When the head was cool - Kevin restarts his indie band career
A DERBY head teacher is set to drum up a career as a rock star, 25 years after his old band imploded during a gig in Belgium.
Kevin Gritton, the principal at Saint Benedict Catholic Academy, in Darley Abbey, is to reprise his role as a drummer in the indie band Adorable.
Kevin has been talked into coming out of musical retirement to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the last ever gig by his old band.
They were signed to Creation Records (home of Oasis and Primal Scream) and had a string of hits on the indie charts such as Sunshine Smile (NME Single of the Week in 1992), Homeboy and Sistine Chapel Ceiling.
Adorable released two albums – Against Perfection and Fake – and toured the world before splitting up on stage in Brussels in 1994. Kevin trained as a teacher and never considered Adorable again.
However, after seeing the band’s reputation rise over the years and contemporaries such as Ride, Lush and Slowdive reunite with great success, singer Pete Fijalkowski contacted Kevin, guitarist Rob Dillam and bassist Stephen ‘Wil’ Williams with an offer.
Kevin said: “Basically, after the band split, we said to ourselves, we won’t get back together again – what was done was done. Let’s leave it in the past.”
The four members have all gone on to other careers and all had children.
“People started turning 50 and Pete called all of us to see if we’d be interested in a one-off,” said Kevin. “It would be one or two gigs and then we’d finish and go back to our normal lives.
“I thought, why not, it sounds like good fun. I’m enjoying the prospect of playing again after all these years and it’s great for friends and family – and our kids – to see us play.”
Not just those who know them – Adorable fans from all over the world have snapped up tickets for the reunion gigs, which have shocked the band with the speed they’ve sold out.
Earlier this month they announced two gigs – Hebden Bridge Trades Club, on October 31, and Bush Hall, London, on November 2. That was supposed to be it but they sold out within minutes so an extra gig was added at the London venue on November 1.
Demand has been so high that they’ve just announced two more concerts – Hebden Bridge on October 30 and their biggest gig to date, London’s 900-capacity Scala, on November 3.
Kevin said: “The reaction has been unbelievable. People from all over the world have been posting on Facebook that they want us to give up our day jobs and do Adorable permanently. It will just be those five gigs though.”
Music legend Alan McGee, who signed them to Creation, has told them he will be attending one of the dates and they’ve also heard that famous fan Noel Gallagher plans to go to a gig, too.
The band have started rehearsing in Derby. Kevin said: “Derby’s central for all of us – Wil is in Coventry, Rob is in Scotland and Pete lives in Worthing.”
They met at Kevin’s house and had to check out their back catalogue on Spotify to start choosing songs to add to the setlist, which he wrote on the back of a tube of wrapping paper.
“We’ve got an hour and a half of material and it all came back pretty quickly,” said Kevin. I’ve got to say it sounds really good. We were pigeonholed as a shoegazing band but when we played live we had a really rocky sound and that’s how it is now – a big, powerful sound.”
Kevin’s parents Pat and Rose Marie are due to travel from Truro to see Adorable’s reunion. His sister Caroline is flying over from her home in the US while brother Martin, who played football for Plymouth Argyle and Grimsby Town, among others, has offered his services as a roadie.
Kevin said: “You get a middle-aged sense of who you are, then you get back into a rock band and realise you’ve been pretending to be an adult for the past 25 years!”
And his last word on the Adorable reunion? “The NME can come and slag us off again.”