple of metres from the stage, just to the left of centre. Alas I started feeling a stomach upset coming on and as the photographers gathered in the pit in front of the stage around 7:25 for an expected 7:30 start for support Mammoth WVH it was getting worse. Half way through their 30 minute set I was wondering if I would last for the support let alone the headliners. It was the 3rd time I had seen the Wolfgang Van Halen band, and they are an act that are growing on me. At the Taylor Hawkins tribute they had a small role, but as support for Motley Crue and Def Leppard in 2023 they had a bit more time, but I just thought they were an average support. This time they made much more of an impression despite my own "discomfort". They are still quite a new band and I think they may end up with a much higher profile and before long may be headliners themselves.
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I managed to make it until 8:30 when Slash and the rest of the band appeared, but after less than 10 minutes I could take no more and headed out of the arena to spend most of the next 40 minutes in the bathroom before heading back to the car to head home. Those 10 minutes were pretty good, and I did manage to get some photos, but alas this gig goes into the “disasters” category. A gig that will always be remembered for a Mammoth Slash and other Bodily Functions....
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Mammoth WVH
3Arena, Dublin
28 March 2024
Slash
featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators
3Arena
28 March 2024
Another drive up to Dublin for an act I was a bit unsure about. I had picked up a couple of CDs years ago, and found his music very enjoyable. I was unsure whether this would be more of a gimmick act rather than one of real talent.
I ended up about a kilometre away and at 5.15 I walk past the 3Olympia. There's already a queue so I decided to count how many were stood there in the rain 2 hours and 15 mins before the doors were supposed to open. 37 was the answer. My past experience of the 3Olympia was that you could turn up perhaps 15 minutes before the door opened and get a place in the front standing section.
I headed into the city centre to grab something to eat. I then moved in to Starbucks just down from the theatre. It was 6.20 and I decided to have another look at the queue before heading in for a coffee. This time the queue comprised around 90, only 5 blokes and all a great deal younger than me. I took that as a sign that these youngsters had nothing better to do and those of us in the "vintage" demographic had better things to do such as having something to eat and a coffee… I also took it as a sign that perhaps this would may not be an act for me.
It was then back down the road to Starbucks before joining the queue around 6.55 to discover they were already letting people in. The time on ticket usually is the door opening time and that indicated 7.30. Prior setlists for the tour suggested there would be no support and Mika would not take to the stage until after 8.30. Well it turned out there was a support. It was a DJ who was on between 7.40 and 8.10. Having missed getting a wristband for the front section I placed myself just behind the second barrier, slightly to the right of centre stage, one person back from the barrier.
Looking at the people in the 2 sections it was still around 90 to 95% females in the front section but maybe more an 80/20 split in the second section with a few more of a more elderly persuasion.
Almost dead on 8.30 and Mika arrived on stage. Any reservations were very quickly blown away. He put on a stunning performance. A true showman. Interacting extensively with the audience and at one stage climbing over the front barrier and moving his way through the audience towards the second barrier, arriving at it one person to my left. He then stood on the barrier before getting down to head further into the audience and eventually to the side of the theatre before heading out and finding his way upstairs into the circle and upper circle sections, spending time in one of the boxes before finding his way back down to our level and coming back through the audience again getting over the barrier just beside me.
When he was back on stage he continued to deliver a fantastic performance. Having initially considered this an experiment to see what show he could put on, he goes way up my priority list for any future tours. It was apparently 12 years since he had previously played in Ireland, again at the Olympia. He promised us he would be back much more quickly next time. Hopefully I’ll be there to witness it.
Mika
3Olympia, Dublin
12 April 2024
May the Fourth be with You
I had originally booked to see Thin Lizzy tribute Limehouse Lizzy in Bristol the day before Bruce Springsteen in Cardiff. Kelly Jones had announced a solo tour starting in Birmingham on the day of the Springsteen gig. He was doing 2 shows at Birmingham Town Hall at 7pm and 9.15pm. Then an extra gig was added on the Saturday and I managed to pick up a ticket for that show. The ticket did make it clear that phones were not allowed to be used during the gig.
I'm pretty sure this was the first time I had driven into Birmingham City centre, and I arrived just before 7, safe in the knowledge the gig was not due to start until 9pm.
This was an opportunity to try out a Teenage Cancer Trust t-shirt, as there were no XL left and I had bought an L size. I had shed around 5kg since that gig and over 11kg in the year to date.
Of course I had to pick up a Kelly Jones tour t-shirt and had the quandary of whether to stick with now baggy XL or risk going for another L. I ended up playing it safe, in the knowledge the XL may not be too different from the L size after a few washes...
I hoped to get a spot on a parking meter and did a couple of circuits before giving up on that idea. There were quite a few official looking people around with the words "enforcement officer" on their jackets. I thought it best to go into a car park, although once again this was one where you paid by entering your licence plate. Will this one recognise an Irish number?
At the venue we were given plastic bags to place our phones in. But I already knew there were going to be such restrictions. Maybe I would get the chance of a couple of snaps at the end of the gig.
It was pretty clear that I was one of only a handful who had put our phones in the bag, but equally when Jones arrived on stage all the phones were put away. Security were prowling ready to play whack-a-mole but I only saw 2 occasions when they actually intervened.
The show itself comprised of new solo material with Jones sat at a piano with his back to my side of the stage for around 40 minutes. This was the first time this new material was played to a paying audience. Richard Jones and Jamie Morrison from the Stereophonics where on the stage with Kelly Jones, along with a few others including a couple of violinists and a double bassist "strings" section.
I was not sure about the first couple of numbers but things then picked up. After a short interlude he returned to play some Stereophonics numbers with a variety of guitars.
Back to the car and the payment machine could not deal with 9 characters of an Irish number plate, but there was an “honesty” option allowing me to manually enter the entry time.
Temperance Town
Back down the M5 on the Sunday and then onto the M4 to Cardiff, arriving around 1pm with the gates due to open at 4. The ticket had originally said 5pm, but I received an email the day before suggesting a gate change (which in my case had not actually changed) and revised opening time. I joined the queue around 2 and then we encountered some quite miserable weather conditions resulting in me consulting the weather app on my phone. It told me the rain would stop around 5, although it was by then clear the stadium roof would be closed allowing us to at least avoid further rain once in the stadium. The weather app also stated the location was “Temperance Town”, although I did not witness much abstinence on either side of the gates.
Speaking of the gates, they “pre-loaded” them around half an hour before the advertised opening time, and I found myself right up against one of those gates. We had been told there were people queuing on the other side of the stadium, who had not secured front standing tickets (which I had), but the first 1,000 would be allowed into the front standing section at the same time as we would be. Well I was pretty much the first one in from “my” side and I’m pretty sure all 1,000 from the other side were already in, leaving me maybe 10 metres or so from the stage, although this at least halved when everyone already there stood up causing a rush to fill any gaps.
