Live in 2023: Wrong Jovi live at Acapela Studios, Pentyrch, on Saturday 22nd April 2023

I've been a lucky boy this week - I've been able to see 3 excellent tribute bands at the top of their game. First up at Acapela was Spandau Too then on Friday night it was Cloudbusting in Neath and last night it was back to Acapela for Wrong Jovi.

I have also been lucky enough to have seen the original Bon Jovi 3 times over the years so it was a journey into the past I was looking forward to. Bon Jovi have released some of the greatest anthems in Rock so I was sitting there happy and waiting for the oncoming nostalgia fest.  What did surprise me was the number of ladies compared to gents in the audience. It was probably 70-30% to the ladies. Perhaps those Bon Jovi love ballads have worked their magic over the years but more of that later,

You Give Love a Bad Name

Part 1 kicked off with the high octane You Give Love A Bad Name and Born To Be My Baby - the crowd were up for it from note one. Then all of sudden one of the keyboards goes down. Now these things happen in live music and it's how you deal with it that counts. So, the band then launch into Lay Your Hands On Me - which is mainly guitar based, to a great cheer from the crowd. For the rest of Part 1 we were on one keyboard but that didn't matter one jot. The only song we lost was Runaway, which was a shame for Natalie sat next to us as it was her favourite Bon Jovi song. Saying that, they didn't play my favourite Bon Jovi song either - Who Says You Can't Go Home, that's the deal we're given Natalie, if you're reading this!!

For the next song we turned to solo Jon Bon as we were treated to a storming version of Blaze Of Glory - by now the crowd upstairs and downstairs were on their feet and the Ladies were dancing!!

Blaze Of Glory

When I've seen Bon Jovi over the years they always had a female following but not to the same extent as tonight's audience would imply. Is this because over the years they've released some excellent ballads and love songs? Well, the next three songs brought the Ladies down to the dancefloor in front of the stage. The danced and sang their hearts out to These Days, In These Arms and Bed Of Roses.

In These Arms

Bed Of Roses

Part 1 came to a rocking close with another Bon Jovi rocker - Have A Nice Day.

Have A Nice Day

After a short break we're ready for Part 2 and Natalie and her friends have joined the now throng of Ladies (and a few brave Gents) in front of the stage as the band launch into another excellent version of Lay Your Hands On Me.

Lay Your Hands On Me

I have to say that by this point I can see that the band are really up for it and with the second keyboard back in action, to a great cheer, the intensity has certainly risen a few degrees.

Another excellent singalong came next as the band played Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - my second favourite Bon Jovi song.

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

I'll be there For You, Bad Medicine & This Ain't A Love song kept the train moving on and the tempo up before an amazing standing ovation brought the band back for encore one. As 'Richie' strapped on his acoustic double neck for the now famous introduction to Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Next came the biggest song of the night - and by God it's another ballad - Always. The crowd and the band sang their hearts out and there were definitely several ladies with tears in their eyes to this one. A real emotional highlight.

ALWAYS

The final encore were two of Bon Jovi's biggest songs - the mighty Keep The Faith and to finish, what else but Living On A Prayer

Keep The Faith

It always happens - the songs I wanted never turned up!! I was in the NEC Birmingham when Bon Jovi filmed the live sections of the Sleep When I'm Dead video. I can see myself in the audience, so that song holds a special place in my heart. Maybe next time!

So Wrong Jovi's first gig at Acapela came to an end and proved a mighty triumph. So many people had a fantastic night with another fabulous tribute act. I really take my Stetson off to these guys for working so hard to bring audiences a memorable experience and a chance to revisit and recall past memories and former glories. It's bands like this that are keeping these songs alive. 

All photos copyright ©️ Nick Baker 2023

Twitter - @WrongJovi

Click to access the Official Wrong Jovi Website

 

Live in 2023: Spandau Too at Acapela Stdios, Pentyrch on Saturday 15th April 2023

 

It was going to take something a bit special - a lot special actually - to bring me out of my self imposed blogging retirement. Lockdown and no gigs took away my musical spirit for a while and I've been gradually getting it back.

Tonight at Acapela, I witnessed something a LOT special. Spandau Too blew the roof off the Acapela,

Now, I'm there at least every other week watching a huge variety of bands and artists and I've had some great nights there but not many leave me hoarse from singing. Tonight did.

A relatively new tribute band, less than a year, Spandau Too have chosen some of the toughest songs to present live. Ove their six album career Spandau Ballet went from young Soul Boys to a sophisticated purveyor of fine songsmithery with intricate arrangements and instrumentation. And TOO deserve applause for successfully recreating these fabulous tunes. All famously composed by Gary Kemp - except for 2 Tony Hadley solo songs, tonight's 2 hour set recreated the band at their height of their power.

With the normal Acapela 'game of two halves' the band played two 1 hour sets with a break, which for an audience now of certain vintage was a relief for a couple of reasons.

The band kicked off set one with the first single - To Cut A Long Story Short

It's obvious from song one that these know how to play. And Ian's voice is enough like Hadley's to carry off the songs with the same conviction, power and drama that Tony put into every song he sung. 

All six of the albums were visited in tonight's set with most of the biggest hits held over for the second half. a wise choice as a section of the crowd were up and dancing in the second half.

Part one included such beauties as Communication, I'll Fly For You and Round and Round

We were also treated to lesser known Spandau songs such as Foundation, a fabulous version of Swept and a two part version of Pride.

Swept

The highlight of part one was a storming version of the Through The Barricades where vocalist Ian Pont really showed the power behind his vocals.

Spandau Too - Through The Barricades

Part one ended with one of the Tony Hadley solo songs - the uplifting Because Of You - the perfect way to leave the crowd wanting more.

Tony Hadley - Because Of You

Part Two opened with the second of Tony Hadley's solo songs - Take Back Everything, another uplifting and uptempo number.

As I said earlier, most of the big hits were held back for part 2 and with the audience now up and dancing it was lift off in Acapela.

The first big surprise of Part 2 was a spirited version of Glow which was part of the Musclebound release as a double A side in 81 and never appeared on the Journeys To Glory debut.

Spandau ballet - Glow

Next up we had the The Freeze from Journeys before two of my favourites,

Lifeline from True and Instinction from Diamond with enough of the Trevor Horn dynamism which made the remix probably my favourite Spandau song. 'Stealing Cake To Eat The Moon', indeed.

Spandau Ballet - Instinction

Spandau Ballet - Lifeline

Only When You Leave was up next - a slight breather before we return to Diamonds and the powerhouse duo of Chant Number 1 and Paint Me Down.

By now the band had the audience in the palm of their hand and they saved the 2 biggest hits until the final two songs. Unbeliveably as i write, the true album has just celebrated it's 40th birthday. Where the hell did that 40 years go????????

Acapela was now singing on the top of it's voice and really, it was quite moving. Even the boys were singing!

The final song, was of course Gold!

It really was a privilege to be here tonight to hear these fabulous songs played live. The audience loved the show - plenty of handshakes at the end didn't go unnoticed and hopefully the band will be invited back to play another show - if so, please include Heaven Is A Secret. 

Please visit the Spandau Too website for the full line up of tonight's band.

All photos copyright ©️ Nick Baker 2023

THE SPANDAU TOO OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Twitter - @SpandauToo