Steve Harley

Event information

A Closer Look -A 3 Man Acoustic Set

Come up and see them - make them smile!

STEVE HARLEY With Barry Wickens & James Lascelles Live In Concert

The original Cockney Rebel, STEVE HARLEY, has many facets to his life: writer, actor (including starring in a Beckett play in London's West End), broadcaster, and performer.

Now, the performer is back on the road with his virtuoso band mates, Barry Wickens on violin and guitar, and James Lascelles, piano and percussion, in his "A Closer Look" Acoustic Set.

Harley will draw on tracks from all 13 of his albums, including the great hits, JUDY TEEN, MR SOFT, SEBASTIAN and MAKE ME SMILE, in a two-hour-plus, all-seated concert. The show promises intimacy mingled with great improvisation and rocky rhythms.

Recent Press reviews have described the performance as "STAGGERINGLY, FABULOUSLY GOOD", with "WONDERFUL TRACKS RICH WITH LIFE EXPERIENCE".

Harley has been described as "A CONSUMMATE PERFORMER AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME" and one reviewer described the three-man Acoustic show as the "IDEAL WAY TO APPRECIATE THE QUALITY OF THOSE LYRICS".

There are many facets to Steve Harley's life and world, but it is on stage, in the spotlight, that he really comes alive: the consummate performer.Make me smile (come up and see me), reached number one in 1975 in the UK and many European countries and is regularly voted among the top singles in the history of the charts, which covers six decades of releases.

The Performing Rights Society has confirmed it one of the most played records in British broadcasting. The song has been covered more than 100 times in seven languages and has been featured in several movies including The Full Monty (whose soundtrack album went triple platinum in the UK, and platinum in the USA and Australia), Velvet Goldmine, Best and Saving Grace. The song has also been used on more than twenty TV and radio advertising campaigns around the world.

Steve Harley was born as Steven Nice, on 27 February 1951 in South London, growing up in New Cross and attended the school Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College. His musical career began in the late 1960s when he was busking (with John Crocker) and performing his own songs, some of which were later recorded by him and the band. The original Cockney Rebel was formed when Steve hooked up with his former folk partner, John Crocker (fiddle / mandolin / guitar) in 1972. They auditioned drummer Stuart Elliott, bassist Paul Jeffreys, and keyboardist Milton Reame-James. They were signed to EMI after playing just five gigs. Their first single "Sebastian", a soaring rock epic, was an immediate success in Europe, though failed to score in the UK singles chart. Their first album, The Human Menagerie, was released in 1973 to critical acclaim, and is still felt by many fans to be their best. The orchestra arrangements were penned by a guy named Andrew Powell who was suggested to !
the group by their record company. The interesting aspect about Steve's backing band was that they had no real lead guitarist, which equaled to a revolutionary move at that time. Steve's unashamed theatricality, the weird costumes for his stage appearances and the dithyrambic live performance soon made Cockney Rebel one of the most critically acclaimed acts on the circuit, soon gaining a strong cult following.

Harley managed to irritate a significant segment of the music press with his self-aggrandisement, even as the music itself was getting rave reviews and gaining a wide audience.