This unofficial site features his current and recent events and tours
Review of Greenwich Beer and Jazz Festival - 30th May 2010
This was the first of Tony's solo shows for the summer, an outdoor swing show at the Greenwich Beer and Jazz Festival. Tony was the last act of the day to be on, with three others. Three beers from his brewery were supposed to be on sale, but unfortunately they didn't have any Hadley's Gold, so I had a taste of Crazy Dog Blonde, but as beer isn't really my thing, I sampled some of the ciders on sale too. Those who had Hadley's Chili Beer were not that complimentary, so unless you like hot chilies, you won't like the aftertaste of this one.
After the rain on the Saturday, I was worried that we would get wet too, but Sunday turned out breezy and sunny, but not that warm, but my raincoat and umbrella stayed firmly in my bag.
We'd seen several band members around the venue and spoke to Richie B who said that they would be due on stage around 8.30 pm, so as soon as the previous band packed up, we made our way to the barrier and waited for Tony to start. Just a little after 8.30 pm, Tony came on stage. He was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a black tie with a flower print on it, he looked fit and well, but a little nervous as he hadn't done a swing show for a while.
I didn't write the set list down, so going in no particular order, (I think) this was the set list: Too Close for Comfort, Mack the Knife, Suspicious Minds, Only When You Leave, Love for Sale, True, That's Life, Wives and Lovers, The Lady is a Tramp, Wait for You, Feeling Good, Just a Gigalo, Fly me to the Moon, There must be a way, I wanna be around, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, The Good Life. The encore was Delilah, Let's stick together and Gold.
It was an excellent show, Tony seemed to be really enjoying himself and was bantering with the audience. When he announced Delilah he said that he liked a bit of cheese with his beer!
It was great to see Richie B, Simon Wilescroft, Dan Carpenter and Graeme Flowers as part of the band and the rest of the band sounded really good and a great accompaniment for Tony's voice.
I'm so looking forward to the next one of these at the Hampton Court Beer and Jazz Festival in August. You don't have to be into beer or drinking to enjoy these festivals, they sell soft drinks and 'ladies' drinks too. I'd recommend going if you can get there.