Pulp - Hammersmith Apollo - 28th July 2023

I once commented that I thought that Jarvis Cocker was "the most (only?) interesting man in British pop".

Looking back it seems a rather pompous statement, worthy of those music journalists I despised when I occasionally picked up a copy of NME or Melody Maker as a teen, but there's little doubt that Pulp made some of the most interesting Britpop records and that much of their material has stood the test of time far better than the nasal whines of Oasis and the rather bizarre stuff of Blur.

Not being a fan of big outdoor events, I was disappointed to see their original "This is what we do for an Encore" tour was all outside, but equally excited when I later saw they were adding a few indoor venues, including one of my favourites, the Hammersmith Apollo (I'm sure they could have filled the O2 for a week, so it was great to see them play the far more intimate Apollo. Jarvis commented at one point that they'd never played the Apollo, but he had always wanted to, so maybe that played into the decision).

However, I balked at paying £80+ when the tickets were announced (I'd never paid anything like that before - St Vincent, at the same venue was around £35, David Byrne less than £50!) and in the couple of hours before I changed my mind, they'd sold out, so I figured it wasn't to be (I certainly wasn't paying insanely inflated resale prices).

And then, a couple of weeks before the event, they released another batch of stall tickets and I didn't hesitate, getting a ticket for the first of the two gigs.

I'd seen the setlist from some of the other events on the tour and reminded myself of some of the lesser known tracks in the time before going.

I drove to Richmond, parked for free and caught a tube into Hammersmith, arriving about 6:45.

I decided not to join the queue and went to Nandos for dinner, returning about 45 minutes later and walking straight in.

The venue was fairly busy, but with plenty of room in the stalls for me.

The curtain was drawn, with a collection of very traditional instruments in front of them.

Just before 8, three men and a woman appeared from behind the curtain and picked up/sat behind their instruments.

This, is turned out, was Lisa O'Neill, an Irish Singer-Songwriter. To be honest, they were 100% not my taste. I didn't like the mournful tunes, I didn't like her voice, there was zero charisma, but I guess some will have liked it. The least worst (for me) song was a cover of a Sinead O'Connor song, performed in her memory, but I'm sure the original was better.

It seems she is a favourite of Jarvis, but she didn't do anything for me.

There then followed a short film in memory of their former Bassist, Steve Mackey, who'd died earlier in the year at the age of just 56.

We had the usual shennagins after that, the the Irish instruments being taken away and then, at 9 sharp, the lights went down and the words "Good Evening" were projected onto the curtains.

Further words were then projected, all leading up to the name of the tour "This is what we do for an encore".

Jarvis Cocker, of course, is famous for attacking Michael Jackson's crucifiction performance at a Brits Award (and rightly so, self-regarding Paedo twat that Jackson was), but clearly a lot of the crowd regard him in near messianic terms (Am I veering into Music Journalist pomposity again? Perhaps it's unavoidable with Cocker).

"I-Spy" opened the set and as the curtains drew back we saw the band and a string section spread across the stage.

We could hear Jarvis, but he wasn't on stage,but as a large moon image was projected on the back of the stage, he rose from the floor to be silhoutted against the moon.

Disco 2000, one of their crown jewels was the second track, ensuring that anyone only slightly familiar with their material was quickly up to speed with the rest of the faithful.

As you can hear here, most people were singing loudly along, but in the audience, you could hear that Cocker's voice was the usual distinctive, near-spoken one and that the band were still remarkably good, helped by the string section's swelling of the sound on many songs.

"Miss-Shapes" followed, and then the gentler "Something Changed" was dedicated to Mackey, followed by the seedier Pink Glove and Weeds and Weeds Part II, which demonstrated Pulp's often darker lyrics and tone.

But part of Pulp's appeal is their breath of styles they can perform so deftly, as the bombastic "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." and "Sorted for E's and Wizz" amply demonstrated.

A throne appeared at the top of the stairs where the moon had originally been and Cocker lounged louchly in it for "This is Hardcore".

