Live Review: PP Arnold

With music venues announcing their closures all over the country, it's exciting to see The Espy once again open its majestic doors. Tonight the seminal St Kilda venue is buzzing, with punters exploring and admiring the way these renovations have breathed new life into the venue while carefully retaining its ye olde charm. The only gripe we have so far relates to the stools that are affixed to the floor facing the glorious seaside view from the front bar, which are positioned so close together that you wind up glued to your neighbour whether you like it or not.

There's a sense of excitement as we wander into The Gershwin Room, which looks much cleaner but kinda the same (a good thing). PP Arnold, the First Lady of Immediate Records arrives on stage just after 9pm, diva-late. Her outfit dazzles: spangly black satin pants and transparent purple chiffon blouse with fuchsia bra underneath that perfectly matches her lippie shade. RocKwiz Orkestra never disappoint and The Wolfgramm Sisters (Talei and Eliza) supply sublime backing vocals enhanced by subtle unison dance moves that are all class. Arnold says she's thrilled to be back and opening The Gershwin Room, which she also acknowledges is "the home of RocKwiz”. As a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Arnold is perfectly equipped to belt out Tina Turner's River Deep - Mountain High and it's all audience member jaws to the floor. What the actual hell? She sustains a note during this song’s outro that would see her well suited for freediving.

The evening progresses with repeated calls of, "Oh, I love this song!" Angel Of The Morning, which Arnold tells us was her "second big hit", takes us back to childhood slumber parties where we crowded around a tape deck writing the song's lyrics in a notebook to later memorise. Introducing her version of Bee Gees' To Love Somebody, Arnold explains this song "connected [her] with Barry" for material most of which wasn't released until her album The Turning Tide dropped last year. Arnold turns to The Wolfgramm Sisters and encourages them to improvise, sharing her spotlight and allowing moments to shine. Remembering Small Faces, Arnold admits she was quite taken by Steve Marriott: "We were labelmates, we were the same size, we were the same age and we like the same kinda music... we hit it off!" She then tells us Marriott and Ronnie Lane went off to Ibiza and wrote a song for her, Afterglow, adding, "But they liked it so much that they took it back." Then the pair wrote (If You Think You're) Groovy for her, which Arnold and co perform next. 

After spruiking her upcoming album, The Further Adventures Of PP Arnold, Arnold performs a cut from it, direct from the '60s: Different Drum. After explaining that when she was nine years old "she heard an angel on the radio" who turned out to be her "soul inspiration", Arnold performs said Aretha Franklin song Never Grow Old a cappella - just wow! Arnold's tribute to the late, great Queen Of Soul comprises Chain Of Fools (after which she turns to The Wolfgramm Sisters and gives them the thumbs up), Respect and a version of (You Make Me a Feel Like) A Natural Woman that makes us swear the spirit of Franklin is singing through Arnold. 

Arnold refers to Small Faces as "those naughty boys", discusses the persuasive power of Mick Jagger (who suggested she stay in the UK and sign to The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records) and admits that after she had a few drinks with Glaswegian band Primal Scream she couldn't understand a word they were saying. It's ironic, then, that Arnold recorded Understanding, a Small Faces cover, with Primal Scream and this song is up next.

The First Cut Is The Deepest is reclaimed by Arnold, who explains she was "in the right place at the right time" for Cat Stevens to give her the song ("That's MY song!") circa 1966 when she was touring England with The Rolling Stones. Arnold cheekily adds, “Sheryl Crow wasn’t even born!" She then concludes "the first cut" of The First Cut... came out ten years before Rod Stewart’s version. 


Our encore sees Ash Naylor take lead vocals (in lieu of Marriott) on Small Faces' Tin Soldier. We're nervous for him - given Arnold's obvious affection for the song's original vocalist - but needn't have been since Naylor absolutely nails it, as do RocKwiz Orkestra - Peter "Lucky" Luscombe's drumming! 

As much as Arnold's voice and interpretative ability are capable of reducing all in the room to tears, she is also riotously funny with many a story to tell. We can't wait for that long-awaited biography, which her website promises will be "published soon".