So Wylie was back at King Tut’s – after a very entertaining show several years ago he is here to do more of the same, but the difference is that he has now released his Magnum Opus ‘Pete Sounds’ in late 2017.
Always a great raconteur and showman, he played several songs from this album plus some other classics from his maverick career.
Playing guitar along with accomplished collaborator Anders (who came in from good humoured stick), most songs were done using backing tapes due to shortage of funds (he also made an admission, and DWP employees might want to look away now) that he is currently signed on… rock and roll or what?
So the assembled and quite busy (who called the bizzies? Sorry) crowd got ‘You’d Better Scream’, his first single, and yes the voice and guitar playing are still intact after 40 years, good God! We also got the timeless ‘4.11.44’ – some of these songs are real anthems, with a massively broad appeal – BM would put him in with the classic songwriters, don’t care what anybody else says.
We also got ‘Sinful’ and ‘Come Back’, both bonafide classics, the shredding (and BM fave song) ‘Seven Minutes To Midnight’ and to finish, ‘Heart As Big As Liverpool’, another widescreen and ambitious anthem which they are fond of down Anfield way… He also played ‘The Day That Margaret Thatcher Died’, vengeful but hilarious as well… BM missed ‘Story of the Blues’ but it was also played…no 3 in the 80s… There were also several references to campaigns he has been involved with over the years, especially the Birmingham Six / Guildford Four and also the Hillsborough ’96.
In between there were anecdotes and memories (stories referencing Edwyn Collins, Roddy Frame and even Billy Mackenzie) – all of them told with love and no agenda whatsoever. He was amongst friends and there were some emotional moments, especially when he played ‘Hey Hey, It’s A Beautiful Day’ in memory of former partner/collaborator Josie Jones who died in 2015. Other Pete Sounds like ‘People’ sounded very good indeed, and the warmth and passion which goes through all his work over 40 years in music is still there in spades…
Wylie is still his own man, a little bit more battered by the years but with his wit and musical radar still fully intact, and it was a pleasure to spend a couple of hours in his company…
It was a great gig; you should really have stayed to the end! The one thing which annoyed me, and a good few others around me, was the dreadful, loud woman at the front on the right (as the audience look at it). Her continual rude attempts to engage Pete in conversation, when he was trying to get on with the show, certainly grated, and broke up the flow on a number of occasions. Pete himself made it quite clear that he was exasperated by her interruptions. If that was you, learn to behave, you dreadful woman.