We need to catch the sadly declining number of living legends while we still can, especially those few still coming over from the USA to the UK. One person who fits that description is former Creedence Clearwater Revival lead singer, guitarist and songwriter John Fogerty.

CCR in their short life fused the sounds of the British invasion with varied influences from the traditional music of the deep south, creating a swamp rock sound that defied their Californian origins. While we can talk of the influence that the Beatles, Stones, Who and Kinks had on popular music, they arguably rank alongside the Beach Boys and the Byrds as the most significant American rock acts to come out of the sixties (there’s a new conversation topic to fill any awkward gaps in pub chat with your music mates).

Appreciation of their work has been reawakened by the recent film of their 1970 European tour and its blistering Royal Albert Hall gig, and so presumably the hope was that this fresh interest and a rare UK appearance for the ‘Celebration Tour’ would fill the 02, where he last played in 2018 on a co-headline with Steve Miller.

However that proved optimistic with big gaps in the cavernous bowl seating and quiet concourses. In hindsight the crowd could have been squeezed into a totally sold out Albert Hall and that would have been even more special.

There was a somewhat unusual opening: first as the lights dimmed, it was for a longish video interview with him, and then when the band came on an awkward silence as his guitar refused to make a sound. Fortunately within seconds we were up and running with one of Creedence’s most out and out rockers in ‘Up Around the Bend’, followed by the swampy grooves of ‘Green River’ and ‘Born On the Bayou’. ‘Rock and Roll Girls’ was the first of only a few trips into his solo catalogue – its eighties provenance betrayed by a prominent keyboard intro and a searing solo from flamboyant sax player Rob Stone.

The theme of the evening was that of later life contentment from a man who has suffered more than most from the vicissitudes of the industry expressing particular delight he finally owned the rights to his own songs again. It was also a family affair as sons Shane and Tyler- who had opened proceedings with their own band Hearty Har- were his supporting guitarists and most of his family got a name check, notably wife Julie, as his tribute to her, ‘Joy of My Life’, saw wedding and other family photos form a backdrop to his acoustic guitar and Rob’s sax playing.

He also looks remarkably unchanged from CCR days, clad in trademark blue check shirt and neckerchief and with an enviable lead of hair. For sure, his voice no longer has the raw primeval power of the young Fogerty and is a little thinner but he still sounded good and was able to deliver the classics in recognisable form.

The set took a pattern of pop nuggets in under three minutes like ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain’, ‘Looking Out My Back Door’ and ‘Lodi’- and some longer workouts notably ‘Run Through the Jungle’ where he played harmonica and ‘Effigy’ which was one for the Creedence connoisseur in an otherwise exclusively greatest hits set. ‘Keep On Choogling’ saw him charging about the stage reeling off solos with the vibrancy of a man 20 years younger.

Suddenly during ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain’ I noticed that the front block, which had to date been resolutely seated in the main, were now to their feet and stayed there for the rest of the set, making for one of the best atmospheres I’ve seen in this rather corporate venue. It helped that he casually slipped in ‘Bad Moon Rising’ which I later discovered should have been the opener but for that technical hitch. I was listening out to see whether he would sing the famous mondegreen ‘there’s a bathroom on the right’ -and I think he did!

From now on it was one classic after another to get people moving, from the joyful ‘Down On the Corner’ to a rocking ‘Travelling Band’ to a singalong to the bluegrass-like ‘Cottonfields’ which turned South East London temporarily into a little part of Dixie. Briefly raising the spectre of that ridiculous lawsuit when he was accused of plagiarising himself ‘The Old Man Down the Road’ took on a different feel with a lengthy jam led by Shane before Dad joined in, then a fast and furious ‘Fortunate Son’ closed the set.

A toast with something sparkling summed up the celebratory air of the evening before a couple of even more singalong encores. There was a link as they were both Fogerty compositions arguably made more famous by others, starting with ‘Rocking All Over the World’, though I still prefer the Quo version with its added outro, then with a portrait of the two behind him, he then paid tribute to Tina Turner, generously saying she had made ‘Proud Mary’ her signature song.

The set was a little short at an hour and a half and it would have been nice to hear a few more of his solo songs like ‘Centerfield’ (though a celebration of baseball is a bit niche for a UK audience) and ‘Almost Saturday Night’, which was only aired on tape as the band left the stage.

Nevertheless this thoroughly enjoyable show did what it said on the tin, a celebration of his life and work and Creedence in particular. The missing thousands missed out on a treat. An extremely vigorous looking 78, maybe this wasn’t a farewell to the UK after all?

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)