I got there as Convictus was finishing up. There were about 120-150 people there, not a bad turnout. There were a surprisingly number of people with Convictus shirts as well.
Merch was pathetic, they had 3 shirts- 2 colours with 1 lame card design and 1 decent but kind of boring UFO logo shirt. They DID have a Paul Raymond Project 4 CD set, however. That seemed rare, esp for $20.
Convictus had some kind of hillbilly rock thing going on. They didn't sound BAD, but they didn't stand out to me. I think a friend said it best- if they were playing at a bar, he wouldn't leave. But he wouldn't go to the bar just to see that band. I think I heard 1 full song by them. People gave them an OK reaction.
UFO came on around 10 with the surprising opener of "Lights Out." Usually this song is reserved for later in the set. It also was played at a slower tempo, which also threw me off. It still sounded good, but it kind of needed to be faster!
Phil Mogg had various diatribes about things, including Springfield Rifles (Where are we? Springfield? that's where those rifles were made, right?), some obscure British movie that Brian apparently had seen, stupid fans, and getting old. The shirt of the night award goes to the guy in the rare vintage Glenn Hughes shirt (wish I had gotten a picture, I need to start that feature) (it looked like of like this, but different- like a profile shot, with long hair). There was, of course, one drunk asshole who kept on shouting "Rock Bottom" after. every. song. So that got old after the 2nd time. I seriously considered strangling him, but then I would have not gotten to hear "ROCK BOTTOM." When it finally came on I think he shut up for a bit.
Phil sounded about as strong as last time, which was great! Vinnie Moore still doesn't get the credit he is due, and people will always bitch about Michael Schenker as long as UFO is touring. If you want to see UFO, go see UFO. If you want to see Schenker, go see Schenker. but don't get hung up on it, like Skid Row and Sebastian Bach (I think their current vocalist has been with them longer than Bach ever wast). I will say, however, that a couple solos were a bit...not as good as Schenker's- but Vinnie is no slouch and I don't really have any complaints about his performance. Well except that "Lights Out" could have been faster and "Let it Roll" DOES sound better by Schenker. Mr. Paul Raymond and his Rod Stewart rooster haircut sounded solid as well. The rhythm section was good as well. I can't recall where Pete Way and his visa fall into this, storywise, but it def was not him on bass (Looking at the wiki, it seems like they finally got tired of his BS!).
Setlist wise, I think it was nice to hear some different things, but of course you can't cut out the classics. "Love to Love" in particular still stood out as one of the best of the night. There wasn't very much reaction for the new songs, but they still sounded alright. I would have loved to hear "Self Made Man," (hey they still play the far inferior "Venus" from that album!) but what can you do? Other than that the Doctor x2 and Shoot x2 were excellent. After it was all said and done, it was about 2 hours of a show- totally worth every penny. After all these years (Phil is 65!), they still sound amazing. Well I'd need to ask my brother how they were back in the day, but you know what I mean. I know guys half Phil's age who don't sound half as good.
Next Show:Flag of the White Rose/ Stitched Up Heart
Photos:
Merch
UFO
UFO Love to love
Paul Raymond
setlist
UFO (10:08 - 12:02)
- Lights Out
- Mother Mary
- Fight Night
- Wonderland
- Baby Blue
- Mojo Town
- Let It Roll
- Cherry
- Burn Your House Down
- Only You Can Rock Me
- Love to Love
- Venus
- Too Hot to Handle
- Rock Bottom
- Doctor Doctor
- Shoot Shoot
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