The show itself was due to start at 6:45pm, but it was just after 7 when he arrived on stage. For the first encore Springsteen and the E Street Band never actually left the stage and the show itself finished at a minute or two before what I presume was a 10pm curfew.
This was the fourth time I had seen Springsteen and the best of the 4 performances, so I was more than happy with the show, as well as some of the pictures.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
5 May 2024
The Promised Land
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Having successfully navigated my way back from Wales to Wexford my next challenge involved crossing the Wexford border again, this time into Kilkenny. To the home of the Kilkenny Cats, Nowlan Park. Not for a hurling match though – but for the return of the Boss after an 11 year absence from the Marble City.
Rain was forecast and as I set off on the morning of the gig the radio broadcast a warning for heavy rain and lightning, particularly across the middle of Ireland, but without Kilkenny being named within the warning. There was though still the prospect of heavy rain, although it would hopefully clear ahead of an estimated start time of 7pm.
I knew a numbering system would be in place for early entries in the “pit”, and on reaching Kilkenny I parked up and ambled along to where they were marking numbers on the backs of hands. Number 683 for me, but it was only a minute or so later that I discovered they were only issuing 700 in total, so I had been very lucky to get in before the closed off that option.
I headed off for a coffee with an instruction to be back to get onto the “proper” queue at 2pm. I was there for 2 only to then discover there were 2 number 683s , along with duplicates for 684, 685 and 686. The guy who had been writing the numbers on the backs of our hands owned up to making mistakes, and as no-one had turned up with 682 on their hand I was promoted to that number.
Having seen the format of the show a week earlier I decided to position myself at the left end of the stage where I expected Bruce to spend some time interacting with the audience. I had decided to take the higher magnification camera back to my car after I saw a large notice indicating cameras, along with other prohibited items would be confiscated. I thought it would be easier to conceal one camera than two, although as it turned out they only checked bags.
We were brought into the venue shorty before 4pm, and I presume others would be allowed in at 4. I was positioned a little further away from the main action than I had been the previous week, but hopefully would get the chance of some close ups when he did venture to my side of the stage. And that’s the way it turned out.
We were treated to a surprise warm-up at 5pm, when we had a solo acoustic number by the man himself, with his harmonica brace – apparently this holder for his mouth organ had been made for him by a guy in Fermanagh. A single song – This Hard Land, but he had not done anything like this for the two prior gigs on the tour.
When it came to the main event we really were treated to Springsteen at his best. Not only did we get a warm up, but we got an extra 15 minutes compared to those two earlier gigs. Three and a quarter hours of class. He was clearly loving every minute of his time in front of the smallest audience certainly of the UK&I legs of this European Tour. And he only seems to have gone much over three hours a couple of times on the US tour which led up to this one. I thought he was brilliant last week in Cardiff, but I cannot imagine any venue will see a better show than this one in Kilkenny during this tour. At one stage he clamoured over the fence holding the audience back to interact even more closely with his fans, only to realise that getting back over was not as straightforward as it might have been 4 decades ago. A member of the security staff had to jump over and lift him back over the fence. And the weather played ball – not a drop of rain between the time I arrived in The Promised Land and negotiating the border back into Wexford.
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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Nowlan Park, Kilkenny
12 May 2024
9 before midnight
May the 16th and Springsteen is due to play at what turns out to be a very wet Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Fortunately I’m driving in another direction to Dublin and the indoor 3Arena for Eric Clapton. It might have been raining in Cork but we had Fairweather in Dublin. Andy Fairweather Low and the Low Riders in support of the guitar legend.
Fairweather Low made it clear they were not his backing band, but he is the singer of this band. If that’s the case then the act title seems to be a tad misleading. Anyway he did have a decent back catalogue much of which I suspect was originally recorded before the creation of the Low Riders. It was a very good 40 minute slot to start the show.
The main man was on stage around 8:55. He played most of his hits/popular numbers although there were a couple of obvious omissions. Still it was a good set and he raised a cheer from the audience when he invited Irishman Paul Brady onto the stage for 3 of the 4 numbers in an acoustic slot. Interestingly overall Clapton played 16 songs, but 8 were covers and another 3 from his prior bands.
The lighting for Andy Fairweather Low was excellent, but for Clapton it was very poor for getting any decent photos. As he was playing his encore I decided to move from my position in the tiered seats and managed to get a handful of decent shots from the floor level as I was making my exit.
I normally drop into a service station for a coffee and bite to eat on the way back from gigs in Dublin. I had not had anything to eat or drink since around 4pm and it was normally a nice break to a late night journey.
The shop at the first service station is usually locked up and you need to buy stuff via a window, so I usually stop at the second one just before Gorey. I arrived there around quarter to midnight, got my coffee and pain au chocolat and went to the till to pay. The woman who was working was busying herself elsewhere in the shop, then after a few minutes came over to the till to tell me I could not pay for another 9 minutes. Apparently they switch off the tills over midnight. I looked at her with disbelief and asked if she was serious. Yes she was (although it was actually around 5 rather than 9 minutes to midnight at that stage), so I left the items I was trying to buy beside the till and headed back to the car murmuring “you cannot be serious” (without the John McEnroe projection) as I left the place…
Andy Fairweather Low and the Low Riders
3Arena, Dublin
16 May 2024
Eric Clapton
3Arena, Dublin
16 May 2024
Bryan Adams
3Arena, Dublin
21 May 2024
I was at the venue with plenty of time to get a good position in the queue, and when the doors opened I got a placed right up to the barrier to the left of the stage. There was no support and the pre-show email told us he would be on stage at 8pm prompt.
At around 8pm we had a “talk” from a member of Adams’ entourage. He said he wanted to speak to those of us in the “front row”, meaning those of us against the barrier, which clearly included me. He said that Adams did not like cell-phones in his face as he was engaging with the audience. He asked any of us wanting to take pictures to go further back, where there would be no problem. As it became apparent that Adams would shortly be on stage there were clearly no professional photographers allowed in the pit either.
Fair enough I thought – at least they told us. Adams appeared on stage just before 8:15 and seeing a young girl with her parents behind me I ushered the girl into my space and moved back behind the parents. They were very grateful, although the girl was getting embarrassed presumably at the thought of being so close to one of here idols.
I was able to take photos without issue until the last song before the encore when I received a tap from someone in the pit asking me not to take any. At that stage it was as much a signal to move towards the back of the arena to facilitate a fast getaway and having plenty of photos already in the bag I was more than happy with the outcome.
As I move back I was surprised at how spaced out people were compared to any other standing section at a gig. That meant there was actually very little space towards the back as the audience was taking up space all that way back to the bars and merchandise stall. No-one was trying to push their way forward, and everyone was respecting everyone else’s space. Probably the most civilised audience I have experienced.
