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Review by Simon Leppington
Sharks are a young, noisy, energetic four piece who play a great set of brash, catchy pop punk that really impressed. They support the Gaslight Anthem on tour later this month. Viv Albertine, former guitarist with all-girl punk legends The Slits, does a solo 30 minute set of quirky, sometimes amusing and very memorable acoustic-guitar backed songs about love, sex and boys. It’s the same set that went down so well at the Rich Kids’ reunion at the start of the year, and with the venue quickly filling for the main event she gets a great reception from the crowd. (Pictured right: Viv Albertine) By the time the lights go down for the Philistines, the venue is absolutely heaving and very hot and sweaty indeed. In fact, it’s the perfect atmosphere for their brand of raw, pounding straight-down-the-line rock 'n' roll. The crowd are treated to the Circus Music theme as the lights are dimmed and the new-look Philistines take the stage. We have James Stevenson (Chelsea, Gen X and The Alarm) on lead guitar, Javier Weyler (Stereophonics) on drums, Jim Lowe (producer of Glen’s album and countless others) on bass and Mr Matlock himself playing rhythm guitar and of course taking lead vocal duties. The line-up tonight is augmented by Tracie Hunter (daughter of Mott legend Ian), Maggi Ronson (sister of Mick) and Elizabeth Westwood (James’ glamourous missus) on backing vocals. They are joined mid-set by the fabulous Patti Palladin.
With just a “Hi, how ya doin?” from Glen, the band burst into live favourite Rattle Your Cage. The sound is very up front, with Javier’s pounding drum work and Jim’s deep bass driving the riffs forward fast and furious. Then it’s straight into material from the new album. We are treated to Somewhere Somehow, which actually had its debut a while back and really benefits from the addition of the harmonies from the backing vocals. Without further ado, the group tear into three further new songs from the Born Running album. This is a very brave move from the band so early in the show, but demonstrates the group’s confidence in the new material. And they’re so catchy, the tracks feel strangely familiar, even on first hearing. Timebomb, co-written with Patti Palladin, is first to get an airing, with James’ fantastic lead guitar work really putting icing on the cake. Next is Hard Work and then one of the stand-out songs of the night T.R.O.U.B.L.E, the girls really giving it their all.
As band and audience catch their breath, Glen dedicates Burning Sounds to former Philistine and Rich Kid Steve New, who sadly passed away earlier this year, the song tonight imbued with added poignancy. This is admirably followed by new song Get What We Get, and then it's live favourite Idiot, the crowd following Glen’s instruction to sing the song’s title back during every chorus. Following up, and true to the spirit of this being an album launch night, in quick succession we hear Something Tells Me, the fantastic Nowheresville and then Yeah Right!, the crowd drowning out the girls in the enthusiastic call and return chorus. These are followed by Way to Go, Electricity and then Rock Chick, dedicated to all the ladies in the audience. The band end the set with the terrific title track of the last album On Something. The crowd of course won’t settle for this, and to no-one’s disappointment, James picks out one of the most familiar intro licks in rock 'n' roll history – the legendary Pretty Vacant. With Spizz jumping up onstage and giving us his own interpretation of the first verse before Matlock advisedly takes over, the crowd go ballistic. As time’s nearly up, the band then launch straight into the album title track Born Running which goes down a storm. And then it’s over. The set lasted 70 minutes but flew by and before we knew it, the show was over. It’s not enough guys. Come back soon. Text ©Simon Leppington ©Phil Singleton www.sex-pistols.net 2010. All rights reserved. |
