Last summer I finally got round to seeing the Small Fakers who were performing at the Stone Valley South Festival. Normally, I rather shy away from tribute bands, but in this case where there is no other option when it comes to hearing the music of the Small Faces live by virtue of the fact that three quarters of the band have shuffled off of this mortal coil, I was more than happy to make an exception. They were fantastic in a festival setting so I figured that they would be even more impressive in their own headlining gig and when that gig just happens to be at the 100 Club (my favourite London venue) we were gonna be there!
Taking a step back for a moment. The Small Faces were the real deal, genuine pint-sized ace faces with killer songs to boot. In Steve Marriott the band had one of the best vocalists that Britain has produced. Aside from the tongue in cheek cockney delivery in some of their songs Steve had the most extraordinary blues voice, one at complete odds with his stature! The band's back catalogue is also something to wonder at, a proper mix of styles, from the raucous cock-er-ney singalongs to full on ballsy blues numbers.
The Small Fakers take all of this in their stride. Matt Bond, the Fakers answer to Stevie Marriott is the bollocks. The man to a tee, the look, the attitude and most importantly let's not forget, the voice!
Gunta and I arrived part way through the support set by The Veras, who happen to be the same band but playing original material. A quick outfit change.... a Humble Pie t-shirt swapped for a velvet suit and The Small fakers were upon us. We had a great vantage point, right at the front in fact. I am more used to punk gigs where space at the front is more aggressively contested!
What followed was a razor sharp, chronological romp through the Small Faces' back catalogue. Early stompers like 'Whatcha Gonna Do About It', 'Shake' and 'Sha La La La Lee' as well as the hammond heavy 'Grow Your Own' warmed the crowd up admirably for mid-period songs like 'My Mind's Eye', 'Here Comes The Nice' and 'Tin Soldier'.
Mid set two well known faces were introduced to the stage, Glen Matlock (well known to be a big Small Faces fan) and Clem Burke, one of my all time favourite drummers, for a rousing version of 'All Or Nothing'. Crash, bang, wallop.... Clem signed off with a thunderous routine.
Onto the latter days then with a fine selection of songs from 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'. We were treated to 'Song Of A Baker', 'Lazy Sunday' and my song of the night 'Rene'. My German mother-in-law is called Renata and sometimes we would shorten this to Rene, just to wind her up! We used to play the song over Sunday lunches just for mine and Gunta's amusement. Of course, a combination of age-related hearing loss and Steve Marriott's barrow boy delivery guaranteed that she had not the faintest idea of what the song was about. Lurid descriptions of Rene's colourful dockside occupation were totally lost on her... which only added to the joke!
The end of the set gave Matt as Steve the full opportunity to showcase his vocal talent as the band ran through 'Afterglow' and 'Rollin' Over', late career song that pointed in the direction where Marriott was heading next with Humble Pie.
If you are unfamiliar with the music of the Small Faces, don't be a fool.... give them a listen. Had I have been around in '65 this would have been my band! If you like what you hear, take it that bit further and spend an evening in the company of the Small Fakers and you won't regret it, that I can promise you-aaagh!
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