I made sure I was at the Service Station at nearer 11pm than 12, although that meant that the following day’s pastries had not been put out and I made do with a cappuccino.
Holyland
In Cardiff it was Temperance Town, and in Belfast, walking towards the Botanic Gardens, Palestine Street appeared. Another day requiring a weather app, and today when I checked the forecast I was in Holyland. Potential heavy showers and possible thunder up until 9pm.
A check of Wikipedia reveals other streets close by with names like Jerusalem Street, Damascus Street, Cairo Street and Carmel Street (apparently Carmel is an ancient Israelite town in Judea). There was to be no Bible bashing tonight though. This was a night for a band that spans the ages. Having taken photos of them 39 years and 364 days previously Manchester.
I had seen first seen them at Manchester Apollo in March 1981 when John Coghlan had been on drums and Andy Bown had been a “Special Guest”. That was before I bought a camera but I did pick up a programme for £1.50 (about £8 in today’s money). I baulked at a £4 (around £21 today) tour T-shirt but paying £40 for the 2024 tour is pretty much par for the course nowadays. In those days Supporters Clubs across bands as well as sports, were very common, and Quo membership was available at £3.50. And a quote from that 1981 programme:
“…with their twentieth anniversary on the horizon, they look like achieving a record of longevity that no other band is likely to match” – I suspect Messrs Jagger and Richards may have contested that back in 1981, and indeed 43 years later.
We were here to once again pay homage to the Grand Old Man of Rock, although at 74 years and 365 days of age he was one day shy of regaining “Elder” status. His Status within Quo can never be questioned though.
I arrived in Belfast with plenty of time to search out a parking space, and then try and work out where the entrance was. I did go in a completely wrong direction initially only to discover after retracing my steps I was parked only a couple of hundred metres away from the entrance.
A quick head count revealed only 17 in front of me, with the gates due to open at 6.30pm, a bit more than an hour or so away. We suffered a fairly heavy shower while waiting, but the weather app had prompted me to ensure I had my Gore-Tex coat on, and we would not see any more rain until I had started my drive back after the gig.
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When we were let in a few minutes early it was slightly disappointing to discover there were 2 entrances and it looked like around 40 were already at the barrier before anyone from our “side” got into the place. Still I got a spot bang on centre stage with only one person in front.
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This was Quo’s first gig of the year and it was very clear the band were really enjoying themselves back on the stage. A lot of the songs were familiar, but I think there was a difference in that Francis Rossi did not do all the lead vocals. Rhino Edwards, Richie Malone and Andy Bown would occasionally take on that role. Perhaps this was something they had done before and I had simply not noticed, or maybe there was a bit of succession planning taking place. Given Bown is 78, Rossi 74 and 365 days and Edwards 71 maybe not….
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Overall I would rank this as probably the best I have seen of them going back to that first gig in 1981 (not that I can remember much about that one).
Status Quo
The Botanic Gardens, Belfast
28 May 2024
12 June 2024
The shortest night
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Home alone once more with 8 horses, 4 dogs, 3 fish, 2 cats and a rabbit to feed and water. That meant I had to return home after a gig at Marlay Park, getting back in the early hours. It was well after 1am when I got to bed, then up early to sort out all the creatures and do a bit of lumberjacking (We had a number of trees around the garden felled during winter storms and I was cutting them up to then remove them to my latest “dead lumber stack”. And the bits that were good enough will become cross-country obstacles for the horses). It was then a drive back up to Dublin for the next "event" at the RDS Arena
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The Murder Capital
Marlay Park, Dublin
22 June 2024
Richard Ashcroft
Marlay Park, Dublin
22 June 2024
Pearl Jam
Marlay Park, Dublin
22 June 2024
Die Sonne scheint aus einem wolkenlosen himmel
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“The sun shines out of a cloudless sky”. German – the only academic exam I ever failed – 47 years ago it was one of my GCE O level subjects. 3 grade As, 5 grade Bs, and German…
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One phrase I do remember is the one above. I am sure I was not the only one from my school to use this phrase in the oral part of the exam that year, despite there actually being quite a few clouds in the sky that day. It was a phrase we had regularly used in class and we made a bit of a joke about it in the run up to the exams. Today the weather forecast was a bit unusual in an Irish climate disrupted by global warming. The weather apps indicated the chance of rain was at 0%. A cloud covering was forecast though, but they never actually turned up leading to a few of us trying to find shelter (typically putting outer garments over their head – in my case my gilet) from the glare and heat of the sun in the 3 hour wait for the band to arrive, and indeed the couple of hours of the show, although they pumped a lot of smoke into the arena which gave some relief from the sun as it descended towards the horizon.
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All that light made taking photos from my place in the audience easier as automatic settings on the camera worked well in full sunlight. I was placed pretty much centre stage, but quite a lot further back than I was used to at gigs. I actually arrived to join a queue that only had 50 or so in front of me around 90 minutes before the doors were scheduled to open. I asked different stewards 3 times if this was the queue to the front standing “Feuerzone” section, and was told 3 times it was. As I approached the people scanning tickets there were hold ups in pretty much every one of the 4 queues that had formed for security checks. People were turning back and when it came ty my turn it was clear this was not the right entry and I had lost all the benefits (and more) for queueing that 90 minutes.
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This was to be my first non-English language gig. Rammstein had been way off my radar, but once the gig was announced I read very positive reports and I decided to give it a go.
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Once I made may way into the Feuerzone I was very surprised at how many Germans had ventured over to Ireland. Indeed it felt like Irish were in the minority in that section. I suspect that other sections had lower proportions of Germans, but this act very clearly has a massive dedicated following. That front section had people packed in with less “personal” space than the much larger front section in Marlay Park the night before. 2 successive evenings involving standing for over 6 hours did take its toll. I am happy enough to walk all day, but staying in one spot for such a long time becomes quite painful in the foot. I managed to nip out of the arena to visit the merchandise stall, but the queues there were massive and I found my way back to my earlier position without problem.
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Having little experience or indeed understanding of their songs, for me this show was as much about the spectacle. And spectacular it was. I understand they put on a similar show on prior tours, which I guess does beg the question of why there are so many who seem to follow them to different venues. Maybe it’s down to the fact their show is unique and clearly very popular in their home country.
Rammstein
The RDS Arena, Dublin
23 June 2024
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Swiftogeddon
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The biggest influx of visitors Dublin has ever seen. Around 600,000 expected to visit the city over the weekend. And Taylor was the biggest "influencer" of that with 3 shows at the Aviva Stadium. Some were paying thousands for one or more of those shows. The city was swamped with Swifties.
Add to that the Longitude Festival at Marlay Park on the Saturday and Sunday, Shania Twain at Malahide Castle on the Friday as well as 2 gigs at Fairview Park, 4 at Trinity College, 4 major GAA matches at Croke Park and the city would be gridlocked on occasion. Fortunately I did not need a hotel room, and could venture back to our former home outside Skerries as I was due back in Dublin on the Saturday to do some track cycling coaching.
