The good news is that the music of Graham Parker & The Rumour<\/strong> – born of the mid-1970s marriage of a notably gifted songwriter and a bunch of all star pub rock alumni – holds up better than most output of the New Wave period.\u00a0The bad news is that the decades have clearly taken their toll. Parker\u2019s<\/strong> once snarling voice lacks much of the sheer vitriol most of those present at two gigs at Shepherd\u2019s Bush Empire probably still keep preserved on vinyl, while the musicians at times seemed slightly bored with note-perfect reproductions of the old arrangements.<\/p>\n Back for their first European tour in 35 years, they did plenty of the old stuff and let\u2019s not get snotty here. There can be no dispute that they ran through this material supremely well.\u00a0Those in the mosh pit back in the day will have enjoyed “Fool\u2019s Gold”, “Hotel Chambermaid”, “White Honey”, a jazzy rendition of “Lady Doctor”, “Local Girls”, “Discovering Japan”, and the cod reggae of “Howlin\u2019 Wind” and “Don\u2019t Ask Me Questions”, with “Soul Shoes” saved for the second encore.<\/p>\n Despite these tracks were interspersed with newer material from 2012\u2019s comeback CD, Three Chords Good<\/em> and an as-yet-untitled album, still in the process of being recorded, think of it as an excellent live performance of the Best of\u00a0<\/em>compilation.\u00a0<\/strong>And yes,\u00a0I\u2019ll be checking out the new product. And not just for nostalgia\u2019s sake, either.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that Graham Parker & The\u00a0\u00a0Rumour \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>now all sixty somethings \u2013 \u00a0are not on the brink of embarking on bold new musical directions.\u00a0But some of the stuff – most notably “Snake Oil Capital of the World” and a rocker that saw guitarists Brinsley Schwarz<\/strong> and Martin Belmont<\/strong> bounce riffs off each other – proved that there are still sparks to squeeze out of these guys.<\/p>\n Graham Parker & The Rumour<\/strong> don\u2019t need a tribute act, because they can handle that function all by themselves.<\/p>\n