Ostensibly a fund raiser for a court case being brought against LIR over an ill-fated US tour back in the ‘90s, this turned into something of a celebration. Not surprising really, given the strong links between all three acts (LIR’s Robbie Malone is David Gray’s long-time bass player, and Pugwash are former label mates of LIR).
Getting things off to a flying start, the great Pugwash, fresh from a UK tour with The Bluetones, performed a set of glorious psychedelic pop that left the audience begging for more. The new songs, including the terrific ‘Answers on A Postcard’ from their current album The Olympus Sound, and ‘Fall Down’ (the next single), blended seamlessly with the “classics” highlights, including their best-known song, ‘It’s Nice To Be Nice’, the incredible ‘Apples’ and the sublime ‘Dear Belinda’. And there was even room for Duckworth Lewis Method’s ‘Age of Revolution’. In the unlikely event of Thomas Walsh ever giving up the music lark, a comedy career surely awaits – the man is a scream but you really had to be there!
David Gray was greeted with the kind of rapturous reception that you might expect and put on a stellar performance, his singing reaching Van Morrison levels of intensity at one point. Opening with ‘Flame’, he continued with show-stopping versions of ‘Sail Away’, ‘This Year’s Love’, ‘The Light’ and ‘Babylon’. Vocal in his support for LIR in their time of need, he spoke about the “stupid” court case and donated a gold disc which was raffled on the night.
LIR took the stage to a warm reception, following a short clip from a soon-to-be-released Shimmy Marcus documentary. And while it’s fair to say that many in the audience were here to see Gray, they were no doubt impressed by the impassioned performance the band gave on this special night. Highlights were plentiful and included songs from their finest moment Magico Magico, such as ‘In A Day’ and ‘Dog Rhythms’, along with favourites like ‘New Song’ and ‘In the Parlour.
For the big finale everyone returned to the stage for a Last Waltz-style send-off, which included a spine-tingling version of John Lennon’s ‘Mind Games’ and The Clash’s’ ‘I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)’.
Let’s hope for their sakes that it doesn’t work out that way!