STEVE MARRIOTT @ THE ASTORIA - Bjorn's Front Line Battle Cries

[Bjørn Ciggaar <ciggaar@warande.net>]

Hiya!

Well, it was f*cking great! For those that did not know, I went to Steve
Marriot's Memorial Event in London last friday. Main acts where 17 Black
(Small Faces cover band), John's Children, the house band (feat. ZAK
STARKEY, RABBIT, Debbie Bonham and some others I don't know), HUMBLE
PIE and a band feat. Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher.

I queued up early enough be be the first (6 AM, hey, what else is there to
do in London at 6 AM?). So I got my spot up front, dead center. (this was a
GA show ofcourse)

  HIGHLIGHTS:

17 Black was mwoah...

  John's Children was far out! This singer really got that groove! Climbing up
the boxes, jumping down. Highlight of their part was "Lazy Sunday
Afternoon".

                            After that there was Steve (?) Jones with a 
couple of songs that really
                            rocked. This guy had an amazing throat (the guy 
with the shirt all buttoned
                            up, old Face? I dunno).
                            Set list:

                            1) All Or Nothing
                            2) Afterglow
                            3) Out of Time (Farlowe)

                            Zak Starkey House Band; KICKED MAJOR *******!!!

                            I got the set list (that was taped to the stage 
floor which I was hanging
                            over, no barriers, I was leaning against the 
stage, BTW, the Astoria is the
                            same one as where there was the Who convention 
in ' 98).

                            1) Whatcha Gonna do about it (E) feat. Dennis (?)
                            Zak Starkey saw me! During the song he pointed 
at me, gave a recognising
                            and wonderous BIG smile and he played like the 
devil! (some said I looked
                            like the devil with my bright orange hair, oh well)
                            AND ZAK GREW A BEARD!!! It suits him! Looks 
older now... Damn, he is so
                            good...

                            2) Five Long Years (C)
                            A f*cking great blues song... Is Dennis (or 
Simon?) that harmonica player?
                            He rocked!!! He made the harmonica cry. The 
guiatr (black guy) was just
                            soaring. Normally blues didn't get me, but I 
was stomping my feet and
                            getting spastic on this one. And the harmonica 
player was hilarious! Crying
                            out, going insane... It hit me... One of the 
night's highlights I'd say (there
                            where so many).

                            3) Phone Call Away (A)

                            4) Big Train (A, Simon and Dennis)
                            The harmonica player singing. Sorta 
country-rock song. It kicked ***...
                            Again this guy was insane.

                            5) Fool for a pretty face (G, Bobby)
                            Nice... I got the lyric sheet for this one (at 
the end of the show I picked up
                            100's of papers from the stage floor, loads of 
papers of songs they wanted
                            to play but didn't... if Roger would've shown 
up (which he didn't) they
                            would've played "I'm the face" and "Walking the 
dog").

                            6) Can't stand the rain (C)
                            feat. Debbie Bonham (right??)

                            7) If you think you're groovy (E)
                            Debbie Bonham

                            8) Black Coffee (G)
                            Debbie Bonham + Steve Marriott's daughter (she 
is HOT!!!!!!) + her friends

                            9) ITCHYCOO PARK! (A) Tony, Tony + Billy
                            Far out song, everybody singing along

                            10) My way of giving (A) Steve

                            11) 30 days in the hole (E) The 'Marriott' Family
                            My favourite Humble Pie song! Everybody was 
going INSAAAANE!

                            Then... HUMBLE *F*CKING* PIE!!!

                            They came on... Light's went on, guitars 
soared... All standing in line close
                            to each other, one foot forward (sideways), ALL 
3 LOOKING STRAIGHT INTO
                            MY EYES when they kicked in!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Amazing!! Then they split up and at
                            times just leaned against each other almost, 
they play so well together...

                            Set list:

                            1) 4 day creep

                            2) Natural Born Boogie

                            3) Halleluyah (I love her so) + 4) Shine On
                            Frampton used this groovy mike effect, his 
voice sounded like steel.
                            Switching solo's (' replying to each other') 
with Clem; F*CKING AMAZING!
                            Got some great photo's of that (that's when I 
finished my role).

                            5) I don't need no doctor

Next was Midge Ure (sp?) with "My Mind's Eye" (acoustic solo, everybody 
singing along, very nice).

                            After that Paul Weller & Noel Gallagher came 
on... Not my favourites, but
                            they where pretty good. I was getting 
squashed... Why not getting
                            squashed at Humble Pie??? THEY WHERE MUCH 
BETTER!!! Oh well... I loved
                            my spot there. Nice view...
                            I ended up with 1 used pick of Paul Weller and 
like 6 picks I nicked from his
                            mike stand (hell, the whole stage was for grabs 
for me, it was almost like
                            when I'd lean over I could grab the drum kit 
way in the back). So that's how
                            I ended up with a lot of set lists, papers, 
picks, etcetera... ******* great.

                            STAGE DOOR:

                            After the show I headed there. First to meet 
was Kenney Jones. I shook his
                            hand and told him honestly that I thought he 
did fit The Who at the period
                            he joined them (face it, Pete was writing pop 
songs and Kenney was great
                            for that, maybe not for YBYB, but he is very 
good on Athena). He replied:
                            "Well thank you, but I'll always be a face.". 
(and signed my program)

                            Next one I met was the bass player from Humble 
Pie (what's his name?). I
                            greeted him saying: "You just made me a 
hardcore Humble Pie fan!", he
                            replied: "Hey, thanks. I saw you! Groovy!" (I 
was smack right in front of him)
                            (and he signed my program)

                            Next one was Billy Nicholls. I greeted him 
saying I loved his stuff on "J'aid
                            Baba". Replied: "Oh yeah... Uh... That stuff... 
Great!" (and he signed my
                            program)

                            Zak Starkey. I was standing a bit back but Zak 
saw me and greeted me
                            (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!) saying: "Hey Bjorn! I 
saw you! I think your
                            video is fantastic! You know what I'm gonna do? 
I'm gonna send it over to
                            John, he must see it!". I told him his beard 
looked groovy. He said "Thanks!". He asked me if he had to sign the program 
I was holding. I told him he didn't have to. :-)
                            And we said goodbye.

                            Other highlights: Just being in the queue with 
my friends Debbie, Emma and
                            RC (from Chicago). They make time go faster. It 
was still cold outside
                            though... But well worth it!

                            Oh man... When I walked into the Astoria I was 
yelling and praising the
                            stage... I was there on my own (almost). I love 
going to concerts and
                            especially GA concerts.

                            And next time Humble Pie will play, I'll be 
there...

                            Please forward this to any Steve Marriott, 
Humble Pie or Small Faces lists
                            (and let me know where I can find these lists).

                            London rocks.

                            Love,

                            Bjorn

Bjørn Ciggaar
http://www.warande.net/~ciggaar

"You're all fucking stupid!"
- Pete Townshend (MSG, 7th of October)