This show was billed as SYLVAIN SYLVAIN of The New York Dolls, but really he should need no introduction. It could also have been of The Criminals or the Teardrops but that might have attracted the wrong sort of crowd. As it was this, this show was sold out for what (as far as I know) is Sylvain's first London solo show in a very long time indeed - possibly since the Teardrops album came out in 1981.
We arrived in time to see THE DUEL, a band who have been trying to get me to see them for a good few years now having found me on Myspace back when that was the Social media site of choice. Since then I have on several occasions spoken to Tara and Andy while they have given me fliers for various gigs over the years, none of which I've managed to get to. So it was a pleasure to finally get to see them and to finally keep that promise from back in the Myspace days to review them live.
Live at least The Duel are a 5-piece, relatively old school punk band who opened with The Brotherhood: a damn good start, making it clear that Tara is a good frontwoman who seems to cross Pauline Murray with Siouxie Sioux with hints of Poly Styrene. They also feature fine socially aware lyrics including the great, rather bouncy London Town What Do You Do When The Money Runs Out? makes clear as they illustrate the struggles to make ends meet in this city of ours.
You Can Do It was sung as a clarion call to get us all up off our arses to do something to make things better or else just improve our lives. I really liked The Way London Used To Be: a song about wanting London to be less plastic than it is these days over a rumbling punk tune that could have been The Members.
The most Siouxsie-esque song in the set was War. It was angry enough as it pointed fingers at the sort of idiots that think war could ever be a good thing. Tara got most of the crowd going for Jump - no not the Van Halen tune thankfully, but there was a decent amount of movement in the crowd for it anyway. Break Away was another of the new songs they played. I think that come from the new album that is due out in a few weeks' time.
They closed there set by getting Leigh Heggarty up as special guest. He is in the current line-up of Ruts DC, and together they played a great version of Babylon's Burning that was a great way to end a pretty damn good set that made me wish I'd gone and seen them a good two or three years ago. Oh well, better late than never and all that.
After a short break, it was finally time for Sylvain Sylvain to make his entrance along with his current band featuring Gary Powell from The Libertines/Dirty Pretty Things/New York Dolls on drums and Jerome Alexandre of The Skuzzies/Deadcuts/Pete Doherty on bass.
They opened with The Cops Are Coming from the Teenage News album or does it go back further than that 1977 record? Either way it was a good opening instrumental that got the sold out crowd going ready for Sylvain to start milking the applause as he launched into I Wanna Be Loved, which was good and raggedy in finest Heartbreakers fashion. It might not have been as rawking as Michael Monroe's versions but it was damn good anyway.
I'm Your Man sounded pretty damn fine as did the song I have down as She's Misunderstood that had the almost girl group vocals you expect from Sylvain. We then got the first of Syl's New York Dolls stories about going to see Bo Diddley at My Father's Place and getting thrown out for shouting out for Pills - the Bo Diddley song - as Bo thought they were trying to sell Pills!! No he was looking for the Rock and roll nurse to go to his head once more. Wow, they did a great rollicking version of it that Syl himself would have described as being "Totally Tits": his phrase of the tour apparently.
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They then slowed things down and had a sing along on Femme Fatale. It was rather loose and louche, preparing us for a good dose of Teenage News, a song that was written for the New York Dolls' third album that never happened and is a perfect pop song. Staying with the Teenage News album, they took us down to 14th Street to let us know where the beat was. I'm sure nowadays it looks nothing like it did then, however.
Syl then introduced his current single, Leaving New York. It is a poignant song about having to move out, probably because you can't afford to live there anymore and the place has changed, something most Londoners can empathize with. Still, as Syl says you can download it for 50p so go help an original Doll out and buy his tune from your nearest download dealer.
Well after a little more ribbing of both Jerome and Gary it was time to go back to the Dolls for a thunderously well received version of Jet Boy that had pretty much everyone singing along and smiling. You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory was next, inevitably dedicated to Johnny Thunders and to celebrate Johnny's recent birthday this brought tears to more than one fans eyes around me.
Syl then gave us a good memory of standing outside the shop he worked in in 1969 with little Johnny Genzale and telling him that he was gonna call the band they would be in The New York Dolls after the Dolls Hospital opposite. He then told us how Eddie Cochran had written a riff that was one of the most popular punk riffs which he demonstrated starting with C'mon Everybody and mutating it into Sheena Is a Punk Rocker through God Save The Queen and into Trash. "Don't pick it up don't throw your life away," he sings. Well no we are hear watching you Syl that's not throwing your life away. It was also the last song of the set.
They stayed onstage to take the thunderous applause and then it was time to get up some special guests for the encore. Now Syl could have chosen from about 50 or 60 musicians I could see in the audience but went for first one of the 100 Club's biggest supporters and a man now involved in the running of the venue, Glen Matlock, to take over on bass, while on drums he managed to get up Clem Burke of Blondie who put in an astonishing performance as Gary Powell joined Jerome Alexandre on backing vocals and they stormed through Personality Crisis to the delight of everyone present. After all, it's not often you see a Doll, a Pistol and a Blondie onstage with a Libertine. Clem managed to give shout outs to all the missing Dolls from Billy Murcia and Jerry 'Needles' Nolan to Arthur Killer Kane.
This was a brilliant end to a great set and this is hopefully one of the options open to Clem once Debbie Harry retires next year as has been reported over the weekend. Either way, Sylvain Sylvain is every bit the living legend you'd want him to be and I hope he comes back again soon.
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