KILBURNFLYER

Two festivals on successive weekends.

The first was the Hard Rock Hell Road Trip. A relatively small affair where HRH stalwarts - both bands and fans - made a trip to Ibiza. Highlights were excellent sets by GMT, DAR, Lethargy and Attica rage. I had to return to work so missed Skindred, Quireboys and a few others. Shows started at 11pm and went on til the wee small hours - a marathon.

Download was just magnificent.

Friday - AC/DC played basically the same set they have been chugging out for the last 18 months but were really great. Possibly because it is a year since I saw them last and absence does make the heart grow fonder. I was a bit annoyed at Wembley last year with this show as I had seen them 3 times in the previous six months. Them Crooked Vultures were a bit dull - trotted out the album but all a bit lifeless. Only odd thing was the total absence of the name AC/DC from any Download merchandise - must be some financial row over the "brand" - even the programme did not mention that they were on at 8.30. Bizarre that a great rock band has decended into a marketing vehicle - not very rock and roll.

Saturday - wasn't expecting this to be a great day but it was. Caught a great set by 80s retro band Reckless Love - was like seeing Dave Lee Roth in his hey day - great show. Bizarre band Rock Sugar were very entertaining (mixture of rock classics i.e Enter Sandman merged with a bit of 80s pop Don't Stop Believing) but not sure I would shell out to see them. Megadeth and Five Finger death Punch were both excellent. Had to miss Y&T and the Deftones to catch the England game (wish I hadn't bothered) and saw most of Rage Against the Machine who were much better than I remembered.

Sunday - best day by far (apart from the weather) - Saxon, Motorhead, Airbourne and Suicidal Tendencies were all as good as ever. Billy Idol was great in flashes but the show was completely stolen by Slash who's new band seem much better than anything he has got sorted before. Great GNR covers as crowd pleasers. Due to Suicidal clash saw the end of Aerosmith only - Sweet Emotion was the highlight.

KILBURNFLYER

Three gigs in three days - two absolute belters and one (could do better)

UFO - Shepherds Bush Empire were excellent. Even the new songs - not a fan of the new album - sounded good and the band were tight and seemed to be enjoying it. I did miss Pete Way - he is such a great performer - but the replacement was very good. AM getting used to the guitarist but I really wish Mogg and Schenker would make up - Mogg has never found a guitarist as good and Schenker has never found such a good singer. Also between them they actually write better songs than they do apart. Fucking idiots !! Here’s the set-list - again blagged from the Ling diary: ‘Saving Me’, ‘When Daylight Goes To Town’, ‘Mother Mary’, ‘I’m A Loser’, ‘This kids’, ‘Cherry’, ‘Helldriver’, ‘Baby Blue’, ‘Ain’t No Baby’, ‘Only You Can Rock Me’, ‘Love To Love’, ‘Lights Out’, ‘Too Hot To Handle’ and ‘Rock Bottom’, with encores of ‘Doctor Doctor’ and ‘Shoot Shoot’.

Chickenfoot - also at Shepherds Bush Empire were magnificent. It is really strange to see four legendary figures from the rock world on such a small stage and playing together in a band that is as tight as two coats of paint. Again not a huge fan of the album but live the material takes on a completely different dimension. Best version of Highway Star I have ever seen performed live and that includes the Purple reunion at Knebworth back in the day.

AC/DC - I have been a massive fan since I was about 12 and seen them more times than I can remember but sadly I was a bit disappointed by this gig. They were as good as they were at the O2 - virtually the same set with Dog Eat Dog thrown in as an extra - but this was Wembley Fucking Stadium for fucks sake so they should have pulled out all the stops and played a better and longer set. This was AC/DC's equivalent of Download or Sonisphere and they should have had the set to match the venue. Frankly I expected more - I do not expect Metallica to do the same set as they did at the O2 when I see them at Knebworth in August and I doubt I will come away from that one with a tinge of disappointment.

KILBURNFLYER

Splendid night at the O2 to see AC/DC. The show was pretty much exactly the same as when I saw them at Madison in November but the extensive touring has clearly honed the performance. They actually made full use of the stage including the runway into the crowd which was only used once at Madison for the obligatory guitar solo. Very prefessional and very enjoyable. Sadly I fear this may be the last time I see them - can't do the show at Wembley Stadium due to other commitments - but hope they come round again for one last hurrah. Was in the company of an old girl friend I took to see them at Hammersmith in 1982 - cue much reminiscing. They really are a magnificent live band and everyone left with a very big grin on their face. Next week Saxon and then the marathon of Hammerfest - bring it on !!

Set-list (again ripped from Mr Ling): ‘Rock And Roll Train’, ‘Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be’, ‘Back In Black’, ‘Big Jack’, ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’, ‘Shot Down In Flames’, ‘Thunderstruck’, ‘Black Ice’, ‘The Jack’, ‘Hell’s Bells’, ‘Shoot To Thrill’, ‘War Machine’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’, ‘TNT’, ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ and ‘Let There Be Rock’, with encores of ‘Highway To Hell’ and ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)’.

KILBURNFLYER

Motorhead and Saxon at Sheffield Academy - great show in a great venue - a long drive there and back in a day - was originally planning to stay over but has to get back for my flight to NYC to see AC/DC at Madison Square Garden. A fucking long way to go for a gig but well worth the effort - rock n roll train a good intro song and then into hell ain't a bad place to be. Off we went with a 90 minute show (could have been longer but they are getting on a bit now) back in black, thunderstruck, hells bells, let there be rock all included with highway to hell and for those about to rock as an encore. A solid performance and good clean sound with the new songs doing better than I expected - big jack was well received. Splendid in so many ways - looking forward to tonight. All in all very professional but not quite what they were. The Answer who supported were seriously good - at points they reminded me of the black crowes or zeppelin - have to go see them again.

Update: Thursday's gig was exactly the same - saw an east coast AC/DC tribute band (Overdose) at BB Kings who were great fun as an aftershow piss up.