Tag: Long Street Blues Club

Weekly Roundup of Events in Wiltshire: 15th-21st May 2024

Here’s what we’ve found to do in the wilds of Wiltshire this coming week…

Everything listed here is on our event calendar; go there for links and more info. It may be updated, so check in later in the week.

Ongoing: A Wiltshire Thatcher: A Photographic Journey Through Victorian Wessex runs at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, until the end of August; review here. 

The Thrill of Love is currently running at the Wharf Theatre until Saturday, here’s a review.

Wednesday 15th

Acoustic Jam at The Southgate, Devizes.

Patsy Gamble Jazz Trio at St Nicholas Church in Bromham, preview here.

Jonathan Leibovitz at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon.

Mohamed Errebbaa at the Bell, Bath

Memory Cinema at Swindon Arts Centre, for those suffering with dementia and their carers, screening The Lavender Hill Mob (U). Latin funk jazz with Starlings at Jazz Knights in The Royal Oak, Swindon.

Thursday 16th

Royal Wootton Bassett Carnival & Fun Fair starts and finishes at the weekend.

Courting Ghosts at The Tuppenny, Swindon. Rusty Goat’s Poetry All-Stars at Twigs Community Gardens. Memory Sing at Swindon Arts Centre. Pete Allen’s Jazz Band at Swindon Arts Centre. Antiques and a Little Bit of Nonsense at The Wyvern Theatre.

Friday 17th

Full On Fridays at the Exchange, Devizes, with DJ Stevie MC.

Medium Nikki Kitt is at Melksham Assembly Hall .

Mosquito at the Aldbourne Social Club.

Pat Sharp Party Night at the Civic, Trowbridge.

Ion Maiden at The Vic, Swindon. Simplicity at the Queen’s Tap. Ashley Blaker at Swindon Arts Centre. Julian Clary – A Fistful Of Clary at The Wyvern Theatre.

Ruzz Guitar Trio at The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon. Karport Collective at The Boathouse.

Bath International Music Festival begins today, running until 26th May. Bootleg Bee Gees at Chapel Arts. Daliso Chaponda’s Feed this Black Man Again at The Rondo Theatre, Bath.

Dutty Moonshine DJ Set at The Tree House, Frome.

The Chilled Out Motorhome and Camper Weekender in Cirencester opens.

Saturday 18th

Devizes Vegan Market at The Market Place from 10am-3pm. Mynt Image Craft Fair in the Corn Exchange. The Dirt Road Band at Long Street Blues Club. Canute’s Plastic Army at The Southgate, Ed’s pick of the week this one. Adam Woodhouse at The Three Crowns. Caztro is in the mix at the Exchange.

White Horse Soapbox Derby in Westbury.

Mosaic Dogs at The Lamb, Trowbridge.

Talk in Code at The Kings Arms, Amesbury.

Rachel Newton at Pound Arts, Corsham.

Black Wendy at The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon. Vocal Works Gospel Choir – live at 21 at the Wiltshire Music Centre.

Shelf is at the Rondo Theatre, Bath, with a kids version, then teenage men version. Roxy Magic at Chapel Arts.

The Bowie Experience at The Vic, Swindon. Awakening Savannah at The Queen’s Tap. 

The Soul Strutters at the Woodlands Edge. Drew Bryant at the New Inn. The Blackheart Orchestra at Swindon Arts Centre. eMotion Dance Competition at The Wyvern Theatre.

Frome Memorial Theatre Open Day followed by Jive Talkin’. John Lydon is at the Cheese & Grain. ZZ Toppd at the Tree House.

Sunday 19th

The Hoodoos at The Southgate, Devizes from 5pm.

Open Mic at the Red Lion, Lacock.

Shot by Both Sides at The Three Horseshoes, Bradford-on-Avon.

Eddie Martin at the Bell, Bath.

Lee Hurst – Sweet Sorted Lovely at Swindon Arts Centre.

The Frome International Climate Film Festival at the Cheese & Grain.

Monday 20th

Tony Remy, James Morton & Anders Olinder at the Bell, Bath.

Steeleye Span at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon.

Tuesday 21st

Let’s Walk – Caen Hill & Jubilee Wood

Crazy Bird Comedy Night at The Piggy Bank Micropub, Calne.

Gareth Williams Trio for Jazz Knights at The Royal Oak, Swindon.

Ash Mandrake & Jenny Bliss at the Bell, Bath.

And that’s all we’ve got for now; fill your boots! Events listed here are subject to change, we are not responsible for cancellations, errors or postponements in anything listed.

Do check ahead with our every-changing events diary. 

Shindig Festival at Dillington Park begins next week, the last Shindig festival, have a good one from me.Also find upcoming Chippenham Folk Festival 24th-27th May. Love Saves the Day in Bristol. Beer and Cider Festival at Swindon & Cricklade Railway. Cursus Festival 2024 Dorset. Chris Moyles 90s Hangover Festival at Swindon Town FC. 

In Devizes Nothing Rhymes With Orange makes a homecoming at The Three Crowns on Friday 24th. And isn’t it high time you snapped up some tickets for the Devizes Arts Festival at the end of the month running into June? 

Important note: events which come to our attention from now on, will be updated on the Event Calendar and NOT HERE. So, be sure to check in from time to time, use the Event Calendar to find more info on everything listed on here, and for ticket links, etc. Use the Event Calendar to check for updates and planning ahead.

Did we miss you out? Did you tell us about your event? It’s not that we don’t like you, it’s because Devizine uses many sources to collate these listings, and sometimes we miss a few things. Listing your event here is free, but please make it easier for me by messaging or emailing the info, and then, and this is the really important part, make sure I’ve added it and let me know if not!

Have a good week!

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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 – Amazing Double-Header @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Friday 12th and Saturday 13th January 2024

What A Way To Start The New Year!

Andy Fawthrop

Long Street Blues Club didn’t allow the excesses of Christmas and the New Year to slow anything down, and kicked off 2024 in grand style with two amazing, but very different,  gigs on the same week-end.….

First up on the stage, on Friday night, we had the 4-piece Pete G & The Magnitones as a very worthy and hugely enjoyable support act, with their interpretation of the Chicago Blues.  But this was only the taster for the real thing to come, John Primer with the Giles Robson Band.  

This guy, an absolute legend, and King of the Chicago Blues, was back “by public demand” and that was no empty boast, as the room was rammed for a completely sold-out show.  He’s been Grammy nominated three times, and was inducted to the National Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis last year. As the bandleader and lead guitarist for Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, this guy’s virtuosity as a blues musician was forged by real blues legends.  He’s recorded more than 87 albums, with 17 of those in his own name. He’s written and produced more than 55 songs on more than six record labels including his own, Blues House Productions.

What a pedigree!  So there can be no doubting that this guy is the real deal, an absolute Chicago Blues icon, and here he was playing in our town.

Featuring Pascal Delmas on drums, Antoine Escalier on bass, and Giles Robson on harmonica, the 4-piece band delivered a single two-hour plus set of stunning Chicago blues.  Giles Robson is no slouch either.  He’s a multi award winning, internationally recognized Blues harmonica virtuoso, singer and masterful showman. He was the only UK or European artist to appear on Chicago’s legendary Alligator Records (who described him as “A blues giant, absolute master of the form”). He’s only one of three UK blues artists (alongside Eric Clapton and Peter Green) to win a coveted Blues Music Award in Memphis (the Grammys of the Blues). His albums are in the top of the world’s most prestigious music magazines critics’ polls.

No disrespect to Pete G, but this main band’s sound was just so much fuller and more solid.  Primer delivered gravelly vocals and some simply stunning guitar licks.  The atmosphere and feeling injected into the material was superb, particularly I thought on Rainy Night In Georgia and Hoochie Coochie Man.  The pace varied from fully-leaded driving blues, down to more sedate walking blues numbers.  And it never seemed to stop – interspersed with only minimal chat, the numbers just kept on coming.  Robson, meanwhile, played some beautiful, powerful, emotional and timeless blues with a deep groove and laden with intense feeling. His howling, growling, squealing sound, was imbued with rhythmic power and sensitive emotional expressiveness. Standing like a pair of giants at either side of the stage, and letting the rhythm section do their thing with great accomplishment in the middle, these two great artists played off each other, varying between a healthy competiveness and at other times a complementary tonal harmony.

The guy’s slogan is “You can’t paint the Blues without the Primer” and you could certainly see why.  Primer was indeed the real deal, and he delivered a fantastic show that went on long into the Devizes night.  Eleven out of ten on my Happy Scale!

So that was Friday done and dusted.  But there was still Saturday to go!  And so it was that Ian Hopkins’ LSBC combined with Paul Chandler’s Longcroft Productions to bring us another amazing, but completely different, show on the very next night.

Damian Wilson and Adam Wakeman were touring their brand new studio album, and Devizes was only the second stop on that tour.

Introductions first – Damian Wilson is an English songwriter and vocalist who’s known for his exploration into different genres and is considered one of the most versatile singers in rock.  To date he’s released six solo albums and three albums as a duo with Adam Wakeman. He balances his career as a singer-songwriter with being an energetic frontman for rock bands and guest vocalist. He’s toured all over the world fronting bands such as Rick Wakeman’s ERE and Threshold. He’s performed on the most prominent stages in the UK, during his two-year tenure as the lead in Les Misérables.

Adam Wakeman  is best known as the keyboard and guitar player with Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath.  He’s also released nine albums with father Rick Wakeman, and five solo albums.  As a classically trained pianist, his albums cross many genres and styles from classical to rock.  He co-wrote the 2010 platinum selling album Scream with Ozzy Osbourne and has also toured extensively with Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Rick Wakeman, Travis, Annie Lennox, Will Young, Slash, 10CC and many more. And, as a further feather in his well-decorated hat, he recently stepped in at short notice to play keyboards on tour for Deep Purple.

So yet again – a couple of impeccable pedigrees.  And yet again two guys who absolutely lived up to their billing as brilliant composers, musicians and singers.  Right from the opening piss-take chords of Smoke On The Water from Adam, and the belated comedy walk-on from Damian, we were in for a great night.  If anybody was in doubt, this was all very different from the previous night – the Blues it certainly wasn’t.  What we got instead was two hour-long sets of superb original songs, interspersed with an easy-going laddish banter between these two stars.

There were delicately-structured songs, soaring vocals from Damian, with sympathetic harmonies and fills from Adam.  There were romantic and uplifting melodies from Adam’s keyboard which permeated every song, and provided musical background to the chatty interludes.  The tracks they featured from the new album each had a backstory.  I was particularly struck with Can We Keep The Light On Longer and Multiplicity – fabulous songs. I was absolutely loving this.

What I liked slightly less – and this is my only note of old man’s carping criticism – was the frequent use of an old skool cassette recorder (with its own back-story) as a comedy device, and the sometimes overlong, extended rambling chatter.  I found it a bit self-indulgent and caused the occasional loss of momentum and atmosphere.  What I kept wanting them to do was to do what they did superbly – play/ sing the songs!  At times it felt a bit incoherent and under-rehearsed, but there were elements of a double-bluff as the comedy riffs ended and the next belting song came along.

But that’s a very minor criticism of what was overall a stunningly good performance from two very talented artists.  I was kept amused and well-entertained – a cracking night out.

So – once again – hats off to Ian Hopkins and to Paul Chandler for bringing what can only be described as world-class talent to our town.  This is why you should support live music and our music venues.  Brilliant.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 10th February 2024                       The Errol Linton Band

Friday 1st March 2024                                    The Cinelli Brothers

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

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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

Friday 12th January 2024                              John Primer Band

Saturday 13th January 2024                        Damian Wilson and Adam Wakeman

Saturday 10th February 2024                      The Errol Linton Band

Friday 1st March 2024                                   The Cinelli Brothers

Friday 5th April 2024                                      Ben Poole Band

Saturday 4th May 2024                                 Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse

Saturday 22nd June 2024                             KOSSOFF The Band Plays On

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A View to a Thrill

“The Thrill of Love” at the Wharf Theatre by Ian Diddamsimages by Chris Watkins Media Just over a year ago, the Wharf theatre performed a…

REVIEW – Russ Ballard @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Saturday 18th November 2023

LSBC Gave Rock n Roll to Ya!

Review by Andy Fawthorp

The LSBC gigs are coming round thick and fast as the new season gets into full swing.  And there was another packed house last night to welcome the Russ Ballard Band’s first appearance at the club…..

First up was new boy Matt Prior to fill the early support slot.  This was his first outing on stage, and he looked and sounded pretty nervous.  Using guitar, keyboard and backing tracks, Matt worked his way gamely through his set.  I’m not sure that everything worked as well as he might have hoped.  His versions of Bowie’s Life on Mars, Henley’s Boys of Summer and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road were not really to my taste, but the audience gave him good support and a warm round of applause.

Then on to the main offering of the evening.

Russ Ballard has appeared with several bands over the years (the Roulettes, Unit 4+2 and, most famously, heading up Argent in the late 70s).  But his real claim to fame is the large number of hit songs he’s written and recorded, and which have also been hits for other artists (The Shadows, Argent, Rainbow, Kiss, Hot Chocolate, Hello). It’s actually quite surprising just how many famous songs he’s written.

In a single nearly two-hours long set, backed by a tight 4-piece band, he demonstrated his showmanship, and much of his back catalogue.  In among the less well-known, but still highly catchy and sing-alongable numbers, were many of the rock classics – Back In The New York Groove, Hold Your Head Up, Since You’ve Been Gone and (the ultimate singing the house down encore number) God Gave Rock & Roll To Ya.

