Opening up their set emphatically at a buzzing Electric Ballroom in Camden, the venue is packed to the rafters.
Losing My Sense of Taste from their highly acclaimed new album Relentless has the band’s signature sound, driven by a soaring riff and Christie Hynde’s raw, poetic lyrics with the opening lines of the song ‘I must be going through a metamorphosis/ Pre senile dementia// Or some kind of psychosis/ I don’t even care about rock n roll’ with her irresistible velvet vocals.
As ever, new songs such as this showcase an uncanny ability the band have to write fresh yet effortlessly timeless sounding punk rock n roll.
These new songs are met with a strong reception by a devoted crowd with an almost cult following of the same generation as this iconic band tonight. standing with a sense of rock and roll reverence for the band tonight at this intimate venue.
A few numbers in and now in full swing, Chrissie lovingly dedicates a song to singer Johnny Thunder tonight, and another later on to “ Patti if you’re here tonight”, seemingly referring to punk legend Patti Smith.
Christie also pays tribute to The Cash lead singer Joe Strummer, affectionately saying that “If Joe Strummer were here he would definitely claim this place!” which the crowd clearly wholeheartedly agree with from their rapturous round of applause.
Tequila and Junkie from the band’s catalogue are hugely popular hits with their sense of debauchery surely striking a chord with their fans. The guitarist James Walbourne puts on a great performance, and his own side project His Lordship are one to catch for their own headline tour later this year.
Classics Back on the Chain Gang and Don’t Get Me Wrong inspire massive singalongs, the latter evoking a palpable sense of nostalgia in the audience tonight. Never a band to shy away from the limelight, an audacious double encore is well received by a feverish crowd and concludes a special set by The Pretenders tonight.
