Friday show

Way late, huh? And my camera battery expired, so no visual evidence. (If you've got shots you'd like to share, I'll be happy to post; let me know. We especially need pictures of Pete's outfit).

Anyway ...

This was the night Pete Watts went back to being Overend Watts. He was all over the stage. He came to the front so often I thought he'd be playing in the front row at any moment. And he talked quite a bit. "We're now a four-piece," he said when Ian Hunter went offstage to get something or other. "Ian's retired."

Better show than Thursday because of the energy shown. I can't say enough about how much fun they seem to be having, unlike what I've heard about the Pink Floyd and Cream reunions. These guys seem really happy to be out there and to be together again. Also much more crowd interaction, Ian, Mick and Pete frequently came forward and extended hands to people up front.

No major setist changes. I fear it will be the same all three nights I'm here, shame. They dropped "Like a Rolling Stone," which was impromptu anyway. They added the old "one of the boys, two of the boys, three of the boys" routine to "One of the Boys" after not doing it Thursday.

At one point Ian asked, "How many were here last night," and got a loud response.

"See," he said, "we've only sold about 40 tickets, 900 times over."

Ian also rolled out his old joke about asking for requests. The twist was that Overend came to the mike and requested "Angeline," which, of course, was the next song on the setlist.

Same deal with Buffin, except, believe it or not, he wasn't introduced. Also he didn't walk stage front before the encore, just started off on the drum throne. Better that way. On Thursday, people were shocked and saddened watching him stumble to his spot.

Ian thanked Jimmy Page and Mick Jones for being there. I didn't see them. He also implied that Noel Gallagher was there and dedicated a song to him. He said Duran Duran had been there Thursday. I was told Mick Box was there Thursday buying T-shirts.

Joe Elliott wasn't out for "Dudes" on Friday.

Gotta say some words about Martin Chambers. The man is a powerhouse. As someone said I believe in my comments section, he's really driving the band. I don't know the band's plans going forward, but if they do New York as rumored you need to hope Martin is a part of it. He's listed as a guest musician on the program. The program also elaborates on his previous relationship with Buffin and Pete.

Correction from Thursday: Mick Ralphs' son is James. Addition from Thursday: The other woman in the chorus is Phoebe White from Tracey's band.

Another slight change Friday that worked for me: They had Stan Tippins, back in the chorus, doing the "I've got this friend, he's a screwdriver-jiver" portion of "Honaloochie Boogie." Great idea, as Ian often screws it up.

Oh, on the so-called Golden Tickets: It's disorganized. You're supposed to get various bonuses with tickets in the front two rows, but they're not being proactive about it. You've got to seek them out and ask. I did. The bonus is a program signed by all five MTH members and Martin, a poster also signed and a laminate. No T-shirt. The T-shirts are pretty nice, price 18 pounds.