The whole set was built on a solid, no-nonsense rock and roll-heavy platform, leavened with keyboard flourishes, and some great throaty vocals.  Every number had its catchy riff, and its strong vocal hook.  It was almost impossible not to sing along and join in the party.  The dance floor at the front filled up, and the band looked and sounded to be really enjoying themselves.  There were no long songs, no rambling improvisations, no drum or bass solos – just straight-up pop-song format short rock & roll songs.  The intros were informative, humorous, and short and punchy.  The band were slick, polished and well-drilled.

Another great booking, and a cracking night out.

Future Long Street Blues Club Gigs

Friday 24th November 2023                        Chicago Blues Trio

Saturday 16th December 2023                    Fullhouse play Frankie Miller

Friday 12th January 2024                              John Primer Band

Saturday 13th January 2024                         Damian Wilson and Adam Wakeman

Saturday 10th February 2024                       The Errol Linton Band

Friday 1st March 2024                                    The Cinelli Brothers

Friday 5th April 2024                                       Ben Poole Band

Saturday 4th May 2024                                  Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse

Saturday 22nd June 2024                              KOSSOFF The Band Plays On

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REVIEW – Blood Brothers @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Friday 13th October 2023

Lucky For Some

Andy Fawthrop

We don’t believe in all that Friday The 13th unlucky malarkey, do we?  Still it was unusual to be at Long Street on a Friday night, rather than the usual Saturday, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow when the big names like this are on tour.  Ian’s agent gave him the shout for a gig in Devizes amidst a crowded Autumn/ Winter tour schedule, and so “yes please, we’ll have some of that” was the obvious answer.

Ian’s confidence in booking these guys was amply rewarded with an absolutely packed house, providing a great atmosphere.

The evening opened with special guest Adam Giles Levy.  His opening blast was a powerful acapella version of Vera Hall’s “Trouble So Hard” (as made famous by Moby).  Unfortunately this was the best thing he did in his 40-minute set.  Once he took up his guitar and started singing his meandering songs, things went rather downhill.  The style was loud and brash, and the songs seemed formless and open-ended, whilst his loose vocal and guitar styles sounded discordant and self-indulgent.  The inter-song patter was rambling and only audible to those at the front.  There was some perfunctory audience participation, but I didn’t feel that he ever had the crowd actually with him.  Applause was polite and perfunctory, rather than enthusiastic.  To me it was just a noise, and I was glad when it finally stopped.  I really don’t like giving a bad review to anyone, but I just couldn’t warm to this guy, and I wasn’t enjoying my evening.  I felt the big crowd deserved better than this.  Asking around I got a lot of mixed reviews – some thought he was OK, but the majority gave him a firm thumbs-down.  Not just me then.

Fortunately things bucked up considerably after that as Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, playing as the band Blood Brothers hit the stage.

Mike Zito (53) is an award-winning American blues guitarist hailing from St. Louis.  His career is one of playing with multiple bands, collaborating with other great musicians, and recording and touring frequently.  He writes most of his own material.   His label-mate Albert Castiglia (54), hailing from Miami, is one of Mike’s many collaborators, and the pair have teamed up for this “Blood Brothers” tour, for which they recorded an eponymous album released back in March earlier this year.

From the first number the mood picked up considerably, and the place came alive.  Announcing their intention to “play every damn song” off the record, they did exactly that over two glorious 50-minute sets.  Two lead guitars, two contrasting vocalists, with bassist Douglas Byrkit and two drummers (Matt Johnson and Ephraim Lowell) was the recipe for a very high energy performance.  The crowd were completely onside, with massive appreciative applause right from the very first number.  Like all good bands they varied the pace, alternating fast and slow tracks, light and shade in the vocals, and mixing up some great driving boogie-woogie numbers with more nuanced and subtle songs.  Both guitarists took their solos, introducing some blistering and catchy riffs, but it was obvious from all the body language on stage that these guys obviously enjoyed playing together, complementing one another perfectly, trading licks and grinning broadly all the while.

There was chat, there was inter-song banter, there were humorous stories about the genesis of some of the songs.  And it provided just the right leavening between songs so you could get your breath back.

A standing ovation and encore were the only conclusion possible to such a great night.  And the final number of Neil Young’s barn-storming “Keep On Rocking In The Free World” was probably the best live version of that song that you’re ever likely to hear.

A great night and a really stonkingly-good gig from a real powerhouse band.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Friday 3rd November 2023                           Susan Santos & Alastair Greene

Saturday 18th November 2023                   Russ Ballard Band

Friday 24th November 2023                        Chicago Blues Trio

Saturday 16th December 2023                    Fullhouse play Frankie Miller

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The Tap at The Peppermill to Host Open Mic

Two local musicians have joined forces as Nightingale Sounds to host their first Open Mic Night at the new Tap at the Peppermill in Devizes….…

The Wiltshire Gothic; Deadlight Dance

With howling, coarse baritones Nick Fletcher, the main vocalist of Marlborough’s gothic duo, Deadlight Dance chants, “here comes the rain, and I love the rain,…

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.

Trending…..

REVIEW – Ian Parker Band @ Long Street Blues Club, Con Club, Devizes – Saturday 9th September 2023

In The Heat Of The Night

Andy Fawthrop

It must be that time of the year.  Summer is going out in a blaze of heated glory, and Autumn is about to come calling.  We’ve already had the last Bank Holiday of the year and, apart from the ankle-biters being back at school, last night was also time for the annual singalong frenzy of The Last Night of The Proms.  After this you know it’s all downhill to the clocks going back, Halloween, Bonfire Night, and The Big C.  But no point getting miserable and all teary-eyed just yet.  Before we get to the fake-Dickensian marketing exercise that forces the first mince-pies to hit the supermarket shelves, we’ve got plenty to look forward to in D-Town’s music scene.

And last night was just typical with competing gigs at The Cavalier, The Corn Exchange, and The Southgate to choose from.  Or there was always Twilight Cinema in Hillworth Park.  But I couldn’t find my Ray-Bans, so I decided that the best way to start things off was at the Con Club, with the new Autumn/ Winter season of concerts lined up by Ian Hopkins and his team at Long Street Blues Club.  First guest of the new season was the Ian Parker Band.

It was hot and sweaty in there, but that just suited the music.  A goodly crowd had ignored the various other blandishments on offer, including England’s opening game in the rugby World Cup, and turned out to welcome two great guests back to the club. 

First up was support from local boy Joe Hicks. He’ll be touring with his band in November and December in the UK & Germany, but for tonight it was just the man, his guitar, and a few pedals.  Last time I saw Joe was here in the club just before Covid and I remember enjoying his performance.  Since then, he and his songs have matured.  Introducing self-penned songs from his debut album of last year “The Best I Could Do At The Time”, Joe produced an engaging and accomplished performance.  The songs, delivered with understated guitar, and his tell-tale falsetto voice, were mesmerizingly good.  The inter-song chat, self-deprecating humour and snatches of audience participation easily won people over.  Joe is well above yer average troubadour, and definitely worth checking out.

Then we were onto two helpings of the four-piece Ian Parker band.  Ian is a 20-year blues band veteran and has played as a session musician with much of UK’s blues royalty.  His sets contained mostly self-penned material, leavened with just the right amount of covers.  Leading from the front on guitar and vocals, we launched straight into Muddy Waters’ Hoochie Coochie Man, then settled down into a bluesy groove.  Again, there was great inter-song chat, the clear connection with the club, and with the enthusiastic audience.

The guitar work was clean, sparkling and inventive, with the band behind him providing just the right platform for his inspired and meandering solos.  We were in blues territory, but there was plenty of wandering off into something more inventive and reflective.  There were nods to BB King (Help The Poor), Willie Dixon (Weak Brain, Narrow Mind) and a really stunning reworking of Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower.  Cue huge applause, a great finish, and a well-deserved encore.

So, the new season is up and running, with some great talent lined up to play (see the club’s website).  Tickets available online, at Devizes Books and at all the usual outlets.  Do yourself a favour and get along to some of these gigs.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 7th October 2023                          Billy Walton Band

Friday 13th October 2023                            Blood Brothers – Mike Zito & Albert Castiglia band

Friday 3rd November 2023                           Susan Santos & Alastair Greene

Saturday 18th November 2023                  Russ Ballard Band

Friday 24th November 2023                        Chicago Blues Trio

Saturday 16th December 2023                   Fullhouse play Franki

Trending…..

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Kyla Brox; Throw Away your Blues

By Ben Niamor 

Long Street Blues Clubs’ offering for the coronation weekend.. Kyla Brox…..

The bunting is still up for those keen to celebrate, personally I was looking forward to this gig as the crowning moment in my Saturday, and I was not disappointed!

Opening up proceedings the ever-excellent and irrepressible Tom Harris. Tom has ‘Written hundreds of songs and released none,’ he quips before launching into a great set with lots of original songs.

Three Word Slogans, my personal favourite, a genius political anthem.  Should be released digitally come local election time, such is this song’s genius. 

An observational rhyme on the hollow meaningless billboard contradictions of the (I agree with him!) broken political system… 

Classic blues material frankly but delivered in Tom’s moderately manic and good humoured manner. With a disclaimer that it wasn’t necessarily aimed at conservatives..! (Editor’s note, you are in the Conservative Club, after all!) A local gem you are only likely to enjoy by getting out to pubs and venues like this. 

Kyla Brox,  the main event, I wanted to see this lady for a good while; friends had advised me this was an essential gig for me.

I’ve had the album Pain and Glory for some time, and my anticipation of what that record would indicate with regard to a live experience was not wrong.

Kyla attests her incredible voice and total embodiment of soulful blues to singing in her father’s band from twelve years of age;

no surprise, you don’t just learn to embody soulful blues to this standard, it seems to me like that would require those musically enriched genes and history.

Proudly sharing a little of her family and musical history in passing on stage, you realise very quickly this phenomenal voice has been nurtured over a lifetime, not forced and it shows in the stunning, natural way she sings from the heart. 

I feel like I am a little late to the party here, my first time seeing this band live, a good few old friends in tonight by the looks.

Hats off too, to her sensational band, painting the scene for the stars’ vocals.

Superb musicians all.

An outstanding gig, I was enthralled from start to finish, ‘ Queen of the UK blues scene’ as I’ve read elsewhere, not an overused moniker for a coronation day gig, a reflection of the musicianship on display.

Absolutely bowled over and will be making sure to see her again. 

Thank you to Long Street Blues Club for continuing to bring the best bands from across the blues scene to Devizes.

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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REVIEW – The Alex Voysey Trio & Hardwicke Circus @ LSBC, Con Club, Devizes – Saturday 19th November 2022

Double-header, Double the Fun!

by Andy Fawthrop

In yet another busy musical weekend for Devizes, it was hard to choose where to go, with gigs all over the place.  A nice problem to have I guess, but on Saturday night I threw my money into the Long Street Blues Club hat to see two bands that were completely new to me.…

First up was the Alex Voysey Trio. Alex had previously played the club back in February as support to Mike Zito.  On that occasion he played a solo acoustic set and impressed enough to be invited back with his full trio.  Alex has worked as a session and support musician to many big names in the business, and in many musical genres.  He’s a passionate advocate for blues music, and used his trio to great effect here, covering both traditional numbers and to his own modern compositions.

With Paul Arthurs on drums and Ben Hands on bass, Alex hit the stage with a range of snappy and upbeat blues/ rock numbers.  He soon had the crowd on-side, and used the opportunity to mix it up a little with a couple of slower, more laid-back numbers.  His one-hour set was sound, competent and thoroughly professional, featuring some nice flourishes on lead guitar.

The second half featured the first D-town appearance for Carlisle-homed five-piece Hardwicke Circus who, quite rightly it seems to me, are being tipped for big things. They’ve already opened for mega stars such as Bob Dylan at Hyde Park and for Southside Johnny.  Paul McCartney allegedly persuaded Glastonbury festival to get them to play, which they duly did.   And it didn’t take long for everyone last night to see why they’re so well thought-of.

The band featured Jonny Foster (lead vocals and guitar), Tom Foster (drums and vocals), Joe Hurst (bass and vocals), Lewis Bewley-Taylor (keyboards), Jack Pearce (saxophones).  This combination provided a great solid and multi-dimensional sound.

They’re a hard-working, hard-gigging band and it showed.  They’re young, sparky, almost punky, occasionally poppy, accompanied by some healthy doses of attitude.  But they’re very good, and they know it.  Their sound is strong and fresh, and has brought comparisons to all sorts of bands.  For me that included Dexys, Wilko Johnson, Madness, Fratellis – a little bit of something for everyone.

Straight from the off we knew we were in for a great set.  Lots of heft and drive, fast numbers, no messing about.  Loads of healthy banter with the crowd, and some well-placed audience participation in some of the choruses (“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” springs to mind).  There were plenty of good tunes, catchy hooks.  No long intros, just plenty of songs packed into their 90-minute set.  The crowd absolutely loved it, and an encore was never going to be in doubt.  But what an encore!  The band were joined on stage by Texan Joe King Carrascoa, guitarist and vocalist, and proceeded to deliver a six-song masterclass in how to play a crowd.  In among there were a solid rendition of The Band’s “The Weight” and a stonking version of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”.

If the future of music is in the hands of bands like this, we really have nothing to worry about.  This was an old-fashioned rock band in very capable young hands.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Friday 23rd December 2022                         Gee Baby I Love You

Friday 13th January 2023                              Chicago Living Legends

Saturday 18th February 2023                       Eric Bell Band

Saturday 1st April 2023                                  Dave Weld & The Imperial Flames

Saturday 15th April 2023                               Billy Walton Band

Saturday 6th May 2023                                  Kyla Brox Band

Saturday 27th May 2023                               Gerry Jablonski Band

Saturday 24th June 2023                               Earl Slick Band

Saturday 28th October 2023                        Susan Santo

Trending…..

