14 March 2015 (gig)
05 April 2015
The idea of spending a Saturday night watching a covers band didn’t fill me with feverish excitement but I’d heard enough about The Small Fakers to make this a date in the diary. Arriving just before the advertised stage time, I was a little taken aback but pleasantly surprised to be welcomed to what must have been a packed venue, the top-notch 229 in Great Portland Street.
As the boys hit the stage it was immediately apparent why. The Small Fakers are all accomplished musicians and they have clearly mastered the band’s presence and stage attitude. What I didn’t expect is quite how much they physically resemble the band!
Slowly but surely, they started winding their way through the band’s back catalogue and it didn’t take long for the crowd to warm up, especially when they rolled out the old faves. ‘Sha La La La Lee’, ‘Here Come the Nice’, ‘Lazy Sunday’, ‘Itchycoo Park’ to name a few. The performance was rehearsed to a tee with the whole band changing outfits half way through the set without a pause as they headed into to the latter years of The Small Faces and build up to the triumphant finale
Since the gig, I’ve learnt they’ve been widely praised not only from those close to the band at the time but also from ex-members too with original drummer, Kenny Jones even being in the audience that night. That sort of acknowledgment goes a long way to explaining the full house
The band will celebrate 50 years of the Small Faces by fully playing first album ‘Small Faces’ and ‘Ogdens Nut Gone Flake’ at the 100 Club in November. If you can’t wait that long then here’s a link to their site for the full listing of upcoming gigs - www.smallfakers.co.uk
