PRETENDERS – CHALK, BRIGHTON 9.2.23
I couldn’t believe it when it was announced that the Pretenders were going to be playing live at the Chalk venue, located in Pool Valley, Brighton. It almost seemed too good to be true, but nope, there it was in front of me on the black, blue and white flyer.
The band’s previous visits to Brighton have thus far included three appearances at the much larger Brighton Centre on 12th December 1981, 24th May 1987 and 7th November 2001, as well as a couple of dates at Brighton Dome, those being 11th October 1980 and 10th October 2017. They also performed at the Top Rank Suite on 21st March 1979 (with lost local Brighton band Nicky & The Dots as support) and 26th February 1980 (with support from UB40 who played an encore). I don’t recall the exact capacity of the Top Rank Suite (now PRYZM Brighton), but it was of a similar size to Chalk, and so it is fair to say that the Pretenders haven’t played such an intimate gig in Brighton like tonight’s performance for almost 43 years! The Brighton & Hove News team simply couldn’t pass up the invitation!
I have continually been going to gigs in Brighton (and beyond) since 1978 and the trouble is that I failed to write down a list of those concerts that I attended from the early days. I simply relied on trying to keep my concert tickets or torn stubs. So by reckoning, tonight is probably my third live encounter with the Pretenders. I definitely attended their 26th February 1980 Top Rank Suite gig as I remember that UB40 were the support act and they were so brilliant that the packed crowd insisted on an encore. It was unheard of for a support band to do an encore. I know I went to the first Brighton Dome gig on 11th October 1980 as I have the ticket, but I’m struggling to recall if I attended their first Brighton gig on 21st March 1979. Back then I was attending Brighton Technical College and they used to have posters up inside the college for the forthcoming gigs and more of than not I would go to them, and more often or not those posters would be ‘whisked away’ to a new home on my bedroom wall.
Those first Pretenders gig featured their original lineup of Chrissie Hynde, who had moved to the UK in May 1973 on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and harmonica, James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals), Pete Farndon (bass and backing vocals) and Martin Chambers (drums, percussion and backing vocals) and it was an honour to see them play live, especially as both James and Pete passed away in 1982 and 1983 respectively. They were so young! James was a mere 25 years old and Pete was 30. James had died of heart failure caused by cocaine intolerance, and Pete, who had been fired by the band a few months earlier, drowned in the bath at his home in London, having lost consciousness after overdosing on heroin.
It is fair to say that by then (1983), the Pretenders and myself had parted company and gone off in different directions. Having said that, I was rather partial to Chrissie Hynde’s vocals in 1985 on the UK No.1 single ‘I Got You Babe’ with UB40 and even more so on the timeless 1992 floaty epic ‘Spiritual High (State of Independence) Pt. II’ with Moodswings which featured Chrissie’s vocals and contained samples from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.
Things turned out rather well for Chrissie as she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the Pretenders.
Over the last few years my interest was again peaked regarding Chrissie as she was old friends with my partner Jordan Mooney (RIP) from the early days of UK punk scene, when it was centred around Vivienne Westwood (RIP) and Malcolm McLaren’s (RIP) ‘SEX’ boutique on the Kings Road in London, where both Jordan and Chrissie worked. Although Chrissie had her eyes on bigger and better things and the Ohio born American went on to form the Pretenders in Hereford in 1978.
Last year, Chrissie was portrayed by Sydney Chandler in the highly acclaimed (IMDb 7.6 rated) Danny Boyle ‘Pistol’ mini-series, which also featured Maisie Williams in a wonderful portrayal as Jordan. Jordan was the only person invited by Danny Boyle on set whilst filming as an advisor and authenticator for the historical facts for the series. Thus we all knew that it was going to be fabulous. It was at this time that Jordan was becoming unwell, although no-one involved was aware of this, but a massive thanks goes out to Maisie for looking after Jordan, especially on one day in particular! Also thanks to Danny Boyle for attending Jordan’s funeral.