REVIEW – Black Sabbitch@ LSBC, Corn Exchange, Devizes – Friday 14th October 2022

Awesome!

Andy Fawthrop

The Long Street Blues Club season is now in full swing, giving us a second gig within a week, and with several more to come before Crimbo.  Last night was a switch of nights to Friday from the usual Saturday, and of venue from the usual Con Club to the more intimate surroundings of downstairs at The Corn Exchange in The Bin.

Our treat for the night was Los Angeles-based all-female tribute band Black Sabbitch.  They’re now coming towards the end of their Autumn UK tour, and so they were already at full tilt as they hit D-Town.  They served up a stonking two-hour, one set performance that was brim-full of energy, enthusiasm (and volume) as they ploughed through all things Black Sabbath.

There was no support act, nor was any needed.  It would have been a thankless task for anyone to do the warm-up for a band like this.

Right from the outset we had that trademark loud and grinding rhythm section, provided by Angie Scarpa on drums and Melanie Makaiwi on bass.  To be honest, you couldn’t so much hear the bass as feel it, with every deep note seeming to seep right out of the floor.  Good vibrations – oops, wrong band, but you get the point!  Lead guitar featured Emily Burton, and the line-up was completed by Alice Austin on vocals and (occasional) keys.  What followed was a master-class in paying homage to a very British band by four very talented and committed musicians.  The Sabbath fans were there in numbers, cheering every intro and mouthing the words to every song.

Picking up some of the doom-laden back-catalogue, they managed to lift the old material and make it shine somehow brighter.  I wouldn’t necessarily count myself as the country’s greatest Sabbath super-fan, but I couldn’t help but be impressed by how the band managed to nail every number.

It was a rousing set, capped by two well-deserved encores, finished out by (what else?) “Paranoid”.  The only thing wrong with it was that it didn’t last longer!

Another great night – an awesome gig.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 5th November 2022                     Robbie McIntosh Band

Friday 11th November 2022                        Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 19th November 2022                   Hardwicke Circus and The Alex Voysey Trio

Friday 23rd December 2022                         Gee Baby I Love You

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REVIEW – Eddie Martin’s Big Blues Band (with The Little Big Horns) @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 8th October 2022

Big Band Blues

Andy Fawthrop

The Long Street Blues Club season continued last night with some great music.

First up was Kelvin Davies (guitar) and Gary Jones (harmonica), a duo making their first visit to the club.  They delivered an absolutely charming set of upbeat numbers, wandering around blues, folk, country and ragtime.  Kelvin’s guitar-picking was first rate, and he was ably supported by some haunting and expressive harmonica work by Gary.  The audience absolutely loved them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Ian had them back again in the future.  Great entertainment.

Then onto the main business of the night, and we were treated to a rare, if not unique performance.  Not that Eddie Martin is any kind of stranger to Devizes audiences, having played at a number of local venues over the past few years.  What was unusual this time however was the format.  We’ve seen him play solo, and we’ve seen him play fronting his own trio and supporting various blues-based combos, but last night we were treated to a run-out in a “big band” format.  Eddie shared that had actually done this before, but many years ago, but as far as I was concerned, this was a very special “one-off” show.

And how great it was.  Setting up as a 7-piece, fronted by Eddie on guitar and harmonica, the band featured drums, bass, keyboards, trumpet (Phil Storer), trombone (Andy Wrathbone) and saxophone (Patsy Gamble).  And what a lovely fat, rich sound they produced.  It was funky, it was full-on and it carried some real heft.  Paying his usual tributes and homage to such masters as Elmore James, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, Muddy Waters and Pee-Wee Ellis, Eddie led the band through two superb sets of funky blues, with some great early 60s dance rhythms.  I was put in mind at times of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes, which in my book is a big compliment.

We had some quite jazzy sections, the musicians playing off each other and taking their well-deserved solos, and all the while looking as if they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.  Eddie himself, turned out in his usual dapper style, with his trademark gravel voice, absolutely led from the front, chatting with the audience between songs and working the room with some call-and-response material.

We had some great-titled songs – “Tough Times”, “Someone’s Making Money, But I Know It’s Not Me”, “The Birds And The Bees” and “With A Big Enough Lever You Can Lift The World”.  The set concluded with a standing ovation and a fully-deserved encore.  Cracking stuff, and a great night’s entertainment.

And if you want to catch Eddie again, he’s playing The Southgate, this time as a trio, on Saturday 22nd October.  I suggest you get yourselves along there – you won’t be disappointed.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Friday 14th October 2022  Black Sabbitch (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 5th November 2022  Robbie McIntosh Band

Friday 11th November 2022   Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 19th November 2022   Hardwicke Circus and The Alex Voysey Trio

Friday 23rd December 2022  Gee Baby I Love You

REVIEW – Skinny Molly @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 20th August 2022

What A Sell Out

Andy Fawthrop

Seems ages since we were last turning up at the Con Club for Long Street Blues, but last night the new Autumn/ Winter season began, and there we all were again.  And what a way to start, with a cracking US band and a ticket sell-out….

The place was, therefore, obviously packed out. Whilst it might suit the music – hot & sweaty –I think it’s time that the Con Club looked into installing some air-con.  Just like the The Homing’s gig back in June, as part of the Devizes Arts Festival, the room was really stifling and airless.

Nevertheless we had some great entertainment to distract the huge crowd.  First up were Koerie & Andy, a duo new to me, introduced by host Ian Hopkins as recently discovered busking.  As might be expected with such a heritage, they were a little raw and rough around the edges, but very effective and entertaining for all that.  Using guitar, vocals and harmonica, they delivered a string of covers, including “Wild Thing” and “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”  The crowd gave them a good listen and a good welcome, and hopefully we’ll see them again.

But that was as nothing to the roar that went up went Skinny Molly finally hit the stage to start their 75-minute one-set performance.

This band, hailing mostly from Tennessee, is a major force on the US Southern Rock scene.  They were formed by guitarist/vocalist Mike Estes (formerly of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot), original Molly Hatchet guitarist Dave Hlubek (who has since left the band) and drummer Kurt Pietro (who also played drums for Blackfoot).  By 2008, the line-up was solidified with the addition of Blackfoot guitarist/vocalist Jay Johnson and  Grand Ole Opry stalwart bassist Luke Bradshaw.  And this was the line-up featured last night.

Skinny Molly’s mantra is apparently “Never let one fan leave a show disappointed” and they set about trying to fulfil this promise right from the outset, with a string of rock-infused blues and country numbers. There was newer SM material, mixed in with some older Skynard classics, and some covers.  Free’s “Wishing Well” was perhaps a surprise, less so Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road”, but the biggest cheer of the night of course came about an hour in when they launched in to probably their biggest hit “Sweet Home Alabama”.  But there was nothing one-dimensional about their material – we had a good old Southern gumbo of different ingredients, including southern rock, old country, blues, hard rock, and general Americana.

They built up the mood and the atmosphere, and there were soon plenty of folks rocking along and dancing. They kept the inter-song chat to a minimum, instead focusing of packing in as much music as possible, culminating in a standing ovation and well-deserved encore. I don’t think anyone went home disappointed, so I guess they did exactly what they said on the tin.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 8th October 202-   Eddie Martin’s Big Blues Band

Friday 14th October 2022  Black Sabbitch (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 5th November 2022  Robbie McIntosh Band

Friday 11th November 2022   Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse (Corn Exchange, Devizes)

Saturday 19th November 2022   Hardwicke Circus and The Alex Voysey Trio

Friday 23rd December 2022  Gee Baby I Love You

Errol Linton at Long Street Blues Club

In a remarkable finale to the season for Long Street Blues Club, London-based The Errol Linton Band presented Devizes with a sublime lively blues blend of delta and RnB, incorporating jazz, funk, reggae and ska too. But if the band’s proficiency in implementing this melting pot sounds erratic, the perfection was in the precision of switching through subgenres. The result was simply infectious.…..

It’s rarely mused, given the contemporary influence of Jamaica’s musical export, that prior to reggae its route lies with the removal of shortwave radio stations provided for American soldiers stationed on the island after WW2. As they disembarked Jamaica they left a blossoming sound system culture, the entrepreneurs of which set up recording studios as supply of US 45s declined.

They pulled from the influences they heard, jump blues particularly, and within these walls is the fabled Duke Reid session with Prince Buster, whereby copying the offbeat experiments of Fats Domino and Barbie Gaye, as was popular on the sound systems, and riding the shuffle beat style of T Bone Walker, a timeout was called and the guitarist ended by running the shuffle backwards, accidently creating “the ska.”

Even less widely known; initially Duke Reid wasn’t in favour of ska, but as the government promoted it for tourism as “Jamaica’s first national sound,” obviously he felt he’d lose out if he didn’t follow the trend. So, pre-ska, and even during its explosion, the Jamaican studios continued to put out as wider variety of sounds as they heard on US Radio, from blues to doowop and even country. This is a necessary backstory to capture the ethos of Errol Linton and his band, as Errol and two-thirds of the band have Jamaican heritage, are keen to emphasis this, and however subtle, everything mentioned gets a nod in their performance.

Errol is also an accomplished artist, creating portraits of his influences gives clear indication of who he is citing, the blues legends, from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Louis Armstrong and beyond. Yes, the band deviated from blues, to throw down a jazzy number, to increase levels of danceable funk, and with a narrative of Howlin’ Wolf visiting Jamaica, they covered Howlin’ For my Darling with a matchless ska offbeat. Particularly diverse was an original “Country Girl,” as while maintaining one-drop reggae, the chorus verged onto a dancehall riff. It was right up my street and knocking loudly on my door, but I paused to observe the more blues aficionado regulars enjoying it equally as much as I!

For all the diversity I’ve noted, and mentioned the pleasure was in how proficiently they switched, even mid-song, this tight arrangement was best at delivering blues, and did so second-to-none. Frontman Errol gliding between vocals and harmonica, cherry-capped pianist Petar Zivkovic lightening on the keys, Lance Rose in porkpie hat, chilled on the upright double bass, perfectionist timekeeper Gary Williams on drums, and guitarist Richey Green presented the funkiest dancing show during play, the combo was spellbinding.

But none of this happened before Devizes-own Adam Woodhouse delivered the textbook support slot. Confident, despite his first outing at this blues appreciation society in which regulars will aim all eyes on you, Adam kicked off with an Elvis rendition of That’s Alright Mama, and with top-notch finger picking, continued covers with a remarkable Johnny Cash. Adam, a regular soloist at The Southgate and attendee of their celebrated Wednesday jam session, had some originals of his own, which were executed with panache.

A most memorable evening was had, in which frontman Errol reigned the moment, showing this natural ability accomplished over thirty years, since a busker of London’s streets. This is British blues at its finest, individually stylised yet heavily drawing from his roots, a perfect blend to homage his heritage, entertain and packaged in such a non-pretentious manner, you couldn’t dislike it; impossible!

An absolutely blinding night for the Long Street Blues Club, organiser Ian Hopkins’ smile said it all, as he clarified he’s been trying to book these guys for a while, and made a promise to the crowd they’d return; you need to be there when it does. The next season starts on 20th August, with anticipated return of Skinny Molly. Worth mentioning though, being we’ve discussed the early stages of Jamaican sound systems and Duke Reid’s Treasure Ilse, competitor Coxsone Dodd over at Studio One gave fame to a majority of reggae artists, yes, including Bob, and another crowned King of Rock Steady, Alton Ellis, that Alton’s son, Troy is on in Hillworth Park around about 3pm today. So, get your sandals on, unless you remain adamant nothing ever happens in Devizes!

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The lockdown project of a staggering who’s-who of local blues, Birdmens will play the club on Friday 6th May. The line-up of lead & rhythm guitars Ian Siegal, Jon Amor, Joel Fisk and Dave Doherty, the latter also taking percussion, bassist Rob Barry, both Bob Fridzema and Jonny Henderson on keys and Giles King taking up harmonica, this is truly a force to reckoned with, now prepare for it to be a live show, featuring Ian, Jon, Dave, Rob and Jonny.

Armed only with cheap microphones, phones and varying internet speeds, ‘Birdmens’ recorded Lockdown Loaded, an album created in bedrooms and kitchens which thrusts a genuine life-force and verve back into a scene they feel is in need. If blues is having something of a renaissance, it’s not without timeworn formulas and antique following. Akin to the Doherty’s now defunct Little Geneva, here’s a supergroup aching to reintroduce that raw and energetic edge back into blues, something sorely missed on an elder and commercialised circuit.

Defined as swampy delta blues, there’s something retrospectively authentic and underdone about it, a true ethos of blues. I’m leaving a video here for you to make your own mind up, but it’s won me over. Now everybody’s heard about the bird!

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REVIEW – Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 9th April 2022

The Gig of 2022 So Far!

Andy Fawthrop

Following the previous night’s gig with Billy Bremner’s Rockfile downstairs at the Corn Exchange, tonight we were promoted upstairs into the main hall. And that was only fitting – big name, big gig, big crowd, so a big venue required. Last time we were in here was for those other prog-rock legends of the 70s – Focus. This time the hall was full of people, and the stage was absolutely full of drum-kit – a massive and meticulously set up piece of equipment, with a pair of huge gongs at the rear.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, alongside such legends as Cream, were one of the early rock so-called “supergroups”, and were massive innovators in the world of music. Transcending mere rock labels, they incorporated many other musical forms into their repertoire, particularly jazz and classical.

