Another one that required a bit of (relatively)
last-minute intervention… I’d booked this one ages ago, relishing a rare
opportunity to see one of my 80’s Liverpool post-punk “rockist” icons, the
effervescent motormouth and haphazard musical genius that is Pete Wylie, tread
the boards, particularly at such close quarters as Bristol’s excellent scuzzy
little Exchange, and also apparently delivering a career spanning retrospective
set in support of a new “Best Of” compilation. However, the proximity of my
recent knee replacement surgery precluded me from being able to drive, I couldn’t
find anyone else keen to join me, and by the time I’d sweet-talked my dear lady
wife into both coming along and arranging sitting for the daughter of the
house, the damn thing had sold out! Bah! Luckily, a pleading note on Pete’s Facebook
page elicited a couple of favourable responses (including one from the man
himself!), including a kind offer of a free spare ticket from a fellow punter.
So, all systems go!
An early departure to drop Jami
off, and a trundle down into very foreboding dark skies nonetheless saw Rach
and I park up opposite the venue in relatively dry conditions, meeting up with
our saviour Emma (AKA Flo) and her brother-in-law Russ. Bought them both a
drink (the least I could do, really…!) and enjoyed some gig chat before doors
opened, and Rach and I grabbed a bit of wall bench, house left. My first
post-op gig without crutches, but I’m still not sure about standing up for 2
hours! No support, so we watched the place fill up with old rockist musos – never
mind Rachel, even I felt quite young in this crowd!
The band wended their way through the
crowd and took the stage just after 8, Pete on last, resplendent in gold
patterned shirt, silver trousers and feathered steampunk hat, and looking like
my equally rotund and grey-goateed old friend Paul Crowfoot these days. “That
was horrible trying to get [through the crowd] to the stage; I almost had to
touch people!” the man quipped, before thanking Johnny Thunders for writing, “the
story of my life,” the poignant acoustic opener “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around
A Memory”. The widescreen classic “Come Back” was next up, the build to the
huge hook both soaring and strident, and bouncing, breathless oldie “Remember”
followed in short order, Pete commenting (not for the last time), “the record
company said this would be a massive hit – they were wrong!”
This pretty much set the tone for
the set; a startlingly quick 2 hours of Wylie and Wah! classics through the
years, delivered by a competent if slightly restrained band (Pete rated them, anyway,
praising then with, “I love this band – proof you can buy cheap and do okay!”)
and Pete’s own authoritative tones, peppered with plenty of quickfire wit, chat
and storytelling from a genuinely warm, stand-up level funny and maverick
one-off. A taut, claustrophobic “Better Scream” was preceded by a story about its’
Sounds singles review; “Hope” was dedicated to our gig saviour (“this one’s for
Flo – it’s called, “Fuck Off Flo”!”), and the excellent “Sinful” was followed
by a story of Pete nicking a clock from the Top Rank club on the Clash tour to
give to Clash guitarist Mick Jones for his birthday, during his last visit to
Bristol! Some serious moments amongst the chat too; Pete sharing his
experiences of his recent ADHD diagnosis with an understanding crowd, talking
about volunteering at the food bank at The Florrie (Pete totally nailing it
with his comment, “the best thing we can do is look out for each other; I have a
saying; give a shit or be a shit!”), and saving some righteous anger for an old
adversary, preceding the jolly, celebratory “The Day That Margaret Thatcher
Dies” with, “this is a love song because I love good people and still hate her!”
The slow-burn, sweeping stately melancholy
of “Heart As Big As Liverpool”, my overall set highlight, was dedicated by Pete
to his old friend and Radio DJ Janice Long, with a genuinely affecting story
about their last conversation; the tense, galloping “7 Minutes To Midnight” was
about as rocking as it got tonight; then, “the moment when you realise you could
have just turned up now!” arrived, with inevitable set closer “The Story Of The
Blues”, a top 3 hit when that actually meant something, and a fine way to end a
celebration of a quite unique, charismatic and brilliant genius. Simply superb
stuff from the man.
Grabbed a copy of that
afore-mentioned “Best Of” at the merch stand, then bade farewell to Emma and
Russ before hitting the road for a drizzly drive home. Really glad we were able
to make it for this one, so thanks again to Emma for the spare ticket… a great
night out!
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