Retro minus the irony

Everything we listen to now seems to incorporate a wry, knowing take on hit parades of yesteryear. So Orson's classic rock sound, with which they delivered full satisfaction to their fans last night, was, in a sense, in keeping with the times, apart from its absence of irony.

Led by the cool, trilby-hatted Jason Pebworth, Orson have made apparent overnight success look easy, with No Tomorrow, their debut release in the UK, leaping straight to number one in February, closely followed by a number one album.

In fact, Orson were in the last-chance saloon when they were discovered, suddenly finding the appreciation in the UK that had eluded them for an unspecified number of years in their home city of Los Angeles.

Perhaps paying their dues for so long has given the group a full appreciation of their good fortune. Whatever the reason, Orson displayed a hunger, urgency and professionalism that wouldn't normally be expected from an act with such a successful year behind them.

Launching into the infectious power-rock of Bright Idea, which was a hit for them back in May, the group played with slickness and gusto, as though this was their last shot at the big time, and the crowd loved them for it.

The big, screechy guitar solos of Happiness delighted a crowd consisting largely of teenagers too young to remember Def Leppard and Bon Jovi doing the same thing, as well as a significant minority of far older fans who clearly enjoyed reliving those tight-trousered glory days.

Pebworth's vocal range was impressive, but not as much as the power and purity of his voice, belting out notes from which most singers would shy away, most notably on a pleasingly-complex cover of Walk On By. From the pomp of their pre-set poses to the unmistakably Eighties way in which the drummer twirled his sticks in the air, there was something oddly contrived about Orson.

Seemingly uninterested in today's musical sensibilities, their style was more timewarp than retro. Nonetheless, powerful musicianship and spot-on songwriting coupled with Pebworth's breathtaking voice make for a formidable combination on stage. And the euphoric reaction to their impossibly catchy, funk-flavoured closer, No Tomorrow, must have made any American A&R who'd turned them down realise what a fool he'd been.

Orson
HMV Forum
Highgate Road, NW5 1JY