Here’s one for the guitarheads in London and the Southeast. The highly-respected and dynamic blues rock power trio Wille & the Bandits will be bringing their powerful live show to The 100 Club on Friday October 28^th.  The lineup is Wille Edwards (Lead Vocals, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Electric Lap Steel, Weissenhorn and Dobro), Matt Brooks (Six String Electric Bass, Five String Double Bass, String Arrangements and Backing Vocals) and Andy Naumann (Drums and Percussion) and just one look at that list of instruments tells you that this is about serious musicianship.

The band has been praised by people who know their music, including Joe Bonnamassa and Bob Harris and their album “Steal” (Featuring Don Airey on three tracks) will be out soon on Jigsaw.

Watch the live video of “Virgin Eyes” and you’ll see what all the fuss is about:

 

It’s a bit like the footie really; the real fans are the ones who come out on a cold Tuesday night in January to show their support. Things start slowly but by the time Little Devils hit the stage, the 100 Club’s full and everyone’s forgotten that it’s brass monkeys out on Oxford Street. It’s one of those nights that proves that there’s still a healthy audience for blues bands (and it isn’t just the Wrinkly Rockers) but it also shows the range of artists taking shelter under the blues umbrella.

Stark suffer a little bit from the ‘I’m only here to see the headliners’ syndrome (and too many people having loud conversations, but don’t get me started on that) but they power-trio their way through a solid set to a decent response (and it still seems odd to see a guitarist play a resonator for electric blues, but it seemed to work).

It’s about a year since I last saw Little Devils (one of my Top 5 gigs of the year) and, in that time, they’ve certainly moved on. Most of last year’s set came from the then-current EP “About Time”, but there was a lot of new material this time which should be appearing on the album they’re just about to record. They cover a wide range of styles in forty-five minutes, ranging from funked-up blues driven along by Sara’s drums and Graeme’s sinuous basslines, through slow blues ballads showing the power of Yoka’s voice and Big Ray’s fret-bashing, almost all the way to prog-rock with some of the flute solos (well, they are on the same bill as Focus in a month). The Devils have a very strong stage presence, good songs and the kind of feelgood factor that generates a loyal fanbase; tonight, the cold January night seems a long way away as they turn the audience from quiet foot-tappers into a seething mass that’s ready for anything.

Which brings us to Aynsley Lister. I’ve never seen Aynsley do a headline set and I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. He’s a little bit more subdued than usual following a recent back injury, but that doesn’t mean he’s holding back musically, although we certainly don’t get any star jumps. The longer headline set gives the band the opportunity to have a bit of fun and jam a little with guitar and keys trading licks occasionally, but the songs are still strong, with “Inside Out”, “Broke”, “Sugar”, “Impossible” and “Hyde 2612” from the latest album “Home” all making the set, each one showing a different facet of Aynsley’s playing, writing or singing. It’s all too easy to focus on Aynsley’s playing, but his voice really does set him apart; it’s a soulful rock voice with a bit of a plaintive edge which works perfectly for the songs from “Home”. The finale’s “Purple Rain” of course, which combines a bit of guitar flash with audience participation and that’s a pretty solid way to end the night.

It’s pretty good demonstration of the diversity and general good health of the British blues scene that three bands so different can share a bill and all be appreciated by the audience. We all expect musicians this scene to be able to play, but both Little Devils and Aynsley Lister have very strong original material and the best songs tonight from both bands are probably the ones that are furthest away from traditional blues roots (Aynsley’s “Inside Out”, for example). I think that’s a good thing (it certainly made “Home” one of my favourite albums of 2013) but I know that not everyone agrees.

Anyway, the bottom line is that this was a great night out with two bands playing such different styles that there was no sense of competition, just a huge effort to give the audience a good time. And you can’t argue with that on a Tuesday night in January.

There was a time earlier this year, when I was hobbling around with the help of a crutch, when I thought that I would have difficulty scraping together five gigs that I’d actually seen; how wrong was that? It’s been difficult to narrow this list down to five, so I think there might be a few honourable mentions as well. So, in absolutely no order at all are my favourite live shows of 2014.

Jim Stapley Band at 93 Feet East

Jim Stapley’s debut album almost made my top five albums, but there was absolutely no doubt about this live performance. Jim has a phenomenal soulful rock voice and he has pulled together a superb band to deliver the songs live. This was an album launch gig featuring virtually all of the album “Long Time Coming” (plus a cheeky cover of Rihanna’s “We Found Love”) and, despite atrocious weather and a half-full venue, Jim and the band gave it everything. The songs were strong, the band were cooking on gas, but what a voice.

 

Stone Foundation at The 100 Club

Towards the end of a very busy year for the band, this was an appearance at the annual Delicious Junction bash and another headline slot at The 100 Club with a set based solidly on the “To Find the Spirit”. All of the band members are great players but, despite the solos, this isn’t about individuals, it’s about the group; it’s the perfect combination of a locked-in rhythm section, keyboards and horns. It was also a chance to see how the new members Gareth John (trumpet and flugelhorn) and Rob Newton (congas) had bedded in. It’s fair to say that the horns sounded better than ever and the congas added a little bit of icing on the cake. It was a great set from the band and a stomping encore of “Jumping Jack Flash”. Enough said.

