Davey Dodds Band/Fay Brotherhood

DAVEY DOODS BAND/FAY BROTHERHOOD

Musician Pub 22nd December 2024

At The Musician Pub last night for my last gig of the year... and I loved it!

Up first was the wonderful Fay Brotherhood... I had only seen Fay before as part of Spriggan Mist so was looking forward to seeing her doing her own material solo for the first time.

She is a larger than life character with a great voice and sings beautifully her style is quite unique, reminding me at times of an early Kate Bush. Her songs are wonderful, dealing much with the earth. nature and legend while carrying a mystique that can sound, with the great use of her voice, absolutely other-wordly.

Although I believe she was nervous playing solo again, it didn't show, the performance was very assured and a total delight, and played throughout with a twinkle and a smile... and absolute delight from start to finish. Loved it!!

Main attraction was the wonderful Davey Dodds with his superb band who deliver a melting pot of legend, mystic and nature in a unique style... drawing heavily on folk/celtic/cornish, rock and prog... a unique and glorious mix.

Up front Davey plays mandolin and sings, and speaks eloquently about the material and sources between songs... He is supported by Gillie Hotston on fiddle... Gillie is a superb player, at times standing quietly playing delicate passages before turning into a whirling dervish bouncing and spinning around playing jet propelled fiddle. Across the stage is Daniel Billing, who's bass playing is exceptional, almost more like lead guitar at times... delicate at times and a powerhouse at other times. At the back David Clifford plays drums.. a wonderful musician who plays the drums with power, precision and real quality without resorting to thrashing... a really superb musical combination capable of great delicacy and rocking up a folky/celtic storm.

Much of the material was drawn from a forth-coming album, celebrating the eight sabats celebrating the changing seasons.. .and it promises to a superb... they also included some Davey classics such as "The Shamans Song" and a lovely acappella "Magpie" with Davey, Gillie and David harmonizing.

A totally rivetting and hugely enjoyable show and so good to see Davey and the band on stage

Keep music live.. keep music real... support your local venue

Return of the Seven/Drugstore Cowboys

RETURN OF THE SEVEN/DRUGSTORE COWBOYS 

Firebug 21st December 2024

Another cracking night of live music, this time at Firebug .

First up were the Drugstore cowboys... I suspect Nick will be thinking i'm stalking him, third time i've seen him play in a week!... and all with a very different show... Tonight it was a reprise of the Drugstore Cowboys set at the "Can Your Pussy Do the Cramps" set at the Donkey earlier this year... as always a great and hugely enjoyable set.

For tonight the Drugstores had Christine playing electric bass... and playing beautifully with power and great style. On drums was Nick Murphy drafted into the gig at the 11th hour and unfamiliar with the material... it didn't show... as ever Nick's drumming was crisp and driving the beat and along with Christine provided a perfect rhythm section.

Up front Nick was Nick... full of energy and style, playing great guitar and singing out in his usual joyful way.

Short but sweet... but a cracking set loved it!

Following were The Return of the Seven, a new band to me, but i believe. long established. The band rocked hard from the beginning. led with some great guitar work and Tony on vocals.. singing with power and style. The powerful drum/bass rhythm section, again featuring Christine on bass with her second band of the night, set the beat making up a great powerhouse of a band... rocking and hugely entertaining. The material had a familiar feel and included at least a couple of covers, "I'm a hog for you baby" and Lennon's "Cold Turkey" which i don't ever recall hearing covered before...

Two great bands.. rocking and hugely enjoyable... and some great music from Andrew Rana's DJ set... and all for a Fiver!...

Superb night out!!

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Cash Band - London

CASH BAND - LONDON

Payin' respect to the Man in Black

IAC 20th December 2024

What a terrific night at the International Arts Centre last night watching CASH BAND (London) - Payin' respect to the Man in Black... they delivered a full on 90 minutes of Johnny's classic material with an exceptional authenticity and energy and had the enthusiastic audience whoopin' and hollerin' from the off.

The set started with the band playing the familiar licks, with Nick Whitfield in sparkling form in the Luther Perkins lead guitar roll along with an upright slap bass player and drummer (i didn't catch their names) but all three are exceptional musicians and playing brilliantly, keeping up the energy and drive from the first bar to the last.

After a minute or so "Johnny" took the stage to an ovation...immediately disappeared and came back to another ovation while the band continued playing their introduction.

The man looks not unlike Johnny, has his gestures and movement perfectly, and when he cracked into the first song, which if memory serves was "Big River", he had the voice and delivery spot on.

The whole set was Cash classics... every song and introduction cheered and everyone familiar and loved, so it is difficult to recall the sequence!!... With a tribute act, payin respect to a man with such a legacy, it must be hard to select just 90 minutes of material, but i couldn't pick one song that i would have replaced... beautifully selected set.

The music covered a wide range... early on the train songs like "Rock Island Line" and "Wreck of the 97" then running through a a wide range of classic material, including Kris' "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and Jerry Shirleys "Greystone Prison", which i believe was written by a Folsom inmate and debuted on that concert.

A few songs into the set "June" joined the band and proved to be a great singer with a lovely voice, and a permanent smile...

June sang lead on some songs, duetted with Johnny on some and added harmonies.

The classics were there... "Folsom Prison Blues" "San Quentin" "One Piece at a Time" "Give my Love to Rose" "I Walk the Line"... after taking a break June reappeared and with Johnny delivered a mighty version of "Jackson" before the band moved into the final numbers... leaving the crowd whoopin and calling for more... Given the set list, and a couple of omissions, I think we all knew what the encores would be... "Boy named Sue" and "Ring of Fire" .. as the introduction to "Ring of Fire" sounded, the whoopin grew louder and the bulk of the audience took to it's feet and danced joyfully.... leading to a standing ovation when they finished.

This was more than a concert... this was truly payin' respect to the Man in Black... a hugely uplifting joyful party of a gig... high energy from the off, brilliant musicianship and singing throughout and superb rapport on stage and with the enthusiastic audience.

Totally uplifting show... superb... i along with the whole crowd, loved every moment of it... a definite highlight for the year

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues