The Last Chant - Gig

Brady's/Liverpool 20/03/1981

This recording was The Last Chant’s third gig, on a weekday night in Liverpool, and it is raw and passionate in equal measure. The line up was to be the one that the band took through to their first (and only) single and the gigs in Heaven, Royal Court, Mountford Hall and with Nico at Le Son Divin.

The band were supporting Mike Scott’s Another Pretty Face, who offered the band a contract almost in the spot. Straight after the gig, the dressing room was invaded by Pete Wylie and Troy Tate. Wylie gushed that the band were better than The Clash (no heroes of the Last Chant) whilst Troy Tate, more soberly, offered to produce them.

Joe Mckechnie, in true wizardly fashion, has brought the tapes back to life, giving us a snapshot of a young band at an early gig on an ordinary night in Liverpool in 1981.
We didn’t know it then but Liverpool was going through another intensely creative musical phase. This was just part of it: ‘schoolboys high on dub and their own instincts’, wrote David Sefton in Sounds.

The band was

David Dickie (‘Dix’), Guitar and Vocals,
Brian Ashcroft, Bass and vocals,
Andrew Hussey, Guitar and Vocals
Colin Billings, Drums,
Tim Blanthorn, Violin
Rob Merino, Percussion,
Richard Evans, Percussion

Brady's/Liverpool 20/03/1981



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