Band Previously Seen: 28 March 2008 [The Only Ones], Koko, London
Peter Perrett will always be an icon of indie/new wave rock as lead singer and writer for The Only Ones. I last saw him playing with the band in 2008 – they had started touring again the previous year. That touring in turn seems to have activated PP’s song writing itch. In 2017 he released a critically acclaimed solo album How The West Was Won which showed his lyrical chops were alive and kicking. And it as appropriate that an icon should be tonight performing at Glasgow’s iconic King Tut’s.
The crowd are dominated by those old enough to have seen the first tour of The Only Ones but they were more than happy to lap up PP’s more recent solo output from albums How The West Was Won and soon to be released Humanworld. I am a bit surprised it is not the sold out show which the new material deserves.
It is a six piece band, including PP , and they all perform admirably, the pick probably being the guitarist (given to (minor) rock guitar god flourishes). But it is PP that we have all come to see and although his patter is limited we are not disappointed – not least because one of the most distinctive vocals in rock is as thrilling as it was decades ago. Does his voice influence his lyrics or vice versa (or neither)? Not that it matters, just enjoy!
There are many highlights. The encores bring a rousing ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ but the solo material is so strong I would not have been disappointed if it had not made an appearance (OK – maybe a little disappointed). My favourites on the night were ‘How The West Was Won’, ‘Hard To Say No’ and several of the songs from the latest album (sorry not yet familiar enough with them to be confident of most of their titles) including ‘Heavenly Day’ – which, thanks to this gig, it was.
