No 2 the O2.

Living in the country I seldom go to live shows; in fact I'm struggling to remember what was the last such occasion. There have been many notable events down the years, and the recent passing of Walter Becker reminded me of a great show by Steely Dan in 2007 at Hammersmith.  That venue has been rebranded so many times but to those of a certain age it will always be Hammersmith Odeon. Once upon a time a venue like Hammersmith was considered high capacity for pretty much any touring band, irrespective of how big the name. There have been festivals and fields full of people seemingly forever of course, but over recent times bigger and bigger venues have become much more the norm.

So where and when did the change begin. Was it Shea Stadium? Are The Beatles to blame?

I've been to one or two arena gigs over the years and quite honestly I really get very little enjoyment from them for a number of reasons.
When still living in London we went to see Lionel Ritchie at the O2. Having worn out the corny joke about whether or not he would play 'All Night Long' we headed off to the peninsula, took our designated places about two thirds of the way back in the arena, and watched five tiny little dots in the middle distance run through Lionel's back catalogue.

I didn't hang  around to hear him play All Night Long in the end, as having been detained for what seemed like hours in a post Barbara Streisand gridlock a year or so previously I knew what to expect. I like venues where you can walk out of the door, straight into the street and go your own way. They're a lot safer too as has been proved by recent tragic events, and I certainly have no wish to be corralled just attempting to leave an event.

A well-worn formula that was trotted out regularly for many years was 'Glenn Miller tribute plus firework display'. I did a great many such shows with several of the bands and the objective always was to break those drums down and make a run for it before the audience began to mobilise, otherwise you would be stuck in an enormous jam on the cramped exits roads of properties curated by the National Trust before it became obsessed with diversity.


My rule of thumb is that if I need a big screen image to confirm that that tiny dot on the horizon is the person I have paid £85 to see, I'm better off watching a DVD at home. In my house there's never a queue for the lavatory and we don't drink out of plastic glasses.



Cadogan Hall just off London's Sloane Square is a particular favourite venue to play. This will come as a surprise to nobody as it has been the setting for a number of concerts by my big band over the years. In addition I have worked there for other people and sat in the audience for several shows. The auditorium has a capacity of about 900.You can see everyone and more importantly, they can see you. If you don't want your interval drinks on site you can walk to The Botanist, or any number of other establishments. You have freedom to choose something other than overpriced fizzy lager or tepid chardonnay to be found in the 20,000 capacity venues from which there is no escape until it's time to leave. A non-captive audience is my kind of audience.

One of the more recent live shows I attended was at Pizza Express, Soho, with a band that included the legendary Steve Gadd on drums. To be able to watch this titan of the drums at super close range (not for the first time I might add) makes for great education as well as entertainment. Dean St Pizza is a favourite venue both to watch or to perform. Its near neighbour Ronnie Scott's ranks very highly too.

Having dealt with the visual aspect it's also worth considering sound.
I like to play as acoustically as possible. I don't like having my drums close mic'd if at all possible, and I would always prefer to play without a monitor wedge deafening me on one side. There's nothing quite as 'real' as being able to hear the natural sound of one's fellow musicians. Acoustic performance gives you optimum control over dynamics, balance, intonation and a whole lot more. I have no wish to be thirty yards from my rhythm section cohorts; I want them where we can communicate effectively.

Just like my earlier comment regarding video screens I would rather hear the sound being created by the players as opposed to the front of house engineer. In even the smallest of rooms a modicum of re-enforcement is often needed, but I still like to be able to hear the natural sound as created by the artists on stage.

Music is not football or athletics, it can be performed perfectly in a relatively small space. Think about it for a moment, putting a concert on featuring a four piece band in an 80,000 seat sports arena makes about as much sense as holding the FA cup final on the stage of the Amersham Arms. Sadly corporate greed tends to trump artistic integrity almost every time. Artists making a comeback doing stripped back 'acoustic' shows are often doing so because of declining box office numbers rather than a desire to get closer to the paying audience.

If I ever found myself in the somewhat unlikely circumstance whereby my band could fill an arena I simply wouldn't do it.

Ten dates filling a 30,000 capacity venue is roughly 350 shows in an 850 seat venue. I know which I would prefer to do. Think of all the diaries full of gigs for 14 musicians (plus the odd dep) and I'd get the chance to play at peak form, because there's only one way to do that, which I'll share on a future occasion.