The Pretty Things – Brighton Komedia – 6^th March 2013

View: Front. Stage right.

Mercifully the ticket prices for The Pretty Things’ 50^th anniversary tour do not reach the stratospheric heights of those for the equivalent gigs of their Dartford cousins The Rolling Stones. However, that is in no way any reflection of the quality of the music on offer as we get a comprehensive tour of the Pretties’ illustrious back catalogue.

They begin with a four song celebration of their early r’n’b days featuring “Honey I Need”, “Buzz The Jerk”, “Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut”, and “Big City”. They clearly haven’t lost their youthful muscle as much of this is pretty brutal.

We then enter the Pretties’ psychedelic era with “Alexandra” from Electric Banana, and a selection of songs from “S.F Sorrow”. This particular album seems to grow in stature with each passing year, although the band considered it to be a failure at the time of its release. The songs now seem so fresh as to be almost timeless. The harmonies in the title song are commendably precise, and Phil May reading out the list of missing in “Private Sorrow” is surprisingly moving. Dick Taylor takes gruff lead vocals for “Baron Saturday”.

The band execute another gear change and present a blues set. Some of this is performed just by Phil May and a seated Dick Taylor who alternates between acoustic slide and an electric three-stringed banjo. They cover “Little Red Rooster”, a song apparently made famous by another Dartford group.

A return is made to the band’s mid-sixties heyday with “Get The Picture” and “Come See Me” before a version of “Mona” extended in a manner reminiscent of The Who’s “Live At Leeds”. “Midnight To Six Man” and LSD conclude the main set which is followed by encores of “Roadrunner”, “Don’t Bring Me Down” and (what else?) “Rosalyn”.

Tonight The Pretty Things not only demonstrate the breadth of their back catalogue but play with an energy that would credit a band a third of their age. In fact age is irrelevant. This is rock and roll, and that’s ageless.