Cyndi Lauper at Hammersmith Apollo

Cyndi Lauper
Matt Henry
Hammersmith Apollo, 30 June 2016

I confess, although my first music love was Madonna, I haven't seen that many pop shows over the years but Cyndi Lauper, while every inch a superstar pop star especially back in the 1980s, has always felt a little bit more punk rock to me. I wasn't really keen to see her live for the first time when she was doing her dance music and blues excursions but when she announced she was releasing a country album I knew this finally was the tour for me.

Neil Young + Promise Of The Real at the O2 Arena

Neil Young + Promise Of The Real

Laura Marling

O2 Arena, 11 June 2016

At the Graham Nash show last week I met a man who was seeing Neil Young live for the first time at this O2 Arena gig and I warned him, "don't expect him to play the hits! Neil plays what he wants and that's part of what makes him so great and exciting to watch!" Well, my words have come back to haunt me because tonight Neil played many of his best loved songs, kept it easy on the new tracks and still was exciting as ever. Even giving the audience what it wants, Neil manages to still be completely unpredictable. I was so used to Neil never pandering to those who want the old hits that when he actually does it, well, it's a huge surprise and almost as shocking as when he rolls out a 30 minute feedback-filled unknown number.