Tag: Billy Walton

Billy Walton Band Rock Long Street Blues Club

If my Saturday’s entertainment at The Pump was decidedly offbeat and a tad bizarre, what with chap-hop, pith helmets and vintage jazz played through a washtub and kazoo, back in Devizes vast crowds turned up at Long Street Blues Club for something altogether more traditional, east coast US rock, of the highest grade….. 

While, yes, the set up was much more run-of-the-mill, a bluesy-rock six piece with drums, guitar, bass, keys and a saxophone, with New Jersey’s Billy Walton Band on their final tour date in control, it was anything but humdrum. Glad I raced back to town to catch the final glimpses of another outstanding night at Long Street, this much was obvious from what little I managed to digest, but then, when has our town’s celebrated blues club ever let us down?!

Never to my knowledge. Yes, roving reviewer Andy is usually on this, and thankfully provided us with his far more knowledgeable tuppence on Billy Walton and his band last time around, back in April, but being he was at the White Horse Opera, it fell to me to poke my snout in, and I returned home wishing I’d heard more.

Reason being, The Long Street Blues Club honours said customary working formula, but what it lacks in diversity it makes up with quality, and besides, they know what their audience wants, it’s a given. Bringing international blues acts of this calibre to Devizes is venerative of the foundation laid by Mel Bush in the seventies, but it not only harnesses the upshot of it and aptly supplies those who remember it with class entertainment, it has built its own legendary status and, in turn, put Devizes on the blues-map, rather than reside in its slipstream.

You only have to wander past the Cons Club on a blues club night to realise this, the immense ambience, the pure bliss reverberating through the carpark. It was so this time, I hurried in. Reminiscent of everything groundbreaking on the seventies Asbury Park scene, of the Stone Pony, where Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Patti Smith, and Southside Johnny cut their teeth, the latter Billy earned his stripes playing lead guitar in. And as a lover of the early outpourings of the boss, I must say, there was something undeniably E Street Band about his posture, the band’s delivery and stage presence. Their originals perhaps a tad more sprinkled with blues, and with lots of psychedelic swirls for good measure, but it really was that monumental and accomplished.

They toiled with the crowd, false starting a few ambiguous or cliche covers like Sweet Caroline, or Stairway to Heaven, which they jested to perform in a reggae style, similarly as is the stage banter of Springsteen, but when they were in motion it was a beautiful thing. Female vocalist Destinee Monroe held the audience in awe with her sassy and sensual sounding voice, saxophonist Zack Sandler standing on the tabletops to individually serenade punters, the band tight throughout, wowzers, it was something to behold.

They stretched their encore to the max, put so much energy into it, as if they didn’t want to catch their flights home, and even suggested they deliberately missed them. I was glad and grateful for this being I arrived so fashionably late, and though I wish I could tell you more, about the support and the beginnings of this energetic and proficient performance, at least this goes once again to prove you can be sure of one thing, Long Street Blues Club is worthy of your hard earned cash, and never fails to pull a rabbit from its hat.

Next nights at the club are Friday 13th October with Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia with Band, and Friday 3rd November 2023 with Susan Santos & Alastair Greene.

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REVIEW – Billy Walton Band @ LSBC, Con Club, Devizes – Saturday 15th April 2023

A Trip To New Jersey

Andy Fawthrop


Tonight we‘re in the land of Springsteen, Van Zandt and Southside Johnny. We’re on the New Jersey shore, swinging with the band. It’s late, it’s hot, the room is absolutely rammed and The Billy Walton Band are in town. Well, only just, after a late-afternoon scare when their van broke down on the way to the gig. But, hey, that’s rock n’ roll, that’s life on the road. Unfazed, the band played on, and what a show they gave us….

But first things first. Support act for the evening, all the way up from that there London were new (to me) Interstellar Duo. Consisting of sisters Charlotte and Heather Sterland on every combination of piano, viola, violin and vocals, the pair presented something very different indeed. Finalists for UK Country Duo 2022, the two girls gave us some absolutely beautiful, haunting and delicate harmonies. Both vocals and instrumentation were precise and stripped back, reducing the massive crowd to a hushed and respectful silence during the performance, and loud applause as they finished. A hot, noisy blues club may not be the best platform for their brand of vocal harmony, but they absolutely nailed it anyway. Nearest thing I could compare them to was early Kate & Anna McGarrigle, but that might slightly undersell the beauty and ethereal quality of a great performance. Hats off!

Billy Walton is described on his website as “an accomplished guitar master from the vibrant New Jersey Shore music scene. He earned his stripes in the rock & roll trenches, playing lead guitar for many years with Jersey icon, Southside Johnny. He has also shared the stage with music legends; Little Steven, Gary US Bonds and Steven Tyler, to name a few”. Well – wow! That’s a huge reputation to live up to, but there was nothing for us to worry about. The man turned up with a five-piece band behind him and simply let rip with his winning brand of bluesy rock n’ roll.

On stage with him were bassist William Paris, Tom Petraccaro on sax, Eric Safka on Hammond B3, Shane Luckenbough on drums, and vocalist extraordinaire Destinee Monroe. As a unit they were tight, musically adept and extremely powerful, helping Billy to drive forward through a great show.

With his musical background it would have been all too easy to fall back on the old Southside Johnny classics, but instead were treated to a lot more recent material. Yes there were a couple of covers (I Can’t Stand The Rain and I Feel Good), but these blended seamlessly into a near two-hour set of sheer entertainment and showmanship. There was plenty of chat, lots of humour, and great audience interaction. There were deliberate false intros – Stairway To Heaven, Smoke On The Water, Kashmir and even (unbelievably) Puff The Magic Dragon – just to pull the laughs and the applause. We even had a couple of rounds of Happy Birthday! But whilst these guys sure knew how to fool around, they sure as hell knew how to be serious and to deliver a truly great set.

Destinee shrieking high-octane vocals, answered note for note by a wailing keyboard was one of the highlights for me, but this was no one-trick pony. Whilst there were always the wham-bam-thank-you-mam numbers, the band also displayed a lot of depth and texture, mixing up the slower tempos with faster, driving boogie-woogie rhythms.

Lots of applause, dancing, a standing ovation, and an almost psychedelic encore. What more could you possibly want? Yet another great gig at Long Street Blues Club, and what live music is all about.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs: (but more to be announced/ confirmed next month – watch social media!)

Saturday 6th May 2023 Kyla Brox Band
Saturday 27th May 2023 Gerry Jablonski Band
Saturday 10th June 2023 Eric Bell Band
Friday 13th October 2023 Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia band
Saturday 28th October 2023 Susan Santos

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