REVIEW – Devizes International Blues Festival – Saturday 18th January 2025, Corn Exchange, Devizes

Another Stunning Week-End For Live Music

Andy Fawthrop

Normally I’d be raving about just how good the live music was at The Southgate on Sunday afternoon. And it was indeed brilliant, featuring the amazingly talented bluesman Eddie Martin, with his band The 58s (the year he was born apparently). The band consisted of Tom Gilkes on drums, Jerry Soffe on bass, and the wonderful Patsy Gamble on saxophones. And normally I’d write a long incoherent full review of that gig on its own, but there’s just too much other stuff to tell you about!

The previous day was the first Devizes International Blues Festival. And here’s the low-down.

Nobody could ever say that Long Street Blues Club and its wily leader Ian Hopkins (currently also Lord Mayor of this parish) doesn’t keep on trying to push the boundaries of live music in D-Town, and to present some really top-notch entertainment. Not content with a full programme of events at the mothership venue of The Conservative Club (see below), there was still ambition enough to do something even bigger in terms of both entertainment and venue.

So, in the interests of blowing out the post-Crimbo and New Year cobwebs, I felt it was only fair to reward such bravado with my own presence on Saturday afternoon and evening (yes it was an all-dayer, not just the normal simple gig format of band + support). This was altogether more than that with no less than five, yes five, headliners playing their way through the six hours or so of the two main sessions.

This is (as far as anyone knows) the first indoor Blues Festival Devizes has ever staged (if you don’t count the blues events at the club itself this time last year). Being January, it was cold, damp, and wet outside, so I think everyone was pretty glad to be on the inside! This was definitely not the same as, say, Saddleback of a couple of years ago sitting outside at Devizes Rugby Club in the middle of summer!

The team had attempted to create an intimate blues club in the Ceres Hall, using tables and seating, but with some room for dancing at the front near the stage. It was always going to be a big ask with the high ceilings and the big windows and aircon units much in evidence, but they did a pretty good job, by closing the curtains and excellent use of both main hall and stage lighting. And the reward was a virtually-full room of music-hungry people.

First up the afternoon double-header was harmonica player extraordinaire Giles Robson. Although based in Jersey, and the only UK resident amongst this star-studded otherwise Chicago cast, Giles was entirely at home, having in the past played with all the American greats, and having toured with his own band all over Europe. I think I last caught him a year ago at the Blues Club playing support to another of today’s line-up John Primer. Giles, accompanied by only an acoustic guitarist, served up a portion of (somewhat unusual on the UK scene) acoustic blues. His wailing, crooning, imploring style of playing, together with his laconic inter-song chat style, soon had the audience hushed and listening intently. His last offering, which I’m sure had to be a parody on a whole raft of suggestive blues songs, involved milk in the ice-cream mixer. Don’t ask. Seriously, don’t ask.

After a suitable pause for stage changes and (ahem) refreshments at the bar, it was the turn of Oscar Wilson. Here was the real deal (in my book at least). Although not great in physical stature, and leaning heavily on his customised stick, this guy had a commanding presence and provided some big sounds, with deep gravel vocals right from the outset. Growing up in Chicago, his major influences were Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and there was plenty of that on show right here. Working with a “house band” that he didn’t know, Oscar soon built a rapport with his musicians, commanding every move with subtle moves of the hand, a flick or a bounce of the stick, or a wry smile to the side.

They were winging it a bit but (honestly) you could hardly see the joins. His set was a real switch from what we’d just heard from Giles’ solo set. It was instantly deeper, faster, and with much more intent. There was more variation, changes in tempo and altogether much more heft. Even with Giles himself joining the band and providing the frills and the infills, the full band sound was much more to my taste. We’d definitely moved up a notch, and the crowd were loving it.

At this point there was a break in proceedings for a couple of hours, and we were tipped out into the D-Town afternoon to find what other pleasures we could discover. I guess the gap had a sound logistical reason behind it, but it felt strange to kind of lose all of the atmosphere that had started to build up. Maybe it was sound checks, but the “house band” was still the same guys upporting the evening performers. So I’m not sure about that one.

Anyhow, after the break and the crowd had reassembled itself once more, the next four and a half hours gave us three cracking performers of the Chicago blues.

First up was Nora Jean Wallace, a Chicago blues singer with Deep Delta roots. A striking figure of a woman, sporting a fine silver wig, Nora Jean delivered a set that was far funkier than what had gone before, almost leaning towards Motown at times. Clearly unwell with a stinking head-cold, she declared “but ah’m gonna give it ma best”, she absolutely delivered on that promise. The singing was strong and high-powered. Only between songs could you see that she was struggling a little, and you had to feel a little sorry for her. Her detailed control of the now-regular “house band” was slightly less tight than Oscar’s had been, but with Giles once again on stage with the harmonica support, the overall sound was terrific.

Toronzo Cannon came up next, sporting a nice line in hats, and a guitar that he used with devastating effect. His song lyrics (and indeed the inter-song patter that introduced them) was witty and truth-telling. His topics included sex, divorce, insurance, his various health issues (again, please don’t ask), his mid-life crisis (pubes turning grey anyone?) and so on. These were all original songs, and topics not normally covered by the mainstream blues, but massively entertaining nevertheless. But it was his blistering and inventive guitar work that impressed more than his impassioned vocals. Like all the artists who preceded him on the bill, he worked hard at engaging the audience, cracking jokes and engaging in plenty of call-and-response numbers. Giles did not join the band on this one occasion, and Toronzo’s sound was all the better for it. I love blues harmonica, but we’d had quite a lot of it already by this stage in proceedings.

Almost finally, it was the turn of John Primer, another one of the kings of Chicago blues. Originally a guitarist in Muddy Waters’ band for many years, he also played with another Chicago legend, Willie Dixon. Here was another of these great performers, having also played in Long Street club about a year ago, which was where I’d last seen him. Compared to Toronzo, John seemed more focused and down to it, a little more serious, with less chat and humour. And still the “house band” were there with him, together with Giles Robson once more. There was more of a feeling of just cracking on with the show now, but never in any kind of hurry. “Ah’m jus’ takin’ ma time”, he declared at one point, which was absolutely how it felt. He also described himself as “an old man, but with young ideas” and then cracked the broadest smile of the evening. He delivered (to my ears at least) superb versions of “Got My Mojo Working” and “Rainy Night In Georgia”. What a great performer.

But there was one final thing still to enjoy when the whole ensemble hauled themselves back on stage for a final encore, sharing vocals and guitar licks. And finally also – huge applause for the “house band” who’d managed to play backing band to four different headliners, staying on stage for over four hours. Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch all their names, but a definite hats off to those guys.

Overall, it was a great day out, packed with some great performances and musical gems. My favourite? – Oscar Wilson was the guy who really nailed it for me, but these things are often a matter of personal taste. All five headliners gave great performances, and difficult to fault any of them. So, well done, once again, to Ian and his team for putting on such a great event in our town. Brilliant.

Future gigs at Long Street Blues Club:

Saturday 1st Feb – the John Martyn project