Event Date: November 2, 2009
Event Venue: The Globe, Cardiff

Either I'd forgotten just how good a Southside Johnny gig can be or he got even better! There were a few changes from the last time I saw Southside:  a little more facial hair, the trademark shades being discarded early on, and the ever changing line up of the Asbury Jukes.

But much remained the same, including great musicianship from the eight strong backing band,  featuring a strong horns section (sometimes reminiscent of the Memphis Horns sound), keyboards, drums, lead and bass guitars.

There were the trademark gestures and the false starts: Johnny deciding he didn't want to do this song right now when he was a few lines in, killing the band when they chose a number he didn't want tonight or stopping a band member who'd outplayed their solo.  He certainly likes to control the show and make decisions on the fly - you wonder if it gets frustrating at times for the band, although I guess they know what they are going to get.

But when it all comes together it's truly glorious: the anarchic and spontaneous nature of a Soutside Johnny performance making a refreshing contrast to some well-known bands working though their stale set lists. In then last few years I've seen both the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen with the E-street band in Cardiff's Millennium stadium and hardly enjoyed them. They'd lost whatever it was that delivered those great experiences years ago. This was much more fun, with even Springsteen's own numbers like "Love on the Wrong Side of Town" sounding better here.

There was a lot of humour in the performance and the interaction with the crowd - never far from the stage in this wide and shallow small venue - was certainly entertaining. It's not often you get an audience member asked up on stage to sing chorus lines in Welsh!

If the lyrics were mostly about frustrated love, break-ups and heartbreak (inevitable with so much blues and soul influence), the sound was truly uplifting. As the gig progressed there was an increasing emphasis on crowd-pleasing numbers with sing-along choruses - I'm still hearing songs like Talk to Me and Walk Away Renee, days after the concert.

Above all, there was total commitment. On stage for a non-stop two and a half hours, Johnny left the capacity crowd with big smiles on their faces. Best gig I've seen in Cardiff this year.

Event Date: October 8, 2008
Event Venue: Waterfront Norwich

My brother an me arrived at the venue at 19.15 for a 19.30 start to be told that was no supprt band and the show would start at 20.30. We were let in the venue at 20.00 and made for the bar for refreshments before the gig. We were among around 200 people who had turned up to see Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. At 20.30 sharp Johnny and his 8 piece band came on stage. The band consisted of lead and bass guitar, drums, keyboards and a horn section.

The band broke into the first song of the night but we were unable to hear johnnys vocal. So at the end of that song i shouted out to him that he couldnt be heard so he got his sound guy to turn up his vocal and from thereonin it bacame a fantastic and memorable evening. The band were spot on especially the horns, consisisting of 2 saxophones, trumpet and trombone.
Johnnys vocal was excellent and they threw out some great blues numbers and soulful songs. Johnnys harmonica playing was superb and there was some great banter as he asked me if his vocal was ok for me now he could be heard properly.

They played some Sam Cooke covers and early Springsteen stuff plus the two highlights of the night for me, "I dont want to go home" and Without Love.

After 3 encores the lead guitarist, Bobby, came over to me and handed me his pick and we also got autographs at the end.

All in all a fantastic night of entertainment and i would definetely recommend the band to anyone who wants a great night out and even though there were only around 200 people there the atmosphere was great!