The Zutons never quite made it. They came close with Valerie of course, but even that song is now associated with Amy Winehouse after Mark Ronson got his teeth into it and used Amy’s sass to transform it into a soul-funk classic, masking the indie sleeper hit it once was. Ask any young(ish)) person who sang Valerie and they’ll say Winehouse without hesitation.
Still, those royalty checks helped pay the band’s collective mortgages no doubt. And before we go on, yes, they do play it. How could they not? This is them saying “Actually, we wrote this masterpiece y’know?”, and it’s great to hear it in its raw form minus the Ronson pomp.
But this gig is not about THAT song. Far from it. This gig is a celebration of their debut.
It’s 15 years since Who Killed The Zutons? landed and, in truth, it still doesn’t know what it is. That’s not a criticism, it’s just that the album - and the band’s entire oeuvre in fact - is unpigeonholeable. It never sat within a zeitgeist and it never will. But that’s something to celebrate, which is exactly what the Scouse six-piece are doing on this tour.
The album, as billed, is played in its entirety, but not in sequence, and not without choice cuts from elsewhere nudged in, like Valerie, and three other tracks from sophomore album, Tired of Hanging Around.
But, like the record they’re celebrating, the gig begins with the frazzled psychedelia of Zuton Fever, before the Cast-like indie jangle of Dirty Dancehall.
Havana Gang Brawl is a parping frolic of indie-blues with Abi Harding’s saxophone at its core. Actually it’s her sassy sax that outfunks anything Winehouse and co can achieve, none more so on Long Time Coming.
Pressure Point and Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love? are stomping indie classics while Confusion turns the tide. It’s a crushing break-up song that tugs at the most strongest heartstrings.
They end with the anthemic You Will, You Won’t, which is sang right back at them by the crowd.
“Thank you Nottingham, you’ve been boss!”, announces Abi in her thick Liverpudlian brogue, as the song merges into a celebratory wig-out.
Who killed The Zutons? No one did, they’re still very much alive and kicking.
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