"He's got good shoes / He's got sticky fingers / Dancing around till the carpet gets thin". Apt for this campaign, as Pete & Co. got into collaboration with Clarks Originals, the rockstar's cobbler this February. Pete and the Pirates exorcized their billy-no-mates Valentine's Day demons (brothers Tom and Pete spent it together) by playing a set of mainly romantic cuts to a packed shop with fans ranging from Charlotte, 26, a Pete and the Pirates groupie who had followed them from Paris, to suited West End risk analysts who left “F***ing impressed by how good they were”. Praise indeed? The Pirate crew had been preparing their show all morning, and they arrived saying they had plumped for a 'highly experimental' format. The initial shock of the Pirates playing without drums certainly was considerable - and they began somewhat shakily with 'Knots' - a thrumming LA Woman start then never quite coalesced into the cooing (although there were coos) joy-sheen crescendo. Things warmed up however, and by their third song lead singer Tom, exerting a hard authority to their sound, had turned the crowd and a well-cast spell came down on the room. By now the rain had blurred the view of the Quadrant and people were sifting in fast. The band played behind a chalk-covered black board bearing the names of the various luminaries who had worn Clarks, from the Wu-Tang to the Arctic Monkeys; Tom and his brother wore matching top-button fastened shirts, while Tom played an acoustic guitar which looked like it had been designed by BLU. Due to space constraints the percussion was limited to electric pads tentatively poked by Pete, to very good effect to be fair. Some excellent song-writing came on show with 'Can't Fish' - "Down in the street the lightbulbs explode" freewheeled Tom, to a strong reaction from the crowd. Best song of the gig ...
Clash Music
16 February 2011