Credit: The Members

Inn on the Green, W11 London.
Saturday 12th August.

A long time ago.. (okay, the late 70's), The Members were a mainstay of the London punk rock scene.   Their signature tune and their biggest chart hit (top ten)  Sound of the Suburbs is still featured on countless punk rock compilations today while former front man Nicky Tesco is a well respected music journalist.
Their last tour of the States in 1983, would prove their last ever and despite many requests and lucrative offers the band never reformed.

That is until last Saturday night in Notting Hill;  some twenty-three years later.  Enter Jean Marie Carroll, or as he's better known , JC.  Somewhat of a local Notting Hill legend, JC runs a clothes boutique The Dispensary and was also guitarist and co-songwriter with The Members back in the day.  Many music critics talk of the Tesco-Carroll partnership with affection.  They could write three chord punk rock songs, introspective reggae influenced numbers and weren't at all predictable. This would prove their downfall with the mainstream record buying public back then;  but from a purely musical point of view The Members songwriting made them stand out from the crowd.

So, earlier this year JC celebrates his fiftieth birthday and calls on his old band pals to reform for the night in front of friends and family.  It goes swimmingly well and Nicky Tesco who famously once uttered the words "I will never sing again" re-creates magic with Sound of the Suburbs and Chelsea Nightclub.  They tell fans they wouldn't rule out a second reunion.

The day came last weekend.  As part of the Portobello Film Festival,  The Members reform proper with all the publicity and tenacity a much loved punk rock band deserve.  The venue,  Ladbroke Grove's Inn on the Green,  doesn't fit the bill of either pub or civic hall, but it doesn't matter.   JC is having his rock star moment resplendent in shiny black shirt and trousers.  He performs to a motley cru of familiar Notting Hill locals including rastefarians,  geezers and the fella who runs the local guitar shop.  It's a friendly atmosphere and seems to get happier when Carroll performs his solo penned tune Midlife Crisis.