Jersey Budd & Silverball/Jamie Pelos/Jake Thompson

JERSEY BUDD & SILVERBALL/JAMIE PELOS/JAKE THOMSON

IAC:  29th March 2025

Last night saw the return to the International Arts Centre of local legend Jersey Budd with his superb band Silverball The evening started with sets from two acoustic singer/songwriters... Jamie Pelos & Jake Thompson. I dont feel qualified to comment on either as the racket from the noisy disrespectul audience made it impossible to give either of therm the attention they deserved... i cant say I enjoyed this part of the evening, no reflection on the talent and ability of the two musicians, it was purely down to the ridiculous noise from an audience who seemed to resent musicians disturbing their conversation... i just dont understand why people spend money to go to a gig then talk loudly over the music... sadly... so often tends to happen when local artists are playing...

I would really love to see both Jamie and Jake again playing to a more respectful audience so we can actually hear them properly as I think they were both pretty good.

After a break the excellent Jersey Budd & Silverball Band apeared to a rousing reception, which was maintained throughout...

Sad to say that during the quieter moments it was clear that the noise from the room had not eased of to any great extent... however, as a band Silverball play loud enough to cover the noise... and proved to be outstanding as they came over loud and clear... and what a great band they are...

From the off legendary drummer, the omnipresent Nick Murphy and bassist Rick Wilson laid down the beat while guitar player Jono Martin played some fabulous guitar, never flash or self indulgent, but always tasteful and high quality. Andrew Price added some lovely keyboards, adding texture and layers of melody to the overall sound.

Up front Jersey played acoustic and sang as well as I've ever heard him... I have been used to seeing him as a solo acoustic singer songwriter, but he has grown into the band format seamlessly...the whole band play as a band, solid, musical and high quality with no fuss or flash, just terrific music.

The whole tone of a Jersey Budd show has of course changed.. the band rock beautifully, and though the songs remain high quality it is the overall feel and strength of the music that now dominates... and I for one... love it!!

Superb performance by Jersey Budd and Silverball Band... lets hope we get to see them again before too long!

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

Dirt Road Band/Milkmen

DIRT ROAD BAND/MILKMEN

Iinternational Artsd Centre 22nd March 2025

What a rock'n'roll treat at the International Arts Centre last night with The Milk Men - Band and DIRT ROAD BAND sharing the bill.. two awesome, though very different, rock'n'roll bands on the same show!!

First up were The Milk Men - Band, making their entrance as ever to Benny Hill's "Ernie" they rocked into their set, featuring mainly familiar material from their outstanding albums.

You know where you are with this band... arguably the best rocking rhythm'n'blues band around... driving music, delivered with energy and a sense of fun and joy with no frills or novelties... just high quality straightforward rock'n'roll delivered by four high quality musicians...

At the back Mike, sartorial and elegant as ever, drives the band with superb drumming, while Lloyd like the other great bass players, stands for the most part rock solid delivering great thundering bass. On guitar Adam plays superbly, with the familiar crouches and occasional duck-walks while Jamie strides around belting out the vocals... the four gel perfectly into a tight rocking unit, and the set builds and builds and keeps the audience rocking throughout...

Impossiblee to pull out highlights, as the whole set is a highlight, but special mention for a fabulous version of "Going Back Home" co-written by Lloyds father the legendary Mick Green and Wilco Johnson... and the wonderful "She Dont Like Rock'n'Roll"

Brilliant band... superb set... absolutely terrific show.

How to follow it... the DIRT ROAD BAND ... again, a no-nonsense rock'n'roll band playing a blistering set... concentrating for the most part on original material from their album, but also some covers including Charley Patton's "Down the Dirt Road Blues" an esptablished part of the set and from where the band took their name.

The band is led by Steve Walwyn, who had a long stint with Dr Feelgood as well as Eddie and the Hot Rods... a superb fluent guitar player and singer, working with two other legends... The wonderful Horace Panter (ex-the Specials) and superb drummer Ted Duggan (ex-Badfinger among others).

The three form a water-tight bnand delivering vibrant guitar-led rock'n'roll from the outset... again... no tricks or gimmicks, just brilliant musicianship and irresistable rock'n'roll...

Towards the end Steve spoke warmly of the late great Rory Gallagher before the band launched into a blistering version of "Laundromat"... The final song was the regular closer, another song associated with Rory, "Bullfrog Blues" which brought a fabulous set to a climactic close....

It wasn't over... the band were joined by Adam (Milkmen) for the first encore and also by Jamie (Milkmen) for the final song of the evening...

Two absolutely wonderful bands... both firing on all cylinders and bringing their A game to the venue gave us a truly wonderful memorable night of rock'n'roll... absolutely wonderful

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

Creedence Clearwater Review

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIEW

International Arts Centre 21st March 2025

Happy days... they're back!! This time Creedence Clearwater Review - The UK #1 CCR Tribute Show were rocking the International Arts Centre with their high energy tribute to CCR show.

This tour they were playing the "Green River" album followed by the greatest hits in the second half... Unlike some tribute bands, these guys don't try to emulate the looks and mannerisms of CCR, but simply deliver superb rock'n'roll in the form of CCR songs... and they really rock!!...

The best known songs from the "Green River" album, "Bad Moon Rising": and “Lodi” had the audience singing along in fine style and the more and more dancers getting going... After a relatively short "I Heard it through the Grapevine" and a longer "Ramble Tamble" the band took a break and came back for the second half with the with a pounding "Born on the Bayou" before rocking through the greatest hits...

Dale pointed out that they were going to do one ballad, then rock'n'roll to the end... the ballad was "Long as I Can See the Light" which had the phone torches glowing and the audience swaying gently... then indeed it was rock'n'roll to the end…with among others “Travelling’ Band” and “Up Around the Bend” and ending with a storming "Proud Mary" which had the audience bellowing the familiar chorus with energy and glee...

Inevitably back for an encore... tonight the wonderful "Fortunate Son" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"... .which had the audience singing as loudly as I’ve heard in the venue…

The audience were up with the band from the first moment... you can’t just sit quietly with these guys... just rock'n'roll with them... and the audience were dancing and singing throughout.

On stage the band are high energy and Dale, surely one of the most commanding and energetic frontmen, was a bundle of energy as well as playing and singing with fire and quality.. The band as a whole are awesome… 4 quality musicians blending into a glorious rocking high energy band delivering CCR songs with power and authority. Surely there can be few tribute bands in the same league as these guys… however often I see them they blow me away with their quality and energy… absolutely superb band yet again delivering an absolutely superb set….

A glorious evening

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