Rezillos - Astoria, London, 4/12/2004

  by Dave Toynton

published: 6 / 1 / 2005

intro

The Rezillos recently played their first shows in nearly two years . At a London show Dave Toynton watches them put on an electric performance

This was a gig I had been looking forward to for a long time .It was the first time the reformed Rezillos had played London in nearly two years, and the first time I had seen them since their 1970's punk heyday. What would be the verdict ? All the band were wearing their legendary black wrap-around shades and Fay Fife also had on a see through plastic mac and a PVC dress with lime edges to it. Her co-vocalist Eugene Reynolds was wearing a leather jacket, rather than the sci-fi jumpsuit he often used to wear in the past. His infamous quiff was still very much in evidence, but more refined than before. Guitarist Jo Callis was meanwhile wearing his kilt. Many of the band's old trade marks were, therefore, present. When the Rezillos came on the atmosphere was instantly electric. The majority of the capacity audience were older music fans, but this didn't stop many of them from rushing down to the front to dance to the faithful material. They tried out several new songs, most of which proved to be on a par with their older material. The biggest cheer of the night, however, was given to their 1978 hit, 'Top of the Pops ', a song which I had always thought over-rated in comparision to much of their other material. When the band played its opening notes, the audience erupted. Several fans pulled themselves onto the stage before jumping back into the audience. In the original spirit of things Eugene found this amusing. A bouncer who came on stage did not. When one fan tripped and fell on the stage the bouncer came bounding towards him in a nasty manner. Eugene, however, danced in-between them, giving the guy on the stage a chance to get away. If I had worn a hat, I would have taken it off to Eugene. 'Top of the Pops', which came early in the set, set the pace for the remainder of the gig and the whole of the Astoria continued to jump and sway for much of the rest of the night. Even veterans like myself near the back were not safe. The band finished by playing three encores. All in all a great time was definitely had by all !!!

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