The chirpy upbeat sound of "Do You Remember The First Time" and "Babies" followed, driving the audience and then the main set finished on the lesser known "Sunrise", ending as Cocker walked into a setting sun lamp.

Of course, we all knew there was an encore to "This is what we do for an encore" and they were very quickly back to perform "Like A Friend", "Underwear" and, of course, their most famous song "Common People" (with an introduction of the band members) which absolutely (as the phrase goes) brought the house down, with everyone upstairs in the seats on their feet as well as the 'Hardcore' down in the stalls.

The lights didn't go up though and no-one in the audience was leaving, so back they come for a second encore (as I knew they had elsewhere).

This was made up of lesser known tracks, "After You", "Razzamatazz", "Glory Days" and finished on the second outing for 'Hymn of the North", a song written for a little performed play and then that was the 11 O'Clock curfew reached.

So, that's what happened, but did I feel it was worth the money?

Writing this the following day, the songs are still swirling around my head.

Jarvis was the gangly, angular, witty, really rather likeable frontman he always was (tossing chocolates and grapes into the audience at times!), if (like all of us) no longer the youth he seeemed on the early videos that sometimes played on the back drop to the stage.

The band performed well, sometimes it's not easy to recognise songs at first when they're performed live, but they sounded like they did on recordings, with the added excitement of a live performance.

The string section buoyed the sound where appropriate (again something many bands neglect, or I guess can't afford, on live performances), although there was a long section where they were absent, only returning for the second encore, I think.

The venue was packed and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Gigs at the Apollo always, in my experience, feel like a small venue gig with some of the advantages of a bigger one. Bigger stage, lighting, good acoustics and that sloping floor that ensures that even at the back of the stalls, you can still see the stage clearly!

Aside from the finale, every track was a nostalgic trip down the best of their back catalogue, with no 'this is off our new album and we'll never play it again after this tour' filler.

I'd have included Live Bed Show, personally, but I'm sure everyone else had a favourite track missing, but I'm sure few would have minded another hour of this!

The audience surprised me a little. Of course there were plenty of 50+ aged people there, but there were also lots of people in their 20s and 30s around me and they seemed to know the songs as well as I did.

So, overall, I'd say it was a great gig, not the very best I've been to and the support act left me cold, but Pulp delivered a fantastic performance and I don't even mind having paid the price of the ticket!

It has, though, cleared out my gig budget for 2023! Luckily, I've already booked a couple more gigs for later in the year.

Setlist:
I Spy
Disco 2000
Mis-Shapes
Something Changed
Pink Glove
Weeds
Weeds II (The Origin of the Species)
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
Sorted for E's & Wizz
This Is Hardcore
Do You Remember the First Time?
Babies
Sunrise
Encore:
Like a Friend
Underwear
Common People
Encore 2:
After You
Razzmatazz
Glory Days
Hymn of the North

Bootleg Blondie - Harlington Centre, Fleet - 30th June 2023

A few years ago, I would haven't dreamt of going to see a Blondie tribute act.

Generally, I was quite dismissive of tribute bands, but the Illegal Eagles persuaded me that some cover bands could really do justice to the original act, in some cases surpassing what the original was doing today.

Blondie, of course, still tour, but there's no doubt that, approaching 80, Debbie Harry's voice is certainly not what it was.

I was never one of those lads who went gooey eyed over Debbie Harry in period, but she definitely had a sex appeal that many younger female singers didn't have and the band as a whole had a slightly jaded viewpoint to their songs that I always liked.

I think it was the French version of Sunday Girl that hooked me into Blondie, but from Parallel Lines, I went back to their original album and really liked the gritiness of that, combined with some Shangri-Las like tones. Plastic Letters is a good album, too, but while I didn't hate later stuff, I generally found the next couple of albums weaker and only really listened to them again when Maria was released from the No Exit album, which is actually up there as one of their best, I think.

That Bootleg Blondie were appearing within walking distance, on a good day, of my home persuaded me that a relatively small outlay for a ticket was worthwhile.

I saw Blondie's performances at the IOW and Glastonbury festivals and felt that the time to see the real thing had definitely passed, but would the Bootleg version be worth the time?

