Reverend bigs up Lily Allen on New Year's Eve

Reverend And The Makers headlined the Club NME New Year's Eve Ball last night (December 31) as thousands of fans saw in 2009 at the London Koko venue.

During the set Jon 'The Reverend' McClure paid tribute to Lily Allen, who he singled out for praise on the music scene for her forthright views.

"I wanna big up Lily Allen," he said shortly into the set, which began at 11:30pm (GMT). "Since 9/11 she's the only other person apart from me who has stood up and said something about the world."

The band, playing after Pete And The Pirates, had started their set with recent club-only release 'Silence Is Talking'. They stopped playing just before midnight to lead a countdown to 2009, then played 'Heavyweight Champion Of The World' after fans had cheered in the strike of 12.

Later in the set rapper Lowkey, a bandmate of McClure in his 'other' band Mongrel, rapped on stage and held a placard reading, "Freedom for Palestine".

Following the set NME Radio DJ Chris Martin played indie hits into the early hours.

Reverend And The Makers tickets:

• Sep 06, 2009 12:00 at Myrtle Park, Bingley - Buy from Seetickets
• Oct 22, 2009 19:30 at Norwich U.e.a., Norwich - Buy from Seetickets
• Oct 23, 2009 19:30 at Engine Shed, Lincoln - Buy from Seetickets

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