Is this thing still plugged in? Tap tap, 1-2, 1-2

<wipes away the cobwebs, blows dust off the server>

Goodness, how long has it been since I posted anything to this blog? April 2020, during lockdown, it would seem. Which is long enough ago that my Google Analytics reports generally show zero hits…

But there’s good reason for that – the last rock gig I went to was Rival Sons in November 2019, four and a half years ago!

Yes, OK we had COVID shortly after that, but that’s not been the only reason – there’s also been a total lack of interesting gigs in Bristol for quite some time. The closure of Colston Hall for refurbishment is a big part of it as that’s the largest venue in the city (it finally re-opened in November last year, now called Bristol Beacon), but there’s been nothing of interest at the Academy either.
There have been quite a few shows at the Bath Forum, but to be honest Bath is an absolute pain to get to from NW Bristol so we don’t go to shows there.
Apparently there was a big backlog of tours after COVID and it’s only really now getting itself properly sorted out. At the start of this year there was suddenly a flurry of interesting shows being advertised, and now I have a regular stream of gigs coming up over the next year.

May – Richard Thompson at Bristol Beacon
It appears I last saw him in 2003, which is quite alarming.
That was the show where I was close enough to realise he was playing lead and rhythm at the same time.
I work from home now, and have come across one person in my current job who is based in Bristol – and as it turns out, she’s married to someone who works at my last place. I mentioned this gig in one of the social forums at work, and they are actually going to the show as well – and quite unbelievably, I will be sat next to them!

June – Richard Hawley at Bristol Beacon
Always good live, this will be the 4th time I’ve seen him.

June – Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets at Bristol Beacon
I’ve not been much of a fan of early Pink Floyd, but I saw a concert of theirs on Sky Arts and they sounded really good – the band includes Guy Pratt and Gary Kemp.

July – Heart at Birmingham NIA/Utilita Arena
I’m making a trip up to Birmingham for this one as I really liked Heart – their back catalogue, before they went Big Hair Rock, is excellent, highly recommended. I saw them live way back when I was a student in 1988 and 1990.
I was surprised they’re back touring again – they apparently did a few UK shows in 2004 and 2016, which I completely missed, but they’ve just celebrated their 50th anniversary and are on the road again. Given the anniversary I’m hopeful of a career-spanning best of/hits set.
They’re being supported by Squeeze, also celebrating their 50th anniversary, so that’ll be all the hits as well.

October – Altered Images at O2 Academy
They’ve been playing on the 80s festival circuit for years, and I’ve been waiting for them to play a gig in Bristol for a long time – and at last! The teenage me will be ecstatic.

February 2025 – Fish at Bristol Beacon
His final tour before retiring, and having missed the 30th anniversary shows in Bristol for Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws (both due to ill health), I’m determined to get to this one!

There’s also a couple of Spoken Word shows coming up in the autumn
October – Jay Rayner, who is publishing his first cookery book and is always wryly amusing.
October – Ned Boulting with his “Marginal Mystery Tour: 1923 and all that” tour. His related book, about buying a clip of film from the 1923 Tour de France and the path it led him down, is an excellent read – as are all of his books tbh, he writes very, very well – so this should be good. We saw him in 2022, so have high hopes for this one.

The only other things we’ve seen since COVID are classical concerts by the Devon Philharmonic Orchestra, for whom a friend plays viola – we saw them again last weekend, so I will do a separate post about that.

Wot no Bruce?
Those who know me will be surprised by the fact that there’s no mention of a certain Mr Springsteen. I didn’t go and see him last year and I’m not going this year either. I’m not a fan of stadium shows, the tickets are expensive, and I’m not actually the biggest fan of his most recent material – from what I’ve read the shows are good and he sounds fine (which was also a concern, given he turns 75 this year), but it’s not for me this time.
A friend is going to see him for the first time in Cardiff, so it’ll be very interesting to see what he thinks.