Graham Day & The Forefathers, The Len Price 3 & The Galileo 7 at The Retro Man Blog Night, The Half Moon Putney

Graham Day & The Forefathers - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Firstly, I’d like to say a big "cheers" and thank you to all those who came along to the Retro Man Blog Night at The Half Moon with Graham Day & The Forefathers, The Len Price 3 and The Galileo 7 on May 08th. Following the success of last year’s show there was always the danger that a repeat performance wouldn't live up to expectations but I’m sure you will agree that all three bands were on top form once again. The gig sold out well over a month in advance and apologies to anyone who couldn’t get tickets. If you don’t want to miss out on future Retro Man Blog gigs then don’t forget you can sign-up for email updates, follow us on Twitter or of course "Like" the Facebook page for advance notice of tickets before they go on general sale. Well, it’s always very difficult to review your own gigs so I’ll keep it brief and concentrate on sharing some photos of the night. 

The Galileo 7 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

The Galileo 7 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

As the venue filled up so quickly after the doors opened and everyone was ready and raring to go we could get things off to an early start and give The Galileo 7 a slightly longer set than was planned. This was handy as they now have so many great tracks that the original allotted 30 minutes would not have been enough to fit them all in. The new line-up is now really hitting its stride and switching Mole from bass to drums was a stroke of genius as he is worth the entrance price alone with his flamboyant drumming style, which draws murmurs of appreciation from people around me. Allan moving to centre stage certainly improves the band’s dynamics and anyway, he certainly deserves his time in the spotlight after playing the staunch bass playing side-kick for so long. 

The Galileo 7 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

The Galileo 7 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Allan's song-writing and guitar playing also demands more acclaim and thankfully the many excellent and positive reviews for the latest album "False Memory Lane" seem to be finally addressing this. New Bassist Paul Moss is also great to watch as he’s really immersed in the music and adds some nice melodic backing vocals along the way. Viv’s catchy keyboard runs are an integral part of The Galileo 7 sound and she also provides lead vocal duties on the joyful Power Pop rush of "Don’t Know What I’m Waiting For" and a cover of The Who’s "Tattoo". With a fair selection of tracks plucked from all three of their albums, including older favourites such as “Orangery Lane” and "Anne Hedonia", it is however both sides of the brand new single "One Lie At A Time" and "God of Gaps" which are played tonight, that prove Galileo 7 are going from strength to strength. 

The Len Price 3 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

The Len Price 3 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

The Len Price 3 took the stage minus their trademark blazers, I must admit it took a bit of getting used to, and slammed straight into "Nothing I Want" the B-Side of their new Record Store Day single which is a really powerful song that positively crackles and spits vitriol. We were then treated to another B-Side, a rare outing for the excellent melodic Garage Rocker "Dorolia" which was the flip to the band's very first single "Christian In The Desert". Despite my fears that the band's new casual look signaled a move to Alt. Country, I'm pleased to report that they are not ditching their classic and much-loved high-tempo energetic sound and reaching for the banjos and violins just yet! A storming version of "Pictures" and a manic, wired "Girl Like You" just ram the point home. 

The Len Price 3 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

The Len Price 3 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

But with the A-Side of the new single "Walking On Your Head" and "Mr Grey" The Len Price 3 prove that they are adept at writing slower melodic songs with lyrics that veer towards poignant vignettes of modern life in the style of Ray Davies. But of course we do love their noisy little numbers too and the speedy singalong thrashes of "My Grandad Jim" and "Billy Mason" see the crowd going positively wild. Highlights for me were "The Girl Who Became a Machine", and their anthemic signature song "Rentacrowd" and the brilliant "London Institute" which closes tonight's main set. The band encore with "Sailor's Sweetheart" and "Chinese Burn" which leave a very satisfied audience. 

Graham Day - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Allan Crockford - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Graham Day & The Forefathers are quite stunning tonight, armed with a mightily impressive back catalogue that deserves to be lauded amongst the very best in great British Rock music, the set list is crammed full of a prime selection of Prisoners, Gaolers, Solarflares and Prime Movers nuggets. Whether it’s The Gaolers "Begging You" with its crunching bass intro or the slashing chords of the Solarflares "You Want Blood", each song is just as eagerly devoured by the crowd as those more familiar Prisoners classics such as "Reaching My Head" or "Love Me Lies". 

Wolf Howard - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Graham Day - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

A rowdy, energetic but good natured "middle-aged mosh-pit" starts up with the crunching chords of "Be On Your Way" and didn’t let up until the very end. This time round there are some surprise additions to the set, including The Prisoners 1997 "come-back" single "Shine On Me" and the rare B-Side "Small". The band encored with a great version of "I Drink The Ocean" which segued into Deep Purple’s "Hush". This sparked off a stage invasion and some nifty impromptu Go-Go dancing by a couple of eager audience members.  Although The Forefathers was never really meant to be a long-term concern, there’s no doubting the chemistry between Graham, drummer Wolf and bassist Allan and we can but hope that the three of them continue to play together in some form or other for a lot longer. So, what do you think? Shall we do it all again next year…?

Graham Day & The Forefathers - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

With thanks to all three bands, Carrie, Abi, James and staff at the Half Moon, Eric Baconstrip for the superb poster design, Steven Tagg-Randall for the great videos, Alan May at Glory Boy Radio Show, Derek Rookley from Rookers Breakfast Show and Wayne Lundqvist-Ford at The Ice Cream Man Show for help with the promotion and anyone else who got involved along the way. Of course thanks to all the Retro Man Blog and Retrosonic Podcast followers, subscribers and "likers" and to those who come along and support live music at our gigs, it’s all very much appreciated! Don't forget our special Retrosonic Podcast with Graham, Wolf and Allan talking about their illustrious musical history from The Prisoners and The Daggermen to The Forefathers via working with Billy Childish, Planet, The Stabilisers and all the many and varied bands and line-ups along the way!

To see more photos of the night please head on over to the Retro Man Facebook page and, if you are not already following, hit "Like" and "Get Notifications" for access to the exclusive Photo Album. The whole event was filmed by video archivist Steven Tagg-Randall and you can catch up on full sets from all three bands at his YouTube channel here plus there are some videos up now at the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here.