King King - O2 ABC, Glasgow, 14 May 2016

A brief snatch of ‘Alright Now’ blasts from the PA as King King arrive onstage.  They probably intended it as a nod to the influence of Free, but ask any of the punters leaving this gig if they thought ‘Alright Now’ was a reasonable summary of the night and they’d think you were insane.  King King blew the bloody roof off.

As standard bearers for the modern British blues scene in recent years, you expect them to be good.  But this was a jaw dropping performance. From the first song, a rocking rendition of ‘Lose Control’, they were at the very top of their game.

Alan Nimmo has a quiet night in

Understandably, Alan Nimmo is often the focus of attention in King King, the figurehead.  But tonight the energy, the synergy, flowing between the four of them is astonishing, oozing confidence and growth.  A couple of tunes in they cool things off a notch with ‘Waking Up’, and it’s noticeable how Wayne Proctor on drums and Lyndsay Coulson on bass execute subtle shifts in the rhythm as they propel the song forward.  Meanwhile ‘Rush Hour’ demonstrates that Nimmo and Bob Fridzema dovetail their rhythm guitar and organ sound to form a mighty combo.  By the time Nimmo urges the crowd to join in on a towering “Whoa-oh-ho” singalong the mood is so good that he’s got a Cheshire Cat grin all over his mug – or in the local lingo, he’s like a dug wi’ two tails.

And no wonder.  It’s still early days when Fridzema unleashes a blinding organ solo on ‘Long History Of Love’ – did my ears deceive me or did he weave in the melody from Deacon Blue’s ‘When Will You Make My Phone Ring’? – before a vertiginous guitar solo from Nimmo erupts out of the song.

Sure, they get funky and have a good time, but there’s an underlying reality and feeling there too, evidenced by ‘You Stopped The Rain’.  Alan Nimmo explains that the song was inspired by watching his brother Stevie go through the uncertainty of cancer with a strength he wasn’t sure he could muster himself, and that humanity is right there in the words.  Meanwhile he builds up a storm of tension with a repeated guitar lick, the intensity increased further as Proctor ups the tempo on drums, before it resolves seamlessly into the main riff.

King King in the House Of Blue Light

The melding of rock, funk and blues is well nigh perfect though.  On ‘Crazy’, with Proctor’s drums booming and Fridzema switching from Jon Lord-like organ to Stevie Wonder-style clavinet, the spirit of Whitesnake’s best, earthiest days is revived.  Meanwhile ‘All Your Life’ is transformed into a funk rock wig-out of such proportions compared to the album version that even Coulson, normally reserved, is moved by his monster bass groove to flit across the stage and get on down in front of Fridzema’s keyboards.

The set closer ‘Stranger To Love’ demonstrates how turn-on-a-dime tight they are, first pulsing, then roaring, then dropping completely for Nimmo’s party piece near-silent guitar solo, in contrast to the Layla-esque tones surfacing elsewhere on the song.  Faced with a curfew, the sole encore of ‘Let Love In’ has the crowd dancing, but leaves them wanting more.

Glasgow may always be a special gig for King King, but on this showing they are a band that have moved to another level – and have done so with their humility and good humour intact.

As Sir Alex Ferguson might have put it, “King King eh?  Bloody hell!”

Dan Patlansky - no mere mortal on guitar

It’s a sign of King King’s mettle that they allow someone as talented as Dan Patlansky to open for them.  As I arrive, a tad late (sorry Dan, nobody’s fault but mine, as the song says), he’s in the middle of the anthemic, dynamic ‘Loosen Up The Grip’, and it feels like the audience are still weighing him up.

The O2 ABC can be a bit of an unforgiving barn for a support band, but as he and his band work their way through the chunky ‘Fetch Your Spade’ and the slow blues of ‘Still Wanna Be Your Man’, with its subdued hurdy gurdy keys from Dean Barrow, he does a good job of selling his wares.  The following ‘Backbite’ is a stone cold classic of diamond-hard funked up rock, which turns into a showcase for his guitar mastery, as he solos without picking, conjures up squelchy effects, tricks tuneful feedback out of his Strat while apparently doing nowt, and generally performs sorcery of a Prince/Hendrix magnitude.  Catch him if you can.

This was the show that was recorded for the album King King Live.

Lance Lopez - Live in NYC

As Ted Nugent once delicately put it, “Anybody wants to get mellow you can turn around and get the fuck outta here, alright?!”

The Nuge is pretty unfashionable nowadays, but there’s no denying that the man knew how to put the hammer down on a heavy blues rock riff.  And so it is with Lance Lopez.

Lopez has been garnering attention lately as one of the cornerstones of Supersonic Blues Machine, but this recently released live album recorded at BB King’s in New York catches him on his day job, as it were, with his own trio.  A southern boy brought up in Louisiana and Texas, it’s little wonder that he claims Stevie Ray Vaughan and Billy Gibbons as influences.  What he serves up here though, is something altogether heavier.

