KILBURNFLYER

I should now be writing about one of the bestgig weeks I can recall. DIO and Slayer (twice) at the Forum and then Motorhead supported by the Damned and Girlschool at Hammersmith. Sadly for reasons of illness/injury DIO cancelled (stomach cancer - nasty lets hope the caught it early) and Slayer (back injury to Tom Araya) got rescheduled for next March.

Only caught the back end of Girlschool due to Tottenham game late early evening kick off - seeing them next weekend at Hard Rock Hell III. The Damned - well have been a fan since the beginning and first saw them as a callow youth at the 100 Club - not in the heady days of 76 but about 79 when they were more established - only got 45 minutes but were great. Usual mix of old and new - neat neat neat, love song, smash it up, new rose and Eloise all got aired.

Motorhead were great but not brilliant. Very similar set to last time I saw them and seemed a bit tired. Still very enjoyable from Iron Fist to Overkill.

KILBURNFLYER

A very busy few days started with Muse at the O2. Every time I see this band I am always enormously impressed - they are just so tight - they almost seem to be trying so hard because they can't quite believe they are there. They always seem to put 100% into every show - wish I could say that about evry band I see - and are always looking at how to make the show visually more interesting. As ever a great show - from what I can recall pretty similar to Teignmouth show with the new songs blending with the old effortlessly.

Stupidly early the next morning was on a flight to NYC to see Metallica at Madison Square Garden - twice. Yes, yes I know it is a stupidly expensive thing to do but fuck me was it worth it. Metallica were supported by Volbeat - as good as I remember them from Download but more enjoyable now that I know some of their stuff. Lamb of God from "Richmond Motherfuckin Virginia" (all the 15 year olds in the audience love this way of talking but I am a bit old for that) as I fear I might be for Lamb of God - they were, well, a bit dull. Seen them support Heaven and Hell as well as at Sonisphere and a few flashes of good stuff but mainly dull. I hope I change my mind as they are clearly in this for the long haul - not sure what it is - I should like them but Lamb of God, Trivium and most surprisingly Machine Head - none of them do it for me.

Metallica on the other hand were a different class - back to the more familiar Death Magnetic set list - even on consecutive nights they managed to mix up the order and swop a few sings in and out to always keep me interested. Diamond Head's The Prince on Saturday and the Misfits' Last Caress on Sunday were the added bonus songs. They were just so professional - although still not convinced that the "in the round" show is as good as an old fashioned stage at one end. Funniest thing of the night was my wife (not a big Metallica fan) mishearing the lyrics to Master of Puppets - she was convinced one of the the lines was something like "save your badger" - well it made me laugh. Fucking superb - and worth every penny!!

KILBURNFLYER

A very enjoyable evening watching Soil (don't recall seeing them before - may have at a festival but no memory) support Shinedown. Was pleasantly surprised how full the Forum was - must be Shinedown's biggest headline show in the UK - last time they played London was in June at the Electric Ballroom. The whole of the Sound of Madness got an airing plus a few standards from the earlier album (not get yet). All very good. Am incredibly impressed by this lot - especially the drummer - just wish the singer would shut the fuck up between songs. He is more verbose than Bono was in the 90s. If he cut it down a bit we could have had 2 more songs - maybe that explains it - not enough material yet. That said, still had a great time and will definitely see this lot again and again.

KILBURNFLYER

The start of a very busy 7 days on the gig front took me to KoKo in Camden for Saxon supported by Anvil. Before the show my wife (who is a British Legion branch chairman but also quite likes Saxon) had arranged to get the band to doa few publicity shots to help promote the poppy appeal. Their german management team - who were all sporting poppies - were very good in arranging this and Biff and Nigel Glocker were both extremely happy to pose for the photos and to offer support for the cause - Nigel took put big poppy on his drum riser and promised to have it there for the rest of the tour. Both top geezers. The on the way out we spotted Rob Reiner having a fag so got him to pose for a photo also.

As for the music, well both were on good form. Anvil just seem so happy to be playing that they always seem to be enjoying every second - have still not seen the film - starting with March of the Crabs and through 666, mothra to more modern stuff like "This is 13" and, as ever, ending with Metal on Metal - fucking great.

Saxon were similarly superb. Most of their big numbers got an airing.. finish this later