Bernard Butler, 'Stay' @ The Venue, Worthing, 2.12.21

My first gig (other than a David McAlmont-inflected show at Pizza Express this past May!) in this living with Covid era and I'm so glad I made it down to Worthing to see dear Bernard. The venue was a glorious old church called St Paul's. It was seated with movable chairs and I got front row, last seat on the right with a space empty next to me. Perfect! And most people wore masks when moving around. I was grateful.
This show was Bernard's first in 20+ years apparently. The pandemic has done unusal things to many of us and it gave Bernard time to assess what he's doing in life. And so he rerecorded the vocals to his debut solo album, 'People Move On'. And they sound fantastic! He acknowledges he's not known for his singing but I was truly delighted to hear how strong his voice sounded filling up the church.
This song is one of my favourites off his debut, 'Stay'. On record, it starts slow and quiet and really builds up to a cacophony, accented with lots of backing vocals, headed by superstar Denise Johnson, who sadly died last year. She was well known for singing with alternative musicians and stars, notably Primal Scream and A Certain Ratio, with whom I'd seen her multiple times. I heard her backing vocals echoing in my head as Bernard worked through this song.