Buskers and street traders were having a field day. There were no pop-up merchandise stalls for the act I was going to see. No dedicated displays in the record shops. No spangly cowboy hats. No spangly tops. No spangly bottoms. Not much flesh on display either. This was a rock event where black and denim was more of the order of the day and I felt at home with my Highway to Hell T-shirt.
Vicar Street is a new venue for me. It only holds 1,500 standing and tonight it was not Taylor, not Shania, but another woman with a pretty impressive reputation. Yes I was there to see Ms Smith. Ms Patti Smith and her 3 collaborators. Fortunately Vicar Street is the other side of the city from the Aviva and the doors to the Aviva would open 2 hours before those at Vicar Street easing some of the rush hour congestion in the city.
I parked up on a meter only a few minutes walk from the venue. It was around 4pm and the venue did not open until 6.30. I walked past it and there was probably 10 or so already mingling at the entrance. I returned 2 hours later and did a proper count. I was number 15, although I later discovered someone was handing out numbers and mine was 20.
No merchandise. Not even the dodgy T-shirts that usually appear outside a venue. I guess those "merchants" were otherwise engaged.
This was rock royalty with not a pop princess in sight. The show was excellent with one of the most engaged audiences I have ever experienced. No incessant chatter. No people heading out to the bar to return with as many pints as they could carry. Ms Smith seemed to be really enjoying it as well, egged on by the reception the audience gave her.
On the way back that evening I dropped into a service station to be greeted by more excesses of flesh and spangles. And that was repeated on the way back down to Wexford the following day, as some were heading home as others were going in the opposite direction to the second of those gigs at the Aviva.
I'm sure all those Swifties had a fantastic time. But so did I.
Ye Vagabonds
Vicar Street, Dublin
28 June 2024
The Patti Smith Quartet
Vicar Street, Dublin
28 June 2024
Frequent Flyer
In the first 25 years of my life I never flew anywhere. In the following 35 years I flew hundreds of times on holiday, business and to matches. On retirement that all dried up, although by then I had banked over three quarters of a million BA Avios points. Now I am using those points to pay for my flights to gigs. In this case it was AC/DC at Wembley Stadium. From being in the front section with spacious plush seats and priority boarding I'm now assigned to Group 8 of 9 in the BA queue.
When I got on the aircraft I discovered I had been automatically assigned an emergency exit seat, so some decent legroom and no issue with luggage which had to go in the overhead locker.
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No Heathrow Express for me nowadays. Slumming it on the Piccadilly Line to central London. Although it did get me within walking distance of my hotel. When given the option of using the lift or 87 steps to exit Gloucester Road underground station I chose the latter with no ill effects whatsoever. Not even a bit out of breath, so the weight loss and cycle training must be doing some good. I decided I would take the lift on the return as I do not have a 100% success rate on descending stairs, and this was a spiral staircase with narrow steps…
On arriving at Wembley I did a circuit of the stadium to get some merchandise. 4 queues had already formed 3+ hours before the scheduled gate opening. 2 for front standing and 2 for the rest of the pitch. I joined my designated queue for front standing but the managing of this particular queue was atrocious. On 4 different occasions anarchy reigned as they tried to move the queue towards the gates. A free for all each time and I think my own position ranged from around number 50 to 200 before settling back to something nearer 100, probably not too far away from where I started.
When we got to the pitch I managed to get a position against the barrier, near the front mini stage, from where I managed to get some decent photos. I only had one camera with me, as I had packed the old Sony, which had no battery and no memory card. I had been a bit concerned as a few days before the event I received an email with various terms, including one where no professional or semi-professional cameras were allowed. Not an issue per se, until I saw they defined semi-professional as one with 4k or 2.8k resolution, and my compact cameras were both 4k. As it turned out they had metal detectors at the gates, but were pretty much ignoring them and uses “wands” to check and as usual I had the camera in my hand, where they never bother looking.
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There was plenty of natural daylight early in the gig and my position allowed me to get decent photos throughout.
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It was an enjoyable gig – certainly not at their best, but given advancing years and Brian Johnson’s well documented hearing issues I was more than happy with it and indeed am looking forward seeing them again in Dublin in a few weeks’ time. The support act, the Pretty Reckless, was also very enjoyable.
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Having initially failed to pick up a ticket for AC/DC at Croke Park I did manage to get one for front standing at Croke Park, meaning I would be getting one further sighting of one of my all time favourite bands a few weeks after the Wembley gig.
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On the flight back I found myself promoted to Group 4. My “frequent” flying of one flight already this year clearly counted for something.
The Pretty Reckless
Wembley Stadium
3 July 2024
AC/DC
Wembley Stadium
3 July 2024
Saturation Point
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Four gigs over 2 weeks and 2 more over the next week – they are certainly coming thick and fast at present. Two days after Wembley and I’m heading up to Dublin intending doing some track cycle racing in the evening. On the way up I got a message that due to expected rain the event would be postponed. Having been keeping my eyes on the weather I was not particularly surprised, but already had a reserve plan. I had picked up a re-sale ticket for Hozier before the cycling event had been announced, and I could not re-sell that ticket, but I could still use it for the event at Marlay Park in south Dublin. That would make it 7 gigs in 3 weeks – every 3rd day or so – this is certainly peak gig season. 5 of those gigs were outdoors, meaning very long periods of queueing and waiting mainly stood up.
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I decided I was not going to spend hours queuing for this one, and turned up around 20 minutes after they opened the gates, with the first support due on 10 minutes later.
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That first support act was Ye Vagabonds, who I had seen a week earlier supporting Patti Smith. And I was happy enough with them and the other two support acts, Lord Huron and Brittany Howard. There was a little rain during the support acts but nothing material.
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The main act was on stage around 8.30, and there was no rain at that time. There was an incident though when two men immediately to my left, probably in their late teens, and both clearly very drunk, decided one would carry the other on his shoulders. They never managed that but while trying fell into me and I only managed to keep upright as I was forced into others by my other side. They were clearly intent on trying again, and one woman was remonstrating with them. I joined in telling them not to be so ****ing stupid. They continued trying though with little chance of achieving anything given their drunken state. I made sure they would not be getting high enough to cause a similar incident to the prior one. They were far from happy with my “intervention”, although their mood changed as I pointed them out to security staff and they suddenly became very apologetic. I was happy to accept their apology, but that counted for nothing when security then escorted them out of the park.
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And Hozier? He clearly has a very dedicated set of disciples, but I don’t think I’ll be paying to see him, again.
The rain came around 9.15, and I had made sure I had a raincoat with me and I was happy to put the camera away.
