The January Culture Review

As we attempt to publish more proper local news, we’ve had to be more selective about what else fits into each edition. One thing we didn’t want to lose was space for Medway’s cultural life, which is too often treated as an afterthought.

So we’re trying something new. Once a month, we’ll bring together reviews of Medway’s cultural highlights in a single round-up, produced specifically for our paid supporters. This is the first of those, and it exists because readers like you make it possible for us to spend time looking beyond the headlines and at the wider life of our towns.

Pete Astor + The High Span + Darryl Hartley
Rochester Social Club, 10 January

Medway’s live music dance card is unseasonably full. Kicking off this pay-what-you-can event at Rochester Social Club is talented polymath Darryl Hartley, opening with a four song set of his own wistfully melancholic Kinks-tinged compositions, accompanied on his trusty Tanglewood guitar. Sporting a magnificent t-shirt depicting Terry Wogan’s 1986 visit to the Queen Vic, he is self-deprecating and charming, engaging the audience in a discussion of the correct pronunciation of capo, and being reassured that it is definitely capo.

The High Span’s first outing of 2026 showcases their prodigious output, varying the setlist from last month’s album launch gig and incorporating new, as yet unrecorded, songs from a prospective third album, while the second is still warm off the press. Skewed tales full of whimsy and imagination unfold, including a future projection of the life of Mrs Captain Scarlet. Ever with their finger on the pulse, there are references to Arctic roll and Green Shield Stamps amongst the lyrics and between songs chitchat adding to the genial, nostalgic vibe of the performance. Kevin Younger starts off with Syd Barrettesque chaotic, yet melodic meandering, shifting, towards the end of the set to a Wilko Johnson flourish on their cover of The Velvet Monkeys’ 'Everything is Right,'  underpinned by Jimmy Moore’s Stonesy precision and thumping vigour on drums. 

The atmosphere of good-natured bonhomie fostered by both support acts ensures that Pete Astor gets a warm welcome. He starts off solo, and the whimsical feel is perpetuated on 'Like Frankie Lymon,' evoking the early days of heartfelt innocent romance and 'Model Village,' neat, twee pop. Pete is joined on stage first by Ian Button on percussion and then by Andy Strickland, adding guitar and vocal harmonies. No great distinctions are made between songs from The Loft, Weather Prophets or Pete’s solo work. These are all just pop songs being performed on a slightly ad hoc basis, no more so than when Darryl joins in on bass, having only rehearsed the songs once in the afternoon before the show. Somehow, it all comes together in mellifluous Americana flavours on 'Very Good Lock,' after Pete has broken his own rule of never explaining what a song is about on stage to avoid misinterpretation. It’s a remarkably smooth performance, Pete and Andy in particular make things seem free-flowing and unlaboured, while Darryl’s bass is nothing short of groovy. 'Golden Boy' begins like an Eddie Cochran number and maintains a rockabilly core while layers of swirling guitar are piled on top. It’s a joyous noise. Pete responds to the request for an encore with a solo performance of 'She Took the TV,' a well-crafted, beguiling and disarming breakup song, with hints of the Only Ones in the melody. The audience would happily have heard more, had Pete and Andy not had to run for the conveniently adjacent last train to London. - Moira Mehaffey

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