Little Devils at The 100 Club

Yeah, The 100 Club again and it’s blues Jim, but not as we know it; Little Devils are fronted by singer and multi-instrumentalist (sax and flute), Yoka. The rhythm section of Graeme Wheatley and Sara-Leigh Shaw (aka the Pintsized Powerhouse) built a solid base for Big Ray’s guitar and Yoka’s vocals and instrumental solos. The quality of the playing alone would put this gig up there with the best this year but this is also great fun; the band obviously enjoy themselves and the audience will always pick up on that. Great performances and big smiles all around the room; that’s a pretty good combination for a great night.

Federal Charm and Ian Hunter’s Rant Band

This was the final night of the Ian Hunter tour and the audience was in a party mood. It’s not the first time I’ve seen Federal Charm but they seem to get better every time. They got a huge cheer when they strolled on to the Shepherds Bush Empire stage and powered their way through thirty minutes of melodic blues rock featuring their powerful cover of “Reconsider” before making way for Ian Hunter. What a legend; played for two hours and kept the audience spellbound throughout, and the voice still sounds great. We even got an appearance from Mick Ralphs for the encore. Top night.

Gary Bonds, Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes

Now this sounded like a great idea. 60s legend, and big influence on the Asbury Park scene teams up with Southside Johnny for a UK tour; I’ll even pay for tickets for that. Albany Down, despite a ten-second soundcheck, got the audience nicely warmed up for the main event which was a set from Gary Bonds (with some help from Southside) and a set from Southside (with a little help from Gary Bonds), both backed The Asbury Jukes. As ever, the superb musicians (Jeff Kazee, Tom Seguso, John Conte, Glenn Alexander, John Isley, Chris Anderson and Neal Pawley) fitted together perfectly and reacted instantly to any curveballs thrown by Southside. Seriously great players but they know how to have a bit of fun as well. They’re a great attraction as The Jukes, but Gary Bonds just tipped it over the edge.

It was incredibly difficult to narrow this down to only five gigs and there are a few more which deserve honourable mentions. I saw Vera Lynch three times (including their final gig at The Barfly in Camden and a gig in a Shoreditch shop window), The Kennedys and Edwina Hayes at Green Note and Dean Owens and Black Scarr on Eel Pie Island and all of those were great nights. Here’s to many more in 2015.

 

 

Oxford Street on a wet Tuesday night in January can be a really miserable place, but not if you’re on your way to see The Billy Walton Band and the Henrik

Freischlader Band at the 100 Club, which is exactly what I was doing last Tuesday.  Both bands did the Skegness Butlins Blues festival last weekend before setting off on their UK tours.  Henrik is touring in support of his latest album “House in the Woods” and Billy is touring because the band love playing here and they have a lot of fanatical supporters in the UK.  The Stuart James Band was also on the bill as openers, so, three bands for a tenner in central London; you can’t argue with that.

At this kind of gig, the headline/support distinction doesn’t really apply; each band has its own following and they generally respect the work of the other bands on the bill.  I’m not saying there’s no tribalism, but there is a huge amount of mutual respect between the bands which is reflected in the attitudes of their followers.  Everyone came to hear good music and they weren’t disappointed.

The Billy Walton Band played a much, much shorter set than they would play as headliners and focussed on the latest album, “Crank it Up!”.  They packed in all of the highlights of a headline set into 45 minutes which featured Billy’s wonderful playing and showmanship and the improvisational interplay between Billy’s guitar and Richie Taz’s sax over the rock-solid rhythm section of William Paris and John D’Angelo.  If you’re looking for highlights, I’d go with “Deal with the Devil”, “The Deal went Down” and “Hot Blues” from the album and the inevitable show-stopping “Cannonball”.  I may be biased, but you really should make the effort to see these guys.

If you want a bit of background on the Henrik Freischlader Band, there’s a review of “House in the Woods” here.  Like the Billy Walton setup, this is a classic 70s power trio with an added twist.  In this case it’s the smoky Hammond sound of Moritz Fuhrhop which fills out the sound while Henrik plays his riffs and fills and solos. Again, the rhythm section of Bjorn Kruger (drums) and Theofilos Fotiadis provided a solid foundation for the creativity of the 2 lead players.  Henrik, like his hero Gary Moore, is equally impressive playing heavy riff-based songs and the slower ballads but he still has another weapon in the locker; he has a powerful, lived-in and careworn, voice which delivers both the rockers and the slower songs perfectly.  The band is tight and convincing in both styles and also sounds great with funkier and reggae-tinged material.

The set was dominated, unsurprisingly, by material from the new album (which is very, very good) and “Nowhere to Go”, “1999”, “House in the Woods” and “Breaking my Heart Again” all

sound stunning live; we even had a cover of “Come Together” thrown in for good measure.  There was a minor glitch with the bass sound during Henrik’s set, but it didn’t detract from a powerful live performance from two dynamic bands.

If Henrik and the band are wondering why the audience were leaving halfway through their set, it puzzled me as well.  Transport out of central London isn’t great late at night, but I really don’t understand an audience leaving at 10:30 when a headline band is absolutely on fire.  Anyway, I was there with Plus One until the end and it was a great night; two superb bands with incredible guitarists and great songs.  It doesn’t get a lot better than that.