Ye Vagabonds
Marlay Park, Dublin
5 July 2024
Lord Huron
Marlay Park, Dublin
5 July 2024
Brittany Howard
Marlay Park, Dublin
5 July 2024
Hozier
Marlay Park, Dublin
5 July 2024
Sharp Dressed Men
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A second overseas gig in a week requiring a flight. This time it's Paris. Another "free" flight courtesy of my BA Avios points, but this time on an Aer Lingus plane. No boarding groups this time, just those requiring assistance and business class on ahead of me.
Anticipating a glorious Paris summer day it was shorts and t-shirt - no sharp dressing for me, but I did expect it from ZZ Top in the evening.
My own attire did not really address the low teens temperature and rain across most of Ireland on this particular day.
I had been paying more attention to the news in France ahead of this gig. And it was not focussed on potential air traffic controller strikes in the lead up to the Olympics. The far right political party headed by Marine Le Pen had scored an unexpected success in the first round of voting in a general election but had been pushed into 3rd place in the second round 2 days before the gig. Civil unrest, violence, and looting had occurred a few days after my prior stop to Paris and I was unsure whether there would be a repeat following the election. As it would turn out my concerns were unwarranted.
A 30 minute delay to my morning flight turned into a 50 minute one. Then an hour. I was getting slightly concerned I may be a casualty of a work to rule by Aer Lingus pilots. Fortunately not and the delay meant I only had to walk through a downpour rather than a deluge.
Into CDG and directed to the non-EU immigration queue. I say queue, but it was actually more like a maze, making you walk perhaps 3 times the crow flies distance but there was actually no one in front of me at all. Except for an immigration official looking like she was playing a computer game on her phone. I guess they have set it all up to cater for the Olympics later in July.
As soon as I was through customs a familiar sight greeted me. A M&S Simply Food. Why on earth do they force me to try and remember my elementary French learned nearly half a century ago and only used possibly a dozen times since? They are a British company and the signage around the airport invariably caters for us Brits and Americans, but product names were only in French in the British institution
And the train into Paris? Half the seats had people on them and the other half had their luggage with no suggestion that anyone should free up a seat for a pensioner like me. I'm alright Jacques as they say in these parts...
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When I get to Gare du Nord I manage to avoid getting trampled on in the rush to exit the train with heavy suitcases to then discover my ticket did not work. Others were having problems but managed to get through eventually. I did not and with no help in sight I ended up tailgating someone. That set off an alarm and I suspect the Gendarmerie are in the process of reporting me to Interpol with all the CCTV cameras in Paris now scanning with their facial recognition powers.
Fortunately my hotel was just across the road from the train station and I managed to get to it without further incident. I then set out on the 2-3km walk to the venue or the gig that evening.
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An indoor arena, but a large standing area requiring queueing to get a decent place. There were a number of queues outside the fenced off arena and I managed to get a decent enough spot. When we were let in the whole of the barrier was taken up, but there was a small gap maybe a metre or so to the right of centre stage and by the time ZZ Top were on the gap had increased sufficiently for me to get up against the barrier.
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I was expecting the headliners to be on for only 75 mins or so based on earlier setlists. The support, Gaelle Buswel, was French, but all the songs were in English.
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Without doubt a very photogenic main act with the two sharp dressed men and a tatty Beard being on stage with a couple of gimmicks with their guitars and probably the most “tarted up” drum set I have ever seen. There was perhaps a dozen or so photographers in the pit during the support act, but none for ZZ Top. Hence I was the lucky one with possibly the best pictures of this particular gig.
They did not disappoint and it was a very enjoyable performance.
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The next day I navigated the French train system without further incident and was back in Dublin on schedule for the drive back to Co Wexford.
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Gaelle Buswel
Le Zenith, Paris
9 July 2024
ZZ Top
Le Zenith, Paris
9 July 2024
Pillow Queens
Thomond Park, Limerick
12 July 2024
Kingfishr
Thomond Park, Limerick
12 July 2024
Snow Patrol
Thomond Park, Limerick
12 July 2024
Summer Recess
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After Snow Patrol there would be no more gigs for 4 weeks. Well that turned to 5 weeks once I sold a ticket for Madness at Galway Airport. Having seen them twice in the recent past and given the distance I would have needed to drive I decided to sell the ticket at a small loss through Ticketmaster.
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So what would I be doing during all this free time? This was an opportunity to do a few things around the “homestead”. 50 acres in rural Wexford – this is “Atkinson’s Farm”
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Like Jeremy Clarkson I’m from Yorkshire – he is from the opposite end of the county from me. He has 1,000 acres and a Lamborghini tractor. He may have decided on an Italian brand, but my 2004 McCormick tractor was actually built in Clarkson’s home town of Doncaster. My 95 horse power machine is a little weaker than his 269hp one, but I also have a small tractor powered by another 26 horses, plus 8 actual horses….
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There was the usual tending to the horses, and this year I would be producing my first crop from seed. That crop? Hay. OK it involved growing grass and then getting it cut and baled by the local farmer. Alas the Irish weather was not playing ball, and there were a few downpours after the grass had been cut with me eventually having to bite the bullet and get it all baled. I thought it would be dry enough, but with hay you are supposed to leave it out for a day or two after baling to check if it is dry enough. Wet, baled hay actually ferments and can combust. We had 28 bales – enough to see us through the next year, and I thought that 8 would be dry enough, getting the other 20 wrapped in plastic, making it haylage, which would go off if exposed to the air.
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The other thing I have been doing is more “lumberjacking” this time mainly cutting down trees which were already leaning with weakened roots, and ending up clearing some areas beyond the edges of the garden resulting in more space to create areas for the grandchildren to enjoy.
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A visit to the local fire station established there was no option to burn any of the wood. That had been made illegal in the past year. Firewood is one option that I may come back to. However there was a lot of good quality timber that I felt could be used to make some decent cross country horse jumps.
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The fact I can still type this is indicative that I still have a decent set of digits. My fingers have, so far, survived the chainsaw, and I have also managed to avoid becoming the victim of any falling trees. I did though manage to walk through a hornets nest, resulting in over 30 stings – the first I have had in nearly half a century. And I beat Clarkson on that one – he only got 2 stings from his bee colony.
Protection Racket
North Inner City Dublin is not the most salubrious part of the city. In fact it is renowned for housing some infamous Dublin gangland members. Indeed the Embassy hotel had been renamed after it became the location of an infamous gangland murder in 2016. Today I would be visiting Croke Park for the gig I had been looking forward to most for this year. Yes I had already seen AC/DC at Wembley a few weeks before, but this was likely to be the last time I would see them live. The 7th time overall, but with only Brian Johnson and Angus Young remaining from the band’s “classic” lineup which I had first seen at Deeside Leisure Centre in 1980. Supporting in Deeside that evening was Starfighters featuring Stevie Young who was a member of Uncle Angus’ headliners at Croke Park.
