The Enemy

Third Somerset House gig of the week. And guess what? It tipped it down. Just one mate this time, who I hadn't seen since his wedding in Hungary (in the sunny days of Spring), and who is close to my height, so no crick in the neck this time!

The Enemy are my home town band. Thirty years ago they would have been a New Wave band, but not sure what they would be called now (Old Wave?). But basically their music is fast and loud and furious.

The support was All the Young, with a lead singer trying so hard to look cool that he failed by a mile. They were ok, but the style was passe without being retro.

Then on came the Enemy, accompanied by a sharp shower. Now the Enemy's bass player, Andy Hopkins, does seem to me the epitome of  cool, clad in a T-shirt, slicked back hair, no shades and, in the words of one of their songs, giving it lots of aggro. 

 His limited vocals back up Tom Clarke's lead. No New Wave band had a man who could sing that powerfully. I love the relentless pace and noise of their sets, slowing only for Happy Birthday Jane.

They do very much wear their "working class lads from crap town" roots on their sleeves. But some of the patter fell on the wrong ears. After all, "We'll Live and Die in these Towns" is a great song about the dead end of being stuck in a shit hole like Coventry all one's life, but the crowd at Somerset House, in the Courtyard of a 16th century London palace, aren't the target audience. After all, by definition, we are the ones who escaped!