Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Wendy James returns to Brighton. She wants our love! Patterns, Brighton 30 Sept 2021.
Wendy James, the vocalist from Transvision Vamp was back in town. I never saw those guys live whilst the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their pop/punk sound. Transvision Vamp albums have recently been remastered and released again on vinyl. They sound great! Wendy James is back in Brighton, after some four postponements due to the Covid 19 situation. Tonight the gig went ahead in Patterns. She was back with her band and that “new” album, Queen High Straight. I was looking forward to this gig; it had been a long time coming. The last time we met up was in October 2019 as she and the band were support for the Psychedelic Furs.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Tonight saw The Wendy James Band as headliners with support from a local band SLANT. At the front Wendy James leads The Wendy James Band through a 70 minute set. It included some new material, recent material and a few Transvision Vamp songs thrown into the mix. And what a mix!
Wendy James Band: Hello!
Wendy took to the stage, her hands behind her ears so she could hear the loud welcome she received and maybe encourage more cheers! That beguiling smile lit the room as she said “Hello” and the band struck up with You’re So Great and without stopping for breath we were thrown Speedball. Fabulous stuff.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Throughout the set Wendy would stop and chat and relate stories and events from her past. These chats were welcomed by everyone. The tales unfolded with some level of detail, warmth and humour. Andy Warhol got a mention and also some of the darker events surrounding the early Transvision Vamp days. Her attending an event where she was asked to sing – and that was really the start of her career. We were also told about the various parties that she went to. It was a fascinating and informative insight.
The Band
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
I want Your Love
Wendy had stated a different set would be being performed each night she would be playing with her band and next we had You’re A Good Man Sister with that almost Jean-Genie riff running through it. Then that snagging hook fired up and the band kicked into hyper drive with the Transvision Vamp rocker I Want Your Love. Patterns shook as people danced and sang, almost drowning out the band at one stage. I have to say the sound mix was spot on tonight. The volume was loud but comfortable and the mix desk techs did a great job. All the instruments and vocals could be clearly heard. And, thankfully, no smoke belching out.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Next up was a Bob Dylan cover of Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? Brilliant stuff and given the Wendy James twist. She had explained earlier with her omnipresent enthusiasm, “Not only are we celebrating a return to live venues, we are celebrating my No.16 album Queen High Straight, and also a different set list every night, from Transvision Vamp through all my albums!” So far so good! Next up If Looks Could Kill, from the Vamp archives. The Impression of Normalcy, and another newer track Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday.
A bit of history:
Wendy exploded onto the British music scene in 1988 as the fearless frontwoman of chart-topping alt-rockers Transvision Vamp. When the band broke up Wendy went on to collaborate with Elvis Costello, James Williamson (Iggy & the Stooges), Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group) and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds). Her band tonight were superb, I recognised some of the guys from their last visit to Brighton.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
The wonderful Perilous Beauty was next, soaked with filthy guttural guitar. Oh yes. Wendy James has still got it, and got it in style and power as her voice delivered that one. The Motown infused Here Comes The Beautiful One caught us all out. A great song.
Tell her to Shut Up!
Time for some more older material, the sublime Tell That Girl to Shut Up had the crowd bouncing along and joining in. A song familiar to my ears from its appearance in the “top 40” back in ’88, and from the aforementioned Transvision Vamp years. Wendy had given an insight to that song and the writer Holly Beth Vincent (Holly and The Italians).
The band left the stage, Wendy promised to be back – a guitar loop playing for the time the band were off the stage. The guys bounced back and stirred things up once more with Bad Valentine and Bitter Funny.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Baby, we DO care!
Then that song that straddled the boundary between being chart-friendly and alternative all out rocker, Baby I Don’t Care was up. This was the last song of the set, damn the band did a great job on that. Wendy after the show said how much she had enjoyed doing that one tonight, the crowd was fantastic. You could see as she romped through the song how much she was enjoying it. I put my camera aside and joined in! Damn, I love that song! Where did that time go? Wendy had her foot up on the railing and her fist punching the air. It is a wonderful way to end with such a climax. I can assure you there was much dancing, singing and hands in the air. There was a really good atmosphere in Patterns, it was full of warmth and appreciation and some fine live music.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Wendy seemed to have had a blast tonight. She engaged with us all. She sings, jumps, and stomps around the stage, rocking the mic stand with her hand, her arms waving and gesturing, fingers pointing out with her very own punky pop mannerisms. I found myself singing along to many of the songs tonight, along with the pretty near capacity crowd.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Lets Meet:
After the gig, Wendy had made sure she had plenty of time to meet and greet, sell some merchandise and sign stuff and pose for a selfie or two with fans. Great job there Wendy. Wendy James is a class act. It is really worth going to see her and her fabulous band live. A recommended night out! She wraps nostalgia, new tunes and personal memories into a candy coated wrapper delivered with gusto and professionalism.
Wendy James Band: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
This was a great gig witnessed by lots of people, who had come out on a filthy windy and wet night in the town. I am pretty sure as folk left heading back out into the wild wind they were all smiling and talking with pure joy about the entire set.
Thank you Wendy and band – you gave us a great night! It was lovely to chat after the set and the signing etc. Thank you so much for that x
Wendy James is on the internet here.
Thanks to Black Rabbit Productions and Joy and Patterns.
And Finally
Well done to the team at Black Rabbit Productions.
Black Rabbit Productions hosted the evening. They work hard promoting live music on the south coast. They are a promotion company with years of experience putting on music shows. Tonight was superb. They have some great gigs lined up. You can find Black Rabbit Productions on the WWW
JOY. are a concert promoter & event organiser based in Brighton. They have been organising UK events for 12 years for some of the best artists in the world. Website is here.
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