The venue was oddly setup with tables at the rear and standing at the front. Although the band were on a stage, I can't imagine seated people would have seen that well once things got going.

They came on stage, 4 musicians dressed on grey jumpsuits, and started playing the instantly recognisable introduction to Heart of Glass, probably Blondie's best known song, which seemed an interesting place to start.

There was a mock Royal Mail phone box on stage and Debbie Harris (is that her real name?) appeared from it, dressed in the grey slip dress that Debbie Harry wore in the video for the song. With tousled blonde hair, there was no doubt she was going for the look as well as the sound.

The band, I have to say, musically performed the songs excellently throughout, but, as with Blondie, a lot rested on the singer's slim shoulders.

I never saw Blondie live in period, so it's hard to say how much Bootleg Blondie vocally sound like Blondie. They certainly don't sound like the records and, thankfully, not like they do now, so I guess the only question is "Did I enjoy their renditions of these tracks?" - Absolutely!

After Heart of Glass, they moved quickly into Dreaming, never a favourite of mine, if I'm honest, and then 11:59 and The Tide Is High, pretty effectively covering a number of the styles Blondie embraced.

By this stage, most people were enjoying themselves (except the irritating couple next to me who carried out a shouted conversation through every song. Why would you pay money to go to a gig JUST to shout a conversation with someone? What is wrong with people, this is far from the only time I've encountered it).

The less well known Island of Lost Souls and I'm on E followed, then they slowed it down a bit with French Kissin' in the USA before moving into Rapture.

Famous for being the first UK number 1 featuring rapping, I have to say Rapture was one of the highlights of the evening, although I hate rap with a vengance generally. It's a funky track and the band not only played it well, but added to the recorded version I'm familiar with.

At this point 'Debbie' disappeared for a few minutes, before returning in a different era outfit (featuring a bin liner jacket with 'Debbie Does Fleet' on the back, which later got donated to a member of the audience whose birthday it was) and then we had Atomic, Eat to the beat, Pretty Baby and Will Anything Happen.

There was a 20 minute or so interval at some point, although I don't recall exactly where in the set list, which I'm sure many of the audience, being in their 60s and more, appreciated.

Debbie changed outfits again and the band also returned in the leather jackets and jeans of another Blondie style era.

Angels On The Balcony isn't a song I recognise and they may not have actually played it in Fleet (The setlist below is pretty close and made up from one in London and my memory), but they then went into a series of mostly early tracks (If I'm honest, I like the first album more than later ones); I'm Gonna Love You Too, Presence, Dear, Detroit 442, X Offender, In the Flesh and Rip Her To Shreds.

This section featured songs from the "No Exit" album, Nothing is Real but the Girl and the no 1 hit, Maria.

I think it was at this point that we got another outfit change and Debbie returned in the red shirt and boots from the Sunday Girl era.

We also got Fan Mail (an early track), Denis, I Want That Man, Sunday Girl (with a verse in French) and Debbie picked up her guitar for Union City Blue.

The main set finished on Call Me, with a phone to her ear, but they just kept on playing after thanking us for coming.

We had a couple of non-Blondie covers, Heroes (David Bowie) and an excellent cover of Get It On (T-Rex), the best I've heard since the Power Station's cover.

They finally rounded out the evening by playing 'Heart of Glass' again ("In case you missed it before!", which was a real possibility for latecomers!).

Someone online had said they'd seen Bootleg Blondie recently and that I was in for a good time and I have no quibble with that statement.

From what I've seen, you'd only go and see the original Blondie now for nostalgia, Debbie's voice has gone and, to be honest, ticket prices are ridiculous!

Bootleg Blondie give an energetic, enjoyable and authentic taste of what Blondie at their peak were like at a far more affordable price.

You'd be lucky to get a Blondie gig T-Shirt for the price of a Bootleg Blondie ticket and, whilst never a huge Blondie fan, I did have a really enjoyable evening.

I think I'm 100% cured of my prejudice against good tribute acts now!

