Back in the late 1970s, Tom Robinson was an early supporter of Rock Against Racism at a time when Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech had swelled the ranks of the knuckle dragging National Front. Tonight, five decades on and the idiot hordes are back rioting across towns and cities in the UK burning cars, smashing windows and calling for the expulsion of immigrants fueled by misinformation designed to distract them from the real reasons they should be angry. Thankfully Tom Robinson is in town to remind us that most people are not fooled by the hate infused rhetoric of the right-wing press.

In his guise of radio presenter and promoter of new emerging talent, Tom comes to the stage to introduce Zander Paterson to the busy room. Close your eyes and it’s as if you are listening to Tom’s radio show as he praises his choice of support.

Zander comes across as soft spoken and very humbled to be on the stage, but his charm shines through. He has a pleasant singing style and a nice line in dreamy indie pop. Unfortunately, a number of the crowd are determined to chat throughout and even a shout from Tom asking elements of the crowd to shut up and give Zander a chance goes on deaf ears. Regardless it is a good little set with some enjoyable tunes. Zander Paterson Aug 24 Given that Tom Robinson is now a sprightly 74 years old, the set is split into two halves of around 45 minutes each. Opening with ‘Winter of 79’ we are taken back to the late seventies in a blast of thoughtful power pop. Tom’s voice is in fine form and the band are excellent throughout, all well-seasoned players who do a real justice to the songs. There’s some good postering as he blasts the audience with his bass rumblings. Tom Robinson Band Aug 24 Reminding us that ‘that’ single will be surprisingly played in the encore, Tom introduces ‘Bully for You’ with a little about its history. This becomes the format for the night with each song being preceded by an enjoyable anecdote, none so more where Tom tells of his days in a community for troubled teens. Putting his bass down, he takes the mike for the crowd favourite ‘Martin’ with a good dose of audience participation.

The laid-back groove of ‘Too Good to Be True’ with its seductive organ sections has the crowd swaying before we are introduced to Northern Soul singer Lee Forsyth Griffiths on acoustic guitar to perform his own song, ‘Silence=Death’. Reading a review of Shakin Stevens at Glastonbury where the ‘Green Door’ singer was berated for playing stuff from the ‘last album’, Tom introduces ‘Never Get Old’ and the excellent ‘The Mighty Sword of Justice’ from the last album.

The first set finishes with a storming version of ‘Grey Cortina’, once the envy of many a boy racer. Tom Robinson Band Aug 24 The gentle rhythm of ‘Spain’ starts the second set with its flamenco guitar permeating throughout. Having fled the Inland Revenue and finding himself exiled in Hamburg listening to John Peel on the BBC World Service, Tom wrote the excellent ‘Atmospherics (Listen to the Radio) which is dedicated to the great man himself. Tom Robinson Band Aug 24 ‘War Baby’ follows before the iconic ‘Glad to be Gay’ has the whole audience singing along. The tale of performing the song to a packed Hammersmith Odeon in 1978 and some of the crowd’s reaction is priceless. Finishing with an updated ‘Up Against the Wall’ the room is bouncing around like its 1978 again. The band make an imaginary exit from the stage and return to launch into that song, ‘2-4-6-8 Motorway’ with Tom admitting they never knew how to end it, so anything could happen. We get an exhilarating extended version with the crowd taking over for good chunks of the song. Tom Robinson Band Aug 24
Elsewhere in the country, a hotel hosting asylum seekers burns as the ignorant vent their misguided anger, and the organ led ‘Power in the Darkness’ is made even more important. Tom Robinson Band Aug 24 Tonight is destined to go into my list of best gigs of the year. Throughout the night Tom Robinson is affable, passionate and a highly enjoyable raconteur, whilst his band have been flawless. Kudos to guitarist Adam Phillips who suffered a bad back injury a few months ago but was determined to do the tour and performed sat at the front of the stage.

Another great gig at the Facebar.