“Eighty people in York last night thought this song sounded like Only Fools and Horses…so we’re gonna have a vote to see if you agree…”
Euros Childs, ex-Gorky’s man, judged the crowd just right to get away with a cheeky trick ensuring maximum levels of audience attentiveness. In fairness this was never in doubt, a packed Tut’s reverentially awaiting the homecoming of one of its favourite sons, Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. The Glasgow lo-fi glitterati were out in force, Steven Pastel, Blake’s bandmates Gerry Love and Francis MacDonald along with Aidan Moffat collaborator Bill Wells – in town ahead of the duo’s Platform gig.
Jonny’s sound, whilst never exactly in a different time zone to either The Fannies or Gorky’s, harks back to an age of shimmering tunes and timeless melodies.
‘Candyfloss‘– a hit single in any civilised society – jangles, weaves, loops and soars with a pre-chorus key-change Alex Chilton would kill for. Childs and Blake, with their band, including support act Laura Martin on flute, had a laidback air which somehow complemented the we’re-all-friends-here air of the night.
Jonny’s self-titled album lopes along nicely enough in a Gorky’s/Fanclub vein but live it’s a different beast. ‘Waiting Around For You’, ‘Circling The Sun’ and ‘You Was Me’ seemed to come alive and with a nod to punk at less than two minutes apiece never outstayed their welcome.
In the hands of less capable, talented and humorous musicians, this could have been the sort of side-project which gives former greats a bad name and sullies their legacy, Norman and Euros, however, blend their gifts to create a musical marriage which stands up wonderfully in its own right.
God bless Hookey Street indeed.
