PETER PERRETT + STRANGEFRUIT + HOLIDAY OSCAR – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 26.05.19
Sadly a member of the team couldn’t make it to this gig and so camera charged I headed off to Concorde 2. How could I refuse? How often can you go to see a proper legend close up?
I had first heard of Peter Perrett when singing and leading with The Only Ones, ‘Another Girl, Another Planet‘, and so I was looking forward to this evening. We had been promised new material from the new album ‘Humanworld’, (out 7th June on Domino) but also a mix of older material spanning his career.
On arrival, I discovered that a fairly sizeable audience had gathered. It was busy, but not uncomfortable.
Peter Perrett’s opening guest was Holiday Oscar.
Always a tough call, first on, with a fairly quiet venue to initially start with as many were getting liquid refreshment, but a stroll onto the stage with an acoustic always peeks my interest, so I swiftly made my way to the front.
Holiday Oscar has released a couple of singles and his most recent ‘I Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’ was available at the venue. He told us he only had a handful left so we better be quick! He gave a great performance of that song.
An interesting set. It’s a mix across the fairly wide folk music genre with a Dylan undertow – at times humorous biting, but always honest lyrics delivered with a great voice. Put this with some super guitar playing and you could not fail to be impressed as Holiday Oscar delivered some stunning compositions. Between the songs we had some memories and laughter inducing tales from Holiday Oscar. Good job.
Further details HERE.
Next up were Strangefruit – a duo made up of Jenny Maxwell on vocals and Jamie Perrett on guitar. They are two of the musicians from Peter Perrett’s supergroup who we would see very soon!
This was a most mesmerising performance. Usually a four piece, tonight was just guitar and vocals, however there was nothing stripped back as Strangefruit gave us everything in their performance. Haunting melodies with some truly stunning vocals backed with some beautiful guitar playing. “Pitched somewhere between Kate Bush and PJ Harvey” – and yes that would seem to fit perfectly. This set was a short introduction to Strangefruit but it was delicious. You could, at times, hear a pin drop as these musicians delivered their material. Their set was greeted with well-deserved applause when it came to an end. A lovely performance.
Listen to Strangefruit HERE.
Now the crowd was ready for the man himself – Peter Perrett.
The band came on stage and then Peter walked on and strapped on his guitar to a huge cheer. On board were Jamie Perrett (guitar, vocals), Peter Perrett Jr (bass), Jake Woodward (drums), Jenny Maxwell (vocals, synthesiser, viola) and Lauren Moon (keyboards and dancing!).
Lights dimmed and the Concorde 2 smoke machine fired up and we were off. For the next 1 hour and 30 minutes…
‘Baby Don’t Talk’ was the first song of the set, from the 1994 EP ‘Cultured Palate’. Great opener! The title track from Peters solo album ‘How The West Was Won’ was song two. Brilliant! The set opening was perfect, tracks known by the crowd and set the tone for the rest of the set.
‘An Epic Story’ was next followed up with ‘Hard To Say No’.
Peter Perrett leads his five-piece band made up with family members, his sons Jamie on guitar and Peter Jr on bass duties, I read somewhere they are joined by their respective girlfriends Jenny and Lauren on backing vocals, electric violin and keyboards. The drummer, Jake Woodward was at the back almost in total darkness, but you could certainly hear him thrashing the sticks. These guys are great, on point and musically, totally tight. They produced an immense sound which had been given a great mix by the Concorde 2 team.
The first song from the new album, which Peter said had been delayed, was ‘Once Is Enough’. We were then treated to ‘Heavenly Day’, ‘Love Comes On Silent Feet’, ‘Master Of Destruction’ (which Jamie took centre stage), ‘Love’s Inferno’ and ‘48 Crash’ – all from the new album.
I was hooked watching Jamie Perrett’s lively set, some great guitar moves, vocals and fret manipulation. His father’s in the main stationary position complimented Jamie’s performance perfectly. Peter Perrett himself was clad in a black leather jacket and T, with a pair of large shades.
Peter Perrett Jr provided us with some true bass thunder, and worked in total harmony with drummer Jake, who is calmly controlling things and providing the count in to each song.
And so, the set closed and off they went, only to reappear a few minutes later to a welcoming cheer.
To close we had ‘I Want Your Dreams’, the still quite magnificent ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ as Jamie buzzed our ears and memories with his take on the solo break.
The final song, and the longest of the entire set, was the breath-taking ‘The Beast’. The smoke billowed, some bright lights as the band climbed to the crescendo finish. And that was it. Show over. Peter stopped to thank everyone and hoped to see us next time he comes back to Brighton.
A terrific night of live music. I would definitely recommend going to see Peter Perrett. That band and that voice! Its sticky and addictive, those tones gained from life and from across the years are enough to give you goosebumps. They really were that good.
More info on Peter Perrett HERE.
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