Back to tonight at Chalk and the gig was sold out as were all the dates of the tour, as a result, the venue jam packed with fans of all ages waiting to spy and listen to Chrissie and the boys. The Chalk stage is long and so many fans can line up along the front and witness their idols up close and personal. Tonight, the band had brought eight tall stage standing back lights which consisted of ten lamps each and flanked by one long solid lighting bars either side of these. These were placed to the rear of the stage. Interestingly, the drumkit was closer to the front of the stage than usual, which was a sign that this evening’s performance was going to be a straightforward back to basics rock’n’roll set, just like the band were back in 1979. This was a big plus in my eyes. Also I noted that the drumset had three cymbals which were screened by clear perspex semicircle sound dividers in front of them. I don’t recall seeing these in use in a compact venue before.
The house lights were extinguished at 8:28pm and the sound of the intro tape signalled the start of the performance. This was the dramatic Georges Bizet song ‘Carmen: L’amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle (Habanera)’ by Maria Callas/Georges Prêtre, Maria Callas, and Orchestre National de France. If you don’t recognise the title, you will know the tune!
The four musicians (Chrissie Hynde vocals/guitar, Dave Page bass, Kris Sonne drums and James Walbourne guitar) strolled on two minutes later to a great applause and simply launched into the first number, which is titled ‘Losing Sense’. A song I’m not actually familiar with, nor the next ‘A Love’. A while into the set, Chrissie announces that they will be performing some unreleased material, thus these are two of those.
Initially, the sound was crisp, but after a short while, everything started cutting out, until half way through ‘A Love’ the PA gave up the ghost…”Oh shit!”. It couldn’t have been the roadies fault as he was out on stage every few minutes prior to the commencement of the set, checking that the instruments sounded great. Turns out, the error lay at the fault of the venue. So what do you do with errant computers? Reboot! Thus it was re-set and thankfully the artists could proceed where they left off, from the second verse of ‘A Love’. Probably not enough time to go back and start again with the ever closing 10pm curfew and a set of 19 tunes to get through!
Despite the forced 90 seconds hiatus, all was well with the band and punters and I noted that despite Chrissie being 71 years young, her voice was as strong as ever, with her trademark jaw wobbly style vocal delivery. By that I mean her jaw moves like a small child’s does when out in the snow for too long and their teeth start chattering due to the cold temperature. I was relatively close to the stage, fourth person back, and I have to say that Chrissie looked remarkable for her age. Her being a vegetarian and following Vaishnavism might be a key factors in this.
The third number ‘Turf Accountant Daddy’ (found on the 2020 ‘Hate For Sale’ album) was a much rockier affair than the previous two tunes and better for it. Next up was the first of a quartet of tracks from their debut self-titled 1979 album, that being ‘Kid’, which as you would expect, was well received by the sardines standing in front of the band, even if James did mess it up at the beginning! He would more than redeem himself throughout the rest of the set with his rock guitar solo forays.
‘The Adultress’ (from 1981’s ‘Pretenders II’ album) was song five and was another gritty number in the same vein of their debut album. ‘Downtown (Akron)’ (from 1990 ‘Packed!’ long-player) was given an outing next, with Akron being the place of Chrissie’s birth in the USA. This was a really swinging number and the best of the set so far! It had that proto punk CBGB’s and Iggy Pop vibe going down. On the songs completion Chrissie asked “Who saw the New York Dolls?”. Some joker announced that they had, but Chrissie was having none of it as the person obviously hadn’t been born when they were going. This led nicely into ‘The Buzz’ (from the 2020 ‘Hate For Sale’ album), which Chrissie informs us is a Johnny Thunders number. Johnny Thunders RIP being a member of the New York Dolls and then the Heartbreakers.
Another unreleased tune was unleashed next, this being the slower ‘Domestic Silence’, which Chrissie had written about “spending too much time home alone!”, seductively adding “you know what I mean!”. As Kenneth Williams would have uttered “Ooh matron!”.
The bouncy ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ (from 1986’s ‘Get Close’ album) followed. After which the beat was slowed down again for ‘Biker’ (found on the 1999 ‘¡Viva El Amor!’ album). James showed off his twangy guitar prowess during this number. Two numbers from the Pretenders debut platter were up next in the form of ‘Message Of Love’ and ‘Talk Of The Town’. They were both welcomed with open arms by the fans. The lads were then introduced to us all and then they were away again with the speedy ‘Don’t Cut Your Hair’ (from 2008 ‘Break Up The Concrete’ album). I rather enjoyed the intro of this tune as it reminded me of a mashup of the Ramones ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll High School’ and the Sweet’s ‘Ballroom Blitz’ – nice one Dave!