Setlist:

Heart of Glass
Dreaming
11:59
The Tide Is High (The Paragons cover)
Island of Lost Souls
I'm on E
French Kissin' in the USA
Rapture
Atomic
Eat to the beat
Pretty Baby
Will Anything Happen?
Angels on the Balcony
I'm Gonna Love You Too (Buddy Holly cover)
One Way or Another
(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear
Detroit 442
X Offender
In the Flesh
Rip Her to Shreds
Picture This
Nothing Is Real but the Girl
Maria
Denise
Fan Mail
I Want That Man
Sunday Girl
Union City Blue
Call Me
Heroes (Bowie cover)
Get It On (T. Rex cover)
Heart of Glass

Glenn Tillbrook and the Beautiful Landing - The Brook, Southampton - 16th June 2023

I'd seen Glenn Tillbrook twice before, once solo at the tiny West End Centre in Aldershot and once, with Squeeze, at G-Live in Guildford.

I'd particularly enjoyed the Aldershot gig and when I saw he was doing a 'Glastonbury warm-up gig' at The Brook, in Southampton, I bought a ticket.

It had almost slipped my mind by the time it came around, but I set off in plenty of time, only to be massively delayed by a drunken idiot in a silver BMW causing a multiple car accident that closed the M3!

So it was that I arrived just as the support act completed their final song. On the strength of that, they didn't really sound my cup of tea and I wasn't too worried, just being pleased I hadn't missed the main event.

At nine sharp, Glenn appeared with a couple of members of the support act and performed a solo song, By the Light of the Cash Machine.

His voice is distinctly the voice of Squeeze, even though Chris Difford (Who I'd also seen earlier in the year) does sing lead on a few tracks, and sounded good still, although initially the sound balance wasn't great, with the lead guitarist (his son, I think) drowning out the vocals much of the time.

This did improve as the set progressed (I saw Glenn point to himself and then upwards at one point).

The solo tracks were 'Squeeze'ish and generally enjoyable and well received, but I didn't recognise any of them.

Luckily, Glenn is no fool and knows that many come to hear him perform Squeeze tracks, which do make up a good part of his career of course and we soon got one in the form of 'Annie Get Your Gun'.

Squeeze were always a band I liked, but never really followed in period and, truth be told, I've enjoyed the solo gigs by Chris and Glenn more than the full Squeeze one I went to, but I do find the songs catchy, clever and witty, so it's always a pleasure to hear them.

We had another couple of solo tracks, now with most of the support band (as The Beautiful Landing now) on stage, providing a slightly too powerful sound in the small venue, but I'm sure they'll be great on a festival stage.

Then we were into a prolonged set of Squeeze songs that had the crowd singing along and applauding loudly.

"Temptation for Love" wasn't a track I recognised, but the female singer from the backing band joined Glenn for this one and it was really rather good, a moment of peace in a largely energetic set.

A rather unexpected inclusion was a solo cover on guitar of "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, which reminded me a lot of the Aldershot gig, where Glenn took requests!

The hits "Another Nail in my Heart", "Pulling Mussells" and "Up The Junction" were stand outs for me, but we got a good selection of Squeeze's hits.

The encore was barely noticeable as such, as the band put down their instruments, said "Thank You" and then promptly put them back on and performed an instrumental track!

The evening rounded out with Labelled With Love and Slap & Tickle (no "Cool For Cats" tonight!), before they finally left the stage.

A lot of people left, but I was half expecting a 'proper' encore, so hung around for a while, but when the lights came on, I knew it was time to leave.

So, where did I rank this performance? Well, it was good, but I still think the Aldershot one was the best I've seen Glenn Tillbrook.

I do think, though, that the band and the setlist will go down a storm at Glastonbury, so if you're going, go and have a listen!

Setlist:
By the Light of the Cash Machine
Everybody Sometimes
Happy Disposition
Annie Get Your Gun(Squeeze song)
Parallel World
Still
Is That Love (Squeeze song)
Temptation for Love (Squeeze song)
Another Nail in My Heart (Squeeze song)
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell) (Squeeze song)
Don't You Want Me (The Human League cover)
Black Coffee in Bed (Squeeze song)
Tempted (Squeeze song)
Untouchable
Goodbye Girl (Squeeze song)
Up the Junction (Squeeze song)
Take Me I'm Yours (Squeeze song)
Encore:
One for the Road
Labelled With Love (Squeeze song)
Slap & Tickle (Squeeze song)

Rhoda Dakar - Banquet Records, Kingston - 30th May 2023

Many, many years ago I saw the Bodysnatchers play a gig in Bournemouth.

