THE WENDY JAMES BAND + SLANT @ PATTERNS BRIGHTON 30TH SEPTEMBER 2021
It’s a wet Thursday night in Brighton, but that hasn’t deterred the large crowd from showing up at Patterns nightclub, 10 Marine Parade, for The Wendy James Band. This was previously due to take place at the Concorde 2 but now has a far more intimate setting for the show.
Wendy James is supported this evening by banging local five-piece SLANT. This band has been described as an intergalactic powerhouse, and their sound has been likened to glam-rock merged with riot energy.
Slant released their debut single ‘Haircut’ in 2020, followed by alt-pop disco track ‘La Danse’. They play a tight, energetic set that goes down well with the crowd, the lead singer sounding like a modern-day Polystyrene from X-Ray Spex. I’m sure we will be hearing more from this band in the future.
Setlist:
- Nightcrawlers
- La Danse
- Polly
- Haircut
- Eat the Moon
- 75″ TV
- Wallowcity
Wendy James finally gets to perform in Brighton after having to postpone 3 times due to Covid 19. She is on a massive 28-day tour of the UK to promote her 5th solo album and 16th album in total, Queen High Straight. Backed by The Wendy James Band, which consists of Leo Kurunis (bass), James A Sclavunos (drums), Rupert Greaves ( keyboards) and Philip Stakem, aka Pip (guitar).
This evening she plays a few old favourites from her Transvision Vamp days. These include Baby I don’t care, Bad Valentine, and I want your love that still sounds fresh and exciting now and gets the crowd singing along and smiles all around. The majority of the set is taken from her solo career. There’s a wicked speed punk thrash through the excellent ‘The Impression Of Normalcy‘. Bob Dylan’s Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? comes across strong, and so does the grinding Perilous Beauty, again from the latest platter.
Between tracks, she chats away with the crowd, telling them that Brighton is a very special place to her, being the town where her music career first took off many years ago. Wendy James is lively and engaging, and it was easy to see that she was really enjoying being back on stage and back on tour.
The energy tonight has been electric, and Wendy James remains an unstoppable force of nature. She will be playing a different set every night of her tour, featuring a mix of old and new tracks at every show.
Setlist:
You’re So Great
Speedball
You’re a Good Man, Sister
I Want Your Love
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
If Looks Could Kill
The Impression of Normalcy
Cancel It… I’ll See Him on Monday
Marlene Et Fleur
Perilous Beauty
You’re a Dirtbomb, Lester
Here Comes the Beautiful One
Tell That Girl to Shut Up
Down on You
Bad Valentine
Bitter Funny
Baby I Don’t Care
