Neal Francis & Pearl Charles

A raucous night at Islington Assembly Hall helped me to answer some musical questions.

Francis is his middle name, it turns out. Neal Francis was unknown to me back in June when I booked my ticket. I heard through Pearl Charles that she was coming back to London to support Neal, and I booked immediately. So much else has happened since that day, 9 June 2025, just days after her 5 June Moth Club show to celebrate the release of Desert Queen.

The first word that came to mind when I first started playing Neal’s music was funk. There is an unmistakable funky groove to his music. I realised last night that he is first and foremost a live performer, and he really did come alive on that stage. He is effortlessly cool at all times.

I tried to think of another artist who is both a pianist and frontman. It is a rare formula indeed. The most obvious is Elton John, but this is a different postcode. Neal’s drummer was at least as far forward on the stage as everyone else and all four guys sang at various times. Robert Palmer just a little?

Although it was Neal’s name on the ticket it felt like a very tight four-piece rock band playing music that does at times step into something like heavy rock, but there’s nearly always that funky background. Most times it’s in the foreground. Could we add the word jazz perhaps? I played as much of his new album as I could beforehand, but I am only just now digging into his back story.

Neal has been through challenging times musically and personally and he quickly won over the Islington audience with his opening chat, although the room was absolutely packed and they were very much ready for their guy when he walked on. He started talking about Great Britain, but then seemed to be emphasizing the Great. Then he came out with a line that I have never heard before: Let’s Make America Great Britain Again!

It’s interesting that all of the American artists I have seen this year have sought to make a light political statement either on stage or in interviews. I sense an awkwardness. They want us to know they don’t support what is going on but they can relax. We don’t bother much with American news: it is so far away and we think a country that can be led by Hollywood actors probably isn't to be taken seriously.

We find it easy to distinguish between a people, any people, and its temporary leaders. Without delving into politics here, we have had to perform that mind trick rather often in the last three years. Speaking as an avid lifelong fan of all things Americana, we forgive you, almost anything. You see, you did win independence, but you never bothered to learn anything other than our language.

Neal barely stopped moving all night. First sitting, now standing, then grabbing the microphone, walking around with it. He is an absolute ball of energy and you must see him live to understand his music. He wore a sharp suit and pulled off the rare trick of making a bow tie look cool. He is the real deal and everyone in the crowd danced or wiggled through the whole show. The sprung wooden floor bounced in time with the drums. It was loud.

Learning this morning about Neal’s early years in instrumental funk really helps to understand his live shows. He started in the blues, and I have spent the last month writing daily about a cult London blues band from 1967 called Fleetwood Mac. No, not that Californian surf band, I mean the Peter Green one. I reminded myself last night that music is primarily a live act. It existed before recording technology. And we call it music for a reason, no matter how much my brain fixes on the words and the storytelling and the artist’s journey.

Changes is Neal’s most-streamed song and it boosted the energy in the room even higher. Even I knew, as a very recent convert, that this was his most famous tune, from his debut solo album. Everyone on that stage worked seriously hard for the whole show. Energy is an overused word but they left nothing in the tank.

You can get to know Neal Francis over on his own website. But he really does come alive on stage and no mistake. You could stream him but you would be doing yourself an injustice. He is permanently on tour.

Pearl Charles

Pearl Charles and Michael Rault opened the show last night as an acoustic duo. I was excited to see how they would do things differently to Moth Club, where they headlined and brought a full band. No keyboards, no disco sparkles this time, and no Stars and Stripes dress either, I quietly noted, before accepting it was probably just a coincidence.

What I really did not expect were three totally new songs that I had not heard before. A real treat for the Pearl fan club members whom I sensed around me. The fan club grew a little too. I heard several people commenting positively at the end of the set, people who had just heard her for the first time. I think her calm, dreamy aura wins over so many hearts in an instant, perhaps even before the music begins.

I enjoyed the chilled, dreamy song about New Year’s Eve, and filmed some of it for personal use only. Hey, if you want exclusive stuff you can buy your own ticket. The new song that stood out as being immediately catchy and easy to sing along with was about a made-up guy called Johnny Starlight. I started thinking he was someone real, perhaps from the ‘60s adult movie industry but no, he’s more of a mix of egotistical narcissists as far as I could make out. I really want to hear this one again soon. Google, how far is Bristol?

Pearl’s sparring partner Michael Rault did a lot of work too, playing some intricate guitar solos of which every single one got a clap, whistle or whoop. He was away in his own world but there were some proper guitar fans in the audience last night who appreciated every lick and riff.

This was a really special set, quite unlike anything you can find on YouTube but I think the best place to start over there with Pearl would be her concert in France in July. One thing I love about this millennial musician is that she has found an astute path through that jungle of digital and physical music.

You still cannot stream Desert Queen yet, her brilliant third album, but you can buy it on CD or vinyl and you can grab it on Bandcamp as a download. Likewise, playing some new songs that nobody is able to stream or hear any other way keeps something special in the music, something that the streamers overlook: the importance of rarity, or specialness, that Spotify literally threw out a closed window and expected us to cheer as they did so.

Pearl Charles is such a rare gem and her partnership with Michael Rault is something to behold on stage. I have a lot more to write about these two but there is still time to catch them live in the UK and Europe THIS WEEK!