I'd really gone to see The Selecter, who I must admit I found rather disappointing, but the infectious fun of the all-female Bodysnatchers left a last memory and Rhoda Dakar was their lead singer.

The band didn't stay together long, breaking up before they could even record an album (some went onto form the core of the Belle Stars who had some success), but Rhoda went onto perform with the Specials and has released a number of solo albums throughout the years, including one named 'Rhoda Dakar sings the Bodysnatchers', which is, in effect, the Bodysnatchers album that never was....

I'd started following Rhoda on the book of faces, after discovering the 'sings the Bodysnatchers' album and thought maybe I'd go and see her live.

One day she released a list of venues, but the closest was central London and I left a comment bemoaning the fact that there was nothing south west of there and she replied to it, quite reasonably stating that it was hard to justify going to venues where a small audience might be expected.

However, when she released another new album, Version Girl, containing covers of non-Ska tracks in a Ska style, I noticed she was doing an 'in shop appearance' at Banquet Records in Kingston (I'd seen Wet Leg at the nearby Pryzm through them) and for the price of the CD I could go and see her too, so it seemed a bit churlish to pass up the opportunity as it had arisen.

The shop is tiny (The only other 'in-shop' appearance I'd seen was Joan As Policewoman in Rough Trade Records in East London, which was a far bigger shop), but a good shop full of, mostly 60-ish, people arrived to listen to (and meet) Rhoda.

She sang live to a pre-recorded backing track of each song, no room for a band or even a backing musician, but she sounded pretty good in the venue, not designed for it's brilliant acoustics, over a fairly standard PA system (I'm probably doing it a bit of a disservice, as it was impressively clear).

I was delighted when she started the short set with Easy Life, a Bodysnatchers song, as I'd really expected only tracks from the new album.

She followed that up with "Everyday Is Like Sunday", "As Tears Go By", "What a Wonderful World" (recounting that her father had played with Louis Armstrong in the 1920s in Paris!), "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Peace, Love and Understanding", which all seemed to suit the Ska-versioning brilliantly.

Again, to general delight, she finished on another Bodysnatchers song, "Do Rocksteady", a track originally by the man who wrote "Version Girl" which was the track which inspired the title of the new album (although it turned out, as she told us, that the "Version Girl" on the album is their version as they couldn't get the licence for the sample!).

Rhoda must be my sort of age (early 60s), but she looked good and trim in her Brixton Cycles cycling jersey (my Dad, a Londoner and avid cyclist would have approved!) and her voice sounded impressively good still.

Unlike The Selecter's lead singer, Pauline Black (who always seems joylessly serious to me), Rhoda still exudes the sense of fun that the Bodysnatchers embodied all those years ago (Although not all her material is frivolous, lookup The Boiler for a grim example of that).

Afterwards she stayed to sign people's albums and CDs and chat, but I'm not really one for that and found myself at the very back of the queue anyway, so headed home.

Had I stayed, I would have told her that I thought the new album features some great versions of some familiar songs in the Two-Tone style and deserves to be a huge success.

For the price of the CD, it was a great, if short, event, and I will definitely try and see her perform a full gig at some point.

Setlist:
Easy Life (Bodysnatchers Cover)
Everyday is Like Sunday (Morrissey Cover)
As Tears Go By (Rolling Stones Cover)
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong Cover)
The Man Who Sold The World (David Bowie Cover)
Peace, Love and Understanding (Elvis Costello Cover)
Do Rocksteady (Bodysnatchers Cover)

PVA - The Boiler Room, Guildford - 6th March 2023

This was a random choice, but one I enjoyed, even if I'm still struggling to put a name to the genre!

