DIRT ROAD BAND/MAX MANNING
Musician Pub 17TH November 2023
A friday night for old friends doing their stuff at The Musician Pub
First up was Max Manning having a night off from the Della Grants and playing a solo set. He started by saying he was planning to play a bunch of his favourite songs, so with the exception of the Della's "William Clay" the set was all covers... and a fine set of pieces he played.... starting and ending with the Rolling Stones (Let it Bleed & Sweet Virginia) as well as dippimng into the songbooks of Creedence, Jesse Fuller, old time blues among others. Max played his set with just voice and acoustic guitar until near the end when he introduced tape loops for a song by the Marshall Tucker Band. The loops worked very effectively adding harmonies and effectively allowing him two guitar parts.Throughout the hugely enjoyable fine set Max was as always in really good voice and accompanying himself perfectly on guitar.
Headlining were the DIRT ROAD BAND - Steve Walwyn (ex-Doctor Feelgood) on Guitar, Horace Panter (ex-Specials) on Bass and Ted Duggan (ex-Badfinger) on Drums.
At the start Steve said "We are the Dirt Road Band and this is what we do...." and launched into the opener, "Whats going Down". Most of us will know this band and their pedigree... suffice it to say it was business as usual, that is to say over 90 minutes of intense rock music with a blues tinge... brilliantly played by a band who are masters of their craft and fully on song.
Steve is a huge fan of Rory Gallagher, and early in the set we got a Rory classic, "Laundromat". There were a few more covers thrown in between the originals, including "Watching the River Flow" (Dylan... though in my view not one of his Bobness's better efforts, though it worked beautifully in this setting), "Further on up the Road (originally by Bobby Blue Bland and covered by many), and old blues piece by Charley Patten called "Dirt Road Blues" (from where the band name came) "Rolling and Tumbling" and a final Gallagher song... not actually written by Rory, but as Steve said, Rory did the definitive version.... 'Bullfrog Blues"
Encores followed... "Down at the Doctors" and one of the two perfect set finales for a rock band... "Route 66".
Another class performance by a first class rock band... hugely enjoyable and very powerful performance... great...
In short... a thoroughly great evening!!
Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues
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