THE MONOCHROME SET @ THE LEXINGTON, LONDON

Celebrating 40 years of their third studio album ‘The Eligible Bachelors’, The Monochrome Set performed the entire tracklist in full with three original members present: Bid (vocals, guitar), Andy Warren (bass) and special guest, Lester Square (guitar).

After a short set of songs with the current members, Lester Square joined them onstage to perform the album in full in track order beginning with single ‘The Jet Set Junta’, then moving onto ‘I’ll Scry Instead’, which sounded exactly like the recorded version, testament to the condition of Bid’s vocal chords.

Bid sang part of ‘On The Thirteenth Day’ in an elevated key which added originality to the live version while Square played his chiming guitar riff at the end of the song. They proceeded onto ‘Cloud 10’, which was lacking in the whirling keyboard from the album, however, keys colourfully featured in the following song, ‘The Mating Game’.

Switching to the B-side, Lester Square comically read from a Satanic hymn book by Anton LaVey before the band performed the opening track ‘The Devil Rides Out’, which Bid joked was played at Satanic parties because they thought the band were followers. They then played the waltz of ‘The Midas Touch’, with inclusion of it’s choppy marine interlude, finishing on the last track of the album, ‘The Great Barrier Riff’, with funky guitar and drums leading into Square’s reverberating riff. The Monochrome Set returned for an encore of songs from their wider discography including their first singles ‘He’s Frank’ and ‘Eine Symphonie Des Grauens’.

17/09/22: The Monochrome Set @ The Lexington, London.