Dirt Roads, A Plastic Army, and a Ruby; Saturday Evenings in Devizes Still Rock!

A joint effort of Darren Worrow and Andy Fawthrop

Buses, huh? Last time I strolled to the dual carriageway to catch one it was four minutes early and didn’t hang around for listless fogies with an appetite for entertainment. I glumly watched it blur past from fifty yards down the lane. This time I hotfooted it, my ageing heart pushed to its limits, and the delayed bus left me standing there for fifteen minutes! Once in Devizes, although far from Broadway, options for quality music and drink still overpowers those of neighbouring market towns; something we should be proud of….  

Post vegan market and a craft fair at the Corn Exchange, as evening sets in The Pelican prepares for its beloved karaoke, a couple of hobos strum a ditty by the fountain, and the amazingly talented Adam Woodhouse arrives at The Three Crowns. Yet I must bypass such significant options, it’s over to Long Street Blues Club, because when Ruby Darbyshire is in town, there’s no compromise from me.

I give a nod to Joe Hicks, likely the best support act I’ve witnessed at Long Street to date, yet at seventeen-years old, Ruby Darbyshire, I believe may’ve topped it. Her first time at the legendary club, she practised two blues songs to play them, one by Beth Orton, another more classic, although by subject her own composition Insomnia could be perceived as blues, and her overwhelming vocals blessed the club with these and a sprinkling of popular covers.

There’s a double-whammy of congratulations to organisers of Long Street, councillor Ian Hopkins who this week became Mayor, and his now wife, Liz, for their marriage in the same week. We wish them many happy years together. But dilemma dawns for me; though keen to hear a group composed of legends Horace Panter, Steve Walwyn and Ted Duggan, by name alone it’s fair to suggest accolades as standard, whereas it’s the first time Swindon’s gypsy-folk Canute’s Plastic Army are in town. They’re down our trusty Southgate, and since hearing a handful of their most impressive singles, and our ethos of supporting local acts, I must depart the club with haste.

Much as I would love to pretend this was all part of careful planning, it wasn’t! Believing our fantastic regular reviewer and part of the furniture at Long Street, Andy Fawthrop was still on his holibobs, I endeavoured to stay as long as possible in order to give fair praise to The Dirt Road Band, when all the time he was hiding behind me! So, it gives us an opportunity to merge our words and be comprehensive about a typically great Saturday night in Devizes.

After Ruby did her thing, which never fails to leave me suspended in awe, I stayed for two songs from The Dirt Road Band. Ruby rinsed beautiful versions of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, and Prince’s Nothing Compares 2U, as regulars in her set, yet again, it’s in jazz renditions such as Erroll Garner’s Misty and Nina Simone’s Feeling Good, where her sublime vocal range is let loose, is something to behold, and the very reason I’m here at the club. Crowds flock this shy prodigy during the interval with congratulations, clearly it’s not just me who thinks this. 

The Dirt Road Band came on all guns blazing, in an impressive electric blues-rock fashion. I favour my blues rootsy, though tip my hat for their aptness to the Club’s favoured mode. Here below, is Andy’s take on them; I salute plus thank him for his expert thoughts, as ever. 

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A recently-formed modern (super-)group, consisting of gig stalwarts Horace Panter (The Specials) on guitar and vocals, Steve Walwyn (DR. Feelgood) on bass, and Ted Duggan (Badfinger) on drums, these guys had all been around the block a few times. They knew how to play, how to drive a set-list and how to work the audience. 

They took a couple of numbers to really get going, but once they hit their groove there was nothing stopping them. Playing a single ninety-minute set they ripped through both original material and a few great covers. It was rock, it was blues, it was boogie-woogie, and they shifted these styles around with seemingly no effort.

Keeping the audience to a chit-chat to a minimum, they frequently segued from one number to another. There were some great riffs on the new songs, and there was a definite Feelgood vibe going on at times. It was no-nonsense, professional stuff, highly enjoyable. A cheering, standing ovation was rewarded with Get Your Kicks on Route 66.  By comparison to Beaux Gris Gris’ near three-hour performance the other week, ninety minutes felt very short, but it was quality not quantity that was on offer here. Good gig, good value. Definitely a band worth checking out.

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Eyes back on me, then; thanks Andy! Without cloning technology I missed this, hot footing it again, this time to the Southgate. Dirt Road Band originally asked to play here, landlady Deborah thought they’d be better suited to Long Street, and so we are blessed with the presence of Canute’s Plastic Army, I understand it’s their inaugural visit tour trusty answer to a Devizes’ O2, though the guitarist plays also with welcomed regulars S’GO.

Based upon both the Army part of their name, and the strength of a few singles I’ve heard from them, such as the incredible Wild, I was first surprised to see they were but a duo! Nevertheless, through Anish Harrison’s intense and consuming vocals and the intricate guitarwork of Neil Mercer, they build layers through loop pedals and sheer expertise, to produce the euphoric gothic folk one would expect a full band to have produced.

There were a few technical hiccups with the PA, yet through warts and all, the duo gifted us with an inspiring, beautifully accomplished and unique sound. Whimsically gliding like fairies in mist, ringing out choral from just one voice, or bittersweet, they were reciting influences in subject from folklore and mythical prehistory in breathtaking splendour. I changed my mind, they are indeed an army, armed with allegory and an elated passion to deliver it.   

It’s Anglo-Saxon, or Celtic Pagan, reverberations of times of yore, wrapped punk and pirate-like. At times I likened them to Strange Folk, at others The Horses of the Gods, but mostly it was individual expression, and that’s the icing on their cake worthy of our perusal.

And that’s a wrap with dirty roads, a plastic army, and a gemstone. Through unforgettable acoustic goodness to an exclusive gothic folk duo, via a legendary supergroup of blues, you have to award Devizes, we’re still punching above our weight when it comes to valid options for a great night of live music, and, sadly, I didn’t even get the opportunity to head over to The Three Crowns for Adam; cloning technology, see? Get to it scientists, now!

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