Pendragon 30th Anniversary Show Sat 22nd Jun 2008

Pendragon @ The Peel (Saturday, 14th June 2008)

There have been many false starts to the much touted ‘progressive rock revival’ in recent years. So many in fact, this writer truly believes that such a thing is never likely to significantly occur again. There are however, signs that on a small scale at least, the blood is beginning to return to some parts of prog that other genres cannot reach.

Take The Peel in Kingston for example, once a sleepy London pub but is now fast becoming the focus of the modern progressive scene in South East England. Over the 18 months since I’ve been frequenting the establishment, I’ve seen the audiences grow from a dedicated few to the kind of numbers that used to haunt the Marquee Club in Soho back in the 1980’s.

This fact wasn’t lost on Pendragon’s Nick Barrett as he passed comment upon this very phenomenon from the stage of a packed Peel last Saturday night.

Pendragon know what they are talking about. They are one of the original batch of new wave prog bands (along with Marillon, IQ and a recently revived Twelfth Night) who made the Marquee their home during the 1980’s. Their path however has not been an easy one to navigate and have encountered their fair share of hard times along the way. The good news is that they appear to have emerged from the other side, a tougher, leaner and altogether more musically relevant band than the one that took its first tentative steps all those years ago.

There is a palpable sense of history being played out here tonight as it is 30 years to the day since Pendragon played their very first live show. The crowd acknowledged this fact with a rapturous reception as the band walked onstage and launched into ‘Walls Of Babylon’ from The Window Of Life album. After an indifferent show a few nights previously, it was immediately obvious that Pendragon were out for blood this time around as Nick Barrett welcomed the crowd and informed us all of how truly special this particular show was.

Clive Nolan exchanged smiles with the new boy in the band, drummer Scott Higham. During ‘Circus’, Scott appeared to be on a one man crusade to whip the crowd into a frenzy. He grinned, he gurned, he waved, he shouted, and in fact, if you had any wet washing with you, I’m sure you could have thrown them in with him and they would been tumble dried in minutes.

Highlights of the show for me included the unexpectedly powerful ‘Wishing Well’ from the Believe album. This track was not a personal favourite of mine yet as is so often the case when you hear a song live, it plundered a plethora of new emotions which has subsequently sent me scuttling back to the studio album to re-examine my previous preconceptions. ‘Nostradamus’ however (which I cannot stop calling Stargazing because of it’s incredibly hooky chorus line) is a personal favourite and if you will forgive my French, rocked like a b*****d.

‘Learning Curve’ is not a song I’m too familiar with but Peter Gee really shone on this number. Like many bass players, our Mr Gee is a quiet, unassuming presence on stage but is always plugging away in the background with an array of inventive bass runs, keyboard work and bass pedals. Again, this is something you can only see when a band is right in front of you making the music in real time.

The show was truly in its stride by now and we were treated to a moving version of ‘Paintbox’ to which the crowd sang along gleefully. It was the track ‘Breaking The Spell’ however that really brought the show into sharp focus and gave Nick Barrett a chance to test his mettle as a guitarist.

It was an interesting moment for me. I’ve seen the band on a number of occasions but would not call myself a fanatical Pendragon follower. That said, during this song, I finally understood what makes this group so compulsive to witness on stage. As they played, I glanced over at Nick Barrett during the extended solo in the middle of the song and saw something in his eye that gave me pause for thought. It was obvious that as he played, he really, really meant it. Every note came directly from the heart and suddenly, this was an entirely different show. 30 years of hard work, heartache, happiness, frustration and intent unexpectedly landed right in my lap and I experienced a kind of bizarre vertigo from the musical mountain these guys have had to climb to get here tonight. It’s something that the rest of the crowd had known from the start of the evening and I stared rather sheepishly around me feeling simultaneously alone and a part of something special.

We were nearing the end of the evening and the band played a chilling version of ‘The Shadow’. I watched quietly as Clive Nolan bobbed his head in time with opening section, his face hidden from view by a curtain of hair. I’m reminded that Tracy Hitchings sang on the album version and it added an unexpected element of poignancy. Cue the last song of the main set ‘The Voyager’ from The World album which closed the show with a rush of emotion and the band left the stage with the crowd chanting their name.

We were treated to a double encore ‘Masters Of Illusion’ which was a suitably grand spectacle given the nature of the show. Pendragon do big sweeping themes very well and they don’t really come much bigger than this.

After another brief pause, the last song of the night was ‘2am’. I’ve never seen this played live before but I have seen the band perform a version on DVD. True to the DVD, our Mr Barrett steped down into the crowd and wandered around like a modern day Sinatra which was a nice touch. It broke the imaginary fourth wall between crowd and performer and added real weight to the lyrics. It was a great way to end a night full of personal revelation and public affirmation.

With the show over, we wandered out into the night. I looked back at The Peel and was reminded why this band work so well as a unit; it is simple chemistry. You can be as fast as lightening across a keyboard or guitar but it will all be for naught if you can’t find that spark that makes a song special. I don’t pretend to understand what has kept this band together all these years or why it’s still working so well after such a long time but I do know that what I witnessed that night was what you always want to see in a band; good music that rings true.

Pendragon know that honesty is the best policy.



Edited by sigod - June 18 2008 at 06:54

Thanks very much sir.

I would be the first one to admit that although I like a lot of Pendragon’s early work, much of what they have become over recent years has passed me by. It was an enlightening evening and proved to me that whatever ones personal musical tastes are, you can still be moved by a band if they actually believe in what they do rather than just going through the motions.

Nice review Simon, I really wish I'd been able to go now. Glad to hear you've finally "got" Pendragon.

what the boys & girls said.....

Making  a totally irrelevant post (surely not! ) I was choosing which smiley to use and I came across this one.............

Thanks for the review Simon- Its well written

Although I confess I am a 100% pendragon fan. So I am slightly biased,but It was just the most amazing evening.... 
The very best I have seen the band in many years.
I thought that Joe Crabtree had helped to raise the bar, but Scott Higham just helped raise it even more.
The best is yet to come later this year!

Well done to the Master guitarist that is Nick, Keyboard wizard Clive, The much underrated Peter, and the newboy Scott! - You guys are inspiring!

Cheers,
Andy



Edited by pealo - June 21 2008 at 08:37