Somehow two years had passed since I last saw Prezence at the Fox and Duck. I do not think that was anybody's fault and it was certainly nothing deliberate on my part, it is just the way that these things happen.
This time was not easy for me either. I had a theatre date earlier in the evening and so could not get to the pub until around 10:30pm. The band were on their mid-session break then so I was able to catch all of the second half.
It was also somebody's birthday party (I suspect that was why the gig was on a Friday instead of the usual Saturday) and that meant that the pub was filled with her friends as well as rock fans, like myself, and also the locals.
That made it bit of a challenge to get to the bar to get served and even more of a challenge to find somewhere to stand to watch the band. I spent most of the evening off to the left at the front in the prime position next to the entrance to the Ladies.
I managed to steal a set-list at the end to see what I had missed and to find out what the songs were that I did not recognise. There was a distinct difference between this set and the one from two years ago with more American Hair Rock (White Snake, Van Halen, Bon Jovie) at the expense of the classic British Rock (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath).
A surprise was the two guest vocalists. Firstly birthday-girl Natalie sang Sweet Child of Mine (with a little help on the lyrics from her phone) and then Holly did Whole Lotta Love. This was not karaoke and both women did an excellent job.
My highlights from the second half were Run to the Hills and Freebird, which they closed with. In the first half I missed Stormbringer, Catch the Rainbow and Tom Sawyer. But these highlights were only slightly better than the rest of the set which was consistently wonderful, even Living on a Prayer.
With that performance Prezence went from a band that I would not mind seeing again to a band that I must make an effort to see again.
This time was not easy for me either. I had a theatre date earlier in the evening and so could not get to the pub until around 10:30pm. The band were on their mid-session break then so I was able to catch all of the second half.
It was also somebody's birthday party (I suspect that was why the gig was on a Friday instead of the usual Saturday) and that meant that the pub was filled with her friends as well as rock fans, like myself, and also the locals.
That made it bit of a challenge to get to the bar to get served and even more of a challenge to find somewhere to stand to watch the band. I spent most of the evening off to the left at the front in the prime position next to the entrance to the Ladies.
I managed to steal a set-list at the end to see what I had missed and to find out what the songs were that I did not recognise. There was a distinct difference between this set and the one from two years ago with more American Hair Rock (White Snake, Van Halen, Bon Jovie) at the expense of the classic British Rock (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath).
A surprise was the two guest vocalists. Firstly birthday-girl Natalie sang Sweet Child of Mine (with a little help on the lyrics from her phone) and then Holly did Whole Lotta Love. This was not karaoke and both women did an excellent job.
My highlights from the second half were Run to the Hills and Freebird, which they closed with. In the first half I missed Stormbringer, Catch the Rainbow and Tom Sawyer. But these highlights were only slightly better than the rest of the set which was consistently wonderful, even Living on a Prayer.
With that performance Prezence went from a band that I would not mind seeing again to a band that I must make an effort to see again.
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