Tag: blues rock

REVIEW – Cinelli Brothers  @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Friday 1st March 2024

Two Great Bands

Andy Fawthrop

This is getting to be a regular thing now.  Ian Hopkins puts on a band that I’ve never heard of, so I trust him and buy a ticket.  Then I wander up the hill to the Con Club and find myself in a room that’s already packed to the rafters, with queues at both bars.  Then I have a great night out, and I write a review about what a great band I’ve just seen.  Too good to be true?  Nope – it just seems to work every time, and I’m not complaining!

Only slight difference this time was that I got two great bands for the price of one.  Support acts come and go, some are good and some are less so.  But last night was one of those really good nights where the support act were really excellent.  You can tell they’re pretty good and getting through to folks when the idle chatter at the back of the room slowly subsides, and people really start listening.

And so it was last night with first-timers at the club Sons of the Delta.  Consisting of Mark Cole  (vocals, harmonica, guitar and mandolin) and Rick Edwards (guitar & vocals), these guys delivered some real no-nonsense stuff – a great blend of electric and acoustic blues, featuring both traditional blues plus some originals.  They were chatty, stripped back, relaxed and completely on top of their performance.  It was mostly harmonica-driven, backed by gravelly vocals.  Their set seemed all too short and, as Ian said at the end over the enthusiastic applause, here’s hoping that we get to see these guys again.

And after our starters, we were onto main course and pudding – two sets from the US-based Cinelli Brothers.  The band is a project born out of a common passion for the electric Chicago and Texas blues from the 60s and 70s.  Brothers Marco (guitarist and lead singer) and Alessandro (drummer) decided to form an explosive team showcasing original repertoire in the style of Chess, Stax and Motown.  Last night on stage they were joined by Tom Julian-Jones on harmonica, guitar and vocals, and by Stephen Giry on bass, guitar and vocals.

This band won the UK Blues Challenge in September 2022, and were ranked number 2 at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis USA in January 2023, so they arrived with plenty of pedigree.  And their latest album is only a couple of months out of the packaging, so obviously there was plenty of material from that source.

There was lots of cool, down-tempo, laid-back stuff –  I particularly liked “Last Cigarette”, which they described as their “big fuck-up song”, and “Fools’ Paradise”.  There was some blues, there was some funk, and there was some Motown.  Most of all though, there was a damn good show, featuring near on two hours of superb musicianship.  The stage banter, and inter-song rapport with the audience, were both good.  They were commanding, they were engaging and, most importantly, they were utterly entertaining.  Full marks from me.

If you get chance to see these guys in the future – don’t hesitate.  Definitely recommended!

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Friday 5th April 2024                                       Ben Poole Band

Saturday 4th May 2024                                  Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse

Saturday 18th May 2024                               The Dirt Road Band

Saturday 22nd June 2024                              KOSSOFF The Band Plays On

Thursday 10th October 2024                       Heavy Drunk, Watermelon Slim & Leonardo GuilianiFriday

Friday 18th October 2024                     Wishbone Ash (Corn Exchange)

Saturday 9th November 2024                     Ian Siegal Band

Saturday 16th November 2024                   John Otway & The Big Band

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REVIEW – Gerry Jablonski @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 13th November 2021

Rock & Blues Is Alive & Well

Andy Fawthrop

Up the road again for the first of a string of Long Street Blues gigs during November.  You spend ages waiting for a gig to come along, then three come all at once.  Added to the musical offerings of Devizes Arts Festival and TITCo these past few days, and it’s been a musically busy week in D-Town where, as everybody knows full well by now, nothing ever happens……

Support act for the evening was local favourite Tom Harris, playing mostly his own material, but throwing in the odd cover to leaven the mix.  I particularly liked his rendition of “With A Little Help From My Friends”.  Tom’s songs are intense and enthusiastic, yet infectious and winning.  He chatted and sang his way through his set, winning over his audience.

Tom Harris; best shirt on!

Main act for the evening, having made it all the way from Aberdeen (by way of Hartlepool) was the powerful and energetic quartet The Gerry Jablonski Band.  Consisting of Gerry himself on guitar and vocals, Pete Narojczyk on harmonica, Lewis Fraser on drums and Grigor Leslie on bass, the band set off at furious pace, letting us know early on that they weren’t here to pussyfoot around.  They knew what they were about, they were loud, they were confident and they seemed determined to pack in plenty of songs.

Through two strong sets, there was the minimum of chat, but just enough to engage the audience.  The music was rough and muscular, but with plenty of hooks and melodies.  Early on we had a number called “Koss”, written in memory of Free’s Paul Kossoff, and the lyrics managed to cleverly name-check many of the band’s greatest hits.  The bass was thumping, the harmonica was squealing and howling and, driven by Gerry’s imperative and rapid lead guitar, the band were on a mission.

Much as I loved it, I was just beginning to think at the end of the first set that perhaps some numbers were a little samey.  But then the band came out in the second set and proved me quite wrong, with quieter numbers, more light and shade, more subtlety.  A highlight was one short number sung by – shock! horror! – Lewis Fraser the drummer, accompanied only by some (for once) quiet reflective guitar from Gerry.  Most of the heavy lifting in the sets was, as you might expect, by Gerry himself.  There was a look and feel of the younger Marriott to me about his demeanour.  Overall the band worked hard as a unit and fully deserved their raucous encore.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 20th November 2021                   Focus (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Yay! The Lost Trades as support at this one, I’m told (Ed.)

Saturday 27th November 2021                   Antonio Forcione Quartet

Saturday 18th December 2021-                  KOSSOFF…The Band Plays On

Friday 14th January 2022                               Chicago Living Legends

Saturday 5th February 2022                         Tinsley Ellis

Saturday 19th February 2022                       Mike Zito Band

Saturday 26th February 2022                       Mark Flanagan Band

Friday 4th March 2022                                    Black Sabbitch (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 19th March 2022                            Soft Machine

Saturday 2nd April 2022                                 Alastair Greene Band

Friday 8th April 2022                                       Billy Bremner’s Rockfile (Devizes Town Hall

Saturday 9th April 2022                                  Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 16th April 2022                               Billy Walton Band

Friday 6th May 2022                                        Birdmens

Saturday 17 September 2022                      CSN Express (New Rescheduled Date)

Gift ideas and Christmas Fayres HERE

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