As I approached the area I passed the coach park, getting on for 3km from the venue. I thought I could do better than that.
I initially parked maybe a kilometre away from the venue, but was then approached by someone who was probably not too shy of 70. He was on a bike, holding a hi-viz top and saying he was security and would look after my car.
I used to experience this a lot at Old Trafford, but there it would be teenagers or younger asking for “protection money”. I started parking at the nearby Lowry Centre after I got back one evening to find my company car had been broken into.
I had actually been to Croke Park a couple of times before and after one GAA match involving Dublin and Co Meath I had seen cars with Co Meath number plates with their windows smashed. There would be no county rivalry this day but my refusal to "pay" for parking prompted me to move my car to the poshly named Marino area. Perhaps a little different from the Italian tax haven, but still only a 10 minute walk to Croke Park.
The gig itself was an improvement on Wembley. I felt Brian was much more engaged. Maybe it was because this was the final gig on this European Tour. Perhaps he was fitter or perhaps it was simply an end of school year feeling. And my car survived its North Inner City ordeal…
The Pretty Reckless
Croke Park
17 August 2024
AC/DC
Croke Park
17 August 2024
A new venue…
Well actually two new venues. My SatNav brought me to within a couple of minutes walk of the Academy in Dublin. I had plenty of time to spare and wandered into town to buy a couple of albums from Tower Records. Doors were due to open at 7, and I went back to the venue just after 6:30. There was no-one milling around and I wondered if there was a second entrance. I had been to the Academy in Manchester which was a Student Union venue and I assumed the Academy in Dublin was part of Trinity College, Dublin, just across the road. I entered the venue to ask if there was another entrance only to be informed the music venue was a 15 minute walk away…
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This gig would be sandwiched between two at Croke Park. The Academy holds about 1% of the capacity of Croke Park
Tailgunner
The Academy, Dublin
21 August 2024
KK's Priest
The Academy, Dublin
21 August 2024
Penalty conceded
Another trip to Croke Park for the first of 4 nights by Coldplay. The day before I had to get a tyre replaced after hitting a kerb. That was the first time I had to replace a wheel on the roadside since 1996. 5 May 1996 to be precise. And the reason I remember it so many years later? I was on my way back from Middlesbrough where Manchester United had clinched their 3rd Premier League title in 4 years. And it was the first time I had actually witnessed United winning the league, as on the previous 2 occasions the title had been won when other teams had dropped points.
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I was driving back to Manchester when I had a blowout in my company car, a Vauxhall Calibra, on the A1 just outside Wetherby. I had to change the wheel on the hard shoulder, with only the lights of vehicles coming up from behind me to illuminate what I was doing.
This time there was plenty of daylight and I could pull the car off the road making it a bit easier to change the wheel before heading off the get a new tyre.
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On to Dublin, and I parked up only10 metres or so from where I had been for AC/DC. The show itself was excellent. The best I have seen so far this year. I headed out during the encore to beat the traffic and was back home around 1am. It was only when I got in the car the day after the gig that I noticed a crumpled piece of paper under the passenger site windscreen wiper. A €40 fixed parking penalty for parking opposite a white line. A very short white line, but it was close to a junction. The parking wardens where clearly going through the area dishing out tickets to unsuspecting concert goers, with my ticket being issued at 7.10 pm. My first parking ticket since moving to Ireland 17 years ago. No arguments, no defence – a fair cop that I will just pay up.- that has largely negated all the savings I have made on parking during the year.
Aby Coulibaly
Croke Park
29 August 2024
Maggie Rogers
Croke Park
29 August 2024
Coldplay
Croke Park
29 August 2024
A bit of a break....
After numerous health issues I finally got back on my bike early in 2024, and had taken part in a number of track races at Sundrive Velodrome in Dublin. September would see the final racing of the season. That racing would be the Leinster Track Championships, an event that attracted a decent standard of riders. After the late withdrawal of the oldest track racer in the country (at 81), I became the oldest rider on the day. I say rider because I never actually got to race. Rather stupidly I ran into the back of another bike during the warm up. I knew I had fallen hard and that ended the cycling for me on the day. Fortunately the other rider managed to stay up, although I did manage to inflict some damage on their bike.
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After taking a bit of time to settle down after the crash I went for a bite to eat and a coffee before loading my bike gear back into the car. I headed to a local health facility run by my health insurance company to get myself checked out. I knew I had banged my shoulder and was to then discover I had fractured my clavicle. Yes I had a broken collarbone, meaning I had to call for help as I could not drive with such a fracture (athough i had driven the 15km or so to the facility not knowing I had suffered a fracture)
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Alas that also meant I would not be venturing to Cardiff the following week for Texas, Elvis Costello and an England v Australia T20 cricket match. I would be in a sling for up to 6 weeks which would cause an issue with my next road trip, so I did spend a bit of time working out some contingency plans to see Alice Cooper five and a half weeks after this "break". Fortunately I was able to re-arrange my ferry booking for another planned road trip in November.
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Two weeks later and I head with trepidation to see an orthopedic specialist, concerned the bone may not be healing properly. I was then informed I had a second fracture, but my discomfort did not warrant a further X-ray at this time. I would not be driving for another 4-6 weeks though, formally putting paid to Big Country in Cork next week and I will need to implement those contingency plans for Alice Cooper and another (possibly 2) gig(s) in October. I have though given up hope of using my tickets for Steve Hackett (which clashes with my next medical appointment) and Paul Carrack a few days before Alice Cooper. The good news is that as soon as I got back from seeing the specialist my shoulder started feeling a lot better. Hopefully I'll be on the (indoor) bike/turbo trainer in another day or two.
A Tale of three cities
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My latest adventure had to be arranged when I did not know if I would be able to drive, as a result of my (double) fractured collar bone. I did get the OK to drive a few days before the trip, but that would in this case be to and from Dublin Airport.
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My outward flight was to Bristol, and then a 19 mile, £23 bus to Bath, arriving with enough time to check into my Travelodge and get to the venue for the evening’s event, at the Forum (where I had seen the Australian Pink Floyd last year)
Mary Lee Kortes
The Forum, Bath
15 October 2024
The support was a two piece of Mary Lee Kortes who provided vocals and acoustic guitar, together with a guitarist who provided backing vocals. It seems they have a bit of a following in the US, and their performance as a support act was very good.
Joe Jackson
Two Rounds of Racket
The Forum, Bath
15 October 2024
This was billed as a venture into early 20th century music hall, and in particular delving into the music of Max Champion. Except Champion is fictional. The Max Champion music was written as if it was from that era, but the Max Champion songs came from Jackson’s 2023 album, What a Racket!.
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The first part of the show featured Jackson solo, at a keyboard, working back through his catalogue, involving a couple of recent numbers and some of his popular stuff from the 90s and 80s.
