Wilko Johnson - I should Koko!

Wilko Johnson –  live at Koko 6^th March 2013.

While waiting at Mornington Crecent tube station, I spot the first ticket tout who goes by the name of Terrence, as I’m soon to discover. He looks every inch the low life scum bag you’d expect and within minutes he’s joined by an equally disheveled colleague who hands him a £20 note as his share of a deal.  Terrence though, can’t quite work his sums out and gets into a heated exchange with his colleague who derides him as a useless, thick c**t. Saved me the job of doing it.
Luckily I don’t have to wait too long for my friend to arrive and after grabbing a drink we find a space to the right of the stage near the front. It’s already filling up nicely and before long, support band Eight Rounds Rapid take to the stage wearing black suits with skinny black ties. I’d been looking forward to seeing them for a while and wasn’t disappointed. With Wilkos’ son on guitar there’s a familiar choppy guitar sound, while the vocalist reminds me of ATVs Mark Perry in places.  It all adds up to a great blend of punky, New Wave R&B, with some great songs such as Steve, Britain's Got Talent and the single Channel Swimmer.  Before long Koko was heaving as The Who’s Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy entertained us before Wilko took to the stage for the first of his two London dates on his farewell tour and was welcomed on stage like a conquering hero back from the crusades. From the first moment he fixed his stare, peppered the audience with imaginary bullets and strutted back and fro across the stage, the crowd responded with cheers. This was a celebration of a man whose unique guitar style  was pivotal to the sound of Dr Feelgood and influential on the punk movement  and for many in the audience, they’ve been with him since the Feelgoods first kicked open the doors in the back rooms of pubs up and down the country.  Wilko certainly seems to be enjoying himself as Dylan Howe and Norman Watt-Roy supply the powerful rhythms to his staccato guitar chops. The man I feel sorry for is the cameraman focusing on him as he darts across the stage, Wilko doesn’t stop all night as he runs through his set,  including the Feelgoods era classics Roxette, She Does It Right and Going Back Home. Alison Moyet joins him for two songs including All Through The City and she’s sounding as good as she looks. Wilko soon takes charge again and finishes with Bye Bye Johnny, with everyone waving back to him during the chorus.  Wilko departs but the audience demand more and he returns for a second encore. He looks humbled at the adulation as he leaves for the last time and the audience go home happy that Wilko is still very much alive. 

                                                                 Eight Rounds Rapid

The Truth live at The Borderline 26th October 2012

They Just Can’t Seem To Stop! The Truth take a Step In The Right Direction back on the live stage.

At the tail end of 1982, Dennis Greaves split Nine Below Zero and formed The Truth, a clean cut pop soul band. If Nine Below Zero had musically been based in Chicago then The Truth had upped sticks and moved to Detroit, swapping blues for soul.  And 30 years after they were selling out the Marquee constantly, they reconvened a mere 5 streets away in The Borderline off Charing Cross Road for their 2nd gig this year, after their appearance on 5th May at 229 Great Portland Street with the original line up of Dennis Greaves, Mick Lister, Brian Bethell, Chris Skornia and Steve Phypers.

Joei Supernova. Photo by Dave Edwards.

 Support for the night came from The Supernovas and the Holloway lads warmed the crowd up nicely with their spikey 21^st century power pop.  Frontman Joei Silvester shoots his guitar at the audience ala Wilko Johnson and spits his lyrics out like a young Paul Weller while the rest of the band keep the pace with a clutch of riffs the Buzzcocks would be proud of.  Crowd pleased, job done and time for a well earned beer before the theme from Stingray drums up the audience as The Truth take to the stage to great applause. They start with From The Heart and right from the off the crowd are singing along, I look around and there’s a sea of smiling faces and for a moment I’m back in the Marquee all those years ago.

Dennis Greaves. Photo by Dave Edwards.

Even Dennis Greaves seems a little overwhelmed at the welcome but leads the band straight into Love A Go Go before Mick Lister takes over vocal duties on Is There A Solution from the Playground album. All the favourites are there, debut single Confusion, follow up A Step In The Right Direction, Playground and I’m In Tune, all sounding as fresh as they did back in the day. The Truth built their reputation as a solid live act and did nothing to tarnish that reputation, getting the audience involved with Nothing’s Too Good For My Baby and the traditional set closer Just Can’t Seem To Stop. An encore was guaranteed and they came back for Everlasting Love and finished as always with a fine take on The Equals I Get So Excited.  It may have taken a couple of years to get this gig on but I can honestly say it was well worth it and judging by the reaction of the band as well as the audience, I think we can safely say it won’t be so long before we get see The Truth live again.

Dennis Greaves and Mick Lister in tune! Photo by Dave Edwards.

With Mick Lister and Mark Notton. Photo by Dave Edwards.

Originally published on 31st October 2012.