Marc Valentine - Jul 22 The night before the two hottest ever recorded days ever in the history of British Isles, the air conditioning at the Dublin Castle is much appreciated as we prepare for a night of quality entertainment.

Great Last Dreamers, one of those iconic bands who deserve a lot more recognition, are on hiatus and lead singer Marc Valentine is out promoting his debut solo album ‘Future Obscure’. The album is garnering 4/5 star reviews across the music press and the praise is well deserved – it is a well crafted album full of glam infused hummable tunes.

First up we have Camden stalwart, Dave Renegade grabbing his acoustic guitar to serenade the room with some of his more up tempo tunes with the crowd responding appropriately.

Carol Hodge brings her Yorkshire charm to everything she does whether that be singing Crass songs with Steve Ignorant or playing keys for the likes of Ryan Hamilton. You can’t help being enticed by Carol’s warm personality as she introduces each song and discusses her past experiences. The fact that Carol has an incredible voice and tunes to die for is the cherry on the cake.

Songs such as ‘Stop Worrying Baby’ are as heartfelt as they are tuneful and are excellent vehicles to carry Carol’s voice. Maintaining the inter song banter, there are plenty of choice tunes to entice the audience to Carol’s side.

With the choice between a Bob Marley cover and a Leo Sayer cover the crowd plump for Leo and we get a fantastic version of ‘The Show Must Go On’. Finishing with the crowd participating in the chorus for ‘Twenty Miles Up’, Carol had certainly won a few more fans in the crowd. There’s three excellent albums out there (with a fourth on the way) and I recommend buying them all.

Next time she’s in London, Carol is bringing the whole band with her to support Sarah Borges at the Hope and Anchor (November 18^th) which makes the gig an essential one to attend.

I saw Great Last Dreamers at the tail end of 2021 at a mini festival in Reading and little did we know that the band would go on hiatus within 6 months. No worries as Marc Valentine has been productive and is filling the gap nicely.

Supported by former Dreamers rhythm section Steve Fielding and Denley Slade plus lead guitarist Richard Davies from The Dissidents, Marc performs a lot of the songs from the new album and they sound fantastic. There is a nice interplay between Marc and Richard, a decadent swagger emitting from the stage.

Songs such as ‘Last Train Tonight’ and ‘Zodiac Hotel’ are perfect pop songs and the crowd are lapping it up. A prolonged technical issue isn’t a concern as Richard picks up vocal duties whilst Marc sorts out his guitar. Marc is not afraid of preforming covers and there would be a few more later in the set.

We have guests as Karen Bell from Flesh Tetris joins the band to play theremin and sing on ‘Fade Out In Blue’ whilst Carol Hodge returns for two songs including a cover of Blondie’s ‘Touched By Your Presence’. Returning for a ramped up version of ‘Tainted Love’ the band bring the night to a fitting end.

This is what hot Sunday nights in Camden are made for - tunes galore and instant camaraderie between the artists and audience as they bond over the experience.  

Dave Renegade - Jul 22 Carol Hodge - Jul 22 Carol Hodge - Jul 22 Marc Valentine - Jul 22 Marc Valentine - Jul 22 Marc Valentine - Jul 22 Marc Valentine - Jul 22