REVIEW – Chicago Blues @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Friday 24th November 2023

Hot Blues On A Cold Night

Andy Fawthrop

You can’t get away from the fact that this town continues to punch way above its weight. Firstly, we have DOCA, who organised a simply brilliant Lantern Parade last night, including a switch-on of the Christmas lights and a firework display. The Market Place and surrounding streets were absolutely packed with people, and many pop-up food stalls and local businesses were doing a roaring trade. It was great to see the town enjoying itself so much.

But we also have Ian Hopkins and LSBC – Long Street Blues Club. And last night we had an absolutely knock-out gig that just couldn’t be bettered.

Again, the crowds had turned out, and the room was absolutely packed with blues fans. And, boy, were they royally entertained. First up in the support slot were two UK bluesman– Giles Robson on harmonica and Mississippi MacDonald on guitar. They delivered a 40-minute set that was solidly bluesy, stripped-back, and absolutely top-notch. These were two great, award-winning musicians, totally in synch with each other, acting as great musical foils for each other. The vocals were hard, gritty, and throaty. The rhythm was relentless, and the inter-song chat was witty and good-humoured. The audience loved every minute, and I wasn’t the only one thinking that these guys might have been headliners themselves and were worth the ticket price alone. A stunning start to the evening, which couldn’t possibly get any better. Or could it?

Pleased to report that it did, as Ian welcomed three legends of the Chicago blues scene to the stage.

Starting the first couple of numbers as a duo were the awesome Chicago-born Jimi “Prime Time” Smith on guitar and vocals, and harmonica wizard Bob Corritore. Both these guys have more than been around the block, producing an enormous catalogue of recordings, contributing to countless others’ records, and winning a slew of awards over the years. It wasn’t difficult to see why. The quality of the music coming from these guys was simply awesome. The vocals were gritty, the harmonica howling and growling, filling out the vocal phrases. It was cool, inspired, and haunting, and just so, so good.

But there was yet another gear to be engaged, as the full trio got together with the entrance of the stick-leaning, white-capped Oscar Wilson. If the vocals had been good before, they just got better. What a voice this guy had! Now there was even more feeling, more colour, more depth. In a near two-hour set, the trio worked their way through a whole collection of great “walking blues” numbers, including their own compositions, as well as a few blues classics to leaven the mixture (Bright Lights, Big City and Walking By Myself, and Got My Mojo Working).

Proceedings were enlivened by the chatty between-song banter, the audience participation, and the swap-rounds in personnel as first Giles Robson, and then Mississippi MacDonald were invited up on stage to join in the fun. The trio on their own were all stars, but there was no single star, no ego on show. With no drums, no bass and no keys, the driving steady rhythm was provided throughout by Smith’s superb virtuoso guitar work, and the lighter and deeper colours were filled in by Corritore’s soaring harmonica and Wilson’s huge growling and emotive vocals. And then there was the step down. Not only did Wilson walk out into the audience, but he slowed his delivery to a talking drawl, drawing out the lines and the meaning.

There was no dancing tonight – this wasn’t fast, beat-heavy blues. This was walkin’ an’ talkin’ Muddy Waters style blues. The audience responded with massive enthusiasm. There was plenty of love in the room, and deservedly so. If the phrase “music connects everyone” (as quoted during the evening) is true, then there were plenty of connections made tonight.

This was the real deal Chicago blues, featuring three (or was it five?) world-class musicians, and they were playing in our town. Yet again, Ian Hopkins did a great job in bringing such entertainment right to our very doorstep. Absolutely top night’s entertainment.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 16th December 2023 Fullhouse play Frankie Miller