THE UNDERTONES & THE EXTONS
On another eventful day in UK politics, The Undertones deliver just the escape our Pavlis needs.
After what can best be described as an eventful day in politics – a definite trussterf*ck – I need some fun so it is down to the Waterfront to see The Undertones. But before that we have THE EXTONS. The West Norfolk quartet combine Britpop with noughties anthemic indie along with early U2 and arrangements reminiscent of Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. Despite them being reasonably local, this is the first time that I have seen them. I have to say that I am pretty impressed by the catchy songs and energy. A fair number of the audience seem to be here primarily for The Extons and have made a few more fans tonight. Points off though for standing behind me talking loudly during the headliners set though, chaps.
Talking of the headliners, it is three and half years since I caught THE UNDERTONES at the much-missed (by me, at least) OPEN – and a year (or is it two) since this show was supposed to take place. Whilst the world has changed, little has changed with The Undertones. The band still consists of John and Damian O’Neill on guitars, Michael Bradley on bass, drummer Billy Doherty and vocalist Paul McLoone and they still crank out over thirty songs in 90 or so minutes (33 or 34 by my reckoning, depending on how many they crammed in during my loo break).
Last time out, I described McLoone’s stage moves as “Ricky-Wilson-meets-Greg-Davies-doing-flamenco stage moves”. Tonight, the look is more Darren Day – despite being a year older, McLoone looks more like Day in his prime than Day does now – than Greg Davies but those moves are still there. If anything, he has upped the energy and commitment. Musically, the ’tones are tighter and more muscular than I remember from OPEN.
The set mixes the classics with newer songs and there are no duffers in sight. Early on, there’s an absolutely corking version of You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It!). Other bands would leave their most famous songs until late in the set but The Undertones crank out Peel-fave Teenage Kicks before the halfway mark. Towards the end of main set, we get four stone cold classics in a row in the form of Dig Yourself Deep, Here Comes The Summer, When Saturday Comes and Hypnotised, whist the five song encore includes more classics in Mars Bars, Julie Ocean and the impeccable pop of My Perfect Cousin.
An absolute corker of a show and, like last time, I can’t get … Cousin outta my head but I ain’t gonna complain!