Carl Palmer has a reputation as a drummer’s drummer. A consummate professional, a brilliant technician and a dynamic showman, he has thrilled listeners and audiences alike for nearly four decades with some of music’s most memorable bands including Atomic Rooster, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Asia and of course Emerson, Lake & Palmer. To be honest, he’s worked/ played with everyone who is anyone. Along the way his dazzling speed and mastery of the drums, combined with his infectious stage personality, have secured for him a respected place in history as one of rock and roll’s greatest drummers.

Carl is now 72, looking fit and healthy, and is the only one of ELP still living. Sadly we lost both Keith Emerson and Greg Lake in 2016 – sad losses of talent. To “replace” them tonight, in a musical sense at least, we had guitarist/ vocalist Paul Bieltawicz, and on bass and Chapman stick we had Simon Fitzpatrick. Notice there were no keyboards – everything was reproduced on guitars.

We opened in classic style with “Welcome My Friends To The Show That Never Ends”, before being taken through several numbers from the ELP and King Crimson back catalogue. From the first album we had “Knife Edge” and “Lucky Man”. From the second album the eponymous “Tarkus”. There was “Trilogy”, “Benny The Bouncer”, “Hoedown” and “Twenty-First Century Schizoid Man”. The musicianship throughout was simply stunning by all three members of the band, each displaying some dizzying skills and dexterity with their instruments. Both Paul and Simon delivered stunning solos. Carl repeatedly stepped out from his drum battery to talk to the audience. He was down to earth, chatty and humorous, building rapport easily.

Carl’s big drum solo came, as it must, like a long-impending storm, and arrived in the midst of the last number “Fanfare For The Common Man”. To be honest, I’m not the greatest fan of drum solos because they are so often used to merely let other band members have a bit of a rest, and to keep them sweet since everyone else will have had a solo by then. But absolutely not the case here. Carl’s solo, as we expected it would be, was an absolute tour de force, demonstrating without question what an absolute master this guy is. It was completely stunning, and drew a deserved standing ovation, as the band filed back on stage to close the number out. I think it’s fair to say that this guy really knows his way around a drum kit!

There was still time for a resounding, thumping encore of “Nutrocker” and then we were done. An absolutely stunning night’s entertainment and, for me at least, best gig of 2022 so far! Superb!

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 16th April 2022 Billy Walton Band
Friday 6th May 2022 Birdmens
Saturday 4th June 2022 Errol Linton Band
Saturday 17 September 2022 CSN Express
Saturday 8th October 2022 Eddie Martin Big Blues Band
Saturday 5th November 2022 Alastair Greene Band

REVIEW – Billy Bremner’s Rockfile @ LSBC, Devizes – Friday 8th April 2022

Old Skool

Andy Fawthrop

Another night at Long Street Blues Club but on this particular evening we had an enforced change of venue from the Con Club – downstairs at the Corn Exchange.  Yes – in The Bin!

The support act James Oliver and his band was well chosen in terms of style.  He played the same sort of stuff as the main act that was to follow.  Unfortunately his performance relied more on speed and volume, and self-deprecation of his own Welsh-ness, rather than on any particularly musical ability.  His set was very same-y, apart a fairly pleasant and accomplished version of Peter Green’s “Albatross”.  But otherwise it was all high energy, but low talent.  Sorry, but best forgotten.

Then onto the main act.  Not to be confused with namesake feisty former Leeds United midfielder (if you don’t know – ask your dad), Billy Bremner started life as a member of Lulu and the Luvvers (oh – better ask dad again).  However, he’s best known for being with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Terry Williams, one quarter of Rockpile, one of the finest bands ever to emerge from the United Kingdom music scene. A fearsomely accomplished guitarist, he has also been an occasional lead vocalist, as well as a great songwriter.  Since the break-up of Rockpile he’s had an illustrious career as a solo performer (four albums), and as a member of the Pretenders (that’s him playing the lead guitar on Back On The Chain Gang).  He’s also played with Shakin’ Stevens, Carlene Carter, and The Coal Porters.  Most recently he’s worked as a producer and all round living legend in his adopted home, Sweden.

Now aged 75, this is the Farewell Tour for one of Britain’s finest guitarists and, as expected, the evening was dedicated to the music of Dave Edmunds’ Rockpile.  The four-piece played two sets, kicking off without introduction or pre-amble.  In fact there was extremely little in the way of between-song chat, and little attempt to engage with the audience.  Dressed all in black, and rarely cracking a smile, they presented a rather dour stage presence.  We had the classics like “I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock & Roll”, “I Hear You Knocking”, “Cruel To Be Kind” and even Kirsty McColl’s “There’s A Guy Down The Chip Shop”, interspersed with other material.

To be honest, it wasn’t the great performance I’d been expecting.  It seemed a step down from last time I’d seen the band a few years back at the Con Club.  It was all rather single-paced, one-dimensional stuff, with little variation to leaven the mixture.  As good old pub-rock, rockabilly, power-pop, it was OK but, frankly, difficult to get too excited about.  It was chunky, but at times it was plodding.  Billy’s vocals sounded rather reedy and thin.  And not at any stage of the night did any of the band actually look as if they were enjoying what they were doing – more a case of going through the motions.  It was competent, and it was professional, but it just wasn’t engaging or exciting.  It seemed as if the spark had gone.

I can’t say it was a bad gig, because it wasn’t.  But somehow it just never seemed to really take off.  The crowd, being unusually rather small for an LSBC gig, just couldn’t quite generate much atmosphere.  I guess you can’t like every performer and every gig – and this was just one of those that didn’t click with me.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 16th April 2022                               Billy Walton Band

Friday 6th May 2022                                        Birdmens

Saturday 4th June 2022                                   Errol Linton Band

Saturday 17 September 2022                      CSN Express

Saturday 8th October 2022                            Eddie Martin Big Blues Band

Saturday 5th November 2022                       Alastair Greene Band

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REVIEW – Malone Sibun Band @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 2nd April 2022

Two Stellar Musicians = One Powerhouse Unit

Andy Fawthrop

Another night at Long Street Blues Club – the gigs are coming thick and fast at the moment, and there are several more big ones in the next couple of weeks too – feels like we’re gradually catching up with all the time the venues were closed during Covid.

Support act was local favourite Jamie R. Hawkins, tonight divested of his Lost Trades buddies, and going it alone. Here’s a man comfortable with himself and with getting back to chatting to an home-town audience. Joking that it was almost hard to remember his own songs after the long lay-off and his collaborative work, he then proceeded to deliver a master-class in how to perform as a singer-songwriter. Despite the occasional fluff, his songs remain strong and poignant, delivered with sincerity and a strong voice. Old favourites such as Walking Into Doors, Let’s Put This Thing To Bed, As Big As You and Hey, Where’d Everybody Go! were dusted off and given a good shaking down. There’s not many performers that could get away with singing about divorce, domestic abuse and fair-weather friends, but Jamie’s commentary, wit, and self-deprecating style easily got him through. Great to see him back.

Then onto the main dish of the evening – two very professional sets from the four-piece Malone Sibun Band. These guys were last at the club over three years ago (see? – I told you thee’d been this big two-year hole in live performances!). The guys have a new EP out – “Ashes to Dust”, and this material was well show-cased throughout.

Marcus Malone (vocals, guitar) and Innes Sibun (guitars) were joined on stage with bass and drums, and delivered a power-heavy performance featuring rock, boogie-woogie, slow blues, fast blues – you name it. There was even time to drop back into a couple of acoustic numbers. It may be just me, but there’s something about seeing Innes with an acoustic guitar in his hands that doesn’t quite look right, but I digress. First number in and the band members, clearly enjoying themselves, were soon literally bouncing up and down with enthusiasm.

Thereafter we were treated to the more familiar fare of Innes working his electric guitar, forcing it to give up a whole range of amazing noises through his many solos. There were all the classic gestures – arm-wheeling, head-banging, gurning – and we were back in familiar territory. Marcus, meanwhile, held centre stage, a calmer and more purposeful presence with the vocals. The volume and the pace were dialled up, then down for the odd number, then back up again.

We had the obligatory drum and bass solos late on, but these were produced as grand final flourishes, not as extended self-indulgent passages. The crowd were on their feet, and the encore was a formality – richly deserved after a great evening’s entertainment.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Friday 8th April 2022 Billy Bremner’s Rockfile (Corn Exchange)
Saturday 9th April 2022 Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy (Corn Exchange)
Saturday 16th April 2022 Billy Walton Band
Friday 6th May 2022 Birdmens
Saturday 4th June 2022 Errol Linton Band
Saturday 17 September 2022 CSN Express
Saturday 8th October 2022 Eddie Martin Big Blues Band
Saturday 5th November 2022 Alastair Greene Band

REVIEW – Mark Flanagan Band @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 26th February 2022

Talent to Spare!

Andy Fawthrop

First time up the hill for me this year, having missed the Mike Zito Band last week (too busy running the Winter Beer Festival and listening to The Lost Trades and The Rob Lear Band, since you ask – but that’s another story altogether).  Good to get back to Long Street Blues Club and its dependably great audience and atmosphere.…..

First up, in the support slot, was Lewis Clark who I last saw here back in October when he supported Jimmy Carpenter.  Again Lewis was playing solo, and yet again did nothing but impress with his stripped-back raw and emotional lyrics, accompanied by unfussy guitar work.  His lyrics are, as always, personal and intense; his songs simply command attention.  His set was greeted with rapturous applause, and rightly so.  Lewis was due to play the Sunday afternoon slot at the Southgate on Sunday, where I’m sure he’ll play to a different but equally appreciative audience.

Then for the main act of the Mark Flanagan Band.  Mark is a man who’s been round the block a couple of times, and nowadays plies his trade (amongst other things) as part of the Jools Holland travelling entourage.  In other words, he’s met and played with many of the greats in the music business, which provides him with a wealth of anecdotes and stories with which to regale the audience between numbers.

His trio hit the stage with no big fanfare, and throughout the evening maintained a quiet but purposeful subdued presence.  There were no big drum solos, no guitar fireworks, just a steady stream of competently-delivered laid-back blues, funk, boogie-woogie, folk, Cajun, you name it.  Mark fronted everything coolly and calmly, switching instruments, styles and anecdotes with consummate ease, even giving his band-mates George and Adam a couple of numbers break whilst he just carried on solo seemingly undisturbed and unflappable.

And we had songs – proper songs!  Each had its own back-story of course, either who it was about or the situation that had given rise to its inception.  There was some name-dropping – Clapton, Richards, Harrison – but it was never gratuitous or intrusive, simply adding colour to a great musical tapestry.  The crowd was won over, there was a two-number encore and we were done.  The amazing thing was that Mark hardly looked to have broken sweat – one cool performer!

Another 5-star great night of world-class music delivered by Ian Hopkins and his team – hats off!  And just take a look at the programme still to come during 2022 – a mouth-watering array of talent.  Get those tickets and get yourself along to Long Street Blues Club!

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 19th March 2022                            Soft Machine

Saturday 2nd April 2022                                 Malone & Sibun Band

Friday 8th April 2022                                       Billy Bremner’s Rockfile (Corn Exchange)

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

Saturday 16th April 2022                               Billy Walton Band

Friday 6th May 2022                                        Birdmens

Saturday 17 September 2022                      CSN Express (New Rescheduled Date)

Friday 14th October 2022                               Black Sabbitch (Corn Exchange)

Saturday 5th November 2022                       Alastair Greene Band

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REVIEW – Kossoff – The Band Plays On @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 18th December 2021

Free At Last!

Andy Fawthrop

And so we came to the last LSBC offering of 2021, marking the half-way stage on the current season of concerts.  It’s been a packed programme recently, but no-one’s complaining about that!

Last night’s offering was as good as a double-header as far as I was concerned.

Drafted in at relatively short notice as the support act was local legend Jon Amor, a man I’ve seen many a time as the head-liner.  He bounced onto the stage brandishing an acoustic guitar, and looking full of beans.  It seemed strange and unusual not to see him backed up with one or other of his bands, particular King Street Turnaround, as I last saw him at the Southgate recently.  But there was no stopping him as he confidently blew through several songs, and at one time wandering out in to the audience to sing acapella before returning to the stage to finish the song.  It takes guts and panache to pull that sort of thing off, but it worked wonderfully.  Highlight song for me this time, as often before, was “Another Stitch In Your Party Dress”.  It was a great short set – chipper, upbeat, confident.  Great to see Jon in such great form.

Main act was Terry Slesser’s 5-piece Kossoff – The Band Plays On, who produced two confident and polished sets.  They were last at LSBC back in May 2019, which I remember as one of the highlight gigs of that year.  I won’t bang on about Free/ Bad Company/ Back Street Crawler being the soundtrack to my musical upbringing in the late 60s/ early 70s but….but…well, they just were.  And, yet again, it was soooo good to hear some of their songs knocked out with precision, love and energy.  Slesser, taking lead vocals, is no Paul Rodgers in either looks or voice, but he certainly makes up for it in passion and delivery.  His command of the band and his easy connection with the audience were winning features.  And the band, again no look-alikes, were terrific when it came to that lovely sludgy, driving Andy Fraser bass and that Paul Kossoff squealing lead guitar.

They kicked off with Free’s “Fire and Water”, a stonking opener which immediately put down an early marker of intent.  I’ve said before that these guys are no mere “tribute” band, content to slog through a greatest-hits set and take the money.  This was much more about “homage” to some truly gifted musicians and song-writers, nicely capturing the sound and the feel of the early 70s, with Slesser’s personal recollections of Paul Kossoff interspersing the songs.  And the song selection itself was interesting and respectful, delivering some of the lesser-known numbers, such as “Long Way Down To The Top” and “All The Girls Are Crazy” (Back Street Crawler), “Walk In My Shadow”, and “I’ll Be Creeping” (Free).  And there was the more subtle, non-rocking stuff, such as “Be My Friend”, proving that the band (like all the great rock bands) were not just one-trick ponies, but capable of writing tender and thoughtful lyrics.

