Into the Bleach + The Police Force

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Website/s

Into The Bleach Official Website

Date/Fri 30 September, 2005
Reviewed by/Denis Hill

Plinston live’s first gig back after a summer break which seemed longer than teachers or even MP’s enjoy, saw a double header featuring ‘POLICE FORCE’ and headliners ‘INTO THE BLEACH’, the latter claimed by many to be the best BLONDIE tribute around.

‘We shall see about that’ I told myself as I took my seat, reflecting on the years of unjustified hyperbole which flies around the band circuits.

Police Force opened up with ‘De Doo Doo Doo’ before a strangely muted audience, but this unseemly quiet only served to emphasise Ian’s very accurate vocals and by the end the crowd burst into generous applause anyway. Thank God, I thought they’d dozed off!

The strong reggae beat of Pete on drums, so quintessentially Police, seemed to set a heady pace through the rest of their all-too-short set, my highlights of which were –

WALKING ON THE MOON - handled with the at most aplomb and attention to well-know detail.

EVERY BREATH - Vocally outstanding; musically tight.

ROXANNE - This was superb - a real blast!

For a tasty little dessert, we enjoyed CAN’T STAND LOSING, complete with audience participation medley during which we had to find out who in the audience could hold a note the longest. This was unnecessary so I didn’t try - the set had been breathless enough without it.

And so to Blondie, a.k.a Sam Hill (no relation to yours truly!).

As they were HANGING on the TELEPHONE it was immediately apparent what an energetic performer she was.

DREAMIN followed on in even more animated style with the whole band providing a larger than life stage presence. By now a healthy proportion of the audience was up and dancing – a spectacle laid-back Letchworth normally reserve until much later in the evening.

RAPTURE grabbed by attention with a sound which produced strange echoes of Spandau Ballet in my head.

TIDE IS HIGH was as convincingly authentic as we could ever have hoped - this band had an engaging realism about them and even caused me to lose count of how many costume changes Sam had pulled off (and on!) in so short a time!

Other notable offerings? I’d have to say PICTURE THIS, ONE-WAY (sexy or what!) and DENIS (well I would say that – it’s the only song I know with my name in it!). A raunchy version of Marc Bolan’s GET IT ON deserves comment if only for its novelty value and the elevated decibel level which suited the number surprisingly well.

HEART OF GLASS brought the house to its feet and it was nice at this point to be introduced properly to the band whose individual as well as collective contribution was right out of the top drawer.

All in all, a night of infectious musical nostalgia; an arresting performance by Police Force and a BLONDIE look and soundalike who knew how to entertain and seemed like the audience, to enjoy every minute.

POLICE FORCE were

Ian as Sting
Jeff as Andy Summers
Pete as Stewart Copeland

BLONDIE were

Sam Hill - Lead singer and founder
Nik - Bass
Ben – Guitar
Mike – Drums/ Guitar/ Backing Vocals
Wes – Guitar/ Keyboards/ Backing Vocals
Martin – Keyboards / Backing Vocals