By Selena Davenport
I first saw this lineup of the Blockheads in a small show in Weston-super-Mare and was intrigued as I’ve always followed the group and noted that there were new members in the form of Nathan King who although not Norman sounded fantastic and really funky along with a new vocalist Mike Bennett who definitely adds his own original twist to the repertoire without deviating too much from the brilliant songs written by Ian Dury and the legendary ChazJankel.
Witnessing one of my favourite groups in a large venue I went to Portsmouth and the show had certainly evolved into something slick with celebrated keyboard player Mick Gallacher working his magic . virtuoso sax player David Lewis and incredible drummer John Roberts also turned in mighty fine performances and with a final piece of the dynamic jigsaw .
It must be a tricky assignment to learn such complex lyrics but Mike Bennett, who did a more laid-back performance really manage to interact with the crowd and I particularly enjoyed the rendition of CleverTrevor and inbetwenies from the first act album actually credited to the Blockheads Do if Yourself
Obviously all the crowd pleasers were featured within the eclectic set like What A Waste and Clever Bastards were absolutely fantastic and showed the diversity of the lyrical style of Ian Dury who was the king of the lyrical metaphor and indeed it must’ve been a trawl to learn such complicated lyrics .So all credit to new vocalist Mike Bennett for interpreting them in an entertaining way, especially his throwaway approach on Reasons to Be Cheerful which was very different to the show I had seen before.
The Encore track Blockheads was awesome with John Turnbull rocking out with Chaz and Dave Lewis playing a hounding sax riff . It was pretty much the only punk moment and the rhythm section of John Roberts and Nathan King were totally providing the backbone to this animated track. One of three punk related tracks from the original album the others being black male man and Plaistow Patricia which they chose not to play.
They did however play Hold up which was a great tribute to the late great Derek the draw and a great version it was. It’s funk riddled backdrop provided a perfect counterpoint to the catchy hook and well put together vocal approach with the band coming in to sing the infectiously catchy hook.
If you get the chance to catch the Blockheads on the tour it’s a case of miss it and miss out!
