The format of a spoken word tour, interspersed with a few songs, is growing in popularity, but not everyone has the right skill set to carry it off. Toby Jepson is one such with his cunningly titled ‘My Life in Words’. He was among the early adopters of home webcasting during lockdown and is an accomplished rock radio broadcaster. Moreover he has always been an articulate songwriter from a young age, who has successfully played acoustic shows regularly over the years.

This London leg of an extensive tour had an unusual opening with a stand up comedian in Scot Pete K Mally who had people laughing, and though his routine was varied some rock references did getting this audience on side no harm.

His set was followed by a shortish one from the talented Matt Mitchell, minus his Coldhearts. I’ve been a fan of his voice for a long time dating back to Pride in the early 2000s and he won the Toby Jepson crowd over by saying he became a Little Angels fan after seeing them at the Milton Keynes Bowl with Bon Jovi in 1993.

He played songs from both Coldhearts albums such as ‘Home’ and ‘Where In the World’ and the best was left to last. A stripped down version of ‘Paranoid’ brought out the darkness in the song, not least as it was clearer to make out the lyrics, while the acoustic solo was something to behold, then he even got a bit of audience participation going to the former Planet Rock playlisted ‘Black Diamonds’.

The way Toby Jepson came on stage to the theme tunes of Dad’s Army and Roobarb and Custard were a reminder that he was of my exact generation, and I could therefore relate to many of his formative musical and other influences. He opened with a couple of Little Angels favourites in ‘Young Gods’ with long time cohort Dave Kemp supplying the melody lines on piano and ‘Big Bad World’.

Dave also made a witty speech and I did wonder if he would be part of a double act but from then on the talking was nearly all Toby’s. Songs were interspersed with audience questions and his own reflections on life in the music business. Whether or not it was a plant, the first question from the front was one that many of us have pondered, which was when Little Angels might reform and the good news was he suggested that in spite of their busy day jobs some form of reunion was planned for 2026. We then went back to the very start of the band with a rare ‘90 In The Shade’. Boy did that bring back some memories of the Marquee circa 1988!

However the set covered his whole career, from gems from his wilderness period like ‘Unwind’, ‘Four Letter Word’ and the particularly impressive ‘Viewfinder’, as well as reminders of his often neglected role as songwriter for others. One such was ‘Shadow Boxing’, written for Katie Melua but never used, which gave Dave the opportunity to show off his sax prowess for the only time in the night.

In more recent years he has returned to a band environment with Wayward Sons and there was also a question about their plans after a relatively quiet period, the gist of the response being they were under no pressure other than to get together when they wanted. (Though he did reveal that when signing for Frontiers they were really looking for a Little Angels reunion rather than a new band!) So ‘Bloody Typical’ and later on a lively ‘Joke’s On You’ represented that chapter of his life.

Two themes recurred as the mix of songs, questions and chat which flowed surprisingly well. One was his searching honesty about having struggled with mental health issues over many years and the importance of men talking about it, which cannot be overstated.

The other was that while he gave insights into the darker side of music, especially how the business can only promote new talent by denigrating and discarding what has gone before, he was nothing but warm and respectful about individual musicians. Little Angels’ status on every support bill going meant he had worked with the very best and he got quite angry in defending Jon Bon Jovi from his armchair critics, while Eddie Van Halen and Axl Rose were others to emerge with credit from his little anecdotes.

Returning to those Little Angels days we all sang along, albeit not too loudly, to ‘Don’t Pray for Me’, ‘Ain’t Gonna Cry’ and ‘Womankind’. They were reminders that a band now forgotten about by the wider world were top 40 singles regulars in the early nineties, and the enjoyment was enhanced by the feeling we had been getting to know better what made their songwriter tick.

‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ from the underrated Toby and the Whole Truth was dark as you’d expect from a guy going from the Albert Hall to making his own low-fi albums within a year while ‘Falling in Love is Harder’ was dedicated to his wife. A near two hour set (an 11 o’clock finish on a Sunday night was my only gripe) ended with a communal singalong to ‘Kicking Up Dust’, and ‘Too Much, Too Young’, brought to its big conclusion.

I never expected to enjoy the evening quite as much as I did, reliving my past but also gaining a very insightful window into a honest, thoughtful and engaging character. Toby Jepson has endured that difficult journey through music and life’s highs and lows seemingly with sanity, or at least perspective, intact.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)