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After concluding his solo set he went backstage for a few minutes and returned with his 9 piece orchestra already on stage. And it was very entertaining. A bit of a different experience, and certainly very different from the shows over the next two days. In many ways this music suited a small English city with a cultural city that is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the 10 most visited cities in Egland by overseas visitors.
The following morning it was a train journey to Bristol to change on to one heading to Birmingham. The train fare across both legs was £74.50. And I was offered the opportunity to get a return for another £1. I rejected that offer.
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On arriving at New Street station, I very quickly introduced myself to Ozzy the mechanical bull, which had been commissioned for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. There was then a relatively short stroll to Travelodge #2 to drop my gear off before heading to the Utilita Arena. I took the opportunity to take in some of the canal walks in the city, although there was a bit of a Peaky Blinders feel and I decided to keep to the roads on the way back.
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As I approached the Arena it was lit up with the name of this evening’s act – Alice Cooper, who I would be seeing for the 5th time, although one of those had been as a member of the Hollywood Vampires. First up we had a two piece band from Essex, the Meffs. A woman on lead vocals and guitar with a guy on the drums and backing vocals. And they were very dynamic, putting on a good 25 mins or so set.
The Meffs
Utilita Arena, Birmingham
16 October 2024
Next up it was Primal Scream. Initially I was unsure, but as the moved through their 55 minute set things seemed to be getting better, with their last two numbers of Country Girl and Rocks delivering a crescendo and fitting finale to their set.
Primal Scream
Utilita Arena, Birmingham
16 October 2024
We did not have too long to wait for the main man himself. The two prior Alice Cooper shows I had seen in 2019 and 2022 were very similar both in terms of storyline and the props used. This one was different to those, although we were treated to the likes of Frankenstein and a guillotine, but they seem to be staples at all Cooper gigs. We also had a snake, and the last time I had witnessed one of them was 1986. I initially thought it was a very good fake mechanical one, but ultimately concluded it was real.
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As always with Alice Cooper a truly theatrical performance delivering a very enjoyable set.
Alice Cooper
Utilita Arena, Birmingham
16 October 2024
Thursday morning, and this time I had pre-booked my train journey – Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly - £28.60 for a 90 mile or so journey to a city which had once been referred to as Cottonopolis, reflecting the city’s history as the centre of Britain’s cotton trade. All very familiar territory and I was quickly checked into Travelodge #3, just a couple of hundred metres from the Arena.
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This was to be the second time I had watched Cooper on successive evening. This was centre stage, 7 rows back making for significantly better photos from the VIP seat I had the previous evening.
The Meffs
AO Arena, Manchester
17 October 2024
Primal Scream
AO Arena, Manchester
17 October 2024
Alice Cooper
AO Arena, Manchester
17 October 2024
Don’t Panic!
Having rearranged ferries following my cycling accident it was an early start to get to Dublin Port for an 08:05 departure.
In the lead up to this trip I had decided to sell some of my "gold reserves". There are few options to do so in Ireland, certainly at a sensible price. I had therefore arranged to take a collection of gold coins to a dealer who I could visit on the second day of this road trip.
Brexit has somewhat complicated matters, and I needed to declare both the exit from Ireland and the entry into Britain of this gold to the respective customs authorities.
The UK side could be done easily online. Ireland required a paper form to be handed to customs in Dublin. I therefore set off early enough to get to the port 90 mins or so before the scheduled departure time of 8:05am
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I turned up at customs to be told I was in the import section, and was redirected to the export premises. When I got to the right place they had no idea what to do. They had to call in "enforcement" officers. It would only be a few minutes I was told. 30 minutes later they arrived. I thought I still had another 30 mins before check-in would close.
This seemed completely new to the enforcement officers. Certainly they had not seen gold coins like these before. One of them departed for a while to check something out. I was getting increasingly nervous as 7:30 approached. They were looking at the coins and taking down more and more details, photographing the loot and any documents I did have.
My mouth was drying in the realisation I may well miss the ferry. The customs people reassured me I would not miss it, but having previously experienced ferries setting off 15 mins or so before schedule, and knowing it would take me 5 mins to get to the terminal I was starting to panic, wondering if I would get to the evening gig.
I got away from the customs office pretty much at 7:35. And she was right. I did not miss the ferry. My car was the last one on it though.
On the ferry all the news was about Trump's latest victory. I had hoped the anticipated turmoil would push up the price of gold a bit! Alas that did not happen as Trump’s victory was confirmed very quickly.
The Eras Tour
As a child I would often visit the seaside, mainly on the cooler East coast, except for the odd venture to see the Christmas lights in Blackpool, or to Morecambe also on the West coast and a trip to Cornwall. I did not even venture into Wales until I was at University. That was to Wrexham to see Wales beat England in the Home International Championship.
Today I was heading to a seaside town I had never been to before. This gig had filled a gap when I had a ticket for Journey and Cheap Trick in Dublin for the Tuesday allowing me to get the overnight ferry to North Wales. Alas the Dublin gig was cancelled (this was the second time Cheap Trick had done this to me. It was suggested the tour was not selling well so they cancelled it) and I booked the morning ferry instead. The town was Rhyl and the theatre was pretty much on the seafront conveniently next to the local Travelodge.
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So what would Rhyl deliver? The Manfreds is an act I had seen 3 times already in recent times. This time though only 2 "originals" remained. Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness. It did mean changes to the setlist compared to prior occasions, with McGuinness taking on more of the vocals. They remain an excellent act, even in this pared back format, with two 82 year olds at the helm
The Manfreds
Rhyl Pavilion
6 November 2024
Day 2 of the trip and on to Cardiff for some 80s reggae. Well also some reggae from the 21st century also with fellow Brummies the Youth Culture Band being the first support. This was a standing event at the renamed Utilita (formerly Motorpoint) International Arena. And this time I was not at the front. No there was someone at 5 foot minus standing in front of me. I enjoyed the first support more than 90s “music collective”, Soul II Soul. I was a little surprised that headliners UB40 filled an arena like this, having played smaller venues on their prior tour and with there being 2 versions of the band, the other one including Ali Campbell who I had seen supporting the Who in 2023. Which version did I prefer? Well I enjoyed both. The Ali Campbell version did shorter sets, but I would struggle to favour one over the other. I do think the photo opportunities offered by this version were better.
Young Culture Band
Utilita Arena, Cardiff
7 November 2024
Soul II Soul
Utilita Arena, Cardiff
7 November 2024
UB40
Utilita Arena, Cardiff
7 November 2024
Day 3 and a short drive to Swansea for another 80s band, Squeeze. A soundcheck “VIP” package also included a front row seat. Not in the middle this time – 4 seats to the right of middle. Another good support – Badly Drawn Boy. And the headliners were excellent.
