Pop Will Eat Itself
The 100 Club, London

 
THE T-shirts selling on the merchandise stand say The Poppies Were Crap at the 100 Club; the reality was anything but. 

This is the first of a three-night London stint with the band playing hits back from their 1987 debut album as well as more recent releases. 

First formed in the early 1980s, PWEI — or The Poppies as they are otherwise known — burst out of the Grebo scene with buzzing guitars, short songs and lots of indie enthusiasm. There’s a lot of that enthusiasm still evident, both in band and audience alike. 

And almost 40 years on, despite some grey hairs, singer Graham Crabbe looks no different in his long shorts and DMs. He’s joined on vocal duties by Mary Mary from fellow Grebo stalwarts the Bykers, and the rest of the original band are back on stage — barring Clint Mansell who now writes film scores in Hollywood — and they’re having a ball.