Face Of Cheam

Went to The Vine prior to this one as the Pineapple was heaving. Carter seem to be doing the odd gig here and there annually now. Here was part one of the drum machine years, though they performed their fourth & third albums in their entirity plus the related b-sides in the encores. Their era summed up when Jimbob says 'Hello The Town & Country Club'. Highlights for me were the pure rock of 'Lenny & Terence' and obviously 'The Only Living Boy In New Cross' and 'The Impossible Dream'. Covers were regulars in their b-sides and they did their own versions of 'This Is How It Feels', 'Panic' and 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight', which was followed by a second encore and show ender of 'After The Watershed'. A shame I couldn't go to the following night at Brixton to hear their other two albums but such is life.

A very rainy night in North London. We had my first ever visit to the Bavarian Beer house in Old Street prior to this gig. A bit like a german Hooters, with the waitresses very Heidi-esque. A bus then to Isling to ensure we got to the venue for the 8.15 early start. Magnum took a bit of a risk tonight with all bar three songs in the main set being from their last three albums, shunning the majority of their classics. However I didn't mind this as the last two (Princess Alice and The Moon King) especially are excellent. The encore was the ten minute splendour of Don't Wake The Lion and their standerd Kingdom Of Madness. About an hour and a half was played and ending 9.45 there was still 15 minutes before curfew so it was a little disappointing that one or two more 'old' songs were not thrown in. However, Bob Catley, who must be in his sixties, still sounds excellent and it was still a good show. The only main downer was how packed it was as we struggled to get through the crowd for a decent view. At least we found the bar on the right hand side so wasn't too bad in the end.

‘Cry To Yourself’, ‘Take Me To The Edge’, ‘Brand New Morning’, ‘The Moon King’, ‘When We Were Younger’, ‘No One Knows His Name’, ‘Dragons Are Real’, ‘A Face In The Crowd’, ‘We All Run’, ‘Les Morts Dansant’, ‘All My Bridges’, ‘All England’s Eyes’ ‘Vigilante’ //// ‘Don’t Wake The Lion’ ‘The Kingdom Of Madness’

Ah the Rev on bonfire night. We met in the Pineapple which is one of my favourite pre-gig venues for a couple before heading in. After getting a pint of Tuborg we moshed down the front when they played Heavyweight Champion Of The World, the third song in and stayed there. This meant a lovely view of Laura Manuel as well as the rest of the band. A good show, similar to when I saw them at the Koko at the beginning of July. I got a Livenation CD on the way out recorded a couple of days before in Sheffield which was only a tenner and had their second album as a bonus third disk (which I hadn't got previously) Time was had for a beer in the Oxford pub afterwards although rather annoyingly, First Capital Connect were starting their funny business meaning the last train from Wimbledon to Sutton was cancelled! Still I was lucky with the bus so this didn't disturb me too much.