Of course there was the usual leavening of stonking hits – “The Stealer”, “My Brother Jake” and (inevitably) “All Right Now” – which all went down a storm.  And, just as Free themselves used to do back in the day, delivering their well-deserved encore that thumping blues classic “The Hunter”.

Great entertainment, and a great night out.  Another great booking by Ian Hopkins. 

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

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)

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REVIEW – Antonio Forcione @ LSBC, Devizes – Saturday 27th November 2021

Italian Jazz Guitarist

Andy Fawthrop

This was the third Long Street Blues Club weekend gig on the bounce for me.  Following Gerry Jablonski Band two weeks ago, and the blow-away Focus gig at The Corn Exchange last week, it was back to the familiar surroundings of the Con Club in Long Street for (yet again) something completely different.….

Support act for the evening was Eddie Witcomb, who started off with a lot of nervous chatter before getting stuck in.  He played mostly his own material but also hit a cover of Nina Simone’s “Because You’re Mine”.  His songs were gentle, thoughtful pieces, but definably in the downbeat and miserable categories.  Describing himself as a “one song a year man”, it was obvious that his songs were a labour of love.  Some of them had curious, trail-off endings, leaving the audience confused at times as to when he’d actually finished.  Overall his set was entertaining, but low key.  I think he needs a few more upbeat numbers to leaven the mix a little, but otherwise great stuff, much appreciated by a large and supportive audience.  Chatting afterwards over a pint, Eddie said that he had indeed been nervous, mostly caused by simple lack of gigs over the Lockdown period, but that he was looking forward to getting his various solo and group projects moving again – which I’m sure will happen for such a dedicated and talented bloke.

Antonio Forcione, the main act of the evening, is an artist who has been hailed as one of the most charismatic, unconventional guitarists at large in the musical world today.  And with a host of international awards under his belt, this eclectic composer produced two fine sets that had the audience enthralled.  Starting on stage with just himself and his cellist, the very first number was spell-binding and mesmeric.  Then joined by bass and percussion players to fill out this international quartet, he proceeded to produce some truly stunning acoustic music.  It was a mark of the respect with which the audience held him that when he was playing you could hear a pin drop in a very crowded room – no background chatter, no noise from the bar, perfect listening conditions.

The first set was slightly shortened when Antonio had to do some running repairs on his guitar, before coming out of the blocks in the second half with number after number of beautiful, nuanced playing.  Dropping back to occupying the stage solo “to give the band a rest”, he proved that he is an absolute master of his craft.  And then, as the band re-joined, with their sensitive and sympathetic accompaniments, adding layer upon layer of sound, much of it with a laid-back jazz sensibility, creating complex soundscapes, the magic simply continued.  We had a musical trip around the world, with influences from Spain, Italy, South Africa.  It was mesmerising, it was entrancing, and an absolute pleasure to listen to.

Yet again, we were very lucky to be able to listen to an international artist of such standing and musical skill in our little town.  Another great booking by Ian Hopkins.  And another great night out at Long Street Blues Club.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

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)

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REVIEW – Focus @ LSBC, Corn  Exchange, Devizes – Saturday 20th November 2021

Best Gig Of The Year In D-Town!

Andy Fawthrop

Second day on the trot in the Corn Exchange for me – on Friday night it was Motown Gold, with D-Town’s (ahem) young things bopping away to hits from their lifetime’s soundtrack.  But on Saturday night it was something completely different – a journey into the wilds of 70s Prog Rock, with a side-serving of close-harmony contemporary folk.……

This was a complete change of venue for Long Street Blues Club for one night only, switching from the usual Con Club to a much larger hall and stage, in order to accommodate a more fitting light and sound show for one of the music business’s most famous bands, as well as to pack in a bigger crowd.  And it was a move that was fully justified, as the music-starved hordes of The Vize turned out in their hundreds.

But first things first – the support act The Lost Trades, consisting of three well-known local singer/ song-writers: Phil Cooper, Tamsin Quin and Jamie R. Hawkins.  (See Darren’s pre-gig interview with them if you’d like to know more about what makes them tick, [coming soon, Ed!]).  I’ve personally seen these guys sing before, many times, both as individual performers and as The Trades, and they’ve always impressed me.  On this occasion, and with a big attentive crowd in front of them, I thought that they absolutely nailed it.

Kicking off with “Only When We Sing With One Voice”, “Road of Solid Gold” and “Kingdom Falls” – all tracks on their latest album – all three performers looked relaxed and well-rehearsed.  Their multi-voice harmonies were spot on, and their (apparently) effortless swapping around of instruments showcased their collective talent and versatility (including a complete no-panic moment when Jamie broke a guitar string).  The songs were far from being one-dimensional, and instead were nuanced and textured.  As a group, I feel that their song-writing has improved no end, each of them contributing their own ideas, as well as improving the inputs of the others.  Their performance, to my ears at least, is strongest when Jamie takes the lead on vocals and, as they did on their last song, they simply drop all the instruments and just give us the stripped-down acapella harmonies.  All in all a top-notch, consummate performance which I expect will have won them a lot of new friends.  Just superb.

And then, as someone famous once said, for something completely different.  And you couldn’t get much more different than veteran Dutch prog-rockers Focus. 

Currently in the middle of their 50th anniversary UK Tour (which continues to mid-Dec, then starts again from April 2022), these guys are an absolute institution.  Still touring, still making albums (they are now on their tenth!) and new music, and still bringing crowds to their feet across Europe, Focus blew into D-Town and, with a little musical hocus-pocus, blew us all away.

Fronted by founding member Thijs Van Leer (an imposing figure in long black leather coat) on Hammond organ, flute and (ahem) vocals, the rest of the band were: veteran member Pierre van der Linden on drums, Menno Gootjes on guitar and Udo Pannekeet on 6-string bass.  And they seemed to be there on stage in absolutely no time at all, following a rapid changeover from the Trades, almost taking everyone by surprise.  Before we knew it we were off with the first number, fittingly called “Focus 1” – no warm-up, no intro, just straight into it.

And that was the start of a breath-taking two-hour-long set.  Suddenly we were in the midst of progressive rock – heavy chords on the organ, light passages on the flute, with guitar solos, bass solos, drum solos, some wonderful wandering jazzy improv passages, and (of course) those bizarre vocal interludes, scat singing and yodelling.  Most of the set was instrumentals – these are (in true prog-rock parlance) not just “songs” in the conventional sense, but rather “pieces”, consisting of different phases, passages, moods.  We were getting very close to Concept Album territory here, but we managed to avoided any such cliché as that.

Of course we got all the big 70s chart hits – how could they not on an anniversary tour? – “House Of The King”, “Sylvia” and a blistering, massively-extended version of “Hocus Pocus”.  But there was plenty of other stuff to enjoy too – “Le Tango”, “Peace March”, “All Hands On Deck”, “Hamburger Concerto” to name just a few others.  The vocals, such as they were, were largely incoherent, incomprehensible noises uttered by Thijs at key moments in the pieces.  But it was far from a one-man show, as proved by Thijs when he wandered off stage several times, including once through the audience and into the foyer, as the other musicians took their solos and duets.  Menno’s guitar-playing was stunning, and a real highlight for me, beating the bass and drum solos by a long way.

I have to say that this was the gig of the year for me.  By the end of the night the band not only got a fully-deserved encore, but a full-throttle standing ovation.  As far as I’m concerned, they knocked it right out of the park.  If you were there, you know exactly what I mean.  And if you weren’t there, you missed the best show in town!

Given what I’ve said above about The Lost Trades’ equally superb performance, the whole evening delivered a fantastic night’s entertainment, and a really strong advertisement for live music in Devizes.

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

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)

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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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Spoiled Rotten in Devizes this November with Devizes Arts Festival, The Wharf Theatre, Long Street, TITCO, DOCA and more!

Spoiled Rotten in Devizes this November you are. In what is usually a quiet month leading up to yule, the easing of lockdown has detonated the month, opening it up as anyone’s game. It’s just so good to see a chockful event calendar for the whole county, and so many event organisers making a Rocky Balboa style comeback.

Dave and Deborah at the Southgate

Aside our dependable Southgate, who’ve led the way for events in Devizes, and continue to provide top notch live music every weekend, free I might add, it’s exciting to see the Cavalier, The Muck & Dundar, and even the Condado Lounge in the running.

There are some big guns coming out too, as we welcome back the Wharf Theatre, who hosted The Paul Simon Story last weekend, and the return of the Invitation Theatre Company from Tuesday (9th) to Saturday (13th) this coming week. The Long Street Blues Club are back in force with three gigs this month, the Gerry Jablonski Band Saturday 13th, Force on the 20th, which is such a whopper it’s coming out of The Corn Exchange rather than usual Cons Club, and the Antonio Forcione Quartet on the 27th.

If it’s sounding good so far, we’ve not even touched on Devizes Eisteddfod from Thursday 18th to Saturday 20th, The Lawrence Art Society’s exhibition at the Town Hall from 25th to the 27th, and of course DOCA bring the Winter Festival and lantern parade on the 26th.

With all that I’ve mentioned it would be understandable to have overlooked the icing on the cake; Devizes Arts Festival surprisingly pops up to host some awesome events this month, when it’s usually confined to more summery months. Despite we’ve outlined the individual gigs lined up at the Arts Festival, back when it was announced in August, such has lockdown caused much jiggery-pokery with the dates of such things, and not forgoing I’d suspect the Arts Festival got itchy fingers and simply couldn’t wait until summertime to present us with some amazing performances, these things need reminders, so here I am!

Though the opening gig, Thursday’s Ronnie Scott’s All Stars Jazz Club Tour has sold out, tickets for the others are on the table awaiting your attention, plus, of course there’s free fringe events across town too. Let’s have another look at what’s on offer here, to wet your appetite shall we?

Under the banner, “the show must go on,” the Arts Festival are delighted to welcome Sally Barker to Devizes, on the 13th. In this new show ‘Sandy, Joni & Me’ she will bring some of the songs of both Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny to the stage, exploring the singer/songwriter legacy that was forged in the early ’70s.

Veteran folk-blues singer/songwriter Sally Barker became Tom Jones’ finalist on The Voice UK 2014 after reducing her mentor, and many watching the TV, to tears with her performances. Sally has toured with Sir Tom, Bob Dylan and Robert Plant amongst others. Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans said, “Sally changes the atmosphere in a room when she sings.”

And Friday 19th is Motown Gold time at the Corn Exchange. Dust off your dancing shoes for a fabulous evening from a fantastic band. Motown Gold celebrate the finest songs from the timeless Motown and Classic Soul era, which kind of speaks for itself.

As for free Fringe events, The Muck & Dundar have loop pedal guru Arif Najak bringing laid-back reggae sounds on Friday 12th. Sunday 14th is at New Society, where you’ll find Bristol’s dynamic jazz vocalist Lucy Moon, performing energetic swing and classic swing-era tunes to liven up your Sunday lunchtime. Booking is essential for this one, contact New Society to reserve your table.

There’s a couple more fringe events before the Arts Festival’s grand Motown finale; South Wales’s Big Sky are at The Crown on Wednesday 17th, with roots rock infused with touches of blues, country and psychedelia, they are known for being one of the few bands containing brothers who have not yet had an on-stage altercation! And Thursday 18th sees Mark Harrison at the Three Crowns. An original and interesting songwriter, a stunning guitarist, and a master storyteller.

It is, in all my years of running Devizine, the biggest November I’ve ever seen! But the Devizes Arts Festival doesn’t stop there, this is just filling a gap. I asked artistic director Margaret Bryant if there will be something in the pipeline for a summer arts festival too, and she replied “yes, we’re already planning 2022!”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, just look forward to November; get your Devizes Arts Festival tickets here, for all other gigs and events, see our event calendar for links and info; see you out and about, folks!

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REVIEW – Climax Blues Band @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes – Saturday 30th October 2021

New Music For Old Favourites

by Andy Fawthrop

Another trip up the hill to the Con Club for the latest pop-up session of Long Street Blues Club, and another great night with a busy and enthusiastic audience.

Support act for the night was Bristol-based Damian Arketta, a new name for me, but I’m always happy to listen to new talent.  Damian played a lot of his own stuff, which I found generally unremarkable, and a rather awkward cover of Heard It Thru’ The Grapevine.  To be honest I found his singing style a little strident and shouty, and there was nothing special in his playing – no subtlety or nuance.  To me the applause sounded polite and supportive, rather than genuinely enthusiastic, but I’m aware that views may differ.  Thinking that I was perhaps being a little harsh on the guy, I asked around a bit and found a somewhat Marmite response – some folks thought he was really good, whilst others (like me) were far less enthusiastic.  Overall, however, you simply can’t like everyone, and I’ll just say that he didn’t really float my boat.

Main act for the night were the legendary Climax Blues Band.  The band were originally formed way back in 1968 by Colin Cooper who led the band with Pete Haycock through great success and recognition through the 1970s and 1980s.  The current 6-piece line-up, however, are a different set of guys now, but that’s not to say they don’t have plenty of track record between them.

