I'v been to quite a few gigs this/last year. Some good, some middling and some, err, many, less than tolerable. Dammit, I even walked out of a concert by Robert Plant - his p***-poor efforts laid to rest all my years of undying admiration and affection for Led Zep. What a refreshing and spellbinding change Antonio Forcione proved to be. We saw him at the Stables in Wavendon (near Milton Keynes) and a joy it was too. He is described as the 'acoustic Jimi Hendrix', an epithet he thoroughly deserves for his technical wizardry and musicality. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate him as 'otherworldly'. As we all do I bought the 'Live' cd on the spot and this has proved to be a great addition to the cd collection.

In order of enjoyment I would rank recent live concerts/artists as:
1. Antonio Forcione
2. Angel Brothers
3. Jules Holland et al
4. John Mayall
5. A choir+orchestra at St Albans cathedral - not kidding.
157. Here Say
158. Robert Plant
159.

These choices reflect a preference for acoustic music which comes over particularly well (I think) at the smaller venues. Any recommendations anyone and why?

Gilad Atzmon.
Excellent music and repatee.
E.g. Gilad reported how he had been to a recent U2 gig: "After one song Bono began eulogising about the Make Poverty History campaign. In typical melodramatic style, Bono started slow hand clapping ...*clap*...*clap*...*clap*... After half a dozen claps Bono spoke: 'Everytime I clap...'*clap*...'a child in Africa dies'...*clap*...
Someone in the audience shouted out 'Then stop clapping, you bloody ******!'

Gilad's plays a mean jazz sax too!

DF