Nick Lowe is one of rock’s most distinguished statesmen, with a history that includes his time in Brinsley Schwarz, seen as the original pub rockers, then a mainstay of the new wave as producer, songwriter and performer. Indeed there is a case for naming him alongside Difford and Tilbrook, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello as the most enduring figures from that movement.

I’d never got round to seeing him (unless you count a West London restaurant local to us both, or in the crowd at a gig) but when some seat fillers were announced, my partner and I thought he was worth a punt, not least as they were decent seats at one of our favourite venues, the London Palladium.

Chris Difford had been due to support but was replaced at short notice by namesake Andy Fairweather Low. The smartly suited Welshman was very self deprecating and said he would be talking as much as possible to hide his lack of material. These days better known as a respected guitar sideman (indeed he was part of the all star Peter Green tribute here just before the pandemic) he played with Eric Clapton for many years and in one of his many stories credited him for helping broaden his outlook from soul to blues.

Despite all the false modesty he sang his Amen Corner sixties smashes ‘Bend Me Shape Me’ and ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice’, and his seventies solo hit ‘Wide Eyed and Legless’ and the voice is still instantly recognisable and has (pun intended) weathered well. My other amusement was that he could rival Pope Francis in a Jim Bowen lookalike contest!

A compere gave the big introduction to Nick Lowe, instantly recognisable with his silver hair and oversized spectacles. He talked less but like his support act he has a low key presence rather than act the rock star, unobtrusively playing acoustic guitar. What was unexpected was his backing band Los Straitjackets, who are an experienced American act previously unknown to me. They were extremely tight but – rather off puttingly for me- all in Slipknot- style masks.

Songs like ‘I Went to a Party’ and ‘Without Love’ had the feeling of rockabilly or early rock and roll while his lyrics on his ‘Lately I’ve Let Things Slide’ conveyed the weltschmerz of middle age in very clever fashion. However after another enjoyable fifties-style rocker in ‘Tokyo Bay’ and the gig less than half an hour old, the main man left the stage for nearly 20 minutes for Los Straitjackets to play some tidy surf and garage rock style instrumentals, though the mime routine and a squawking rubber duck meant that by the time Nick returned, I was rather hoping he would say ‘this is all getting rather silly’ in the mode of the late Python Graham Chapman.

With normal service resumed, there were some more enjoyable tunes in ‘Trombone’ and in particular ‘Ragin’ Eyes’, while I also loved the way Nick wrapped his tongue with relish around some deceptively simple lyrical rhymes, notably on ‘House for Sale’. There were a number of songs dotted around the set from his brand new album ‘Indoor Safari’ including ‘Blue On Blue’.

By now, as only a casual follower over the years, I was hoping for some more familiar tunes and he obliged with ‘Cruel To Be Kind’ which I remember like yesterday watching on ‘Top of the Pops’ as a 12 year old – his voice was a little less forceful than in those days but my attention wandered as that was when the camera police belatedly decided to march down the aisles to get people to stop filming.

He finished with some better known songs in Brinsley Schwarz’s ‘What’s So Funny Bout Peace Love And Understanding’ as popularised by Elvis Costello, and the song he wrote for Rockpile colleague Dave Edmunds in ‘I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock’n’Roll’) rocked in lively fashion, though not enough to get a rather reserved crowd of mature years out of their seats.

The gig seemed to have ended quite early and the first encore was a clever instrumental of ‘Venus’ by Los Straitjackets before Nick returned for the Rockpile song ‘When I Write The Book’. After a fairly short hour and a half that was it, but he came back solo to play Elvis Costello’s ‘Alison’, which was his privilege as the producer of his first two albums. Indeed it was a suitable note to end on as a reminder that he was handmaiden to a wider movement as well as a star in his own right. I was very glad to take that last minute decision to see him.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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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)