George Glover has been on the keyboards since 1981, Lester Hunton on guitar since 1986, and Roy Adams (drums) and Neil Simpson (bass) joined the band on a permanent basis around 1990.  The current line-up was completed by Graham Dee on vocals, and Chris ‘Beebe’ Aldridge on saxes.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well there was much chat from frontman Graham Dee about the journey the band was undertaking in trying to blend the music from their historic roots, the material they’ve inherited, with the songs they’re writing and delivering today, the completely new material.  The band, quite rightly, want to move forward and to develop.  And the result, to my mind, was a complete success.  They delivered two good long sets of blended soulful, boogie-woogie, funky, bluesy music.  There was also a jazzy feel at times, as the musicians took their solos, then blending easily back into the groove.  The band looked and sounded comfortable, giving the music the space to breathe.  Dee’s gravelly vocals, combined with Alridge’s seductive sax notes, added superb subtlety and tone to the driving rhythm section.

Dee was a terrific frontman, looking and sounding the part of the band’s MC, coaxing and encouraging all the musicians in turn as they took flight.  His rapport with the audience was spot-on – confidential, cheeky, honest, down-to-earth.  And, yes, he did mention from time to time that the band had a new album out (Hands Of Time)!  He also led the audience in a great call-and-response treatment of “It’s A Family Affair” – exhausting, but great fun.  It was infectious, it was engaging, it was a great performance

Overall another great night at the club – great value to listen to world-class musicians in our own back yard.  Well done to Ian Hopkins and his team!  And there’s loads more good stuff in the pipeline too – see the listings below.

So – you know what you’ve got to do – get out there and support live music!

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

Saturday 13th November 2021                   Gerry Jablonski Band

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

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)

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)

Saturday 16th April 2022                               Billy Walton Band

Friday 6th May 2022                                        Birdmens

Saturday 17 September 2022                      CSN Express (New Rescheduled Date)

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REVIEW – Jimmy Carpenter – Long Street Blues Club – Saturday 2nd October 2021

Long, slow sax in the evening

Andy Fawthrop

I think we’re all partial to some casual sax when it’s on offer, so it didn’t take much persuasion to get me back up Long Street to the Con Club for the next date of Long Street Blues Club’s winter season.  Tonight it was the turn of Las Vegas-based Jimmy Carpenter and his band, and the Devizes date was the first night of their UK tour…..

But first things first.  Acoustic support act for the night was Lewis Clark, shorn of his Essentials for the evening – just the man, his voice and his guitar.  Lewis played mostly his own material, and a lot of the songs were new.  These were often raw in emotion, but still strong on melody, with some intricate guitar playing and soaring vocal work.  He did play one cover – John Martyn’s I Don’t Wanna Know, and a damned fine job he made of it too.  Lewis is a talented guy, and the crowd clearly appreciated it as a great start to the evening’s entertainment.

Then it was onto the main man – Jimmy Carpenter.  The man came highly recommended on the back of his new album (Soul Doctor) and his Blues Foundation 2021 award for Best Instrumentalist.  The guy is a saxophonist, singer-songwriter, and arranger and has been in the music business for over 35 years – and it showed.  I was new to the guy’s music, but was totally won over by the end of the night.

The 5-piece band played two 50-minute sets and it was the mark of how darned good it was that it seemed to slip by in half that time.  Jimmy was in total control of his band (including a bassist brought in at the last minute due to a possible Covid scare) and, after a few numbers, in control of the crowd.  The sets featured several original tracks from the album, including a really superb rendition of the eponymous Soul Doctor, together with a seamless leavening of carefully selected covers.  Just as I was beginning to think of comparisons – Van Morrison, Southside Johnny, Junior Walker – up came the latter’s Shotgun.  We also journeyed through Peter Green’s Need Your Love So Bad, Otis Clay’s Trying To Live My Life Without You, the Rolling Stones’ Shine A Light, Freddy King’s Surf Monkey and Eddie Hinton’s (of Muscle Shoals fame) Yeah Man. 

All of this was played with enormous panache and great energy, effortlessly working through Memphis soul, boogie-woogie, rock & roll, and blues.  And not content with blowing some wicked sax and putting out a great line in gravelly vocals, the man kept flipping over to lead guitar “just for a rest”.  What a performer!  Needless to say the crowd lapped it up.

Great night’s entertainment, and what good quality live music is all about!  Best sax I’ve had in ages!

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

  • Saturday 30th October – Climax Blues Band (at Devizes Town Hall)
  • Saturday 20th November – Focus (at Devizes Corn Exchange)
  • Saturday 27th November – Antonio Forcione Quartet
  • Saturday 18th December – Kossoff: The Band Plays On
  • Friday 14th January 2022 – Chicago Blues Allstars
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REVIEW – Creedence Clearwater Review – Long Street Blues Club – Saturday 18th September 2021

Up Around The Blues Club

By Andy Fawthrop

Well, it’d been a long old time but finally – finally! – we were back after 18 months to Long Street Blues Club, hosted by The Con Club.  The original artists for this gig had been the USA-based Billy Walton Band but, once one or two other dates on their European tour had been cancelled due to Covid restrictions, found that the tour as a whole had become unviable.  Hopefully they’ll be re-scheduled for 2022.

Which left Ian Hopkins needing to scrabble round fairly quickly in order to fill this date for tickets already sold – and what a great job he did at such short notice.  He found two very competent acts to step in, and the gig could go ahead, even if not quite as originally planned.

Kevin Brown

Support for the evening came from an old mate of mine, Kevin Brown.  He of the oil-can guitar, the blues slide guitar and, when playing on the local pub and festival circuit, Shackdusters fame.  This was his first appearance at the club, playing solo.  His laid-back, humorous, self-deprecating style quickly won over a large audience, who listened in rapt attention. Kevin writes his own material, based on his life experiences, so that the man and the music blend almost seamlessly. His JJ Cale tribute number was particularly impressive.  A very winning performance, which elicited fulsome and well-deserved applause – so let’s hope he’s invited back in the future.

The main act, Creedence Clearwater Revival arrived with a “show” – a pre-programmed set, introduced by, and intercut with documentary voice recordings by members of the original band.  Early on the band explained – if explanation it was – that their rhythm guitarist “couldn’t make it”, so they were doing the show as a trio.  An odd start, but then they got on with ticking the hits off the list – Up Around The Bend, Rocking All Over The World, Heard It Thru’ The Grapevine, Midnight Special, Because You’re Mine, As Long As I Can See The Light, Bad Moon Rising, Born On The Bayou, Proud Mary, Have You Ever Seen The Rain.  The show – delivered as two fifty-minute sets – was performed with confidence and aplomb.  By the end we had singalongs and quite a few folks up dancing at the front.

And yet. And yet…..and yet it left me rather un-moved.  I grew up with the music of CCR and John Fogerty, so I’d like to think I’m a bit of a fan of their material.  So I was surprised to find the show rather unexciting.  The band were professional and competent and captured, to some extent, the “feel” of CCR’s bayou-based sound. Yet somehow, something of the original CCR’s drive and energy was missing.  It felt a bit “CCR-by-numbers” if you get what I mean? I thought perhaps I was being a bit super-critical, so I consulted a few people whose musical opinions I respect (as well as a few whose musical opinions I don’t respect) and there seemed to be a clear consensus – it was OK: the band were good, but not great.  My own acid test on these things is – would I pay money to go and see them again?  Sadly, my answer would be in the negative.  It felt a bit one-dimensional. There wasn’t a whole lot of audience engagement.  They’d come to play a show, and they played it.  Job done. No criticism whatsoever of the great job done by Ian, but not every band can float your boat, can it?

Future Long Street Blues Club gigs:

  • Saturday 2nd October – Jimmy Carpenter
  • Saturday 30th October – Climax Blues Band (at Devizes Town Hall)
  • Saturday 20th November – Focus (at Devizes Corn Exchange)
  • Saturday 27th November – Antonio Forcione Quartet
  • Saturday 18th December – Kossoff: The Band Plays On
  • Friday 14th January 2022 – Chicago Blues Allstars
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REVIEW; Long Street Blues Club Weekender

January Blues Banished!

Andy Fawthrop

Two days up at the Con Club this week for Long Street Blues Club’s “Beat The January Blues” Week-ender.

On Saturday night we had a packed room to listen to Liam Ward & Malcolm Thorne (support) and the Kirk Fletcher band.

Ward & Thorne, who are new names to me, were a delight. Their set was clean, fresh, quirky and entertaining. Featuring guitar, vocals and some deft touches on harmonica, these two produced a wonderful set of originals which were laid-back and nicely bluesy. I particularly liked their song “You Are My Medicine”. I’d be happy to go and see these guys again.

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Then a single extended set from the main star Kirk Fletcher and his band. Kirk hails from California and is ex-lead guitarist with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. He’s had some great reviews on this tour so far. Ian Hopkins reports that Innes Sibun said he was amazing when he shared a bill with him last year, and Joe Bonamassa rates him as one of the world’s best guitarists. Well, I didn’t know anything about all that, so I could only judge on what I saw and heard.

Kirk himself was obviously up at the front with some snarling guitar work, but there was plenty of featured keyboards too. It took a few numbers to really get the room warmed up, but once the trio hit their stride, the band were really cooking and in their groove. We had guitar solos aplenty, the band providing a solid platform of driving rhythms. There was minimal chat from the stage, and the guys delivered number after number, hardly pausing for breath. The playing was always technically superb, and at times inspired, and the crowd lapped it up, but (for me at least) it didn’t carry that magic spark of real excitement. Don’t get me wrong – I really enjoyed the gig, but it didn’t quite hit my hot-spot.

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Then just 24 hours later, on Sunday night we had Thompson Smurthwaite (support) and Billy Bremner’s Rockfiles. A slightly smaller crowd this time, but still a great atmosphere.

Thompson Smurthwaite is starting to become a regular in these here parts. Having played support here at the Club a few months ago, Thompson has also recently played slots at The White Bear and The Southgate. It was good to see him back with a large audience again. He was relaxed and confident, joking with the audience, whacking out some great tunes from guitar, harmonica (his “Mississippi saxophone”) and stomp-box. The guy put such heart and soul into his performance. Great entertainment.

Then on to the second main act of the week-end. Billy Bremner was one of the founding members of Dave Edmunds’ Rockpile along with Nick Lowe, and produced some great music during the seventies. Prior to this particular outfit he has had a long track record in session work and a member of Lulu’s backing band the Bruvers. Then a season as guitarist with The Pretenders during the recording of On The Chain Gang – he has always been the guitarist to go to. Billy now resides in Sweden and his touring is carefully rationed so the Club were delighted to be one of a few carefully selected club dates on this UK tour.

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Rockfiles are probably the polar musical opposite to Kirk Fletcher. Whilst the latter was focussed on originality, improvisation and exploration, Rockfiles were just as firmly set on reproducing classic hits of the seventies and eighties. The songs were short, snappy, catchy pop/rock classics. The four-piece hit the stage running, sharing the vocals between them, and never let up for the whole of their 75-minute set. This was Old Skool retro and nostalgia at its very best. And the hits just kept on coming, including “I Knew The Bride When She Used to Rock & Roll”, “Three-time Loser”, “Cruel To Be Kind”, “I Hear You Knocking” and many, many more. The inter-song chat was absolutely minimal, so they could pack more in. The music wasn’t complex, but it was solid, thumping good stuff, and difficult not to enjoy. Absolutely no blues were involved in the making of their performance.

Overall a great weekend of music – four great acts, four different styles, but all enjoyable and great value for money. There was something there for everybody. Devizes is so lucky to have access to so much great live music.

Future 2020 gigs at Long Street Blues Club:

• Saturday 7th March Ian Parker Band
• Saturday 4th April Mike Zito Band
• Saturday 18th April Mark Flanagan Band
• Saturday 30th May Antonio Forcione Quartet

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Andy Fawthrop)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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REVIEW – Pink Torpedoes @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes – Saturday 28th December 2019

For One Night Only

Andy Fawthrop

Only a week after John Coughlan’s Quo’s rousing set, it was back up to Long Street Blues Club for another great gig. If you needed the Christmas blues blowing away, this was the gig to do it.

Support act for the night was Jamie R Hawkins, aided and abetted by his sometime collaborator Phil Cooper. I suppose you could say that this was two thirds of the newly-formed Lost Trades, but we’ll have to wait until later to hear their new songs. This set was Jamie and Phil classics from their back catalogues, taking it in turn to take centre stage with mic and guitar, then to drop back onto cajon to provide backing beats and vocals. Of the two, Jamie’s presence and performance is the stronger, and his songs stand up much better. And it was great to hear Jamie belting out his rather non-PC “Hope You Have A Bloody Good Christmas”, with enthusiastic audience participation, to finish up with.

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Then an amazing, raucous almost two-hour set from the The Pink Torpedoes. Fronted by ex Dr Feelgood Pete Gage, backed up by former Hoax drummer Dave Raeburn, with guitarist Paul Hartshorn and bassist Pete Lowrey, this four-piece really delivered the goods in this one-off gig.

Keeping the chat to an absolute minimum, the boys launched straight in and played their way through an enormous song-book of rock, blues, R&B, boogie-woogie – you name it. Sounding as tight and professional as if they were gigging every night of the week, the set was full of excitement, raw power and incendiary licks. Pete, on vocals, harmonica and keyboards was the dominating presence up front, but the rest of the band absolutely played their parts.

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At times there was a definite “feel-good” factor in the room, and the dance-floor filled up number by number. There was no tin, but if there had been a tin it would have said “open with care – raw, undiluted and powerful”. And the band did exactly what that tin would have said. Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride and Joy”, Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie-Coochie Man”, Little Richard’s “Lucille”, Bob Troup’s “Route 66” and Albert King’s/ The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” all came tumbling out, one after the other. This was R&B at its very best.

And it was clear that the band thoroughly enjoyed their outing playing together again – the smiles and the laughs, and the audience rapport were great to see.

Another amazingly good gig, another bargain night’s entertainment at Long Street Blues.

