By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Sunday 6 April, runs through 7 April 2025 Update: New gigs at this venue in June Details

This is the 200-capacity east London venue where we saw our 1st post-pandemic gig and our best show of 2024 but we never dared dream we’d see the 1st concert in a quarter of a century by 1 of our favourite bands here.

• Read on for reasons including how we hope that the experience has been enjoyable enough for Thorn and Watt to look to repeat it

It’s billed as ‘Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn’ and there are more solo songs by the pair than we were expecting but there is also a smattering of Everything But The Girl numbers with the couple’s son, Family Stereo’s Blake Watt playing a major role.

We only ever saw Everything But The Girl live twice – both in 1988 for the album Idlewild – a record signing where we spoke to them at London’s now-no-more HMV store and a headlining set at the Royal Albert Hall.

This is the 1st of 2 comeback gigs after last playing the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 2000 and we arrive in the queue outside this working man’s club-type venue half an hour before the doors open and manage to get a seat about 20 rows back after a sticker has been placed across our phone because photography and filming is banned tonight.

They perform predominantly as a part-acoustic, part-electronic duo accompanied by Rex Horan on double bass and the vibe is, as promised, ‘chilled folk-tronic’.

The opening song is the band’s debut single Night And Day from 1982 and it’s just amazing to be hearing Thorn’s deep, soulful, yearning vocal live.

We’ve just finished her book Bedsit Disco Queen and there’s little sign of the nerves she writes about there although she does often throw her arms up in celebration at the conclusion of songs to perhaps visibly indicate how delighted she is to be getting through this quite so successfully.

There isn’t a lot of onstage patter but she does explain that 18 months ago she saw an act she has been compared to – Bridget St John live – and the 1st stirrings of what is manifesting itself tonight began and a song of hers is covered.

Watt explains that he hasn’t been well recently and he’s just delighted that these shows are happening and it’s a sentiment echoed by the fans who’ve travelled across the country to be with them in this room tonight.

Son Blake (pictured above, left) proves himself an accomplished guitarist and singer even playing a Family Stereo song and we learn that there is a debut album due soon.

There’s 2 sets with an interval tonight and the act 1 closer is Everything But The Girl single, erm Single, with its: ‘Do you want me back? … ‘Am I coming back?’ lyrics which feels so well thought through and makes us smile. It’s a sense of the self deprecating humour we recognise from reading the book and listening to the band’s entire back catalogue before this show.

Thorn does return after the interval and the family vibe reminds of Rufus Wainwright’s Haus Of Wainwright shows not least when the band covers Charli XCX and the singer mentions her daughters’ influence.

We most enjoy the songs from the band’s most recent album Fuse and we love how at the end of the show there is a moment when the group consent to having their picture taken (see our amateurish effort below the 5th par of this review).

We never dreamed that we would see Everything But The Girl live again and this wasn’t the setlist that we would have chosen for them to play but they’ve never been an act to do the obvious.

The 2nd of these shows is tonight and, if you’re lucky enough to have a ticket, it might not quite be the show you’re expecting but it will be 1 of the best you’ll ever see.

We just hope that the experience has been enjoyable enough for Thorn and Watt to look to repeat it in whatever form they choose at some point again soon in perhaps slightly less than a quarter of a century.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Edward Bishop and Everything But The Girl Tickets
• Have you seen an Everything But The Girl show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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