Primal Scream @ The Scala

May 21st 2019

A stripped down Primal Scream played their smallest London gig in many years to promote their new singles collection Maximum Rock’n’Roll, pretty much the bands raison d’etre . Absurdly svelte singer Bobby Gillespie plus fellow founding members Andrew Innes on guitars and Martin Duffy on keyboards were joined by long serving drummer Darrin Mooney and more recent bass guitarist Simone Butler. They went all the way back to 1986 for a delightful Velocity Girl (Innes jangling away on a Rickenbacker) and delivered an audience-assisted Movin’ On Up and a sensitive (I’m Gonna) Cry Myself Blind. The big hitters of Loaded, Country Girl and Rocks turned the intimate Scala into a sweaty mosh pit,  the enthusiastic crowd response clearly delighting Gillespie and Innes. With minimal staging – only a smoke machine and some strobes for Swastika Eyes –  tonight needed high quality songs and a committed performance and the Scream delivered on both counts.

This review was written for Record Collector magazine