Future 2020 gigs at Long Street Blues Club:

• Saturday 25th January Kirk Fletcher (Fabulous Thunderbirds)
• Sunday 26th January Billy Bremner’s Rockpiles
• Saturday 7th March Ian Parker Band
• Saturday 4th April Mike Zito Band
• Saturday 18th April Mark Flanagan Band
• Saturday 30th May Antonio Forcione Quartet

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Andy Fawthrop)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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REVIEW – John Coughlan’s Quo @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes – Saturday 21st December 2019

Deeper And Down

By Andy Fawthrop

Images by Nick Padmore

 

This one was billed as Long Street Blues Club’s Christmas Bash, and it turned into a rare old party.

Support act for the night was the irrepressible George Wilding. As usual, he was witty and engaging, a bit sweary, but always charming and completely entertaining, finishing his set with the inevitable singalong crowd-pleaser of “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”.

Then two sharp sets from Status Quo’s original drummer’s John Coughlan’s Quo. This four-piece featured the set-up of John on drums, Rick Chase on vocals/ bass, Mick Hughes on vocals/ guitar and Pete Mace on guitar/ vocals. John was a member of Quo from 1962 until 1981, and the set-list mostly featured material from that early “classic” period.

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They’re not a “tribute” band in the normal sense of the word, more interested in keeping alive the spirit of the classic early line-up. But they certainly looked the part – long hair, head-bands, Marshall stacks, and satisfyingly loud, complete with demon drumming and catchy guitar breaks. They kicked off with “Something About You Baby I Like”, and the dance-floor was immediately full. Thereafter we were taken through the early back catalogue from 1972’s “Piledriver”, 1975’s “On The Level” and 1976’s “Blue For You”, including the song they first appeared on BBC’s Top Of The Pops with – “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” – a period when the band were still toying with psychedelia, before settling into their now more familiar rock groove.

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The sound is not complicated, nor sophisticated, but simple and effective and emotive. It does exactly what it says on the tin – good, down-to-earth rocking – and you can’t help dancing and singing along. We had all the early hits – “Paper Plane”, “Caroline”, “Roll Over, Lay Down”, “Without The Rain”, and a rollicking version of The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues”.

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It was going well, and the crowd were having a party. Then John decided to come out from behind the drums to talk to the crowd and to reminisce. Personally I think this was a bit of a mistake, because the band lost impetus quite late in the set. Whilst it was interesting and amusing, it might have fitted better much earlier in the set.

Fortunately the band quickly got back into gear again to finish with John Fogerty’s “Rockin’ All Over The World”, followed by a well-deserved encore of “Down, Down”, nicely seguing into “Johnny Be Goode”. The dance-floor was full and the crowd were happy.

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Another memorable gig.

Future gigs at Long Street Blues Club:

• Saturday 28th December Pink Torpedoes
• Saturday 25th January Kirk Fletcher (Fabulous Thunderbirds)
• Sunday 26th January Billy Bremner’s Rockpiles
• Saturday 7th March Ian Parker Band
• Saturday 4th April Mike Zito Band
• Saturday 18th April Mark Flanagan Band
• Saturday 30th May Antonio Forcione Quartet

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Andy Fawthrop/Nick Padmore)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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REVIEW – Big Dez Blues Band @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes – Saturday 2nd November 2019

Nearly Got My Mojo Working

Andy Fawthrop

Your intrepid reporter had been on the sick/ injured list for most of the past week, and only received his clearance to enter the field of play at the 11th hour after a very late fitness check. Having felt ill, and having suffered the misery of watching England fail to win the RU World Cup, I was feeling pretty low. So what sort of music did I need to fit my mood? Of course there was only one place to head for, and that was Long Street Blues Club.

Not as large an audience as some gigs, but still a very respectable showing. Playing support were acoustic blues guitar duo Mojo Hand, who entertained with a whole string of classic blues covers, including Crossroads, Smokestack Lightnin’, Let’s Work Together, Little Red Rooster, Walkin’ Blues and the eponymous Got My Mojo Working. This was all classic blues stuff from across the spectrum from Chicago right down to the Delta, played straight-up, undiluted and with little fuss and not much chat. Good set from a great pair of musicians.

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The main act were Paris-based Big Dez Blues Band, an extremely tight, competent blues outfit. Of course it was a big notch up on the volume front from the support act, but all the better for that. A great four-piece of drums, bass and twin guitars, this was full-fat, leaded R&B. Both vocals and lead-guitar parts were shared, adding more depth and dimension to the set, which consisted of both originals and covers, again delivered with minimal inter-song chat. The accent was on letting the music do all the talking, and it spoke well. The sound was clean and uncluttered, and the audience certainly warmed to it. The joint was certainly jumping.

Unfortunately, lack of match fitness (and alcohol) on my part led to major fatigue and I didn’t quite make it to the end of the gig, and I had to retire from the field of play. However I certainly felt I’d had my money’s-worth, and wandered off happily to my bed.

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Upcoming gigs at Long Street Blues Club are:

• Friday 8th Nov Ian Siegal Unplugged
• Saturday 30th Nov Gerry Jablonski Band
• Saturday 21st December John Coughlan’s Quo (support from George Wilding)
• Saturday 28th December Pink Torpedoes

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Andy Fawthrop)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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REVIEW – Jon Amor @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes

Triumphant Home-Town Gig

Andy Fawthrop

I think it’s fair to say that both Jon, and a lot of the audience last night, had been looking forward to this gig for quite a long while. No surprise then that a packed room was there to witness one of the gigs of the year.

Support act was Thomas Smurthwaite, an artist I’d not seen before. But it didn’t take the guy long to impress me and the rest of the room. An imposing, grizzled and bearded figure, he seemed slightly dwarfed by all the equipment set up on stage around him. But sound-wise he punched well above his weight with voice, guitar, harmonica and stomp-box. His set was confident, laid-back and bluesy. In a short 30-minute set he won the crowd over, finishing with a great singalong version of Janis Joplin’s “Oh Lord, Won’t You Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz?”

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Then on with the main act, and the reason we were all there. Jon, stick-thin and suavely suited & booted, was there to tour his latest album “Colour In The Sky”, and he was joined on stage by an impressive band of old friends and great musicians – Jonny Henderson on keyboards, Mark Barrett on drums, with Little Geneva’s Dave Doherty on guitar, and brother Chris Doherty on bass.

From the first number, “Faith Reborn” we were in for a treat. Thereafter Jon picked his way through several numbers from the new album, carefully interspersed with many favourites from his back catalogue of albums and bands. The rhythm section, as you might have expected, was solid and strong, laying down a great platform for Jon to let rip with some great solos. The keyboards added that bit of extra depth and texture to the songs. And they were proper songs too, not just excuses for long rambling improvisations, with clear beginnings and endings, Jon’s vocals stringing it all together. This gave the band plenty of opportunity to show off different styles, moving from rocky to bluesy and back again.

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Jon was on great form, clearly relaxed, laughing and joking with the crowd between numbers. There was no doubt that this was a home-town gig, and there was plenty of love in the room. And deservedly so. Jon is a world-class artist, and deserves it for the crowd to let him know it.

Highlight of the night for me was “Juggernaut”. This was the first time I’d heard it played in full-band format, and it was worth waiting for – heavy, driving, and really solid – a real classic.

Absolutely great gig, wonderful night out.

If you haven’t yet bought Jon Amor’s album “Colour In The Sky”, you need to get a copy!

And if you haven’t yet made it to Long Street Blues Club (at The Conservative Club), it’s time you made the effort – world-class blues & rock entertainment in a great atmosphere at an absolute bargain price. Tickets for future gigs from Devizes Books, Sound Knowledge (Marlborough) and from the club itself.

Upcoming gigs at Long Street Blues Club are:

• Saturday 2nd Nov Big Dez Blues Band
• Friday 8th Nov Ian Siegal Unplugged
• Saturday 30th Nov Gerry Jablonski Band
• Saturday 21st December John Coughlan’s Quo (support from George Wilding)
• Saturday 28th December Pink Torpedoes

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Andy Fawthrop)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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The Malone-Sibun Band and Joe Hicks at the Long Street Blues Club

A cracking night for our blues club last night, which I managed to finally appear at!

After publishing a run of awesome reviews from our man Andy, and with a flimsy hunch he wasn’t going to make it Saturday night (though he did,) I figured it high time and a good opportunity to break my Long Street Blues Club cherry; can’t let him have all the fun.

If I only popped my head around the door towards the end on a previous occasion, it was plentiful to note in our preview of their new season that, “there’s a lack of background noise at Long Street, the audience don’t chitter-chatter through the act like the backroom of a pub, it’s a fully entrancing appreciation society.” In fact, upon entry I was thanking Ian Hopkins the organiser, only to be shushed by a member. Who shushes at a gig? At least one in a hall chockful of blues aficionados captivated by the music, that’s who!

After pondering out loud, feasibly too loudly for this attendee, if this blues club needs a review at all, being it’s marked with exceptionally high-regard on our music scene and the hall of the Cons Club is bustling, I took heed of Ian’s reply, “any publicity is good publicity,” and tiptoed to the bar as if in a Christian Science Reading Room.

With family ties to Devizes, we’ve mentioned the support act on Devizine in the past, and it was good to finally meet him, even better to hear him perform live. Newbury-based answer to David Gray, Joe Hicks is wonderful, simple as. At ease with his surroundings he chats enough only to tune and give a modest synopsis of the following song, or to praise Livewired, for his last gig at the Electric Bear in Bath. He delivers his original songs with appetite but no strain, and aptitude which he makes look like child’s play. Among others, we were treated to his new single, Swim and another spellbinding comfort song called Rest Your Head. Mildly dreamy rather than sombre, his chants sublime, making a perfect cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere so apt for a finale.

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Now for the main act, you know how levels of cool range? I mean, there’s that mate in the pub with the amusing party-trick, he’s pretty cool, right, but compared to someone like Hendrix, he’s a total nerd. Smoothly Detroit’s Marcus Malone frontstages, oozing cool from his gaze to his fingertips like the lovechild of aforementioned Hendrix and Lenny Kravitz. His talent replicates his persona, and combined with a tight band, and Devizes-own electric blues guitar-legend, Innes Sibun, this is loud, proud and quite simply, mesmerising.

I realise now, witnessing the brilliant Beaux Gris & The Apocalypse, and Mr Amor, I was only a fraction engulfed into my epiphany of contemporary blues, the Malone Sibun Band completes it. Innes may appear more like that air-guitar playing headbanger at school who was asking for bullies to pick on him, drawing metal band logos on his army surplus bag in biro and all, but this guy wows and visually loves that he’s wowing, probably sighting a said school tormenter in the crowd, rocking out! The quality of this duo, this collective, is second-to-none, and their music takes no prisoners.

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It was rock, harking back to times of yore, when the blues influence was prevalent, yet more refined than psychedelic sixties, edging more towards traditional Delta or jump-blues than even Cream and Hendrix did. In contrast it was gritty, persistent and never waived from its ethos. Whether leisurelier tempo or all-out detonation, it was not experimental, rather a tried and tested formula. It neither clichéd or borrowed from previous works, it never waited for you to compare it, it was entirely unique, and it was full on in your face. There was no sing-a-long section, popular covers, there was no idle chatter; they came, they saw, they blasted their labour and treasured every minute of it.

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I was left entranced, my jaw hanging low and my mind whisked away, as said noise restrictions of the club crumbled, and its preconceived barriers collapsed, there was no associating the Long Street Blues Club to a library any longer. In all, this club may attract an older majority, but if you’re thinking fuddy-duddies you’d better think again! Next up, Jon Amor, his full band, on the 12th October, but you’d have known that if your read our preview! Yep, in it I did speculate The Long Street Blues is “simply addictive. Hook line and sinker,” I feared, “they’d have me in the palm of their hands.” It’s confirmed now.

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any im ages or text is forbidden.

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The Twelfth Season of Long Street Blues Club

With the dependability our gallant roving reporter, Andy will attend The Long Street Blues Club and send us a review to make me jealous, I ponder if I’ll ever make have to make it down there. Thing is, the Club which is about to launch into its incredible twelfth season at the Devizes Conservative Club this Saturday, is simply addictive. Hook line and sinker, they’d have me in the palm of their hands.

Yet there’s good reason to succumb, I did pop my head around the door once, to find a hall chockful of blues aficionados captivated by the act. This is nothing rare, there’s a lack of background noise at Long Street, the audience don’t chitter-chatter through the act like the backroom of a pub, it’s a fully entrancing appreciation society.

Enough said to state, these guys know their blues, claiming for their opening night on Saturday 21st September with the merger of two forces of nature Marcus Malone and Innes Sibun, “we’ve been inundated with requests to get them back.” Coveted by Motown records, Detroit-born Marcus worked on demos with some of the biggest names in the business, before being moved to LA by Ike Turner’s management team and signing with United Artists Records.

He opened for Bob Seger and Iggy Pop, now adding BB King at the Albert Hall to his impressive résumé. Marcus has written, produced and recorded seven albums on the Redline Music Label since relocating to the UK, the magnum opus being “A Better Man.” In all, it was hearing BB King which inspired the twelve-year-old Innes Sibun to pick a guitar. Legendary producer Mike Vernon produced his first band, Blues Explosion’s debut album. By 1993 he joined Robert Plant’s band for his “Fate of nations” tour, spurring a prolific musical career.

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Joe Hicks

I’m glad to hear incredible Newbury singer-songwriter, Joe Hicks will be supporting, blending his pop, blues and folk influences which Linda Serck at BBC Introducing critiques as “absolutely smashing it!”

