The end of this year has seen me attending several very different concerts in a range of genres. These are my highlights:
- Blue Rose Code @ The Stables, MK: My first time discovering this really exceptional Scottish band, led by Ross Wilson. This was a stripped down set of really powerful music and lyrics – two acoustic guitars, Ross on vocals, and an Electro Harmonix Freeze pedal. Incredibly powerful stuff.
- Europe @ De Montfort Hall, Leicester: Still going strong and sounding absolutely fantastic live on this, their ‘Time Capsule’ 40th anniversary tour. The highlight for me was seeing John Norum ripping out the Superstitious solo; super nostalgic!
- Damian Lewis @ The Stables, MK: Bit of an odd one. The famous actor, Damian Lewis (of Homeland fame) brought his blues/rock/jazz band to The Stables to promote his new album “Mission Creep”. The best feature of the show was Giacomo Smith’s performance on clarinet. Otherwise, unfortunately, it was quite an average show. Happily, I did meet him afterwards and get my album signed.
- Guy Barker’s Big Band Christmas @ Royal Albert Hall, London: My first visit to the Albert Hall – an absolutely spectacular venue, and I had a great view from the third row of the stalls. It was an extravaganza of festive tunes, performed by some immense musicians: Giacomo Smith on clarinet (barely a month since I saw him last!), Vanessa Haynes, and Clare Teal. The big band was of course, also immense 🙂
