SANTA is busy receiving letters featuring festive requests and on many of them will be people wanting a brand new combine harvester.
While he can’t get a new Massey Ferguson down the chimney of every home this Christmas, he can at least point people in the direction of Sub89 in Reading next Wednesday.
No, he’s not turning the dancefloor into a tractor showroom. The venue is welcoming The Wurzels back for their latest tour.
The band, who have been performing in various guises since the 1960s, have developed a whole new audience thanks to their ability to adapt, taking famous songs of the day and Wurzelling them.
When they appear at the Friar Street venue next week, people can expect covers of the Kaiser Chiefs song Ruby, among others, as well as their famous set list that includes the hit singles The Combine Harvester and I Am A Cider Drinker.
Tommy Banner can’t wait to return to Sub89.
“It’s a great venue, we love it,” he says. “We’ve played a few places in Reading, but the atmosphere at Sub89 is something else. We really love it.”
The band have, like everyone else, mothballed over the past 18 months due to the pandemic. Given their long performing career, surely this was a moment to take stock and consider retiring to the countryside? Not a chance, Tommy says.
“As long as we enjoy ourselves, we carry on,” he says. “If we are, we hope the audiences are too. We hate seeing bands going out and going through the motions. We give it everything we’ve got, even as old as we are.
“It’s good time music.”
He adds: “We’ve been together since 1973. We keep saying that as soon as one of us stops enjoying it, we’ll stop. We’ve had 18 months of forced retirement and not one of us enjoyed it. We just wanted to get back on the green.”
The band have had people coming up to them thanking them for performing over the summer at a number of venues. “It’s lovely,” he says “It gives you such a lift.”
And don’t expect Sub89 to be full of people who are, shall we say, silver haired. The audiences are, Tommy says, “getting younger and younger”.
Part of this success is the band’s ability to adapt, going from parody albums to their unique West Country take on popular songs. It all stems from a guest appearance on Harry Hill’s show, where he asked them to perform a Barbara Streisand song in their own style.
“It was brilliant, it worked,” Tommy says. “From then on, when we were looking to do an album we said there’s no point doing parodies.”
A new vein of music beckons, and it’s been popular ever since, leading to their collaboration with the Kaiser Chiefs.
“We get so many requests for Ruby,” he says. “I think maybe that’s helped us keep young and fresh.”
Of course, being in December, next week’s gig will see The Wurzels slip a few Christmas songs into the set.
“We did a Christmas album a couple of years ago… Christmas songs that have been Wurzelised,” Tommy says. “It’s a good album.”
There’s something about Tommy that puts him at odds with his West Country background. He’s a Scot. And being a Scot, Hogmanay is just as important as Christmas.
In 2019, he was able to join family in Scotland to see the bells ring for new year, and he’s hoping to go back up again soon. But there’s something he wants to confess: “You’re not going to believe it,” he says. “Nobody ever does. I must be the only Scotsman who doesn’t actually drink whiskey. It’s true. I get the odd present of a bottle of Scotch. I try it and I’ve never, ever liked the taste of it.
“I do like Drambuie,” he smiles. “Maybe, just maybe, I’ve got a taste for the good stuff.”
Next week, though he’s looking forward to beer (well, cider), bulbs and biscuits – and seeing fans who turn out at every gig. “We’re looking forward to seeing the Brakspears in the front row,” he says of his dedicated supporters.
And for everyone he promises: “Come and see us, you will forget all the bad stuff that happens in the world these days.
“If you’ve seen the film Mamma Mia, the whole audience come out singing. I’ve never forgotten that atmosphere. It’s the same with The Wurzels. You’ll come out singing a Wurzels song.”
The Wurzels, with the Skimmity Hitchers, will be at Sub89 on Wednesday, December 8, from 7pm. Tickets are available from sub89.com
PHIL CREIGHTON
