Tag: longcroft

REVIEW – Lachy Doley @ Corn Exchange, Devizes – Friday 9th December 2022

Awesome Aussie!

Andy Fawthrop

On a perishingly cold night in D-Town, the one thing you needed was to get warm as soon as possible.  And fortunately for us there was some genuine Australian heat waiting for us.…

Paul Chandler’s Longcroft Productions had done the business yet again.  Pulling off something of a coup by securing the Lachy Doley band’s only UK date on their current European tour, they were rewarded by a very large crowd filling all the tables in the Corn Exchange, including folks who had travelled enormous distances just to be there on the night.  Would it all be worthwhile?  Would the reality live up to the hype of the publicity?

There was no support act (and none was needed to be fair), so we were straight on with the entertainment.  After a clearly emotional introduction from Paul, the Aussies hit the stage.  Although perhaps less well known in Europe than in his native Australia, virtuoso keyboard player Lachy Doley (dubbed the Jimi Hendrix of the Hammond), had a lot to live up to.  He was joined by bassist Joel Burton and drummer Jackie Barnes.  

Playing a mixture of self-penned pieces, with a leavening of classic covers, the band absolutely lit up the stage from the get-go, producing a mounting wave of high-energy numbers.  Lachy himself was an absolute bundle of enthusiasm and commitment, attacking his keyboards with total commitment, from every angle and using every part of his body (it seemed) to produce some astonishing music.  Sitting, kneeling, standing, crouching – it made no difference.  Everything came out to stunning effect.

((Just for the technically-minded, he was playing a 1971 UK spec B3 Hammond with two 122 Leslies, and a vintage Hohner D6 Whammy Clavinet.  The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented in the 1960s, which produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tensioned string, and designed to resemble the Renaissance-era clavichord.  The clavinet was pushed through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp.))  And for the less technically-minded (like me), the upshot of all this clever stuff was a set-up that enabled him to play the keyboard as if it were a guitar.  And it was quite something to both watch and to listen to.  As an early demonstration of just what it could do, the band’s version of Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile a couple of numbers in nearly brought the house down.

He’d  got us – from there on it was all downhill.  Two hours of soul, blues, funk and rock followed, with each number drawing huge applause.  Lachy’s own numbers such as The Only Cure For The Blues Is The Blues, Making It Up As I Go Along, and the storming Frankly My Dear I Don’t Give A Damn were certainly superb, but the biggest applause went to astonishingly good covers of Procul Harum’s Whiter Shade Of Pale, and Chicago’s I’m A Man.  There were set pieces, there was some jazz-like improv, and there were spaces for solos, but the trio was always tight as gnat’s armpit when it mattered.

It’s hard to stay away from superlatives.  My friend described the man as “awesome”.  Another word I heard used by several people was “genius”, and “virtuoso”.  We certainly saw and heard something very special.  The evening ended with an encore, a standing/ stomping/ clapping ovation, and another encore.  Astonishing, great entertainment.

And finally a big shout-out (yet again) to all those who made this possible – stage set-up, the light show, spot-on sound, and general organisation from Longcroft Productions.  All very professional and well presented.  D-Town is indeed lucky to have you guys doing what you do.

REVIEW – Jazz Sabbath @ Corn Exchange, Devizes – Sunday 20th November 2022

You wait for one to come along….

by Andy Fawthrop

After Saturday’s double-header at Long Street Blues Club with the Alex Voysey Trio and Hardwicke Circus, there was hardly time to draw breath on this exciting musical weekend.  A quick shift from the Con Club to The Corn Exchange, and there we were on a rare Sunday night out.  Yesterday evening D-Town hosted Jazz Sabbath as part of their UK tour, a date long in the calendar thanks to the forward thinking of Paul Chandler’s Longcroft Productions.…..

I’m sure Paul had been hoping for a somewhat larger audience to pack out the Corn Exchange, but there were still plenty enough people there to enjoy the club-style layout of dimly-lit tables and a sparsely-lit stage.  And the quality of the music provided was absolutely top-notch.

First up in the Support slot was London-based Billy Watman, who turned out to be an absolute wizz on the guitar.  Having spent his training in classical and flamenco styles, Billy treated us to an absolute master-class in how to get every sound possible out of his instrument.  With the occasional use of loops and pedals, he laid down his own backing tracks before playing some of the most virtuoso acoustic guitar work that I’ve seen or heard in a very long.  Explaining what he was doing as he went along, in modest and understated style, he laid out fingerstyle versions of Back To Black, Boney M’s Rasputin and even Pink Floyd’s Brick In The Wall.  This guy was massively proficient – there’s just no other way to put it.  He had the audience on side right from the get-go.  In fact there was only one thing wrong with his set – it was simply too damned short at only 20 minutes.  I’m pretty sure the audience would have liked a lot more.  Great stuff.

After the interval, and before the main act took the stage, we were treated to….a film!  A short docu-style item, featuring many celebrities, setting up the myth of the band doing their first gigs for 53 years!  (If you go onto their website you can read all the spoof material for yourself).  The joke/ conceit was maintained throughout the evening with further bits of film, and Adam himself pretending to be an 84-year old (he’s actually 48, just be clear).

I don’t know – you wait for years for a Black Sabbath tribute band to play in D-Town, and then two of them come along in a matter of a few weeks (Black Sabbitch played here only a month ago).  And then they were on stage.  Jazz Sabbath featured Adam Wakeman, son of Rick Wakeman, keyboards, Dylan Howe, son of Alan Howe on drums and Jack Tustin (son of his parents I’m sure), on upright bass.

The whole idea was to produce jazz interpretations of Black Sabbath classics.  Sounds mad, but it wasn’t.  Adam has cut his teeth working for many years both with Black Sabbath, and with Ozzy Osborne’s Band, so he’s pretty familiar with the heavy metal basic material.  However his arrangements were an almost unrecognisable world away, and lots of the material was Adam’s own contemporary compositions.  This was very little Sabbath, and very much Jazz.

The two sets, apart from the spoof interruptions, were confident, laid-back, melodic and highly enjoyable.  Adam himself, taking the lead on piano, did all the talking.  It was uncanny to see him sitting in exactly the same place as his father Rick had done almost four years ago when he played the same stage with his KGB band. The audience, who were soon into both the music and the comedic wrap-around, were attentive and appreciative.  There was a richly deserved encore, and the crowd hit the streets happy, having been royally entertained.

And just time for a general shout out to all those who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this gig happen, and to transform the barn of the Corn Exchange into a warm welcoming club atmosphere – from the sound guys, the stage setting/ lighting, the table lay-outs – a perfect backdrop for some great music.  This is the sort of gig that helps to put D-Town on the UK musical map, and further proof that the town can punch above its weight in terms of musical quality.  The gig was a bit of a (financial) risk, and whilst it might not have entirely paid off, it was nevertheless (musically at least) an absolute triumph.  Maybe the tickets were a bit expensive?  Maybe folks don’t like going out on Sunday nights?  Who knows?  But this sort of gig needs all our support.

And there’s a chance to do just that in a couple of weeks’ time when virtuoso keyboard player Lachy Doley (dubbed the Jimi Hendrix of the Hammond) plays his only UK date in D-Town on Friday 9th December.  Get out and get those tickets – this is going to be a real one-off!

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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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