If I get to a gig, I’ll stick it up here. No glossy reviews, no PR nonsense – just how it was. A few photos, maybe a video, and my own take on the night.

Most gigs are with the usual crew – Hammy, Neil and Jimmy. Sister Tamara is becoming a semi-regular too – these are the ones who turn up time and again. Sometimes it’s a bigger mix, sometimes there’s a new face, but there’s always a story.

Some artists keep cropping up too: Cast, Lightning Seeds, Paul Heaton, and Ocean Colour have all had more than one write-up here. If they’re worth seeing once, they’re usually worth seeing again.

The reviews here only go back to 2024 – which means there are literally hundreds of gigs before that which aren’t covered. Shame, but that’s how it is.

Two Years of Gigs: A Blur of Bands (but not Blur), Mates, and Overpriced Pints

I’ve been to plenty of gigs over the years. The first one? That’s up for debate. It might’ve been Chas ’n’ Dave at Felixstowe Spa, or maybe Simple Minds at Wembley Arena. After that, things ramped up with a steady diet of Paul Heaton/Beautiful South, Oasis in 2000, and three separate Stone Roses shows — all now filed somewhere in the fuzzier corners of my memory.

Fast-forward to post-Covid. I reconnected with Hammy and Neil (old friends found again through Facebook) and we went to see John Lydon. That was the start of something. Suddenly, we were going to a lot of gigs. So many, in fact, that after a couple of years I was struggling to keep track of who, where, why, and when. That’s when I started writing reviews on my site.

2024: Getting Back into It

Things kicked off in 2024 with Cast, then spiralled into OMD, Gallagher & Squire, Liam Gallagher doing Definitely Maybe, Sting in the woods, Ashcroft/OCS under open skies, Squeeze and the Pretenders at the Regent, Bob Dylan mumbling his way through the Albert Hall, and even Brown Horse in front of just 88 people (and we were lucky to be among them). Big hitters, comebacks, and a few proper bucket-list moments.

2025: No Signs of Stopping

2025 picked up right where 2024 left off. A Specials tribute at the 100 Club set the tone, then Jason Donovan at The Apex, Deacon Blue, Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Heaton filling Bramall Lane, Pulp at the O2, The Beach Boys in the summer sun (with a rather splendid Lulu in support), that glorious triple bill of Manics, Charlatans and Ash, and the farce that was Sandringham — only saved by the Stereophonics.

There was even a sibling day out to see Elvis… though please, let’s not mention holograms.

Some nights blurred together — Cast, Charlatans, Manics, Lightning Seeds — like the late 90s regrouped for one last payday and dragged us along. Not that I’m complaining. Even Dylan shuffled on stage, and I finally got to tick him off the bucket list.

More Than Just the Music

It wasn’t just about the bands. It was the mates — Hammy, Neil, Jimmy, Hacks, Rob. It was family too: Tamara becoming a semi-regular, siblings Tracie and Rory, brother-in-law Scott, plus a few cameo appearances from others along the way.

Looking Back

Two years of reviews (and counting), countless miles, too many overpriced pints and festival food, and more “encores” than any band really deserves.

Wouldn’t change a thing.