Tag Archives: concert

Oct 27 2025
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Daily Post, Interior

Gogol Bordello, again

Sunday 26th October 2025, 9.15pm (day 5,176)

Gogol Bordello, 26/10/25

Happy birthday to the wife: I shall leave the exact number unstated (though you could work it out from looking at past October 26ths on this blog if you really felt like it). One of the weekend’s organised entertainments was to see Gogol Bordello at the Albert Hall in Manchester; they therefore become the first rock band (or should we say Ukrainian-American gypsy punk rockabilly band) to appear on here twice. Until I looked it up I was recalling our first encounter happening in 2017 or something like that but their first appearance turns out to have been 14th December 2013; nearly twelve years ago. Blimey. I’m impressed they have sustained the energy levels all that time. But I suppose Eugene Hütz (putting in a second personal appearance, on the left) is younger than me. (Although he’s older than Clare.) Well, good luck to you my friend — perhaps we will catch up again in 2037, if you’re still leaping about the stage at that point.

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Oct 06 2024
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Owter Zeds: 40th anniversary gig

Saturday 5th October 2024, 10.15pm (day 4,790)

Calling a band an ‘institution’ is something of a double-edged compliment, as it suggests they have been around a while — and the local Hebden Bridge institution that is (or are) the Owter Zeds were, indeed, celebrating their 40th anniversary at the Trades Club tonight, a gig I came all the way back from London to attend. And plenty of fun it was; if you like a bit of ska, you could do worse. The sax player gets on the blog for the second time, the first being over 10 years ago, when they were mere striplings of just 30 years’ experience.

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Jun 03 2024
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Jane’s Addiction

Sunday 2nd June 2024, 9.15pm (day 4,665)

Jane's Addiction, 2/6/24

So that’s another one ticked off the list of ‘Bands I Have Liked for Thirty-Plus Years But Never Before Seen Live’. Then again, Jane’s Addiction did their first ‘farewell tour’ in 1991, have still only ever managed to scrape together four studio albums, and the original four members have only just decided they are still prepared to talk to each other and go on the road again before one or more of them dies. Which in singer Perry Farrell’s case, has always seemed likely to happen imminently. Therefore, I never really had the chance to break the duck before tonight. But I’m not complaining — they were worth the wait.

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Jul 10 2023
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

Roger Daltrey does his scream

Sunday 9th July 2023, 9.35pm (day 4,336)

Roger Daltrey, 9/7/23

The Who should have already appeared on this blog one way or another. I had tickets to see them in Manchester a few years ago and then couldn’t go for reasons I don’t even remember properly. In March 2020 we were one week, literally, away from seeing them in Leeds (Live in Leeds!) when Bojo The Clown decided that the rest of the country (but not him) had to cease all this entertainment rubbish — postponed a year, that gig was eventually cancelled too. BUT — here we are, finally, in Edinburgh Castle, watching Daltrey and Townshend do their thing. At 79 years old, Roger Daltrey understandably doesn’t leap about the stage as much as he used to but he can definitely still sing, and right at this point he is reproducing one of the best screams in rock history — the one near the end of Won’t Get Fooled Again, which is up there in my ‘top 5’ all-time great tracks.

So yes…. all in all it could be said that I had a good evening.

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Oct 21 2022
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Daily Post, Urban scene

On stage, Southampton

Friday 21st October 2022, 8.15pm (day 4,075)

There aren’t many British cities where I’ve never set foot, but until tonight, Southampton was one of them. Boarding port of the Titanic and still one of the UK’s major ports, though still probably not as significant as Portsmouth nearby, which may rile Sotonians, but I am ignorant of the details of the local rivalries. This is the smallest picture, in kilomegabytes, to be uploaded for a couple of years.

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Jul 03 2022
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Daily Post, Portrait

Modern worship (Paloma Faith)

Saturday 2nd July 2022, 10.20pm (day 3,964)

Paloma Faith, 2/7/22

Our 23rd wedding anniversary. I took Clare to a non-league football match and she took me to see Paloma Faith. I have no idea who got the better of the transaction. Photography opportunities were better at the gig, even if musically this is not my thing. A couple of thousand other people seemed happy enough with it all, though.

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Jun 07 2018
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Daily Post, Friend, Portrait

James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem

Wednesday 6th June 2018, 10.20pm (day 2,477)

James Murphy, 6/6/18

Two LCD Soundsystem gigs in a year… But being brilliant and versatile, they could play a whole different set than last time in London. No one is ever going to do high-quality gig photography from the next-to-back row high up in the circle and with my camera: but it’ll do to document the evening. James Murphy is a master lyricist (“Drunk girls know that love is an astronaut… it comes back, but it’s never the same”) and superb front man yet always remains a slightly chubby, unshaven fortysomething in yesterday’s T-shirt. Which is why we love him.

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Dec 03 2017
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Daily Post, Interior

The Charlatans

Saturday 2nd December 2017, 10.10pm (day 2,291)

Charlatans, 2/12/17

Back into Manchester, for this gig at the Apollo…. the wife’s favourite band. It’s impossible to take truly decent photos at a rock concert, at least not without permission to get on the stage and some far better equipment than I can muster (or would be allowed to bring into the venue). Not to mention people standing up in front of you. But I try.

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Sep 24 2017
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Daily Post, Interior

Pre-gig, Alexandra Palace

Saturday 23rd September 2017, 7.45pm (day 2,221)

Before LCD, 23/9/17

From France to London, for a birthday treat deferred four weeks but worth the wait — LCD Soundsystem at the Alexandra Palace. If you don’t know this band, you really should. However, this picture is taken pre-gig: by the time Mr Murphy and co. came on, I was dancing too much to get a decent shot of it.

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