Lance Lopez does the "itchy nose in mid-solo" face

Lopez has a rich growl of a voice, and a meaty, fuzzy, guttural guitar tone, and he puts them to good use on the trio of strapping self-penned tunes that opens this set – the chugging R&B of ‘Come Back Home’, ‘Hard Time’, and the entertaining tale of falling out with your woman that is ‘Get Out And Walk’.  Think Pat Travers in ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’ mode, for example.  Think bone-crunching riffs – the last of the triptych in particular coming on like a Force 10 gale delivered by the aforementioned Nugent, with a rhythm section of King Kong dimensions in the form of Chris Reddan on drums and Mike Nunno on bass.

Elsewhere they spread out and get more expansive, on the slow blues of ‘Lowdown Ways’ and the closer ‘El Paso Sugar’.  When he puts his mind to it Lopez is an exponent of rip it up, speed freak soloing, and on both of these there are passages where he unleashes a blizzard of fretwork.  If that’s your bag then get ready to strap on your air guitar and pose in the mirror.  Personally though, I think a race with the devil is better as a blues metaphor than an approach to blues guitar.  So I find Lopez more interesting when he reins himself in and his guitar work makes one note count more than a hundred, as on the slower sections of ‘Lowdown Ways’ or the country blues-ish fingerpicking intro to ‘El Paso Sugar’.

Subtlety may be in relatively short supply, but there’s simply no arguing with the power.  Whether it’s the taut, bludgeoning riff on ‘El Paso Sugar’, or the focused, grinding stomp of  ‘Tell The Truth’, this is blues with the weight of Judas Priest covering ‘Green Manalishi’ – and then some.  The lightning is well bottled by producer and long-time Johnny Winter collaborator Paul Nelson – and so someone who knows a thing or two about wildness.

There’s one cover here that just about it sums it up, and that is ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’.  We’re not talking hitching a ride in some jalopy through the Mississippi backwoods here.  We’re talking about hauling ass down the freeway in some monster rig. God alone knows what Robert Johnson would make of it – perhaps just shrug his shoulders, say “What the fuck,” and reach for his own air guitar.

Stevie Nimmo and Ben Poole - Oran Mor, Glasgow, 6 May 2016

Don’t you just love it when a gig really comes together, and you find yourself having a damn good time?

In a recent interview Stevie Nimmo observed that he no longer gave a shit about conforming with any music industry expectations.  And why the hell should he, when he and his band deliver performances like this?

Towards the end of this set they give an outing to ‘The Storm’, a song by the late Glasgow

Stevie Nimmo - walking on the moon

legend Big George Watt, and Nimmo shows just what he’s made of on guitar.  There’s a mountainous, howling solo early on, but then there are subtle shifts in mood before he delivers another stunning solo, shimmering and then piercing, and it feels like he takes it all the way to the moon before bringing it back.

And that’s just one highlight among many tonight.  On the Allman Brothers song, ‘Gambler’s Roll’, which to be honest I found one of the less interesting moments on his new album Sky Won’t Fall, Nimmo demonstrates that he’s on top form vocally too.  More than that, the contributions of Mat Beable on bass and Craig Bacon on drums show that the Stevie Nimmo Trio are more than just a group, they’re a team.

It was like this from the kick-off, with the urgent ‘Roll The Dice Again’, and then the gutsy, fuck-off-defiant ‘Still Hungry’, which features great bass from Beable.

‘Running On Back To You’ – “as bluesy as I get nowadays”, says Nimmo – is based on a delightful guitar lick with a teasing final upstroke, and is delivered with real feeling.  Meanwhile on ‘Change’ they fall into an effortless groove, swinging with ease – you can easily imagine some female backing vocals adding to its vibe.

On a cover of Storyville’s ‘Good Day For The Blues’ they demonstrate that they can also do a more laid back, Southern feel, but with set closer ‘Lovin’ Might Do Us Good’ they really hit the bullseye.  It’s a Bacardi Breezer of a song - light and funky and succeeding in getting a good few asses shook.

Ben Poole - finger picking good

They come back on with co-headliner Ben Poole, and the estimable Steve Watts on keys, to shake the foundations with a fearsome rendition of Jeff Beck’s ‘Going Down’, and Nimmo and Poole have great fun cranking out the riff while Watts showcases on organ.

It’s a great ending to the night, and one that gives Poole another share of the spotlight after his satisfying set earlier in the evening.  The sexy ‘Let’s Go Upstairs’ is a strong opener, and Poole’s qualities are underlined on ‘Love Nobody No More’, a strong piece of songwriting done justice by his quavery, soulful vocal, finger-picking guitar, and nice harmonies.  Accompanied by the B&B rhythm section of Beable and Bacon, and with Watts on keyboards, the playing is rock solid.

‘Longing For A Woman’, with its ‘Norwegian Wood’-like descending bass line, is the inspiration for a fierce Telecaster solo, laden with tension.  In contrast ‘Lying To Me’ is chunky and funky, with Bradley Wiggins lookalike Watts coming over all Stax-like, and a syncopated feel to the middle section.

