Liverpool are magic, Everton are tragic, as EMLYN HUGHES once said and nearly got beaten to a pulp for it by some irate Evertonians in a Liverpool night club around the time Messrs. PETE WYLIE, KIRK BRANDON, GLEN MATLOCK and MIKE PETERS were cutting their teeth on the Punk and New Wave circuits.
So, as you'll imagine, your reviewer was wondering which side of the magic/ tragic coin this gig would fall. However, once all four culprits were on the Lomax stage - PETE WYLIE already larging it and proclaiming this was his birthday and that if Kirk, Glen and Mike don't perform the audience had every right to "twat them."
Proving once and for all that cliché about taking the man out of Liverpool, but never taking Liverpool out of the stuff, WYLIE 2002 looks more like a modern-day Mexican bandit (loud paisley shirt, huge girth, wouldn't look out of place in a TARANTINO flick…) and ranted against the audience when the crowd pointed out his expanding waistline to him. He replied, saying: "As long as your age is bigger than your waistline, you're doing alright!"
Wylie's witty repartee aside, something told me tonight would be something to remember and this was confirmed when they kicked off with MIKE PETERS cracking ALARM tune "The Stand", setting the pattern of one member diving into their back catalogue and the others accompanying in a round robin fashion.
Each track was introduced in anecdotal fashion with each person explaining why they wrote the particular track. Naturally, Wylie stole everyone's thunder by telling the crowd that his epic "Come Back" was about making a stand against a bad situation. Hallelujah to that.
Later, Glen Matlock told his anecdotal tale in a somewhat understated manner (by comparison) about his midlife crisis. He informed us that, despite being grateful for his wife, kids, food and shelter, he still craved something to take away the pressure of everyday life, before launching into "I wish I Was On Something."
Kirk Brandon then delivered THEATRE OF HATE'S classic "Do You Believe In The West World?" with a fiery passion, despite the fact his leg injury from 1987 still prevents him from standing while performing. He's seated throughout this performance.
The first set ended after 40 minutes, giving way to a mass scrum while punters dived for DEAD MEN WALKING merchandise or autographs or photos with their heroes.
After a 20-minute sycophant gap, business resumed. Wylie joshed: "What's the difference between a record company and Jonathan King? One of them takes your innocence - and the other one's Jonathan King!" Ha Ha, good joke, Wylie. The set then continued with PETERS crunching thru "68 Guns" ("69 Guns in the Liverpool Echo") and "Spirit Of 76", his tribute to Merseyside's legendary punk club Eric's. Wylie gets a name check in the lyrics, fact fans.
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Wylie introduced Brandon's "Never Take Me Alive" with: "Kirk, are you gonna play my anthem?" setting the Lomax alight with approval. Aside from their own back catalogues, DEAD MEN WALKING also delved into THE CLASH'S "Stay Free", Wylie asking if there'd been a better group than THE CLASH in the past 25 years?
Clearly emotional, it allowed Wylie to re-live his past and he told us about slagging off THE CLASH to Strummer and Jones' faces in Paris (and losing a lift home in the process) only for Mick Jones to redeem himself by dedicating "Stay Free" to Wylie at a Royal Court gig later in 1981. Wylie's reading of the song tonight was both straight and telling.
The whole shebang ended in a celebration as DEAD MEN WALKING delivered seminal reworkings of "Blitzkreig Bop" and "Pretty Vacant", ex-FRANKIE Paul Rutherford wisely declining Wylie's best attempts to get him up onstage.
After the encore break, DEAD MEN WALKING climaxed with covers of THE MONKEES' "Stepping Stone" and THE SMALL FACES' "All Or Nothing" going down a storm with Birthday fat boy Wylie delivering parting shot "Heart As Big As Liverpool", whooping it up as though his life depended on it. Not bad for a bloke currently signing on.
More than anything, tonight demonstrated what an enigma Pete Wylie is. John Peel has always reckoned he should be massive and his mega back catalogue seems to dictate he should show more than an expanding girth. What the hell went wrong?
To answer that, I guess we'll have to wait for his autobiography. Unless, of course, a one man HOWARD MARKS - type show doesn't beckon first. If it does, I reckon he'd carry it off with considerable ease.
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