Great night in the West End thanks to Paul Gray and the original line up of Eddie & the Hot Rods at the 229 venue in Great Portland Street. The 1977 five-piece, with Richard Holgarth standing in for the late and sadly missed Dave Higgs on guitar, tore through a set of British pop/rock classics with energy and enthusiasm belying their years. An enthused and packed crowd greeted the band like long-lost friends and roared along to The kids are alright, Woolly bully, my favourites ‘I might be lying’ and ‘Ignore them’ plus the classic hit, Do anything you wanna do. Very enjoyable to meet the band backstage afterwards too. I then motored over to a relaxed Ivy Club to catch another MU colleague, Dave Webster, playing percussion with classy resident pianist Joe Thompson. The evening was marked early as one to remember by meeting Tony Blackburn walking down Gt Portland St in a very snazzy blue suit!
