Pete Way Band, Burnt Out Wreck, Bad Habits, Camden Underworld, October 24. 2019

Pete Way Band, Burnt Out Wreck, Bad Habits, Camden Underworld, October 24, 2019

As I was interviewing Pete Way I missed at least half the set of opener ‘Bad Habits’. They have a very competent Asian front woman who plays bass and makes a lot of noise (you can probably hear her in the background of my Pete interview). They were quite heavy and brought quite a lot of firepower for a three piece. It was interesting to see their guitarist wear black and white stripes pants as, I guess, a kind of homage to the main man.

Gary Moat the frontman of Burnt Out Wreck told me he thinks their second album is better than their, in my opinion, great first one and so it was nice to see him put his money where his mouth is and actually play more new tracks than old in an admittedly short set. Leading with new track ‘Dead or Alive’ they now own the stage with a big professional sound and are turning into quite a slick machine. They still do favourites from the first album ‘Swallow’, ‘Flames’ and ‘Medusa’ and the set is still full of blistering guitar. However it is new track ‘Paddywack’ with its tongue in cheek humour and irresistible catchy chorus that steals the show and gets the biggest cheer and the crowd dancing. The band has upped its showmanship with natty silver rock n roll chains on formal coats, twirling drumsticks and Gary Moat coming into his own as a front man getting into it and looking like he’s always been a vocalist: the band delivered a packed punch. They had audience members screaming to hear songs and when telling them “it’s coming” and getting an impassioned reaction “no I want it now” Gary commented with typical understatement “it’s exciting isn’t It”. This exchange illustrates that they continue to build up fans for their straightforward brand of hard rock a la the Australian masters AC/DC.

Following a Carmina Burana intro Pete Way took the stage with his impressively talented band that delivered big riffs and unsurprisingly delivered the goods. Unafraid to be himself Pete is determined to actually be in control much as he hams up the idea that all is chaos. There are some technical problems, but rather than trying to hide them he made a feature of them in so doing endearing himself to the crowd. Although not a vocalist by training Pete can hit the right notes and he knows how to strike a pose with his leopard scarf decorated mike stand and has a slightly punky delivery which is, well, exactly Pete! He looks very comfortable as a front man and when he wants to talk and tell a story he makes sure that he does. Most of his entertainment value is being a larger than life rock n roll character, much like Ozzy actually, and he knows just how to play all the cards that he has. Very boldly they include new material like ‘Narcotics’ which is not even available yet. However, despite the monologues and unfamiliar material he is undoubtedly fascinating to watch and doesn’t lose the crowd at any point.

They do, of course, get to UFO material and, undoubtedly, the vibration of the crowd heightens at that point. The show ends with ‘Too Hot to Handle’, ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ and ‘Doctor Doctor’ with blistering solos and Pete’s undoubted charm the audience give them a rapturous reception. Is Pete the best rock n roll vocalist in the world? No. Is he a rock n roll legend with undoubted charisma who knows how to keep the attention of an audience for every second he’s on stage. Undoubtedly, yes. Don’t go to see the Pete Way Band expecting to see UFO, but do go expecting to be entertained.

Dawn Osborne