Review: Pretty Vacant – Usher Hall

The concept of creator Ged Graham’s Pretty Vacant is pretty simple: make yourself a punchy, versatile band of professional musicians and actor-musos, and slap them on stage alongside a narrator to tell a potted history of Punk and New Wave music.

I can’t say I hoped for much more than a clutch of decent, crowd-pleasing covers and some nostalgic reminiscence. What I got was an energetic joyride through two immortal eras of music, thanks to a cracking team of fully invested performers.

So take a bow bassist Phil Sherlock, drumming vocalist Ric Yarborough, and lead guitar and vocalist Adam Evans, the tight three-piece engine that drives things along. Opening the show with a strident take on the Sex Pistol’s ‘Anarchy in the UK’, they set a standard that the production only keeps improving upon thereafter.

“What I got was an energetic joyride through two immortal eras of music, thanks to a cracking team of fully invested performers.”

A quick aside now. My wife and I were discussing what the show might be in the Usher Hall stalls before it kicked off. What were the chances, she wondered, of it being an overtly precious, interpretive dance piece? So when the band struck up and four lively young performers took the stage with some choreographed moshing, we laughed in disbelief. Fortunately, whilst the show has plenty of well-drilled song and dance, the feel is way more vintage music video than West End musical.

Tying everything together in quasi-poetic style is MC Kevin Kennedy, long-time musician and well-kent former resident of Weatherfield. He’s an impassioned ambassador of all things punk, and a thoroughly likeable presence to boot. At first, something of a Greek chorus, stepping in between songs to introduce Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols and the birth of punk, he eventually takes up a guitar to join in, whilst continuing his story through The Clash, and into the days of Joy Division and Elvis Costello. It’s an accomplished turn, even if his script could be a little stronger, and lean harder into his personal connection with the punk and new wave movements.

However, it’s not soap star power that lifts Pretty Vacant from the reals of the good, and into the very, very good indeed. Those laurels belong to the sensational Lazy Violet, and scintillating Reece Davies. Both have the star power to anchor a rock band, complete with serious vocal chops and bags of charisma. Whether it’s Davies bringing Bowie on stage for some proto-punk ‘Rebel Rebel’ or laying into ‘God Save the Queen’ or Violet bringing folks to their feet with Blondie’s ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ or channelling Chrissie Hynde for a superb ‘Brass in Pocket’, the results are terrific.

In truth, the show possibly relies on Davies a little too much – it’s not every performer who’d be able to put in that much work every night and not begin to crumble after a few weeks. What’s certain is that this young performing arts graduate is one to watch.

“Those laurels belong to the sensational Lazy Violet, and scintillating Reece Davies.”

It’s also certain that the show’s greater investment in talent than staging is a wise choice. In the end Punk and New Wave were and remain Do-It-Yourself disciplines and a plush set and other bells and whistles would be alien.

That’s not to say there’s not a touch of theatricality to the show, just not so much that it gets in the way. As Kennedy dives into a potted history of punk and its offspring, landmarks like Vivienne Westwood and McLaren’s SEX boutique, and Manchester’s legendary Free Trade Hall are sketched into life thanks to a few costume changes and lightweight props. The show’s best idea finds Evans hustling centre stage between episodes trying to busk, only for Kennedy to give him the boot. This never fails to get a laugh, whilst setting the scene for one of the show’s finest musical moments later on.

In the end, though, Pretty Vacant is a show about music, and boy does it pack it in. From the Ramones to The Talking Heads, from The Blockheads to The Police, the tunes never stop coming, whilst the performance standard never drops. You’ll find yourself wanting to get up off your backside many times and you should. Sure the show is playing concert halls and theatres, but it’s also one big, joyous gig – so feel free.

All Images: from Pretty Vacant on Facebook.