I have replayed this gig so much in the telling that I didn't write about it- and now it's a week later!
What fun this was. I'm only going to write about them quickly because I'm just about to head off somewhere and this post will be replete with spelling errors #dyslexia no time to check.
Well, the rowdies in the audience were up and running before the band even came on stage. The Thunderbirds theme tune heralded the event, and arms aloft and Hawaiian-shirt-clad, Paul Baker strode on to the stage and off they went.
This band are 1980s sound encapsulated (the better bits) and what they really excel at are singalong choruses. This is what the rowdies came for, and it made for a tremendous atmosphere. Dancing, leaping, gurning and hugging at the front the rowdies waited and waiter for the choruses, trying to mime the verses and then ... BANG! There they were!!
Paul's a fantastic front man. He went into the audience and sang along with them, completely unfazed by their joining-inning. Further back, older fans also sang along, some discreetly filming. The other Paul, who used to play sax in Helen and the Horns, played some fabulous sax solos and looked to be at the peak of joyful exuberance. The guitarist and bass player are full of beans, and I have to say that the drummer is absolutely excellent. Before lockdown, I did three years of drum kit classes and it has now made the role of the drummer (the drum roll, as one co-learner quipped) really fascinating. The musicianship of the band is superb (which maybe passed the rowdies by), but you can't deliver such seemingly effortless choruses on a broken-down vehicle.
It was such an enjoyable evening, not just because of the music, which rocked The Troubadour, but also because of being right in the middle of Fun with a capital 'F': an audience of young rowdies who added themselves to the mix and sealed the deal on a really great night out.
Later this weekend I'll post a video and you'll see what I mean.
Had to post my own little video fragment:
1 comment:
Drummers eh? Do you remember me bending your ear some time ago about 'someone should write a book about drummers in punk'? The premis being that while you can go out, buy a guitar, learn 3 chords and hit the stage that evening, thats not really possible with drums. I really think someone who was there, and is an accomplished and respected researcher and author, needs to write it.
I reckon it would be a cracking read.
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