Sold out signs for the Stevie Nimmo Trio at the Edinburgh
Blues Club, and if this performance is the shape of things to come they’ll have
standing room only at bigger venues before long. This, my friends, is a band in crunkingly
good form.
First though, a word about GT’s Boos Band, recently
mentioned in dispatches in the BBC’s
UK’s Best Part-Time Band competition. Opening the show, they turn in a solidly
entertaining set. Greig Taylor has a
satisfying down and dirty blues voice, and connects with the arrangements going
on around him. Meanwhile Johnny Boos
delivers lead guitar in a variety of styles, including some neat fingerpicking
on the driving R’n’B of opener ‘Seven Questions’, a nicely shimmering segment
on ‘High N Dry’, and a sparky solo on the shuffling fun that is ‘Everybody
Knows’. ‘Chain Of Love’ is a likeable slow blues with a strong vocal, and they
go for the epic with the dynamics of set closer ‘Amsterdam’, though it’s a song
that might have been better placed mid-set.
They go down well, and deservedly so.
 |
| Stevie Nimmo makes some noise |
But to the main event.
When I saw Stevie Nimmo and co play in Glasgow back in May, they were
terrific. This show was even better –
with the benefit of an additional ingredient which we’ll get to later.
“Let’s make some noise,” says Nimmo as they plug in, and
they do that right from the git-go, with the tough but danceable ‘Roll The
Dice’, the first of several songs from SkyWon’t Fall – still my favourite studio album of this year. They follow that with ‘Still Hungry’, even
tougher and grittier, before changing gear with ‘Running On Back To You’. It’s a slower, more structured take on the
blues, with a Floyd-ish arrangement underlined by soloing from
Nimmo that has
an air of Dave Gilmour about it, and subtle variation from Craig Bacon on drums
– and Nimmo holds the audience in thrall with a ‘hear a pin drop’ ending.
 |
| Two Nimmos for the price of one |
Nimmo’s vocals are impeccable tonight too, exemplified by
the tenderness with which he imbues the soulful ‘Change’, and the way he
invests ‘Gambler’s Roll’ with meaning.
In fact they generally crank the Allman Brothers song up a notch from
the version on Sky Won’t Fall, with Matt Beable’s tense bass lines reminiscent
of John McVie on ‘The Chain’, while Nimmo’s soloing ranges from delicate to
intense.
They go on to dish up more covers, including a couple Nimmo
recorded on his first album The Wynds Of Life.
Storyville’s ‘Good Day For The Blues’ is a song to put a smile on your
face, while ‘Lonely Night In Georgia’ highlights ‘Crispy’ Bacon’s drumming
finesse. Sandwiched between these two
though, is the highlight of this segment – an epic rendition of Big George
Watt’s ‘The Storm’, on which Nimmo delivers a solo very much in the spirit of
Big George, big on space and atmosphere, as well as an outro making terrific
use of controlled feedback.
As if that isn’t enough, for the finale a surprise guest
puts in an appearance – Alan Nimmo
strapping on a guitar to play that funky music
on an extended caper through ‘Lovin’ Might Do Us Good’. So we’re treated to the brothers Nimmo
swapping some blistering solos, and at one stage dropping effortlessly into a
double-barrelled take on the riff to the Allmans’ ‘Jessica’ (aka the Top Gear theme). Are they done yet? Nope – eschewing a walk
off stage and a walk back on for an encore, they launch into a monster version
of ‘Going Down’, twin guitars crunching into the riff, just to finish the audience off good and proper.
 |
| GT's Boos Band get down and dirty |
The Stevie Nimmo Trio are so down to earth they look like
they could be cast as coppers in Life on
Mars, while Nimmo’s between-songs chat is self-deprecating and at the same
time respectful of the artists he’s learned from and played with over the
years. But this is also a band at the absolute top of their game. Buy the
album. Go see them supporting Robin
Trower. Enjoy.
For details of headline gigs and tour dates supporting Robin Trower, go to stevienimmo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment