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JOHN FOGERTY
Wembley Arena, London 22 June 2007

Former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer and guitarist John Fogerty seems on a mission to make up for his lost years. An improbable 62 (does he keep an ageing portrait in his attic?), he rocked Wembley Arena enthusiastically for nearly two hours with a five piece band including legendary session drummer Kenny Aronoff and ex-Fleetwood Mac BillY Burnette. NeverTheless for someone whose band were major pioneers of blues and country influenced American rock in their day, it was a travesty that the venue was only a third full.

After many years being unwilling or even unable for legal reasons to play Creedence material, Fogerty’s current set unashamedly celebrates his past and of the 27 songs he whizzed through, by my reckoning only four were his solo efforts rather than Creedence oldies. However they included the recent Déjà vu All over Again, reviving the lost art of the protest song, and Centerfield (ironically an ode to the joys of baseball yards from the new Wembley Stadium) and The Old Man Down the Road got some of the best receptions of the night.

As for the Creedence numbers, all bases were covered, from rocking out on the likes of opener Travellin Band, Sweet Hitchhiker with great slide guitar work and It Came Out of the Sky, to songs rooted in American bluegrass and country like Born on The Bayou and Cottonfields. I Heard It Through The Grapevine gave the band a chance to stretch as Fogerty and Burnett jammed, and the appreciative crowd reached fever pitch with the crowd-pleasing home run of Bad Moon Rising, Up Around the Bend, and Fortunate Son, which I couldn’t help thinking was aimed at George W Bush.

Encores Rockin all over the world (yes, that one) and Proud Mary sent the crowd home in a party mood. And yes, he did sing his famous mondegreen ‘there’s a bathroom on the right’ during Bad Moon Rising.

Review by Andy Nathan