Fat Charlie & the Archangels

Gig at the Tournament, Old Brompton Road - 10th January

The support act, Cherry Red, were a quartet of appealing legs topped by sweet tonsils, and the crowd was buzzing, chatting and ignoring them, which was neither polite nor fair.

Fat Charlie (alias Roger Andrew leVoire Harris, an old mate of mine from school, Spinnaker and a short lived duo) opened his set of covers with gusto and power chords. The rest of the band (kicking piano, monster bass and the least busy drummer I've heard for a while, and I've been listening to Stuart Copeland) knew exactly how to give Roger's voice and guitar the backing they need.

The boogie-ing started and became increasingly adventurous. My dancing partner moved and grooved, and I was pretty impressive, too. The volume and tempo increased and every song got a positive reaction, except from some deadbeat local resident, who evidently telephoned the council noise abatement departmnt to ask for the amps to be turned down.

Following a second try from Legs & Tonsils (including an excellent version of Van Morrison's Moondance), Mr Charlie was back with even more bounce. His vocal tones remain undiminished, and his guitar-skills are greater then I remember. But the main improvement was in the way he worked the crowd, judging the set perfectly, with jokes and musical skill. A great night out, and we got seats on the train back to Brighton.

Watch this space for info re other gigs.