The Pretty Things The Brudenell Social Club Leeds 23rd Sep 2011
Chances to see the legendary Pretty Things come few and far between, particularly here in the cold north. So David, Laura and I made the trip down to Leeds on Friday night to see the R&B / Psych legends play at the Brudenell Social Club. David and Laura had both been to the Brudenell before, but this was my first visit to the club which has been voted the best small club in the north, and has a history of hosting pretty fab and cool events. The Club itself is what it says on the tin, an old social club which now holds rock nights. On Friday the concert room was packed with young sixties freaks wearing some of the trendiest vintage clothes I’ve seen, and sporting haircuts straight out of the Monkees in 1966 (think Steve Marriott meets John Fogerty meets Peter Tork), mixing with a smattering of old guys like me. I guess The Pretty Things are seeing some sort of revival with new mods and 60s / psych fans. A good proportion of the Emmerdale cast (Cain Dingle, Katie and a few others) were also in attendance.
The Pretty Things came on stage around 9.30pn and started with some R&B classics. It was clear from the start that the crowd were out to party, with much 60s dancing in evidence (at one point I thought I’d wandered into a 1967 episode of Top of the Pops). After a few songs we were treated to a sequence from the epic, much under-rated, classic album S F Sorrow, including my own particular favourite Loneliest Person. At around the halfway mark original singer Phil May and guitarist Dick Taylor performed a couple of acoustic blues, with some amazing guitar from Dick and some bluesy mouth harp from guitarist Frank Holland. Then it was back to the raw R&B tunes, closing with a medley of LSD and Old Man Going. The band themselves seemed pretty knocked out by the reception and returned for a couple more songs, finishing with their early hit single Rosalyn. Views on the way out seemed unanimously positive; everyone realising that we’d just witnessed true legends at their best. I managed to pick up a poster (see below) on the way out, then it was back home via Newcastle to drop Laura off back at her flat. Phil May is still my hero (but fraid I don’t think the dark shades look cool Phil).
Set included (but not in this order): Road Runner; Don’t Bring Me Down; S.F. Sorrow Is Born; She said Good Morning; Baron Saturday; Loneliest Person; Midnight To Six Man; Mona; L.S.D. / Old Man Going; Honey I Need; Rosalyn
Brudenell Social Club website
Pretty Things website
poster
Vintagerock's Weblog. 