House Of Love, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

With Support From Pete Astor

Support tonight is from Pete Astor formerly of The Loft and The Weather Prophets back in the 1980s. He’s very popular with the crowd and an impressive performer that somehow I’ve managed not to see over all these years. Most of the material tonight s from his later solo career and mostly from his new album ‘Time on Earth’ although he does include ‘Why Does The Rain’ from his Loft days. 

 

While having not seen Pete Astor before, I did see the House of Love four times in a sixteen month period back in the day when they were one of my favourite bands. This was 1988-1990. Isn't it amazing how you let things slide... Now Guy Chadwick is stood back in front of me 32 years on.

Of course things changed for the band when lead guitarist Terr Bickers left in late 1989, a month before I saw them for the last time at Derby Darwin Suite in January 1990. Then the band broke up completely in 1993.

I've been missing in action a bit since. In 2003 the reconciled Chadwick and Bickers reformed the band and even released new material. This reunion held until 2020 but now Chadwick is back on his own with a new line up which includes great guitarist of around ‘our age’ and a much younger bass player who seems almost styled in the band’s original image. They could be father and son and, as it turns out, they are. Keith and Harry Osborne.

Kicking off with the three opening tracks from House of Love’s debut album ‘Road’, ‘Christine’ and ‘Hope’ but not in the right order. These obviously go down well with the crowd before we are then delving heavily into the band’s impressive new album ‘A State Of Grace’ from which no less than seven tracks are pulled tonight. One of which ‘Hey Babe’ Chadwick dedicates to the Queen on the day of her funeral.

He is chattier than I recall him being in the past and among other things we find out that he lived in Chilwell for 18 months which he says ‘wasn’t great’.

There are plenty of other oldies of course including ‘Shine On’ their first single from 1987, the sheer indie brilliance of ‘Destroy The Heart’ and a hauntingly brilliant ‘Love In A Car’ which closes the set. While another belter from the old days ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ is part of the encore. Possibly the highlight though is a thunderous ‘Burn Down The World’. 

An excellent gig and I best not leave it another 32 years.