It’s been a long time coming, but it’s good to be back. I was racking my brain (or what’s left of it) to recollect the last time I saw Tyla perform and decided it’s been a while, quite a while. From the early heady days of The Fleece in Bristol, when How Come It Never Rains was released, to the wonderful night in The Square Club in Cardiff, through countless London trips and the legendary nights in The Astoria, Hammersmith Odeon, The Dominion, Dingwalls, and Town and Country Club, and the classic line-up reforming to play The Borderline – hell, I even saw the band tear HMV Oxford Street a new one on an afternoon back in their heyday. It’s been quite the journey, and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. And of all the hundreds of shows I’ve ever had the privilege of attending some of the most memorable are when Tyla has been the ringmaster and principle performer.

With a truly magical album in tow, this line-up set out on a quick jaunt through South Wales and a couple of English shows. To say I was looking forward to catching Tyla would be a disservice to the guy’s catalogue of magical tunes.

Anyway, enough waffling on with the review. The band ambles on stage. And, without fanfare, rips into ‘Last Bandit’ and immediately I was transformed into a wonderful, happy place as memories washed over me, but there was no time to drift off. Focus, Daley; stay on task.

One of my favourite songs has to be ‘Firework Girl’, which was a rare treat, as Matty James Cassidy hit that bassline hard and Tyla sang the words like the last forty years had melted away. The big hitter came thick and fast, and happy punters lapped it up in the impressively busy venue. ‘Billy Two Rivers, ‘I Don’t Want You To Go’, and ‘Heroine’ chased one another out of the setlist with aplomb. The band was tight. And new guy Jamie Turnbull stepped into some pretty big shoes without dropping a note, and if he did, he was able to play such classics with sympathy and style, and from the engine room, the energy of the band was there for everyone to see and hear, and this long-time fanboy was suitably impressed.

It was great to hear more recent songs like ‘111’ and ‘All Of Them Gone’. sandwiched between golden oldies like ‘Satellite Kid’ and ‘Drunk Like Me’ with communal Jager for good measure. Tyla cracked jokes, told some quick stories, and played the jester and looked to be having a ball, and so he should. This had been a fantastic journey through some awesome tunes.

Let’s not forget Tyla J Pallas has a brand new album for sale, and we were also treated to ‘Baptism By Fire’, ‘Cadillac Man’, before walking us through a stunning rendition of ‘Don’t Ever Stop Loving Me’. As the night wore on towards its conclusion, we were dealt the epic one-two of ‘How Come It Never Rains’ and a bombastic ‘Errol Flynn’ to close off an inspirational performance from one of the best. Now, if all Friday nights played out this well and the soundtrack was this stellar, life would be just peachy all the time. Now fire up the Batmobile, we’re going to The Patriot for another round. It would be rude not to.

I thought the venue was perfect, but the band was just as good on night two, sounding impressive and doing justice to pretty much the same setlist but in a different running order. Now, let’s not leave it the best part of a decade before we do this again. That was bloody awesome. Chin, Chin and Cheers, Mr T. you bloody legend.

Author: Dom Daley