LIVE REVIEW : THE PRETTY THINGS AT THE HALF MOON PUTNEY 08/11/2013

This gig was my second visit to The Half Moon since I moved to London. I came last year to see The Kast Off Kinks, a Kinks tribute band that's made up of ex-members of the actual band. I was quite surprised to see that the gig was sold out in advance and even more by the rapturous reception the band got during their performance (they were really good but still a tribute band). I had seen The Pretty Things once previously at a small free festival in Andoain (small town just under San Sebastian in Spain). The setting was rather drab : a makeshift stage set up on a concrete square with 3 huge tower blocks encircling it. Adding to the misery, the weather was rotten with a thick mist gathering round the hills that surround the town. The band was headlining which in the UK would mean a a stage time of 9pm. As it was Spain, headline means the band went on stage at midnight. As I had quite a bit of travel to do to go back to France after the gig I had to leave before the band finished their set. I promised myself that I would catch them when they would play a club date in London. I missed them twice as they played a gig at the 100 Club during the Christmas period last year and at The Borderline last August for The Record Collector Psych Festival. When I noticed they were playing The Half Moon I booked tickets straight away.

Only Phil May (lead singer) and Dick Taylor (lead guitar) are left from the original line-up of the band. Frank Holland (lead and rhythm guitar) joined when Parachute era guitarist Pete Tolson defected while the band was rehearsing for their end of the 1990's comeback. The young rhythm section of George Perez and Jake Greenwood joined when drummer Skip Allan and bass player Wally Waller had to stop touring for health reasons. As soon as the gig started with a superb and loud version of “Honey I need” from their first album I knew that the Half Moon was the perfect setting to see a band such as The Pretty Things. The gig's setlist was a mixture of their early albums R'n'b albums and tracks from their SF Sorrow LP (fantastic version of "Balloon Burning"). Not much from the post SF Sorrow era, only "Cries From The Midgnight Circus" from the Parachute album and a rarity in from the late sixties track  "Alexander" originally released under "The Electric Bananas" moniker. Roughly midway through the gig, there was a short acoustic set where Taylor on acoustic and May (accompanied by Holland on harmonica) paid hommage to there blues roots while recalling the first times they jammed together at Sidcup high school. Further reference to their musical roots followed with 2 Bo Diddley covers ("Mona" and "You Can't Judge A Book by Its Cover"). The gig finished with an impromptu appearance by former drummer Skip Allan who duetted with Phil May during the final song of the evening.