28 April 2010 (gig)
07 May 2010
What can be said about the irrepressible and entertaining Ed Tudor Pole (formerly of Tenpole Tudor) that hasn’t been said already? Well, perhaps that during last week’s gig at Hoxton’s bona fide music venue Underbelly, Mr. Tudor Pole was particularly irrepressible and entertaining. Headlining a fabulous evening of rock n’ roll mayhem, with support bands such as The Spyders and The WitchDoktors (read separate review), Ed showed a predominantly young audience that there is no swindle in rock n’ roll!
Sporting an eye-catching white shirt decorated with hand-painted patterns (Tenpole Fashions Ltd. anyone?), a contrasting black waistcoat and flared black trousers (also showing all sorts of ornamentation) completed the outfit. Indeed, the look resembled an interesting mix of bohemian rebel, rockabilly and even country & western. No surprise then that Ed’s music was much of the same.
Starting with a unique hybrid of the chorus of ‘Let The Four Winds Blow’ (originally by R&B artist Roy Brown) and ‘I Forgot To Remember To Forget Her’ (a strongly country-infused tune originally recorded by Elvis), Ed’s musical preferences and influences are obvious.
Next came ‘Too Beautiful To Last’ and ‘Stay United’, which was followed by one of Ed’s greatest hits ‘Throwing The Baby Out With The Bathwater’ – a wonderfully upbeat tune with heavy rockabilly influences and a little 60’s surf pop sound – all played with just one guitar!
People at the front were dancing and everyone was having real fun, which was also the aptly titled next number – ‘Real Fun’.
Naturally, Ed had just as much fun playing to a most enthusiastic audience and one track which had everyone grinning was ‘Akor Yuka’, which might be Klingon for F*** off you c*** (yes, he sang that, too!).
‘I Like Blackjacks’ is another of Ed’s hits and once again, its strong rockabilly and country twang was perfectly suited to compliment the overall musical theme of the night. Alas, Ed Tudor Pole would not be Ed Tudor Pole if there weren’t some anarchy in the UK vibe thrown in. Well, it was – namely when he expressed his anger and frustration about our politically oh so correct times we live in – where even the fun of lighting up a cigarette is compromised. To make his point as clear as possible, he then proceeded to light a cigarette and was promptly supported by assorted rebel-yells amongst the audience, who likewise lit a fag. For the record, the management arrested no one.
Staying true to the rebel spirit, Ed then belted out a rip-roaring version of the Chuck Berry classic ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ – followed by another one of his own numbers, ‘He’s Got A Moustache’.
Of course, no Ed Tudor Pole set would be complete without the very songs he is most famous for: ‘Who Killed Bambi’ from the Sex Pistols film The Great Rock n’ Roll Swindle and his mega-hit ‘Swords Of A Thousand Men’!
Delivering the chords and is probably the more straightforward part of his routine, what does make Ed’s performances so unique is the way he delivers the (often hilarious) lyrics while frequently exaggerating his facial expressions to great effect. It’s fair to say that the majority of the audience were fans, however, others came along out of curiosity. Whatever the reason – there was one thing they all had in common: a damn’ good time with Ed Tudor Pole’s unique one-man-show!
