Paul steals from the 70s.
When Paul Steel came on stage, there was something slightly familiar about him but when he unleashed his between song chat, it all became apparent. The whimsical mannerisms, the self-references and cheekiness indicated that Steel had much of a touch of Russell Brand about him (hmm, a touch of Russell Brand? That's not a nice thought is it, yes ladies, he does rock that Jack Sparrow look very well but in general, he's just a bit...grubby, isn't he? Oh well, if that's what floats your boat, sail on sailor!. Mind you, 'A Touch of Russell Brand' would be a good name for an aftershave range if he decided to bring any out, I'll remember to lodge that idea in case it's worth copyrighting)
Where were we? 2006 most likely for discussing Mr. Brand in depth but yes, Paul Steel, he had a very quiet and almost nervous sense of humour but it came across well, at times self-deprecating but underneath it all, an inkling that he was quite assured of himself. If the musical malarkey fails to take off, there should be avenues in presenting available.
With two backing singers on show, Steel even had the nonchalance to hide a third female on-stage behind a pillar, which annoyed some members of the crowd who declared her to easily be the prettiest of the three on-stage. She was pretty, that's not up for debate but should it be a competition? Probably not, anyways, there was music played, in case you were wondering.
At times it touched the hem of The Beach Boys, Steel showed glimpses of a great talent but at others, it was worryingly close to the late 70s pomp and pop of ELO or Supertramp. It's a thin line between the two but if you veer from the talented side then you can end up sounding like The Feeling. The opening track of the night was reminiscent of The Beach Boys 'Heroes and Villains' so best to linger on that one. Although The Beach Boys probably never attempted a song like 'Honking On A Crack Pipe', which on first listen was kinda funny, whether it remains so is up for debate.
At the end of the second last song of the night, things took an unexpected twist, out of nowhere, the band rocked out. And it wasn't a limp or ironic rocking out, it was all guns blazing, all hands on deck involvement. If you have been fortunate to catch the Super Furry Animals live, it was very reminiscent to the section in 'Receptacle for the Respectable' where the band chugs away to the Black Sabbath backdrop.
And that wasn't the end of the line for the Furry references with Steel and band then closing the set with a dance-off akin to the Furries tradition of a techno freakout to bring their evening to an end.
This show was all over the shop, like a kid with ADHD who stole his mum's housekeeping and blew the lot on Smarties and Sunny D but when you have kazoos popping in the musical environment then it's not such a bad thing.