It was 40th birthday two weeks ago and as a present to myself I bought two tickets to see my beloved Stereophonics.

After being alerted by the Phonics fan site that they were doing a warm up show for their greatest hits tour, I was straight on the dog and bone.

First stop was ticketmaster though, how awful is that site!!?? I was pulling my hair out as the site kept stalling and dying, so next stop, after being calmed down by my other half was the actual venue box office. By 9.30 that morning all tickets had been sold barring 20, so I was lucky enough to get two of those. Thank you to the wonderful box office staff.

I had booked the day off with my other half to drive up to Bristol so we could possibly vie for a place at the front. If you’ve ever been to a Phonics gig before you know it’s like a rugby scrum, every man, women and child for themselves, lots of jostling and pushing and shoving in order to get a good position in front of your favourite member of the band, But this gig was like no other I’ve been to!!!

We arrived at the venue at 1.30 on a bitterly cold Friday morning, temperatures had dropped to 2 degrees that day, the venue looked like a bomb site, this was mainly due to the fact that it was undergoing a £20 million pound face lift for the redevelopment of the foyer. We were surprised cause when we arrived there were four other mad fans that had been there since 11.00 that morning, once we’d got chatting we realised one of the fans, Elke, was from Belgium and had been travelling since 10.00 the day before. Talk about being die hard we found out that she’d already seen the band 13 times over the duration of 2008, now that’s dedication for you.

The whole emphasis of fans getting to a venue early is just to catch a glimpse of their heroes, even a photo with then or a chat is enough to keep the fires burning and the passion for the band ongoing. The band tuned up on their tour bus late in the afternoon, there were a total of 8 fans there waiting, and they would end up disappointed as the band decided to go straight in to the venue, only a ‘Hello’ from Kelly would suffice. It looked like balloons had been popped and everyone was quite upset, especially after enduring the cold and ending up looking like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

Everyone was freezing so we decided to grab and sandwich and take refuge in the car mainly to gain feeling of our body parts back as we’d frozen to death. We left the die hard’s in the queue fuming!!!

Colston Hall is a fabulous venue used to holding theatrical performances and classical concerts, as well as the odd gig here and there.

Tonight was a standing gig, but you could sit if you felt like it, or if you just wanted comfort you could sit in the stalls and grab your ice cream throughout the performance!!

The support act tonight was a band called ‘London Blackmarket’ from the East Coast.
MySpace.com - London bLaCkMaRkEt - Eastcoast, UK - Punk / Rock / Soul - www.myspace.com/londonblackmarket
The lead singer, if you closed your eyes, sounded like Eastenders ‘Joe Swash’, [Mickey], they entertained us with a 30 minute set which was quite samey, the audience didn’t seem that impressed, especially as all the punters around by me were talking most of the way through the set, which is bloody irritating!!!


Stereophonics are one of the best live bands I’ve seen and I must admit I have been a fan for the last ten years.

Tonight’s show was all in aid of a warm up, we were told by Mr Jones that we were his Guinea Pigs and they were testing the running order to see how the songs went down with the punters and to see how happy they were.

Stereophonics have been around for eleven years and never released greatest hits, UNTIL NOW!!! The 14th November saw the release of ‘Decade in the Sun’, a celebration of the last ten years. With six studio albums and one live album, it’s easy to see that 11 of the singles went top five and that there are in total 21 single releases on the deluxe version of the album.

The band have been touring for near on two years, firstly with album Pull the Pin, appearing at various festivals including V festival at Hylands and Weston Park to name a few and now with Decade in the Sun.

Stereophonics took the stage at Colston Hall and were blistering. They played a thundering set of 26 songs, which took two hours. It was a pleasure to my ears, the backdrop and lighting was easy on the eye, nothing spectacular, but we were there for the music and to celebrate the last ten years. Kelly wore his trademark leather, Raybans, Jeans and t-shirt, if ever there was a Mr Cool he was it!


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Not much talking between songs by Kelly, the whole feel to the show felt different to me. I had warned my other half to expect a rough ride and that there was always lots of pushing and shoving and previously I have been covered in bruises as a result of enjoying myself at a Phonics gig. This gig was quite subdued, it just felt different.

Although Bartender and the Thief, the first song in the set got everyone going.

The highlight of the show was the two song acoustic set by Mr Jones, I absolutely loved it. Maybe tomorrow and it means nothing, two classic Phonics songs. I must admit here that his rendition of ‘It means nothing’ moved me to tears. This man is so talented it’s untrue. I don’t think people give him the credit he’s due.

The first 90 mins flew by so quickly, then the encore came, they went off stage to rapturous applause, the crowd went totally wild. Kelly came back on stage with the rest of the guys to tell us his Mom and Dad were in the audience and were celebrating their anniversary. His Mom went to the dressing room during the encore break and asked whether carrot cake and wine was on the set list and Kelly said ‘No’.
She said it better F****** be, so the boys decided to sing it as a dedication to Kelly’s parents.

The set list cries out and lists hit after hit, after hit, its hard to believe this band have been around for eleven years now.

• Bartender and the thief
• Bank Holiday Monday
• A Thousand trees
• Superman
• I wouldn’t believe your radio
• Pick a part that’s new
• Have a nice day
• My own worst enemy
• Hurry up and wait
• Vegas two times
• Since I told you its over
• Step on my old size nines
• Handbags and Gladrags
• Madame Helga
• Mama told me not to come
• Devil
• Moviestar
• Mr Writer
• Just Looking
• Local boy in the photograph
• Maybe tomorrow
• It means nothing
• Carrot cake and Wine
• More life in a tramps vest
• Traffic
• Dakota

I shall never tire of seeing this band live, every song I listen to is like a first play of a single or album. Roll on the next album and live tour I say!

You realise after going to a gig like this how far this band have come, from humble beginnings in Wales playing local clubs and pubs to being stadium fillers in their own right.

Myspace.com

Michelle Owen.