John Fogerty

The circle at Hammersmith Odeon (sorry Apollo) is scary-steep and the standing room at the back of the circle puts you high in the air, almost looking straight down on the band. But when John Fogerty is playing his first UK gig since Creedence Clearwater Revival split up you don't quibble: if these are the only tickets left then that will do very nicely!

The audience were as ‘up' for a gig as I can remember and ranged from Jerry, a fifty three year old who claimed he had seen the infamous Albert Hall gig, to Mary, a blonde 48 year old who had dragged her husband to the show “even though he is more Dire Straits”, to Pete, a nineteen year old who knew all the songs and “grew up with my dad playing Creedence and Ted Nugent”.. Looking around at the crowd, it seemed that there were as many in their early twenties and late teens as there were fifty-somethings and late forties and when the songs started pouring out, the whole audience was singing the choruses including the youngsters.
The temperature in the old place must have been hitting 110 degrees and as Fogerty and his band hit the stage it easily leapt up another few. They opened with ‘Travelin' Band', moved on to ‘Green River' and then proceeded to just pour out the hits one after another. As he played the opening chords to ‘Who'll Stop the Rain' or to ‘Lookin' out my back door' or ‘Born on the Bayou' the crowd immediately synched in and either sang the chorus or the whole song with the band. Fogerty's solo material received scarcely less adoration but the biggest cheers were for ‘Heard it through the Grapevine', complete with gonzo guitar duel and ‘Keep on Chooglin' and these two had the crowd collectively up and dancing, much to the worry of the security teams. The encore section of ‘Favorite Son', ‘Rockin' all over the world' and, finally, ‘Proud Mary' brought the audience to a collective fever pitch and then the house lights came up and it was over. For a moment it looked as though the crowd were going to demand another encore but as the warm down music started they turned and meekly headed for the exits.

John Fogerty wrote some of the greatest Rock/Pop songs ever: fact.
John Fogerty, at 63, is as lively and activated as he was in 1971: fact (thanks Jerry).
His band is as tight as the proverbial Drake's bottom and his voice is as raw and twangy and powerful as it ever was: fact.
John Fogerty didn't need to give a classic performance at the Apollo but he did; fact and nearly four thousand others will back me up on it.
One of the shows of the year and if he never comes back again at least I'll be able to say I was there.

Set list:

June 29 Thu London, England Hammersmith Apollo
Travelin' Band
Green River
Who'll Stop The Rain
It Came Out Of The Sky
Lookin' Out My Back Door
Blue Moon Nights
Commotion
Born On The Bayou
Porterville Cotton Fields
Ramble Tamble
Midnight Special
Bootleg
Deja Vu
Heard It Through The Grapevine
Have You Ever Seen The Rain
Sweet Hitch-Hiker
Long As I Can See The Light
Keep On Chooglin'Down
On The Corner Centerfield
Up Around The Bend
Old Man Down The Road
Bad Moon Rising Fortunate Son
Rockin' All Over The World
Proud Mary