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Once the Black Country’s answer to the Beastie Boys, PWEI’s dense, sample-heavy hip hop/indie rock Brit-rap innovations have been largely forgotten. Tonight, original twin frontman Graham Crabb unveiled his unexpectedly wonderful 2.0 version of PWEI, with ex-Gaye Bykers On Acid singer Mary Mary as his bodyslamming vocal foil. Politicised tracks from just-released comeback ‘New Noise Designed by a Sadist’ held up well among their 80s/90s crossover hits, to the delight of the grebo moshpit. In protest-heavy 2011, an encore of the group’s Prodigy collaboration ‘Their Law’ felt as relevant as ever. “The 99 per cent will prevail, people!” ad libbed Mary.

Concorde 2, 20 October
Rating:
Stuart Huggett

Sometimes elements align to create events of awesome magnitude… The Horne Section was just such an event. The cabaret format provided a good platform from which to flex their creative muscles, and they did, with joyful results. The classic Morris dance is a neglected medium but they brought it bang up to date covering Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’. This time a ‘special guest treat’ came in the form of the quirky Miss Isy Suttie who’s vocal stylings melded perfectly with the tone of the evening. Jolly good!

The Old Market, 20 October
Rating:
Enna Andrews

‘Tired’was probably the most appropriate word to use to describe the show, both in the content and physically. A quadruple by-pass would obviously have an impact on anyone’s health, however the effect on Starr (a performer of infamous high energy anarchic comedy) was incredibly evident. It was a shambolic mix of half ended jokes, singing (too much), video sketches and failed magic tricks. The evening only came to life near the end when Starr sprayed some of the audience with water. A tried and tested routine but tired nonetheless. A sad reflection on a performer who should probably stop.

Worthing Pavilion, 20 October
Rating:
Lee Stevens

With a catalogue spanning some 30 plus years there was a veritable cornucopia of songs for Mr Julian H Cope to delve into on what was (apart from Big Nigel beating a bass drum on one song) a solo (in the true sense of the word) performance.

In (prescription) shades, leathers and obligatory Luftwaffe cap Julian made his way through a handful of new songs on amplified wah wah twelve string and Mellotron, and treated us to some early solo material. From ‘World Shut Your Mouth’, ‘The Greatness and Perfection’, and ‘Head Hang Low’, from ‘Fried: King of Chaos’, and ‘Sunspots’.

For me the apex of the evening came in the form of the Teardrop Explodes classic ‘The Great Dominions’, with Cope pounding the Mellotron accompanied by drum machine sounding like a psychedelic John Shuttleworth. Legend.

Concorde 2, 18 October
Rating:
Steve King