Face Of Cheam

The day after Chas & Dave, my brother and I went down to Brighton for Status Quo. We did a crawl of Kemptown. Quite a good area for pubs although some are catered to the attraction of the same sex, although as it was early this did not deter us from frequenting some of them, one of which was called The Zone where there was a nine out of ten for Ian Holloway. In the Saint James pub (normal place) there were some remarkably attractive women for some reason and a nice ginger barmaid flirted with me in the Market Inn. Bar 14 was also a good place which we did just prior to the show although it was strangely empty. As to Quo themselves, as an attendee of their gig two or three times a year, this was probably the best I’ve seen them in a good while. Franics Rossi seemed really up for it which makes a lot of difference especially during his solos. Also added to their static set was a guitar based version of Burning Bridges which although not a favourite added something unexpected.
Saturday saw the return of one of my favourite bands, Shed Seven, who have reformed with their original line up, having split four years ago. This was at Shepherds Bush and they were fantastic. Despite lead singer Rick Witters voice being shot due to a cold you could not fault them at all. Everyone was singing at the end in Chasing Rainbows and it was nice to hear the epic Parallel Lines in the encore. What this reformation will lead to we don’t know yet, but hopefully a few more gigs would certainly be pleasing.
A trip to the Indigo was in the day after, for Joe Cocker. This is the smaller venue in the Millenium Dome which unfortunately coincided with the Spice girls playing the larger O2 on the same night. Cue crowded train alert. We had been told of a nearby pub called the Philpot which gave me an excuse to talk to a rather attractive girl selling 02 merchandise. Alas it transpired the correct name of the pub was the Pilot, so she must have thought I was some sort of loon. After a beer in the expensive Slug & Lettuce (around £3.50 a pint) it was time for an even more expensive beer in the venue (£4.00 a Becks Vier, you’re having a laugh!). Joe Cocker was also on good form with many many screams in nearly every song. A ten minute plus version of With A Little Help From My Friends was the highlight for me, although he did encore with She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and Cry Me A River. Thanks to the tube and a rather nutty bus driver at Morden, I managed to get home in just over an hour, which I thought was pretty good for a Sunday. Red Ken Wooh!

Shed Seven Set – Getting Better / Bully Boy / Magic Streets / She Left Me On Friday / Ocean Pie / Dolphin / Speakeasy / Dirty Soul / On Standby / Cry For Help / Where Have You Been Tonight / Disco Down / Going For Gold //////// Devil In Your Shoes / Parallel Lines / Chasing Rainbows