Mott The Hoople, Shepherds Bush Empire

Friday 26^th April

Ian Hunter marked his amazing 80^th year by touring under the Mott The Hoople 1974 banner, his usual Rant band augmented by Mott’s flamboyant lead guitarist Ariel Bender and champagne-quaffing keyboard player Morgan Fisher. These gigs had a very different vibe to the Hammersmith Apollo reunion 2009 gigs when Buffin was still alive – his replacement on the drum stool Steve Holley did a great job, as do James Mastro (guitar, saxophone, mandolin), Mark Bosch (guitar), Paul Page (bass) and Dennis Dibrizzi (keyboards, backing vocals). The setlist featured only tracks recorded in 1974. A taped David Bowie introduced the set, where a snippet of American Pie lead into The Golden Age of Rock’n’Roll. The singles Roll Away The Stone and Honaloochie Boogie were obvious highlights, whilst the ’50’s jive of Pearl and Roy was an unexpected treat.  The lengthy live medley from Mott Live was faithfully recreated with original violinist Graham Preskett appearing for Violence. Guest Brian May added additional guitar to All The Way From Memphis and after a moving Saturday Gigs the final encore could only be All The Young Dudes where the choruses included Stan Tippins (original Mott singer), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) and a cast of thousands. Ian Hunter personally selected openers Tax The Heat and their Zeppelinesque stomp was well received by a mature crowd. A triumphant celebration of not going gently into that good night.

Review written for Record Collector magazine

DJ Playlist

I had the great privilege of playing 7” vinyl singles before the bands on both nights and here is a list of everything I played, albeit not in the correct order. If you were there, I hope you heard something you enjoyed – all were released as singles in 1974.

My thanks to Mick Brown for making this happen and to Josh, Mark and the stage crew for their assistance.

Johnnie Allan – Promised Land

David Bowie – Rebel Rebel and Diamond Dogs

Brinsley Schwarz – (What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love And Understanding

John Cale – The Man Who Couldn’t Afford To Orgy

Dr Feelgood – Roxette

Ducks Deluxe – Love’s Melody and Fireball

Eno – Seven Deadly Finns

Faces – You Can Make Me Dance… and As Long As You Tell Him

Bryan Ferry – The In Crowd

J Geils Band – Musta Got Lost and Funky Judge

Grin – You’re The Weight

Ronnie Lane – The Poacher

Lulu – Watch That Man and The Man Who Stole The World

Andy McKay – Wild Weekend

Man – Hard Way To Live

New Your Dolls – Who Are The Mystery Girls? and Stranded In The Jungle

Raspberries – Overnite Sensation

Lou Reed – How Do You Think It Feels?

Rolling Stones – Through The Lonely Nights, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg and It’s Only Rock’n’Roll

Mick Ronson – Slaughter On Tenth Avenue

Roxy Music – All I Want Is You and The Thrill Of It All

Todd Rundgren – A Dream Goes On Forever

Bob Seeger – Get Out Of Denver

Sharks – Kung Fu

Slade – How Does It Feel and Far Far Away

Steely Dan- Rikki Don’t Lose That Number

Robert Wyatt – I’m A Believer

Ronnie Wood – I Can Feel The Fire

Neil Young – Walk On

PS This morning I got this lovely note from Mott’s production manager

The DJ set each night really helped set the mood, just as you did at The Replacements and to see Bobby Gillespie and Mick Jones, both get up and dance on separate sides of the hall at the same time, when you played the Dolls, is a memory that will stay with me a long time.