Mick Thomas - The Borderline, London

Fantastic show from my buddy Mick Thomas at The Borderline. Mick makes fairly regular trips to Europe, but this was the first time accompanied by piano accordion player Mark "Squeezebox" Wally - and it made a massive difference. The accordion is so entrenched in Mick's early recordings with Weddings, Parties, Anything - that it just makes the songs sound full and right.

Kicking off with a couple from his just released CD 'The Last of The Tourists', it was really by early single "Away Away" that the duo hit their straps.

Back in Australia, Mick has been doing a few smaller shows he calls 'Song Bingo' where if your number gets called you get to request any song Mick wrote and the band will attempt to play it. This has resulted in some very deep digging into the back catalogue and I suspect is responsible for a few of the more obscure inclusions tonight night "The Ballad of Peggy and Col", "The Swans Return" and "Taylor Square" (although I believe the latter was a special request for a fan whose daughter just passed her A levels and had a stuffed toy called Taylor).
New single "DVD and a New Tattoo" was a corker, as was Phillip "Swill" Odgers from The Men They Couldn't Hang who was in fantastic voice for guest lead vocals on "Industrial Town" (covered by The Men on 'The Domino Club').
A pretty aggressive curfew only left time for one quick encore of fan favourites "Father's Day", "The Rain In My Heart" and "For A Short Time"


My Mother's Guitar
All the Roads
Away Away
The Ballad of Peggy and Col
Taylor Square
Gallipoli Rosemary
The Swans Return
Lonely Goth
Record Launch
DVD and a New Tattoo
You Remind Me
Star-O
Industrial Town (with Swill Odgers)
Our Sunshine
A Tale They Won't Believe
The Last of the Tourists
Encore:
Father's Day
The Rain in My Heart
For a Short Time

Blur, The Specials, New Order - Hyde Park London

Kimbo and I went child-free to check out the Olympics Closing Ceremony Celebration in Hyde Park. It was essentially the same setup as I saw Springsteen at a few weeks earlier, with added Olympic Security (imagine the most extreme airport security you've ever encountered and double it!) which meant rather than a quick stroll through the gates we were stuck in a queue for 45 minutes.
Sadly this meant we missed the first half of New Order's set - but we did make it through in time to grab a drink and catch "Blue Monday", "Temptation" and a surprising "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (is it a cover when it's the same band with a different singer and name?)
Next up was The Specials, who I thought would be good - but turned out to be fantastic, getting the whole crowd skanking along. It was great to hear "Monkey Man" (mostly played in our house via The Wiggles cover with Kylie Minogue) and "Doesn't Make It Alright" but the biggest response was for a crowd pleasing "Message To You Rudy", and the set closing "Too Much Too Young". Apart from how great they sounded, what was most surprisingly about The Specials was how relevant their message of peace and tolerance still seems today.
Having seen Blur at Hyde Park during their "original" reformation, I was expecting a pretty similar show this time around - so it was great to see them dig a bit deeper and try a few new things - especially given the that this is rumoured to have been their final ever concert.
Kicking off with "Girls & Boys" they quickly dug into less obvious material with "London Loves". "Out of Time" was an early highlight with guest Arabic lute player Khyam Allami giving the song a new slant. Early B-side "Young & Lovely" was a surprise inclusion and sounded great, as was moody album track "Caramel".
The show really took flight with "Park Life", featuring guest Phil Daniels shouting out the lyrics. After a manic "Song 2" the main-set closed on a sombre mood with "No Distance Left To Run", "Tender" and a sublime "This Is A Low".
The encore kicked off with new single "Under The Westway" (especially written for tonight according to Damon Albarn) which was especially poignant, before a big finale of "For Tomorrow", into "The Universal".


Blur:
Girls & Boys
London Loves
Tracy Jacks
Jubilee
Beetlebum
Coffee & TV
Out of Time
Young & Lovely
Trimm Trabb
Caramel
Sunday Sunday
Country House
Parklife (with Phil Daniels)
Colin Zeal
Popscene
Advert
Song 2
No Distance Left to Run
Tender
This Is a Low

Sing
Under The Westway
Intermission
End of a Century
For Tomorrow
The Universal

The Specials:
Do The Dog
(Dawning Of A) New Era
Gangsters
It's Up to You
Monkey Man
Blank Expression
Doesn't Make It Alright
Rat Race
Stupid Marriage
Concrete Jungle
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Do Nothing
Stereotype
Man At C&A
A Message To You Rudy
Nite Klub
Little Bitch
Too Much Too Young

New Order:
Elegia
Crystal
Ceremony
Isolation
586
The Perfect Kiss
Bizarre Love Triangle
True Faith
Blue Monday
Temptation
Love Will Tear Us Apart