Face Of Cheam

It’s the time of year for the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts at the Albert Hall, last Friday as part of this I saw The Fratellis. This was the first time I have seen them headline after support slots with The Who and Kasabian and I have to say they were really good. They played nearly all their Costello Music album and a few new songs. Also, rather predictably, Roger Daltrey who organises these charity shows, joined them in the encore for a rendition of The Who’s ‘The Seeker’. Daltrey actually introduced them by saying ‘If The Who were Scottish then they would be The Fratellis’.
A couple of the new songs were imminently tuneful, one sounding a bit like Digsys Diner, and the last song, Chelsea Dagger was elongated in the intro due to the bass being replaced. This did lead to the crowd doing a bit more ‘der le de deh der le da’ for longer that necessary. Still a fine performance.
Support was from the Ravonoettes, a Canadian trio, with two guitars and a drummer creating a goth ultravioletesque sound. Only once though did the singer seem to be enjoying it, concentrating too hard, presumably on getting the words and chords right. I may check out their album soon.
I ended the evening in the Prince Of Wales in Kensington Church Street. When my brother & I were here a year ago there was a stunning model-esque barmaid, also noted on Beer In The Evening, called Simone. Alas she has probably moved on to better things, but it is still a nice pub and the current bar-staff were also very pleasant and easy on the eye.