His Lordship – 229 The Venue: Live Review

By Graham Hilling on 18th November 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

His Lordship – 229 The Venue – Friday 14th November 2025

His Lordship have been causing a bit of a stir on the live scene, we went along to see what all the fuss was about!!

No support this evening at 229 The Venue which means that it is a leisurely train journey into London to catch His Lordship. Arriving at the venue there is a DJ playing suitably themed songs to a decently full venue and a palpable air of anticipation. I’ve never seen His Lordship before so had no idea what the show would be like, little did I know, I was in for a treat!

So, a little bit of background, His Lordship is essentially James Walborne (guitar) & Kris Sonne (drums) who got together during the pandemic, having worked together with Chrissie Hynde. Live tonight, they are joined by honorary lord, Dave Page on bass. It’s a simple setup, straightforward and no nonsense. The lights go down and they take to the stage bang on time.

STRIPPED BACK, IN YOUR FACE

As someone who (mainly) goes to metal gigs, where this inevitably a load of stage theming and theatre attached to the performance, this evenings show is in sharp contrast and takes me back to my punk roots, it is just 3 people on a stage bashing out an amazing performance. It really is a breath of fresh air in many respects. In fact, I cannot remember the last gig I went to where there was so much energy coming from the stage. This is stripped back, in your face rock and roll fused with a healthy dose of punk and it left the crowd desperate for more!

Walborne whirls around the stage, drenched in sweat from halfway through the opener, Old Romantic. Sonne on the drums has condensation on his glasses for most of the set, only Page retains a sweat free personna, at least for early part of the set anyway! The sound is crisp, edgy and the performance, as I’ve already stated, fuelled by a raw energy, urgent and compelling.

SNARLED OUT

Bored Animal, title track from the current release is snarled out by Walborne, looking like a man not to be messed with. Marc-Andre Leclerc echoes round the packed venue, a tune that reminds me of so many things but I cannot quite place any of them! Derek E Fudge slows things down and gives Sonne a chance for vocal duties behind his kit, standing up to deliver them. The Repenter shows another more classical rock and roll side of things with Walbornes vocals soaring to new height

12-12-21 rocks along and leads us into”My Brother Is An Only Child which sees Sonne taking centre stage on the vocals and Page taking to the drums. Sonne looks like a man possessed stomping around the stage, up on the PA, up on the bass drum (looking pretty precarious here!) Eventually settling on the stage having tried to swallow the microphone! An inspired performance indeed. The Way I Walk, The Cramps cover, tips a nod to a band that has obviously been a big influence. Rock Fall Echo Dust takes us to classic rock’n’roll territory with the whole venue nodding along.

INTOXICATING

Jackie Works For The NHS is introduced by Walborne, extolling the virtues of our underfunded NHS, “I don’t know where Jackie is….actually I do.” “Gin and Fog” is introduced as being for Walbornes late friend Shane McGowan, “a man who taught us lots of things, some bad but mostly good.” This is probably the longest song of the set and has Walborne sitting down on the drum riser to work through the number, reflective and quite a departure from the rest of this evenings music. Quite intoxicating actually.

A furious version of Buzzkill followed by Cat Call and finally All Cranked Up take us to the end of a sweat soaked evening. The guys leave the stage only to return for a quick fire cover of Billy Lee Rileys Red Hot.

Another cracking evening, while the two albums from His Lordship are definitely worthy of your time, it must be said that this is live band first and foremost, the songs come alive and, as I’ve said, fantastic energy from the start to the finish. If you get the chance, definitely try to catch a live performance, you won’t be disappointed!