GIG REVIEW - PETE SCOTT AT MORDEN TOWER - 24th November 2006

After a pint in Rosie’s, it was off along the city wall to find the ancient Morden Tower, a very interesting structure which forms part of Newcastle’s 13th century east wall. Much used for poetry gatherings, this was a venue on the gig list for Pete's latest venture; 'Yuri Gagarin's Banjo and other stories'.

The last time we saw Pete it was at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle - he seems to lean towards these high brow venues!! Anyway, with the audience assembled Pete eased into an intimate set of self-penned songs and banter with ‘Pay Day’, closely followed by the off-beat and humorous ‘Anita O’Day’s Hat’. The set that followed included a number of tracks from Pete’s outstanding album ‘Talking to a Stranger’. The night was bursting with beautifully crafted songs including personal favorites ‘One Man Band’ and Moving Day, a lovely rendition of the poignant St Margaret and up-tempo songs including, Miss Lapotaire and Check Out Lonely. Pete’s performance of ‘Waiting on’ was outstanding.

Pete is an acknowledged expert on 19th century song writer Joe Wilson, who was born on the site of the aforementioned Rosie’s bar in Stowell Street. It was therefore most appropriate that Pete also included numbers from his album of Joe Wilson songs ‘The Day of Life’. The encore included a World Premiere performance of a song based on the naming of children after the place of conception! – ‘Kuala Lumpur Clegg’ was uplifting.

To see Pete perform his own work in such an intimate setting was indeed a privilege and we all left the richer for the experience. If you get the chance to see Pete at a venue near you, don’t miss it!!

John Leslie

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