On the hottest day of the year so far, probably the last thing that anyone wanted was to be holed up in the basement of a hot, sweaty club but a fair few hardy souls ventured away from their gardens and ice cool pints to see His Lordship, a new project by The Pretenders guitarist, James Walbourne and drummer Kristoffer Sonne. Decked out in snappy suits and ties, these are the new cool cats on the block.
Described in their biography as “Jerry Lee Lewis and Iggy Pop wrestling in the hallway with Englebert Humperdink trying to break things up and Little Richard swinging on a chandelier, laughing” sums them up perfectly. Perhaps add in a large dose of MC5 and Chuck Berry and the nail is hit squarely on the head. This was fast and furious, raw, primal Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Drawing on material from their two EPs, One Take Live Rock ‘n’ Roll and All Cranked Up, the energy levels barely dipped below turbo-charge. Walbourne’s Chuck Berry riffs and Sonne’s manic drumming hammered through “All Cranked Up,” “I Live In the City,” and “I’m So Bored of Being Bored”. There was certainly no risk of boredom at this show.
As if an uncaged animal, Sonne leapt onto his drums and out onto the stage to take the microphone on “Buzzkill” while bassist Dave Page took over the drum stool. This was thrilling, exciting stuff and the total antithesis of today’s polished, over produced mainstream music.
A slow, dirty Bluesy grind through Jack Scott’s “The Way I Walk” and a breezy “Repenter” gave everyone a slight breather before the full force Rock ‘n’ Roll returned with the Tyson Fury uppercut of “Joy Boy” and “Cat Call” before “I Am in Amsterdam” brought this short, sharp Rock ‘n’ Roll smash and grab to a hot, sweaty, breathless end.
Review and Photos By Mick Burgess
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