If I needed to bio these musicians, you’ve not been indoctrinated into the contemporary blues scene, something Mr Hopkins and his crew will be able to help you with. But the name of the second night at Long Street needs no introduction. You can source blues on an international market, as they do, but Saturday 12th October is owned by the man who put Devizes on that map, Jon Amor.

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Jon, image by Nick Padmore

He brings the group; Mark Barrett of the Hoax, the Doherty Brothers, who’ve been enjoying a successful run as the band I can’t get enough of, Little Geneva, and keyboard genius Johnny Henderson. The Jon Amor Band, out to promote the critically-acclaimed album Colour in the Sky, will be a homecoming gig after his national tour, and you can rest assured they’ll be on top form.

 
Like Jumping Jack Flash, the blues club steps on the gas with a duo of gigs within a week. Saturday 2nd November Larry Miller band’s bassist Derek White joins the Cinelli Brothers, a project born form of a common passion for the electric Chicago and Texas blues from the sixties. It comprises of brothers Marco and Alessandro, Music Republic Magazine nominated Marco Cinelli as Best Guitar Player of 2018.

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The following Friday, 8th November the club presents a solo, unplugged show from Ian Siegal, who Mojo credited as “one of the most gifted singers & writers in contemporary blues,” and Long Street claim it’s “simply a must.” The date unfortunately squashes a huge blues-related clash in our bustling town, with Chippenham’s Triple JD Rock Band playing the Southgate, The London Philharmonic Skiffle Orchestra at The Wharf Theatre, and the highly-anticipated arrival of Georgie Fame as a special Devizes Arts Festival evening at The Corn Exchange. While it’s clear, Devizes has an appetite for the blues, and the choice we have of live music is astounding for a town our size, this is one overloading Friday night. I only hope the best for all these great bookings, and that we have the capacity to fill them.

But business as usual for the Long Street Blues Club, it has a truly dedicated following, and this season’s line-up of shows confirm it’s standing as a benchmark for our county’s blues scene.

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

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REVIEW –Watermelon Slim – 28th June 2019 @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes

A Fruitful Night

Andy Fawthrop

Final gig of the current season at Long Street Blues Club, and we went out with a bang with two great acts.

First up was local bluesman Andrew Bazeley. Having made this style of music his life-long hobby, I’d go so far as to say that what this guy doesn’t know about Delta Blues just ain’t worth knowing. He lives and breathes this stuff, and this is reflected in his playing – soulful, bluesy, stripped-back, atmospheric. His introductions and between-song patter are a delight for anyone who wants to know something about the songs they’re listening to – informative without being preachy. He told me before the gig that he was nervous, but it didn’t show one little bit. And afterwards said that it was probably the biggest audience he’d ever played to. No worries – the boy done good.

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Then the main act. Two sets of howling, rasping blues from the trio fronted by Watermelon Slim. We started off, very unusually, with the main man introducing his band – before a note had even been played! But after that it was down to business. Slim himself alternated between playing his guitar lap-style on a table and his trusty harmonica, but always ably supported by solid drums and bass. The vocals were howling and husky-voiced, the playing effortless. The banter was self-mocking (“almost 50 years now”), drawling and laconic, betraying the man’s Deep South origins. Frequently Slim came off stage and into the front of the crowd to let his howling harmonica do the talking. And he talked a lot, and with laid-back humour. At times the performance felt a little hammy and hackneyed, pushing all the usual I’m-a-great-bluesman buttons but – hey – he IS a great bluesman, so who’s complaining? The audience certainly weren’t, lapping up both the chat and the music.

The start of the second set was my highlight – leaving his buddies backstage for a while, his opening number featured just acapella voice and that screaming harmonica – absolutely sublime.

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It was a great finish to the current season, and I’m already looking forward to the next one. Ian Hopkins was very happy to discuss his forward booking plans and mentioned a few names, but I won’t steal his thunder until the new season is announced in full later in the year.

Great club, great venue, great artists and superb entertainment. A real advert for live music in our town.

 

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REVIEW –Skinny Molly – 21st June 2019 @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes

Sweet Home Devizes

Andy Fawthrop

Just when you think the current season is over at Long Street Blues Club, Ian Hopkins sneakily adds a couple more gigs.

First up on tonight’s Friday gig, playing support, was local troubadour Vince Bell who delivered his usual thoughtful and well-polished set. Vince doesn’t always play the most cheerful or upbeat songs but, as he remarked later, he tends to go with the flow of whatever mood he’s in at the time. The audience didn’t give too much of a toss about that, judging by the well-deserved applause he received.

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Then Skinny Molly, a Tennessee-based four-piece, hit the stage to thunderous applause and got straight down to work. From the very first minute we were in rock territory, with heavy driving bass and drums, fronted by a pair of hot guitarists who meant business. This was loud-and-proud, take-no-prisoners rock and roll. And the guys looked the part too – plenty of black leather, hats, long hair, tattoos. Sounded like a rock band, looked like a rock band. All boxes ticked.

A couple of numbers in and the band hit Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road at full speed, an absolutely belting version of this great song, quickly followed by the band’s own If You Don’t Care, complete with squealing guitar solo. The crowd was getting warmed up now and we knew we were in for something special. The Devil In The Bottle served up all the standard licks, followed by a stunningly good version of Free’s Wishing Well.

Only after this did the band rein it in a bit to draw breath and to indulge in a little chat and audience participation. But then we got lots of good stuff about “the look” and how their wanderings around Devizes earlier in the day had gone down with some of the locals. Sainsbury and Poundland will never be the same again.

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But then we were back to the music – including Sweet Home Alabama (what else from the children of Lynyrd Skynyrd??) which turned into a bonkers dance-floor-filler. Following rapturous applause we got a double-number encore, culminating in (what else?) Freebird, which morphed into a belting long jam of a number before everyone retired to a darkened room to have a quiet lie-down.

Great band, great gig.

Tickets still available for next Friday’s gig at Long Street Blues Club – Watermelon Slim, one of the blues greats.

 

© 2017-2019 Devizine (Darren Worrow/Andy Fawthrop)
Please seek permission from the Devizine site and any individual author, artist or photographer before using any content on this website. Unauthorised usage of any images or text is forbidden.

 

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The Band Plays On: Kossoff @ Long Street Blues Club

At Last – I’m All Right Now…..

 By Andy Fawthrop

 

I’d been waiting for this gig for quite a while. Bearing in mind my general antipathy towards “tribute” bands, I was feeling both excited and apprehensive. Being of, let’s say, “a certain age”, Free (and later Bad Company) had been my go-to rock bands whilst I was still learning how to grow facial hair, and what girls were for. Just hoping they weren’t going to spoil my memories….

The late Paul Kossoff, erstwhile guitar genius behind that 60s/ 70s band Free, was the inspiration behind tonight’s particular line-up. It’s now over forty years since Koss, one of Britain’s finest guitarists tragically passed away at the tender age of only 25 in 1976. The break-up of Free had been, in part, due to Paul’s ongoing battle with drugs. Only when Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had gone off to the US to form the highly-successful Bad Company, did Paul come to his senses enough to form his short-lived band Back Street Crawler.

Terry Slesser – the voice of that critically acclaimed band, and a close friend of Koss, is now keeping alive the memory and the music of one of the greatest British Blues guitarists. Sless chose the guitarist John Buckton, of whom Simon Kirke said “If Free were to reform, John would be my first choice as guitarist ” to play this series of special dates reviving for the first time since the 70s the catalogue of Back Street Crawler songs, as well as favourite Free numbers.

And a packed Long Street Blues Club was very much the beneficiary. The night was opened with great local support act Jamie R Hawkins (sounding superb with such a great sound system at his disposal, and doing his third gig of the day!). Then two fabulous sets from the main band.

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The big advantage here was that Sless was actually a friend of Koss, and played with him back in the day, so the sets were liberally interspersed with genuine stories and anecdotes. This immediately lifted us out of the “tribute band” category, and into the realm of genuine homage. The focus was very much on early, rather than late, Free material. Whilst there was certainly time and space for such later classics as All Right Now (how could there not be??), Wishing Well and My Brother Jake, the emphasis was very much on the earlier more bluesy material with which Free originally gained their massive following. It was a real treat to hear I’m A Mover, Woman, Songs of Yesterday, I’ll Be Creeping and the stunning encore (as Free themselves used to do) of The Hunter.

 

All of this delivered with confidence and panache. But no room for anything over-polished – it was all down and dirty, reproducing that thick, squidgy bass sound, wandering round every number like a prowling wild-cat, superb screaming guitar solos and some spot-on vocals – a fruity, solid noise. Could have been in the room and all that. Nostalgia certainly – been good if Sless hadn’t kept mentioning “50 years ago” thanks very much! – but this material stood up to the test of time with some ease. Somehow the band managed to reproduce the sound of Free and Back Street Crawler with some accuracy, whilst still delivering it all in a fresh and full-on way.

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It goes without saying that they brought the house down. Ian Hopkins mentioned in his introduction that the band had been one of the more expensive he’d managed to bring to Devizes, but from this punter anyway it was a solid thumbs-up – definitely worth it! Off home happy and heading for the Free CDs on the shelf!

Another great night at Long Street Blues Club and looking forward to the next season already.

 

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Hot Blues on a Cold Night

Kyla Brox Band – Saturday 2nd March @ Long Street Blues Club, Devizes

Andy Fawthrop

 

Back up the road to the Con Club for Long Street Blues Club’s latest presentation – The Kyla Brox Band. And it was definitely worth the hike.

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Yet again Ian Hopkins had managed to get one of Britain’s top blues & soul bands in front of a Devizes audience on a Saturday night, and the crowd lapped it up. Winner of the 2018 UK Blues Challenge, Kyla’s reputation preceded her. And we were not to be disappointed -an outstanding performer with an incredible pair of lungs on her, knocking out some soulful, smoky and gritty lyrics. Her voice covered all the bases, from the cool, sexy drawl, belting through the mid-range rock chick style, to the high-end screaming wail of soulful pain. And the band behind her were as tight as a tourniquet.

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The three-piece featured the fluent guitar work of Paul Farr, some inspired bass playing by Danny Blomeley and tight drumming by Mark Warburton. Farr, in particular, impressed with some of his inspired solos, drawing wild applause from the crowd.

The absolute highlight for me was the final number in the first set – one of the best versions I’ve ever heard of the classic Etta James song “I’d Rather Go Blind”, with Kyla pulling out all the stops to press every emotional button. To say that she completely nailed this number would be something of an under-statement – worth the entrance money on its own. The material throughout varied from up-tempo, high-energy blues through to low and slow, crooning soul, and it was great to hear these different textures through the two sets. The band’s ability to turn up the burners, and then cool right down, number after number really demonstrated their versatility. k2

The only time I felt that the band put a slight foot wrong was the choice of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” for the first encore – can this song that has been one of the most-ever covered pieces still having anything else left to give? – the answer, sadly, was a No from me. Fortunately there was a great up-tempo number to finish the evening off, and the minor damage was thus quickly repaired.

All-in-all another beltingly good gig, and a great night out.

Next gigs coming up @ Long Street Blues:

• Saturday 6th April Billy Walton Band – electric blues & Memphis soul
• Saturday 4th May Shemekia Copeland – passionate Americana roots & soul
• Friday 10th May Tom C Walker – young virtuoso guitarist
• Saturday 25th May Kossoff…The Band Plays On – fine, high-calibre tribute band

 

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Rick Estrin & The Wildcats – Saturday 26th January @ Long Street Blues Club, Conservative Club, Devizes

By Andy Fawthrop

 

Back to the top of the hill to The Conservative Club aka Long Street Blues Club to catch the last date of the UK tour by Californian band Rick Estrin & The Wildcats.

The advance billing was impressive, and the short UK tour had had several sold-out dates. Not sure this gig was technically sold out, but it was certainly pretty rammed in there.

Ian Hopkins had written: “Overflowing with talent and bursting with bravado, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats have created one of the blues’ most instantly recognizable sounds and no-holds-barred styles. With the world-class talents of harmonica master, songwriter and vocalist Rick Estrin, guitar wunderkind Chris “Kid” Andersen, keyboard wizard Lorenzo Farrell and dynamic drummer Alex Pettersen, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats serve up sharp and incisive original blues and gritty roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll.”

So there was much to look forward to, and a lot to live up to. The room was packed and buzzing with anticipation. The crowd were royally entertained by local singer/ songwriter Joe Hicks (always good value for money), and suitably warmed up. Finally, after what seemed a longer gap than usual, the band took to the stage and belted out the first number.

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Estrin himself cut an impressive figure at the front – smartly dressed and coiffed, leaning into the mike, and delivering a high-energy performance. Within minutes there was the trademark howling harmonica, backed by driving keyboards and rhythm section. The band were always tight and well-drilled when the songs needed it, but not afraid to cut loose in the breaks either. Think growling, witty, street-smart vocals – often reduced to almost a gravelly whisper, occasionally a haunting drawl – then lashing back out into a full-force vocal delivery. The band itself dropped the sound back at times allowing Estrin to strut his stuff and to paint his pictures, but then returned in full force, producing a wonderful dirty, muddy noise of driving California blues. Yet this was far from being a one-dimensional blues band – we had some great jazzy/ improve passages, and a longish monologue from Estrin himself at one point. Technically impressive, laid-back, grooving and absolutely whip-smart stuff.

And the crowd – not surprisingly – absolutely loved it. As did I – another great night at Long Street Blues. If I had one minor criticism it was that the set was (compared to many bands I’ve seen at the venue) relatively short – just over the hour. I think we could all have done with a bit more!

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The band’s latest album is Groovin’ In Greaseland, which I think I’ll be checking out shortly. https://rickestrin.com/

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