Hecklergigs: John Power, The Social 1/22

Last year was a good one for the comeback. Everyone pined for the 90s as Brit behemoths Take That returned, everyone invested in earplugs as the Spice Girls reformed, and a lot less people were excited by Shed 7’s reunion.

It’s a shame really, because the largely-forgotten indie stalwarts performed a string of sold out dates, taking them (and us) back to a time when they toured with everlasting dad-rock purveyors Oasis and the girls screamed their names.  Also on that long lost 1994 tour were pop rock scousers Cast led by ex-Las bassist John Power, who went on to give us Britpop favourites such as Sandstorm and Walkaway before taste got the better of them and they went their separate ways.

Now John Power is back, but in the paraphrased words of LL Cool J, don’t call it a comeback, because he’s actually been here for years.

John Power has released two solo albums already, and with his third effort Stormbreaker out on January 28, he has taken to the road for a jaunt around some of England’s more intimate (read ‘small’) venues.

The London leg of the trip brought him to Little Portland Street’s Social bar last night, and after turns from Jay Lewis and labelmate Ain, the now rather hirsute Power took to the stage. It’s fair to say that there seemed to be a lot of Cast fans in the audience looking for some Britpop gems (one guy was even wearing an Elastica tee shirt for christ’s sake), but Power’s new output doesn’t really go hand in hand with the upbeat tunes of old.

Some tracks do still have the same melodies and sweet harmonies of a Cast hit, with Come The Morning getting closest, but what we got was a pretty raucous blues session that felt like sitting in on a jam between friends.

It got very friendly actually, and with Ain and Jay Lewis in on the act everything warmed up as Power settled into a convincing grizzled blues man routine, really letting rip with tracks like Calling You Back and Ain't No Woman.  

Things rolled along nicely after that, and although some tracks strayed into cliché (American Dream) and pastiche (Stormbreaker sounded a LOT like All Over Now by the Stones), this was a good set from a tight band who were obviously enjoying themselves.

It was hard at times not to think about the beauties that were being ignored at the back of the John Power back catalogue, but that’s probably more my problem than his, a Britpop survivor determined to create something new rather than rely on the old.

And anyway, it’s probably best to save it for the comeback.

[story by Tom Atkinson]