Feeling a bit bored and in need of a February cheer up, I browsed my local venues' upcoming gigs.

There was no-one I recognised that I fancied seeing, so I searched a couple of the unknown acts on You Tube and as a result booked to see PVA a couple of weeks later.

My initial impressions were they sound a bit like a hard-edged 'Confidence Man' and I figured I couldn't go too wrong for £12.50.

I arrived around 8, just in time to catch the support act, Circe.

I would have to say, she was probably one of the support acts I've least enjoyed.

She was in completele darkness throughout, with a projector showing images behind her. I assume there was some relevance to the images to the songs, but I couldn't pick out any of her lyrics, with the exception of an odd expletive.

Between songs, she muttered the odd thanks and more expletives - Generally, bloody awful, I thought and I was grateful for a trip to the bar after a few songs. Each to their own, though, she seemed to have some support in the audience.

Aside from hearing their album, I knew next to nothing about PVA, but obviously they have a following as the venue filled up, if not to capacity, at least to a healthy March Monday night crowd by the time they came on stage.

The band are a man (Josh Baxter) and a woman (Ella Harris) on synthesisers (the latter sometimes on guitar) and an old-school drummer (Louis Satchell), although there is a fair amount of drum machine in their sound too.

The first song was a noisy affair, with plenty of energy, but sounding rather thrash-metal at times. I remember thinking that this wasn't a track you'd hum on the way home!

Luckily, the next track was a more familiar sound, being from the album, Blush, which I'd heard on YouTube and which was typical of the rythmic electronic sound that had tempted me to buying a ticket.

Oddly, they too, chose to (or had to) play in near darkness, with just the odd flashing light to illuminate them - Surely The Boiler Room weren't saving money on their electric bill by failing to light the stage?

The set was short (about 50 minutes) and there was no encore (although Ella did - jokingly I assume - suggest they'd sing acapella versions of the songs they hadn't played at the Merch stand after the gig - I didn't stay to find out if that was true).

However, it was energetic and catchy on the whole. Ella was the centre of attention (Although Josh did take centre stage on vocals and physically for the finale), with a fair amount of stage presence.

As I left, a youngish man asked me if I'd enjoyed it - I wondered if he expected me to say no,given I was at least twice his age, but I replied, "Yes, good wasn't it?" and indeed I'd felt it was.

I'm still not really sure how to define them, but the abiding feeling was that they projected loads of energy, with the electronic beat being the part that I retain.

Acid House? Disco/Punk? Electro/Heavy Metal? I've seen them all used to describe them, but I'm not sure any really fit! Their own PR describes the album as 'made from a formula of acid, disco, blistering synths, the release of the dancefloor and queer-coded sprechgesang post-punk', which I wouldn't say really helps!

I suspect this may have been a one off visit to see PVA, but I felt it was money well spent and I wouldn't be surprised if they go on to be huge.

Setlist: (from a recent gig)
Transit
Untethered
Hero Man
Bunker
Soap
Kim
Exhaust / Surroundings
The Individual

Chris Difford - The Boiler Room, Guildford - 9th February 2023

My first gig of 2023 was an evening in the company of Squeeze founder, Chris Difford

I've seen Squeeze as a whole band (at G-Live) and quite enjoyed them without being wildly enthusiastic.

I'd also seen Chris' partner in Squeeze, Glenn Tillbrook, at the tiny West End Centre venue, in Aldershot, and hugely enjoyed that.

So, I was hopeful Chris' solo gig would be enjoyable in a similar way.

I arrived on a cold Thursday evening, to find the venue about 3/4 full as the support act, The Beelines, were part way through.

They were quite enjoyable in a rather '80s new-wave/ska-ish way. I'm not sure I'd rush to see them as a headline act, but they were enjoyable enough.

Perhaps some of my reticence was down to that old bugbear of mine, poor sound balance. In front of the stage, the music sounded good, but the vocals were muddy and swamped. When I went for a beer partway through, I could hear the vocals more clearly!

About 9PM, Chris appeared with the man who had been setting up the stage for him, who he introduced as Melvyn Duffy.

