17 December 2010 (gig)
19 December 2010
The event was a celebratory live recording of The Pretty Things first cataclysmic album – released to a world who had been schooled in modern Pop & Blues by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and leaving all who heard it with mouths agape at the sheer attack and anarchic brio of the album.
45 years on and with the 100 Club apparently saved – we still don’t know the full details – The Pretty Things took the stage being led through the (over) capacity crowd by manager Mark St John and showed all the old aggression and sheer enjoyment at playing.
The album was being played in its entirety and in the original order and was recorded on the Ronnie Lane mobile for release on vinyl only so they started off with the rambunctious rock & roll of ‘Roadrunner’ and proceeded to tear the old place a new orifice.
Dick Taylor and Frank Holland were trading licks, Phil May was his usual punchy ‘guvnor’ self and with the aid of Lorenzo Moufflier on harmonica they made a wondrous din and had the 350 or so punters that had braved the -5c outside jumping around like pogoing fleas.
‘Judgement Day’, ‘Big City’, their own ‘Unknown Blues’, ‘Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut’ all came pounding out, driven by George Perez on bass and Jack Greenwood on drums and giving a full-on sight of just how powerful and awe inspiring they have been over nearly 50 years of R&B.
The second set kicked off with ‘The Beat Goes On’ from their most recent album ‘Balboa Island’ – it really could serve as a statement about the venue as well as the band – and then they went on a troll through their back catalogue with standouts being ‘SF Sorrow Is Born’, ‘Lonliest Person’ and a superb ‘Mona’.
The Pretty Things have been going for nearly 5 decades and they keep the music fresh by bringing youngsters like George Perez and Jack Greenwood into the band and developing their talents – they have described it in the past as ‘handing on the baton’ – which is why they continue to attract crowds whose age range from late-teens to grizzled old veterans.
They have never been crisp and clean but they have always given the crowd a taste of true rock mayhem and been true to the spirit of Bo Diddley and Friday was a great night from a career littered with them.
