HERE & NOW
VENUE THE HALF MOON, LONDON
DATE 09/02/2025
SUPPORT PARADISE 9
It feels like a large section of the soldout audience at Putney’s venerable Half Moon tonight are at a school reunion. Although in this case, the ‘school’ would be free festivals, parties in squats and ‘legalise cannabis’ rallies long gone. There’s a sense of excited anticipation and genuine good humour tonight.
Paradise 9 are a terrific fit for headliners Here & Now – clearly drawing on many similar influences, they kick off with the punky space rock of Nothing For Tomorrow, which could pass as an outtake from Hawkwind’s Quark, Strangeness And Charm, and inject the same raw indignance to the likes of These Are The Days, hinting at early The Jam. They also have vocalist Jeanette Murphy join them for a few tracks, including Into The Ether, with its cheeky clarinet interjections, and State Of The Nation. They sound great and there’s a certain urgency about them even when things calm down for the lilt of tracks highlighted by Crystalized Moments. Excellent stuff.