I was right at the front, but looking around, I could see the venue was packed to near capacity.

Melvyn sat at a lap steel guitar (I had to look it up!), while Chris stood with an acoustic guitar throughout.

Chris Difford bears a resemblance to the lamented comedian, Sean Lock, and sounds quite like him when he speaks.

What I hadn't expected was for him to perform a mixture of stand-up comedy and music, but the combination was a winning one.

Chris recollected stories from his past in a highly amusing way throughout, usually leading us to a song.

So, for example, a story of a trip to a friend's family's caravan in Camber Sands (featuring pickled eggs and beer!) led us to 'Pulling Mussels'.

The combination of Steel and acoustic guitar gave the familiar Squeeze songs a different arrangement, but an extremely enjoyable one.

A running joke throughout was how getting a big star to cover one of his songs would make him 'minted', while another was his advice to other bands who supported them (Freddie, that Bohemian Rhapsody is far too long, it'll never be a hit! U2? You should call yourself U4, you'd be huge! and Cut out the Reggae stuff, guys, play some simple songs! The latter to The Police).

We laughed, we joined in (on most of the Squeeze tracks, Chris stopped singing for the choruses and, amazingly, the audience sounded great!) and we cheered.

The set wasn't particularly long, there was a lot of talking and there was no encore (It's too far to go up to the dressing room! we were told), but it was a brilliant gig that left everyone smiling!

Melvyn deserves another mention for his contribution on the slide guitar, as well.

Set list:
Take Me I'm Yours
What Happened?
Playing With Electric Trains
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
I Lived for Each Moment
Tempted
Fat as a Fiddle
Battersea Boys
Up the Junction
Cowboys Are My Weakness
Labelled With Love
Goodbye Girl
Cool for Cats

Skinny Lister - The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth - 23rd November 2022

I'd seen Skinny Lister once before, in the tiny West End Centre in Aldershot, and been mightily impressed with their energy as a live band.

I'd often felt I'd like to go and see them again, something I rarely do, and after hearing their new album and seeing they were out on tour again (they're a hard working band, seemingly always touring and/or recording - They announced another new album is on the way at this gig!) I decided to go and see them at a venue I'd wanted to visit; The Old Fire Station, in Bournemouth.

Bournemouth is about 60 miles away from my home, but I grew up in the area and went to college there, so I remembered the 'Old Fire Station' when it was just 'THE Fire Station', complete with fire engines and firemen, so one Wednesday in November I set off for my last gig of 2022.

The outside of the venue still looks as I remember, although little else did around this part of Bournemouth that I'd not been to in decades, there are now many modern multi-storey buildings around the area, a lot associated with Bournemouth University (back in my youth it was just a Polytechnic!).

Inside was disappointingly bland, just a large open dark space, with a long bar (serving only rubbish lagers, Budweiser and Carling figuring large - I believe this is a Student Union venue when not hosting gigs, but surely some students like a decent lager, at least?) - If I'm honest it looked like a student night club, the sort of place I'd probably have loved when I was 19, although I'd have wanted Stella, at least!.

I arrived as the first of two support acts was part way through his set. Tom Jenkins was a rather moody Welsh singer with a guitar. His songs were rather gloomy, but he'd do himself a few favours to sing more and talk less between songs, in my opinion. He wasn't terrible and one or two songs were quite good, in a gloomy, oh woe is me and South Wales way, but he wasn't (as you may have guessed) exactly my cuppa, especially as I was there for the fun and excitement I'd experienced at my last encounter with Skinny Lister.

After he left the stage a couple of black clad women appeared, one with a guitar and the other on Drums. They were Deux Furieuses and what a noise they made! It was slightly hard to credit that two people could be so visceral and loud. Impressively, though, you could hear most of the vocals (at least until part way through, but I think that was the band's fault as the guitarist/singer indicated a change of some sort to the sound people between a couple of tracks).

They're obviously a political/feminist band (one song was in honour of Sara Everard, another called Bring Down the Government), but I think anyone who likes powerful 'Post Punk' rock would find something to like here - Worth a listen; the drumming seemed especially noteworthy to me.