​Badly Drawn Boy
Swansea Arena
8 November 2024
Squeeze
Swansea Arena
8 November 2024
The final part of this 4 day excursion involved a drive up to Manchester. Another VIP package and another front row seat, along with a meet and greet with 4 band members. This was Deep Purple and lead singer Ian Gillan did not take part in the meet and greet but did sign an A3 poster along with the other 4 members. I got those 4 also to sign a photo I had with all members from their 2022 tour, along with individual photos of each of them. They also signed the VIP laminate and were happy devoting some time discussing things with the VIPs. All in all this was the best of the 4 gigs with Glastonbury rockers Reef performing an enjoyable set and the headliners playing all their hits mixing it up with some new stuff.
Reef
AO Arena, Manchester
9 November 2024
Deep Purple
AO Arena, Manchester
9 November 2024
My name for this road trip was easy to come up with. 60s pop and 70s metal sandwiching 80s reggae and new wave, 90s soul, more reggae from the 21st century a Badly Drawn Boy from Bolton and some Glastonbury rock. Yes this was the Eras Tour.
30 pieces of Silver
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Well 53 actually, but 23 of them were quite small. Another road trip was another opportunity to see if I can sell some more precious metal. In total just over 9kg of silver. I was comfortably below any reporting requirements either side of the Irish Sea.
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Of course I was chosen for a random check at Pembroke Dock and again spent a bit of time explaining it all to Customs. We had already been held up for around 15 minutes as they shepherded all the freight vehicles through their own Customs lane, presumably doing random checks there as well.
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It was early afternoon on a Sunday, but all the ferry traffic ahead of me resulted in more delays getting to the M4, and it was virtually impossible to make up time, meaning I decided to head straight to Truro and the Hall for Cornwall for the evening gig.
Midge Ure
The Hall For Cornwall, Truro
17 November 2024
The format for this gig was very similar to the only other one J had attended at the venue. That’s probably because it was the same headliner with the same support, who would in turn act as musicians for the main act, Midge Ure.
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I had plenty of time to relax in my seat in the 4th row. This would be the closest I had been to the stage when Ure was performing. Then just before the support came on there was an announcement:
“Please switch off all phones, photography and videoing is prohibited throughout the show”
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I already had an inkling as there was something on their website discouraging attendees from talking during performances and stating photography was only allowed if the artist specifically says so.
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I therefore bade my time, taking no photos of the support and when Ure was onstage waiting to see what others in the audience got up to. There were a couple of flashes emanating from two rows in front of me at pretty much centre stage. No-one got told off though. A couple of phones were also being used to record stuff. It all changed when Ure encouraged us to stand, which everyone duly did. Taking photos was unlikely to inconvenience other attendees if they are dancing in the stalls. And as always Mr Ure proved himself to be very photogenic.
After the gig it was a 40 minute drive back to our Cornwall holiday home.
The Wailers
The Tramshed, Cardiff
20 November 2024
If I was given the chance to see one artist I missed it would be Bob Marley. He played Deeside Leisure Centre I July 1980, when I was probably back home from University working on the farm my dad managed. Marley and the Wailers only played 6 more gigs on that tour and he passed away the following year.
The Wailers continued to tour and Marley’s greatest hits album, Legend, released in 1984, became the staple of those Wailers tours. The last member of the Wailers from those Marley days was Aston Barrett who passed away earlier in 2024. There remained a single link to the Marley version of the Wailers in Aston Barrett Jr, who took over as the bassist and band leader when his father retired from the Wailers in 2016. This is the closest I will ever get to Marley’s legacy.
The warm up was a DJ. A DJ who only played Beatles numbers, either original Beatles versions or covers of Beatles songs. Except for Live and Let Die, by a band called Wings...
What is it with this obsession of DJs to be constantly twisting knobs, pressing buttons and/or flicking switches? Do they really think they can do it all better than George Martin and indeed the Beatles themselves? Or is it a case that those knobs, buttons and switches do nothing beyond making the DJ feel better? Anyway it was a decent enough set, "enhanced" or otherwise. He did add a couple of saxophonists and a trombone player for the second half of the set
One of the two smallest audiences of the year to date (the other being KK’s Priest at the Academy in Dublin), but the biggest feelgood factor. They played everything from the Legend album, and the majority of the audience seemed to sing along with each song, highlighting the ongoing influence of Marley and the reggae classics he wrote and sang.
Far from the Madding Crowd
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The final 3Arena gig of the year, back where it started in March with three Metal bands. This time it was two US and one German act. Testament and Kreator supporting Anthrax.
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Having seen the venues they had played in the UK, I was anticipating one of the smaller 3Arena audiences. Indeed on entry I could see there were only around 1,000 seats in use, and the standing area was not fully opened up as it had been for some gigs at the venue. I would guess the arena was perhaps at around half capacity, but they were able to give the impression it was nearly full by sectioning off both seated and standing areas.
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I was positioned near the front for the first of the three acts. Testament were on for around an hour. Alas it was only when I took the camera out of my pocket that I realised there was no memory card in it, and I had only brought the Sony camera, meaning no spare. Hence any pictures I did get were with my phone.​
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Things started warming up towards the end of Testament’s set with the audience behind me getting almost literally wound up as the lead vocalist encouraged them to run around in a circular motion. That had no direct impact on me, but after Testament had left the stage I took the decision to retreat to the merchandise stall before heading back in for Kreator. I initially made my way to the end of the stage where I witnessed a couple of people being brought over after crowd surfing into the pit behind the front barrier.
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Due to the relatively small numbers I then managed to get back to within 2-3 metres of the front barrier. Then the singer with Kreator introduced a song where he requested as many as possible crowd surf during the next number and I took that as a signal to retreat once again to the side of the stage. There must have been 60+ crowd surfers brought over to this side, with presumably a similar number at the other side of the stage. I had assumed they would be removed from the venue, but they were allowed back in, and there were quite a few examples of “recycled” crowd surfers brought out in front of me.
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I was very clear that I had made a wise decision to get myself out of what had become something of a melee. With my various ailments I would have struggled to cope in the midst of it all.
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Things were just as bad as the headliners were on and there remained a steady stream of crowd surfers removed via the front pit. I stayed well away from it. At one stage I was approached by a member of staff and asked if I wanted to head for a seat upstairs. I declined the offer, somewhat offended by the suggestion that I would wish to be in the sedate upper echelons rather than on the chaotic ground floor. Guess my apparent age gives me away a bit though…
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I had parked up on one of the closest parking meters to the Arena (at around half the price of a place in the Arena car park), and decided to make a fast getaway before the madding crowd left. My first experience of “trash” metal. And although I thought the show itself was excellent I may be giving this particular genre a miss next time.
Testament
3Arena, Dublin
26 November 2024
Kreator
3Arena, Dublin
26 November 2024
Anthrax
3Arena, Dublin
26 November 2024
