Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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No moribund nostalgia-fest from the Hersham crew
Jimmy Pursey
[Man Alive!/flickr]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Sham 69
O2 Academy, London
AFTER years of varied and disputatious line-ups, these days the real Sham 69 appear in more or less their classical form, with Dave Parsons on guitar, Dave Tregunna on bass, Robin Guy on drums and, of course, Jimmy Pursey on vocals.
Pursey, in his mid-sixties and looking more like a vexatious hound dog than ever, retains the fervent charisma that has long made him one of punk’s most exciting frontmen, while Parsons, fit, lean and sharp, still commands attention by his side.
With the flamboyant Guy assaulting the drums and Tregunna intense beneath his baseball cap, Sham serve up a ferocious set that’s surprisingly refreshing even though it’s based around songs that first saw the light of day more than 40 years ago.
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