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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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WILKO JOHNSON
Half Moon, Putney - Saturday
March 5th 2005 - by Nick Morgan |
| I’m
not so old that I can’t remember those teenage
dreams that made us boys so hot, sweaty and sticky.
For Serge, I guess, the subject matter was motorbikes,
a Ducati 900SS perhaps, or maybe even a 1952 Vincent
Black Lightening (Serge, you do know this most wonderful
of all biker songs don’t you?). For me it
was an orgy of raunchy rhythm and blues (properly
defined, none of that modern-day R&B nonsense)
bass and guitar. So I had to pinch myself (could
I be dreaming?) when I woke up on Saturday night
in a Fender fantasyland, as Wilko
Johnson strutted his stuff at the Half
Moon in Putney, ably supported by the blistering
bass of the incomparable Norman Watt-Roy, and the
rhythm machine drumming of (ex Jesus and Mary chain)
Steve Monti (actually to be honest, it should have
been him, but I’m not 100% sure that it was). |
|
 Wilko
Johnson |
| Let
me remind you once more about Wilko. An Essex boy
who first came to fame with the Canvey Island All-stars,
Dr Feelgood, he went on to become a Blockhead, before
setting up his own Solid Senders. All that was many
moons ago, and for the past decade or more he’s
been a regular circuit performer, supported by Norman
and a variety of drummers. In that time he’s
released a number of frankly disappointing albums
(a new one, Red Hot Rocking Blues is on the way),
and his song writing, which never offered much by
the way of lyrical subtlety or curious and complex
structure, has probably gone into reverse gear.
But that’s not really the point. We’re
not here for complex or subtle. We’re here
for Wilko’s quite unique guitar style, his
truly bonkers eyes and facial expressions, and his
on-stage histrionics. He was, and remains, one of
the great R&B live acts. |
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I
know I’ve mentioned it before, but the Wilko
Telecaster technique (“borrowed unashamedly”
I read recently, from Mick Green, guitarist with
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates – “when
I first heard him it changed my life”, writes
Wilko on one of his websites) spawned hordes of
imitators (along with bulging eyes, crew-cuts, and
buttoned-to-the-collar black shirts) and inspired
a few, like the Gang of Four’s Andy Gill,
to take it to even greater heights. So if current
pop-darlings Franz Ferdinand (and I understand the
even newer and hotter Kaiser Chiefs) are determined
to look to Gill and the GOF as a source of inspiration,
then Wilko’s contribution to the current (and
much to be welcomed) revival of the British guitar
band, should also go on record. |
| But
a note to the youngsters. No plectrums please –
copy Wilko’s incredible thumb and fingerpicking
style if you can. And forget the effects pedals.
Wilko blew us away with just his Telecaster and
a clever use of pick-ups and amplifier tone and
volume. Nothing else. Just keep it simple. |
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|
By
way of a set list I may mention some of the Feelgood
classics and old Wilko compositions, ‘Sneakin’
suspicion’, ‘Back in the night’,
‘Don’t let your Daddy know’, ‘Dr
Dupree’, ‘Down by the waterside’
and a raft of other twelve-bar standards. Some truly
stunning improvisation from both Wilko and Watt
Roy (with Johnson’s grey eye-brows theatrically
hitting the ceiling whenever Norman strayed into
a jazz riff) was accompanied by more than a sufficiency
of machine-gun guitar. Wilko let his Telecaster
(and his face) do most of the talking, but his self-depreciating
“Just to show we’re not as stupid as
we look ….” as the band took to the
stage for a series of encores (much to the satisfaction
of their packed beery audience) was undeserved.
This is a man whose place in the history of rock
and roll is assured, and whose playing should put
him high on everyone’s list for a rocking
Saturday night out. - Nick Morgan (photos by
Kate) |
Check
the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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