Big Night Out in Pinner

Stu phoned me up yesterday afternoon informing me that his band were gigging again at The Courthouse in Dartford, Kent suggesting I should go along and give them some moral support. Stu, in particular, needed it as he sounded rough on the phone - victim of this current cold spell that England is going through. Hope it wasn't too painful, matey. It's just as well I wasn't going to see The Spice Girls at the O2.

I had already decided to forsake an afternoon's visit to Selhurst Park. Palarse seem to be doing quite well without my support at The Arthur Wait stand and despite strong temptation, I've remained absent from the ground with superstitious reverence like Howesy has done with his team (it's OK Mr. H, Terry Butcher has left the building, which means Brentford are now onto a good thing as yesterday's good result against Wrexham testifies). Yep, stay away from your club and let Neil and co carry on with an impressive unbeaten run.

Instead I opted for an evening's worth of entertainment at Pinner / Eastcote's premier gigging venue The Woodman (which is in North West London fact fans) to see a triple bill of fine bands from the same locality. The Woodman is a charming pub - friendly, cosy, good decor, beer garden with shelter and outdoor heating as well as vehicle parking for patrons and (surprisingly enough for a square room) great acoustics for bands.

First on was a chap called Paul Martin, a local singer-songwriter whose influences include Neil Young, Robbie Robertson, CSNY, Ray Davies, Brian Wilson and Lennon & McCartney. Backed by a very competent band and a superb Les Paul wielding guitarist, Paul performed his original material which was well received. His voice is different from other vocalists in that it's relatively high pitched which led me into wondering whether he had sung with a castrato range in a previous life. It added character to his songs perfectly. Nowadays, when people mention contemporary high-pitched singer / songwriters, we tend to think of people like James Blunt. But James Blunt has become part of rhyming slang for...well, I'm sure I don't need to spell it out. It's just as well that the only thing to rhyme with 'Martin' is 'farting', but there were no dodgy odours coming from the Woodman's stage tonight.

A short respite after Paul's stint and the fabulous Orson Blake stormed onto the stage with...two new songs that were unfamiliar to me (or was that a totally different version of 'Personality' that I heard?). And there I was thinking that I was their biggest fan. C'mon lads, put some more stuff up on your Munterspace page so that the audience can really appreciate the setlist. I struck lucky with their third one, a typical hankies-at-the-ready-Hassett-penned romantic weepy called 'Love Parts One & Two'. More new songs (including the stupendous 'Live Again') were interspersed with classics such as 'Pink Slax', 'Casanova On Ice' and a stonking lyrically updated version of 'Desiring'. I've been waiting twenty five years to hear that last song and I wasn't disappointed. I won't mention the botched start, Graham. In conclusion, this lot are a self-styled new wave combo that are a joy to listen to. The white suits (see pic) that Parsley (nice keyboard stand, I've got some crumpled shirts here - would you mind doing the honours?) so sadistically insisted they wear for the night provided something to talk about / laugh at (honestly lads - you don't need them - t-shirt and jeans will suffice, 'cos the music more than affluently speaks for itself). Mind you, they're not musically as catchy as Middlesex pretty boys Perfect Day...

Back in the day when Orson Blake were gigging on a regular basis, they at times used to support what may be described as a punkish / new wave band called The Attendants. Tonight was no different. After a very long absence, this west London band had reformed for Ken's birthday party (he's the bass player). That gig went down well and so they have since decided to occasionally get together for a few more. They kicked off with 'Neighbours' (NOT the Aussie TV theme tune), and followed with various other classics such as 'Snapshots', 'Cheese & Wine Parties', 'Sunday Drivers', 'Quality Street', a vigorous workout through 'Sporting Life' and a newbie in the shape of the ironically titled 'Same Old' amongst others. The audience lapped it up (including someone at the front who looked suspiciously like TV critic Dominic Diamond). As this was the first time I had seen The Attendants, I asked Parsley (who was clearly enjoying the gig) if their performance tonight was as good as it used to be. He remarked that it was, although he missed the presence of Alan Waites. Unfortunately for hard core fans, original line ups never last, no matter who the band is, but it never stopped the current members of The Attendants in giving the audience a cracking show. They closed with the seminal 'On Safari' before being called back onstage for an encore, a rendition of 'Deadbeats & No Ones'. Norbert told me that the band weren't going to do 'Man at C&A' with the lyric "yesterday's fashion, today". They didn't, which was a shame. Overall, a succesful gig by these precious veterans, miss 'em at your own peril.

It was a Big Night Out in Pinner. Here's Terry and co. They're going to play us out with another one of their new songs "So Hard" - Ooeer, missus...

So Hard...

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