They say comebacks are best avoided, but happily on the evidence of this packed out gig, Steve Simpson and friends, aka Chuck Farley proved the old saying to be far too cautious.
Quite simply this was one of the gigs of the year in front of one of Sutton's most animated crowds.
Chuck Farley the band was born in the early 80's, being essentially Roger Chapman's Shortlist, but their earlier origins can be traced as far back as Steve Simpson's Bill Esher & The Beacons.
Everyone has a favourite Chuck Farley line-up, but the band last night took
some beating. From the rock solid rhythm section of Sam Kelly on drums and
master bass player Peter Stroud to the majestic front line soloing of Poli
Palmer on vibes and Pat Crumley on sax, the Chuck's were always more than the
potential guitar sparring between Steve Simpson and Papa George. And so it
proved, as Simpson's intuitive feel for all things musically American coalesced
brilliantly with his mid 1980's Monday Band sparring partner Papa George
From the opening number which featured Poli Palmer - who cleverly segued
in Family's "Crinkly Grin" - through George's funky Stevie Wonder
workout and a slick rendering of The Meter's "Trick Bag" to his
own splendid "Blackjack", the musical standard never relented.
Steve Simpson dug up the beautifully crafted Gerry Rafferty gem, "Get
It Right Next Time" and closed a magnificent first set with the explosive
Paul Brady tune "Busted Loose".
As the second set kicked in, the crowd grew even more enthusiastic, and Pat Crumly dug deep for some gloriously toned sax solos. George in turn called up Val Cowell from Bad Influence to add backing vocals on one of his newer efforts, the title of which got lost in the applause from the preceding song. Val was later to return at the conclusion of a wonderful set to add real Polish to George's magnificent closing rocker "Headin South".
But it was the memory of Steve Simpson throwing in the quintessential Chucks's anthem, the reworked Little Feat classic "Old Folks Boogie" that brought the memories flooding back, but also made you realise that only a band of the class of Chuck Farley could have brought fresh life to an old chestnut.
Pete Feenstra
See the photos in the gallery