Mick Farren and the
Deviants/Del Bromham- Borderline, London
This was
going to be a very special night. Mick was being backed by the original Pink Fairies
rhythm section of Sandy Providence RI
The lead
guitar player, Del Brohman from Stray opened the show with an acoustic set of
blues stuff. Sue is a big fan of Stray but I am not all the familiar with them
but I like their hard rocking stuff. It was mostly tracks from his CD from a
few years ago called Devil’s Canyon plus a few Stray songs. At first people
were not very attentive but by the end the crowd of older people was into it. I
did not feel like the youngest in this crowd for sure. He played about 45 mins.
They did not
take too long to set up. I noticed Mick sitting to the left of the stage alone
so I tried to approach him to say hello and show him the Terrastock shirt and
ask him nicely about his memory of the gig but he was not feeling very well. He
was really struggling to catch his breath, so I left him alone.
They opened
with I’m the Man with Sandy singing before Mick was helped up on to the stage
to sit on his chair with his stand for his lyrics. He sounded slightly drunk,
like his is suppose to and was in a very good mood, even though you could see
he was not feeling that well, sweating a lot and having a hard time breathing.
He also spoke about having to quit smoking or die. He seems like he is
suffering from emphysema. Anyway, back to the gig. Half Price Drink was one a
lot of people knew. The band sounded great with Andy playing lots of guitar
solos. The rhythm guitar player, Tim Rundall, could not be heard at all the
entire night and we were standing right in front of him and his amp! They
played several brand new songs including the funny Cocaine and Gunpowder, Andy
sang the next one, Police State. Another new one Beautiful Women and Broken
Machines followed. Mick would say some funny stuff in between the songs
including talking about quitting smoking was the toughest thing. He still has a
strong wit and humor and excellent delivery of the vocals, despite struggling
to breath. They played one really old Deviants song, Billy the Monster. Another new
song, the Aztec calendar has run out was pretty funny. Andy sang Stopped at the
Border and this gave Mick a break. Something to do between Cigarettes was one I
had never heard. They ended the set with a couple of blues songs.
I was
surprised they did not do any of the famous Pink Faries songs but it was a
short 65min set. I had a very nice time. It was reat to see Jon Jarrett and
Andy Gilham, whom I had not seen in some years, especially Andy. I also met up
with Mick and his wife Joy from the Atomic Workers. A fun night and I am really
glad to have been here since Mick may not play that many more gigs..
Set list: I’m the Man, Half Price Drinks, Leader, Concaine
and Gunpowder, Police State, Beautiful women and broken Machines, Billy the Monster, Aztec Calendar just ran out, Stopped at the Border, Something to do
between cigarettes, Taste the Blues, Blues?
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