KILBURNFLYER

Have been badly neglecting the Fleyer - it is the only way I can keep track of gig activity.

Since the summer festivals have seen:

Echo and the Bunneymey at the Palladium - absolutely first class gig - the whole of Ocean rain with an orchestra and a greatest hits set. What's not to love.

Pop Will Eat Itself at O2 Academy Islington - great fun as usual but with Clint poppy no longer with them felt a bit odd.

Volbeat at the Forum - absolutely magnificent - really got the bug for them over the summer and bought their entire back catalogue. First time I have seen them when I knew all the songs they played - Evelyn was a particular highlight - not one ofmy favourite songs but what I didn't know was that the 2nd vocalist is Mark "Barney" Greenaway from Napalm Death - he came on for that song - brilliant.

Motorhead, UK Subs and Anti Nowhere League at Hammersmith - Subs were great - indeed much better than back in the day - basically Charlie Harper and a half decent young metal band supporting him. ANL - all good but a bit going through the motions. Motorhead were back on form - they were poor at Sonisphere - and did a great set.

Hard Rock Hell V at Prestatyn - the greatest weekend of the year as usual but that down to the people not the bands - most of whom were a bit average except Girlschool, Reckless Love, Ginger Wildheart and the magnificent SSS.

Def Leppard, Motley Crue at Wembley Arena - sadly got there late and missed Steel Panther but great sets from both as usual.

GingerWildheart at the Garage Islington - exactly the same as Prestatyn - good but not great.

Saxon at Koko - fucking brilliant show. Full of energy, great setlist - well done chaps you really try hard and it shows.

KILBURNFLYER

Motorhead were great on Saturday. Have been attending their shows since the Bomber tour when introduced to them by an old schoolfriend. Was very strange to see them over 30 years later. Still as fresh and as loud as ever.

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

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

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.

KILBURNFLYER

Wembley Arena was not overfull for Motorhead and Alice on Saturday but that didn't matter too much. Got right down the front and felt the bass in my chest in the best traditions of attending a Motorhead gig. Was with a few friends one of whom has the claim to fame of being photographed on the No Sleep to Hammersmith album. A great set comprising the usual standards - no class, overkill, ace of spades and metroplis (plus killed by death which is a real crowd pleaser but is a track I just don't like - never have) and a smattering of later songs. Absolutely excellent stuff and an acoustic Whorehouse Blues as part of the encore capped a really enjoyable concert. Joan Jett preceded motorhead (my main reason for attending) and was enjoyable - a few too many covers including AC/DC by Sweet and Do you Wanna Touch by Gary Glitter (the irony was lost on her) but I love Rock n Roll and Hate Myself for Loving you were both excellent.

Alice Cooper always surprises me - he has a great back catalogue and is a great performer but were it not for the presence of motorhead I would not have even bothered going which would have been a shame as he impressed me again. A great show all in all and the last proper rock show on my slop chit for this year. Still got a couple of shows by the manics next months and the regular squeeze xmas show but thats all. May slip in and see Thin Lizzy if I can get out of a work do especially as I understand that Diamond Head are now supporting rather than the very dismal Queensryche.

Have been discussing with mates my best gigs of the year so will have to think further before writing this crap for my own amusement.