The NO NAMES tour hits the Unitarian church in Todmorden, Yorkshire.
And they had the @shesingswakefield choir with them! Plus, Ian’s mate from Liverpool, Barry Jones, as the warm-up, support act.
Some words and pics from Alan Dearling
Barry Jones is an entertaining troubadour. He explained to
the crowd that along with Ian, he is a regular MC at the Open Mic Monday Club event at Liverpool’s Cavern Pub. I think Barry also performs as Ringo in a Beatles’ Rubber Soul band.
He sort of apologised that his songs include quite a lot of swearing (and loads of humour) – as he suggested, possibly less than appropriate for the Unitarian Church setting. But, hey-ho, Barry is an Old Skool folk-club-style performer and he got on with the show. The stand out tracks were ‘The Rime of the Open Micer’ (Chorus: “Fucking Hell, not him again!”). Well worth a view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF_FkyLn7cs&t=193s
… and ‘Hide the Sausage’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AERyJc-DFgk
‘No Names’ is the current Prowse, 2026 album.
Ian has a lot of charisma about him. And the band is musically joined at the hip. I enjoyed the vibe of the show. Probably two-thirds of the audience were fervent fans. Given the setting in the inspiring awesomeness of the Unitarian Church and the presence of the ladies from the She Sings choir, there was a kind of electric current running through the church pews. The songs were in a folk-rock-pop vein, but there was plenty of passion in the air, and it had the feel of a Revivalist-Gospel event – sing-along politics.
The PR blurb for the current tour suggests that Ian Prowse was, “Raised on protest songs, influenced by the Celtic sounds that make Liverpool so unique, and inspired by the song writing craftsmanship of Paul Weller, Mike Scott, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello, Ian’s 30-year song-writing career and 100% committed live shows have gathered him a reputation as the ‘Scouse Springsteen’ amongst his devoted fans.”
As I looked around the audience, it was obvious that about half of the punters were wearing Ian Prowse T-shirts. Ian’s show is one of musical triumphalism and ecstasy. This was especially apparent when the She Sings choir performed in front of Ian in the nave of church. An event full of strange, eccentric charm! A highlight for many of the fans was Ian Prowse leading them in singing along with the protest song by Alun Parry, ‘My name is Dessie Warren’, eulogising the life of activist builder, Dessie, who along with Ricky Tomlinson and four others, went to prison as part of the group who became known as the Shrewsbury 24 (building workers and 1972 pickets who were charged).
Dessie Warren: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYjTE62nFSY
The following is also from advance publicity for the tour:
“Amsterdam saw success with their first single ‘The Journey’ hitting the UK top 40, but it’s their song ‘Does This Train Stop on Merseyside?’ which reduced John Peel to tears live on Radio 1 because of its connection with Liverpool, the city he loved, as well as being the centrepiece of Irish legends Christy Moore’s No.1 album ‘Listen’.
Pele’s first 3 singles stormed the Radio 1 A-List with Megalomania reaching No.1 in the South Africa charts. Ian is fresh off his successful Fireworks 30 Tour with his band Amsterdam and is enjoying success as the support of choice for Elvis Costello, The Wonder Stuff and The Blow Monkeys.”
‘Fireworks’ live 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw5Ttn8xGHo