They were certainly a good warm up act and, after grabbing a pint of the least worst Lager there (Praha), I headed back to the front of the gig.

Maybe it was the layout of the venue, maybe it was just a November Wednesday, but there didn't seem to be that many people here. The Aldershot gig (capacity 200) was packed solid, but here I was standing right at the front, and there were spaces around and behind me.

If the Skinny's were disappointed by the turnout, they didn't let it show.

One of the things that had really struck me the first time I saw them was that they arrived on stage to the first note of the first song. Tonight, like most bands, they shuffled on with the lights down; change this, guys.

If that was a mild disappointment, there was little else to be disappointed about.

Skinny Lister are a 'Folk-Punk' (Their T-Shirts are now branded as 'Shanty Punk' - which does sum them up quite well) band who mix folk, sea-shanties, ballads and rock in a pretty unique blend.

Few other current bands feature a double bass and accordian, but if it all sounds a bit The Furies/Roger Whittaker and real ale and beards, it's nothing like that.

I honestly struggle to think of any act I've seen who engage an audience so entirely and quickly. Even the chilly and sparsely populated venue was soon up to speed, singing along and jumping up and down.

It was clear that many (if not most) people there knew the band and their material, some having travelled some distance (Southampton, Winchester and, of course, me from East Hampshire were all mentioned).

As the band rattled through familiar songs, a couple of new ones, destined for the next album, a guest appearance from 'Party George' (who is Lorna's father and writes some of the songs) and the hits (the main set finished on Trouble On Oxford Street) they never let up the energy or the rapport with the audience. The sound balance (a pet peeve of mine) was good, too, you could hear the singers (Dan mostly takes lead vocals, but Lorna does some) and the instruments.

If it had seemed at risk of being a bit of a damp squib of a gig with the poor beer, chilly air and thin crowd, it all faded away in the excitement of their performance and the fully involved audience around me at the front - We were having a a whale of a time!

Songs like 'Damn The Amsterdam', 'This is War', 'Dresden' (a song about arm wrestling!), 'What Can I Say', 'Rollin Over' and 'Cathy' were rattled off energetically and received enthusiastically.

A video of Skinny Lister in action in London

If there was one more mild disappointment for me it was the lack of 'Bavaria Area' on the set list, a song about being hassled by Bavarian Police, a song I could relate to and liked for it's Ska-influenced beat.

They were back quickly for a two-song encore ('Hamburg Drunk' and 'Six Whiskies') and then off to sign merchandise and have photos taken with fans. That isn't really something I do, but when Lorna briefly became free between photographs as I passed, I couldn't resist telling her how much I'd enjoyed the gig and that I'd seen her heavily pregnant at the last gig in Aldershot. One of the songs she sang tonight was 'Bonny Away' a song she described as 'her song' (her being her now 2 year old daughter), although they recorded it years before she was born. She seemed lovely, with plenty of time for the fans.

I'm not sure I'd rush back to The Old Fire Station. For Bournemouth gigs, the O2 Academy in Boscombe has far more character, but the sound was good and the issues of the layout (with half the audience behind the DJ booths) wasn't a problem on this occasion (I can see it might be for a fuller house).

COVID, no doubt, has done for the communal flagon that was passed around at Skinny Lister gigs of old, but the communal fun spirit in the crowd remains. We're all part of a big family, with a secret - One that needs to be shared with a bigger audience, because if you've not been to a Skinny Lister gig, you really have missed out on a great time!

My gigging for 2022 is done, but Skinny Lister, once again, proved the perfect way to end the year!

Setlist: This is from a European gig and not 100% right, but most of the songs here were played.
38 Minutes
My Distraction
Tragedy in A Minor
Rattle & Roar
Company at the Bar
If the Gaff Don't Let Us Down
Colours
Forty Pound Wedding
Geordie Lad
Damn the Amsterdam
Wanted
Bold as Brass
Bonny Away
John Kanaka
Rollin' Over
Cathy
What Can I Say
This Is War
Trouble on Oxford Street

Encore:
Hamburg Drunk
Six Whiskies