Sticking to the “intros that sound like others”, next up was 1984’s ‘Time The Avenger’ (from ‘Learning To Crawl’ LP) which initially sounded like a mixture of The Jam’s ‘Start!’ with a tiny lacing of Booker T & The MG’s ‘Green Onions’. Also from ‘Learning To Crawl’ was ‘Back On The Chain Gang’, which had the Mink DeVille ‘Spanish Stroll’ style intro.
Chrissie then informed us that the next tune would be the next to last song, and then inquired what the word for this was, “penultimate” being the reply from several in the crowd, and the quartet launched into the unreleased ‘Let The Sun Come In’. Whilst listening to and enjoying this number, it dawned on me that it’s far better to witness this current rockier style Pretenders set up close and personal, by standing just a few feet away from Chrissie and her lads, as opposed to be sitting in an arena somewhere and virtually needing binoculars to see them, and yearning to jump out of your seat and bop along to the beat. That is so sterile and distant, whereas tonight is in our faces, warts and all, and it was much more gratifying for both parties to get that connection and take more away from the evening.
The main set concluded with another number from the Pretenders last studio album, 2020’s ‘Hate For Sale’, the tune in question being ‘Junkie Walk’. The crowd clapped along, but I felt that this was a slightly weaker tune to leave the stage with. ‘Stop Your Sobbing’ and/or ‘Brass In Pocket’ would have been my choices!
No sooner that they vacated the stage, an almost immediate U-turn signalled an immediate return and they were away with 2016’s rocky ‘Gotta Wait’ (on ‘Alone’ album). The band concluded with my all-time favourite Pretenders tune ‘Tattooed Love Boys’ found on their debut album. This is the Pretenders at their most raw rocky style punk and I never get bored of hearing this tune. What a way to finish!
Tonight was always going to be a special memory..…”You remember the time the Pretenders played Chalk” moment, and I thank them for it. I also thank them for concluding at 9:46pm as that would give me nine minutes to vacate the venue and leg it up to The Prince Albert in order to catch Priestgate’s headline show. That too was a corker! Time to dig out my 1979 Pretenders vinyl and give it a spin…….Happy days!
Pretenders:
Chrissie Hynde – vocals, guitar
Dave Page – bass
Kris Sonne – drums
James Walbourne – guitar
Pretenders setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘Carmen: L’amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle (Habanera)’ (Georges Bizet song by Maria Callas/Georges Prêtre, Maria Callas, and Orchestre National de France)
‘Losing Sense’ (Unreleased)
‘A Love’ (Unreleased)
‘Turf Accountant Daddy’ (from 2020 ‘Hate For Sale’ album)
‘Kid’ (from 1979 ‘Pretenders’ album)
‘The Adultress’ (from 1981 ‘Pretenders II’ album)
‘Downtown (Akron)’ (from 1990 ‘Packed!’ album)
‘The Buzz’ (from 2020 ‘Hate For Sale’ album)
‘Domestic Silence’ (Unreleased)
‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ (from 1986 ‘Get Close’ album)
‘Biker’ (from 1999 ‘¡Viva El Amor!’ album)
‘Message Of Love’ (from 1981 ‘Pretenders II’ album)
‘Talk Of The Town’ (from 1981 ‘Pretenders II’ album)
‘Don’t Cut Your Hair’ (from 2008 ‘Break Up The Concrete’ album)
‘Time The Avenger’ (from 1984 ‘Learning To Crawl’ album)
‘Back On The Chain Gang’ (from 1984 ‘Learning To Crawl’ album)
‘Let The Sun Come In’ (Unreleased)
‘Junkie Walk’ (from 2020 ‘Hate For Sale’ album)
(encore)
‘Gotta Wait’ (from 2016 ‘Alone’ album)
‘Tattooed Love Boys’ (from 1979 ‘Pretenders’ album)
Great review.
One minor correction: Message Of Love & Talk of the Town are on Pretenders 2 not the debut.
Good spot David. Have amended it. Thanks.
Brighton Technical College… Glory Days! Nice Review Nick, good to know your still keeping the faith
Excellent Review Nick…Brighton Technical College 1979…Glory Days!
Good to see your still keeping the faith
Thank you very much Mark.