Gig review: The Farm at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

The Liverpool band played at the Brudenell last Wednesday and in their home city the following night for two special gigs that recalled the years before they were famous.

Simon Moran, who organised some of their earliest gigs in Yorkshire in the 1980s before going on to become one of the most successful concert promoters in the UK, was the driving force behind the two pre-Christmas outings which brought a lot of old faces together.

Indeed, this was a nostalgic affair which saw Hooton and his pals put on a brilliant show.

They chose to play in Leeds because of their long-held affection for playing there many moons ago at venues such as The Duchess of York.

Almost 30 years have passed since The Farm produced Pastures Old and New, and they played a number of tracks from this album, such as Worn Out Sayings, Information Man, Steps of Emotion, Power Over Me, Hearts and Minds, Same Old Story, Too Late, No Man’s Land and Little Old Wine Drinker Me.

Hooton and Co evidently enjoyed themselves and the Scouser, a huge Liverpool FC fan, bantered with the Leeds United following in the audience.

He said: “When are youse gonna get back in the Premiership? Johnny Giles was a great player, so was Billy Bremner, although he was a bit dirty. Then again, so were some of ours.”

There was a genuine appreciation of the loyal following that The Farm still command.

One middle-aged fan clambered on stage and danced alongside Hooton for one track but it was all good-natured and summed up the evening.

The only disappointment was that The Farm’s two most famous tracks – Groovy Train and All Together Now – were not given an airing.

Overall, though, this was a terrific night and here’s hoping we will see the The Farm back in Leeds at some point in 2016.

Gig date: December 16