November 22, 2000
London King's Cross Water Rats
The tone is set for a performance of maverick brilliance...
In his various guises - Win, The Fire Engines, and now The Nectarine No 9 - Davey Henderson has toiled fruitlessly on the remote fringes of indie music for so long that by rights he should be a bitter old curmudgeon.
Not a bit of it. From the moment the Nectarines burst into a breezy cover of 'The Magic Number' the tone is set for a performance of maverick brilliance. Henderson has hit a rich vein of creative form - to the undoubted relief of his new paymasters Beggars Banquet - and tonight he is irrepressible, treating us to droll one-liners between songs, shuffling the set as his whim dictates, and reading freshly minted lyrics off the page.
New song 'Fire Brigade No 4' sounds like it's being written on the spot, until Henderson saves the day with a boozily anthemic chorus. And while a four-guitar line-up may lend itself to muso self-indulgence, here it simply bolsters the Nectarines' skewed pop sensibilities. 'Walter Zevon' and 'Port Of Blue' are rousing singalongs, while new single 'Constellations Of A Vanity' combines at least three chimingly melodic riffs with off-beam lyrical Chris Morris-isms ("Jam it up with average gravy").
With the curfew looming, the Nectarines opt for a coruscating Vic Godard cover to send us shell-shocked into the night, wondering what it can all mean.
Niall O'Keefe
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