Andy Blade – Acoustic Set Union Soho 28/04/2026
It feels weird to find myself midweek in London Soho. Not having lived in London for so long, I’d forgotten being compressed on the Tube, beer at £1000 a bottle and just how much London has changed architecturally. With the throng of tourists and workers, it’s hard to believe that Charing Cross Road was the scene of the largest violent protest against Maggie Thatcher’s government and where I ended up in Paddington high security for the night after being snatched off the street by a police squad. But that’s another story.
Gone is the Astoria, Marquee old and new. Gone virtually is Denmark Street, where the Sex Pistols rehearsed those classic songs. Gone pretty much are all instrument shops and recording studios that made it a destination point for musicians. In fact, I did my first and only band demo there and used Captain Sensible’s wah wah pedal as the studio was also his management then.
And that’s my tenuous lead-in because I’ve released Andy Blade’s new single, and that single features the tracks he did in 1978 with one Brian James (ex-Damned) and Mark Laff (Generation X).
So off to the Union in Soho we go, and it’s a typically intimate launch with an acoustic set from Mr Blade. Now, to be exact, two discreet identities are going on here – There’s Eater, and there’s Mr Blade as a solo artist, though when playing solo, there will be the obligatory Eater song.
Now, acoustic sets are a bit marmite to me. Just slapping on an acoustic guitar and replicating electric studio songs in a stripped-back manner does not guarantee success.
So I’m happy to say up front this gig was absolutely fucking marvellous!
The set list is a fine mix of old and new, covers and even an unrecorded new one. Obviously, it’s a completely different vibe to the sturm and drang of Eater where the crowd, lighting and cranked up sound turn it into a punk visceral experience.
This is a seated at a table, polite clapping and the occasional dreaded MTV whooping that used to infest their Unplugged shows.
Andy is the almost reluctant centre point with one foot on a rolled-up multi-plug extension lead as he’d forgotten his footstool and shades obscuring his eyes. His wit and quips are dry as always, and his voice sounds a little hoarser and deeper, which I think actually added to the songs.
But the music is a revelation to my ears. Stripped back from the studio effects, to being reimagined with three guitars (including Billy King of John McKay’s Reactor and Eater’s guitarist Rylan Woods), bass and keyboards, each one of them hits a nerve in me at just how good they are and at how well crafted these tunes are. They also have room to breathe, and there’s much more focus on Andy’s distinctive voice.
They played Alice Cooper’s Eighteen. Sounds’ writer Jonh Ingham, who was in the audience, went all those years ago to Eater’s first gig and suggested they change it to 15 after their ages. I resisted the urge to quip, “Call it Eighty!” 😊Forget Burchill and Parsons BTW – the real deal were Jonh Ingham and Caroline Coon who quickly grasped the beginnings of punk and reported on it.
Of course, he played the song he wrote with Brian James Ain’t That A Shame. Slower than the record, the pathos and bittersweet nature of the songs comes across in spades. Because the tape was crumbling, he rerecorded it for the single that was just released on Antenna Records. I may be biased, but 5 seconds in, I thought, “Punk rock classic!” Well, classic in any genre – it’s got that timeless chord sequence, coda, earworm quality to it that people would give up a body part to have written. Somehow, I resisted the urge to switch my camera phone light on and wave it aloft. I really hope they add this song to the Eater set.
No surprise that Waiting For My Man was played. But what was a surprise was how well Thinking Of The USA came across. The later Q&A revealed that it was probably the Eater song Andy was most proud of, as, after having No Brains pulled at the last minute, they managed to pull that song together and record it in two days.
And that was it; short but very fucking sweet. – Andy, typically not a natural meeter and greeter (bit like me 😊) hoofed it out of there.
With a fantastic new single Ain’t That A Shame, out and picking up some good airplay, raising his profile and lots of gigs on the horizon, life as always for Andy Blade moves in mysterious ways. In the Q&A, he revealed writing a better song than the last was his motivation, not money, but if there was justice in the world, Guns & Roses would cover Ain’t That A Shame and some justified recompense would be his.
Ain’t That A Shame EP available at Antenna Records
TalkPunk
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