Poole and Nimmo take it to the limit

But if these songs demonstrate Poole’s potential, there are times when he could do with some more discipline.  He opens the Freddie King classic ‘Have You Ever Loved A Woman’ with an overlong solo guitar and vocal intro, which is a pity, because once the band kick in things get back on course.  Beable and Bacon are rock steady, Poole finds a pleasingly pinging, twanging guitar tone to complement his husky vocals, and Watts’ organ gives the whole thing balance.

He’s at it again on the Gary Moore-inspired ‘Time Might Never Come’.  The song has a yearning chorus and a neat resolving guitar chord to the riff, but the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts.  Poole gets into a gutsy solo, full of deep and rich tones, but takes far too long to get to the heart of it, and then lapses into a spell of vacuous shredding before getting back on track.

No matter.  The Brighton boy has the bones of a great, soulful sound, and he can write a good song.  He reminds me of Aynsley Lister, but has yet to acquire Lister’s poise and balance.  Touring with Stevie Nimmo will hopefully be an effective learning experience for him.

No Sinner - Old Habits Die Hard

It’s curate’s egg time, folks.  In other words, this second album from Vancouver-based Colleen Rennison and co (Rennison/No Sinner – get it?), is a decidedly mixed affair, its virtues compromised by its flaws.

Of the first six tracks on Old Habits Die Hard, only ‘Tryin’ and ‘Hollow’ really hit the mark.  The former has a bright, loping Southern feel, with some trills of piano for extra frills, and a gutsier slide-led interlude by way of contrast.  The latter is a well-balanced, well-paced tale of relationship disappointment, sung with feeling by Rennison, and decorated with some tasteful organ fills.

Colleen Rennison - where'd the rest of the band go?

Pic by Brendan Meadows

The rest, unfortunately, are painted-by-numbers hard rock, with only fleeting glimpses of imagination in the odd riff or guitar fill.  Whether it’s the hackneyed good-time stomp of ‘Saturday Night’, or the naff lyrics of ‘Get It Up’ (the title is the thin end of the wedge, believe me), this is stuff that really should have been weeded out.  “These go up to 11” may be a rock legend, but it was a joke after all, and making it work for real needs more chutzpah and wit than is apparent here.

But then, at the halfway point of the album, they eventually turn a decisive corner with ‘Friend Of Mine’.  The common component in ‘Tryin’ and ‘Hollow’ is a sense of restraint that allows different musical brushstrokes to be accented, and enables Rennison to display the variety of which she’s capable.  And so it is again with ‘Friend Of Mine’ – it may not be a tour de force, but it has enough light and shade to show them off to advantage.

The following ‘Fade Away’ is a belter though.  Propelled by throbbing bass and drums, with tense, brittle interjections of guitar, it puts me in mind of Robert Plant’s ‘Tall Cool One’, though more funky and laid back. Rennison gets imaginative with her vocal too, throwing in twists and yelps, enhanced by surges of echo and a variety of harmonies, some of them hoarsely whispered.  The guitar solo, when it comes along, is a hand-in-glove fit rather than an ego trip.

More exploration follows.  ‘When The Bell Rings’ may be a full on, pounding effort, but it has  an angsty, 21^st century quality, with guitar work that ventures beyond the dominant Page influence into Tom Morello territory. ‘Lines On the Highway’, by contrast, is a reflective, piano-led ballad on which Rennison demonstrates that she can lay back and be sensitive to good effect.

‘One More Time’ encompasses shifting moods over its six minutes, ranging from a late 60s wig-out with Moon-like clattering drums, to spooky atmospherics, to some strident, fanfare-like riffing.  Did their upbringing, by any chance, involve exposure to the early work of fellow Canucks Rush?

They close out with the moody blues-rock howl of ‘Mandy Lyn’, all grinding rhythm and scratchy, slithering slide while Rennison holds it back, before a fevered, throw-in-the-kitchen-sink climax.  Which shows that when it’s done right, turning it up to 11 can deliver not just power, but drama too.

In football parlance, Old Habits Die Hard is a game of two halves.  The first half, frustratingly, finds No Sinner struggling to muster a shot on target.  But after half-time they get their act together and finally find their shooting boots.  I’d like to hear what they could do in the hands of a producer prepared to give them some tough love by insisting on more rigorous quality control.

Old Habits Die Hard is released on 20 May.

Listened to lately . . .

There’s been an awful lot of music competing for attention on the Blues Enthused playlist recently.  But here are a few selections that you really should try to get your ears around sometime soon.

King King – ‘Rush Hour (Radio Remix)’

Looking forward to seeing King King on their upcoming tour, and with this new single they should get some decent airplay to go with it. It’s actually a radio edit, with about 45 seconds judiciously trimmed from the album version.  But the mix also brings Alan Nimmo’s vocals further to the fore, and gives some extra oomph to Wayne Proctor’s drums.  Possibly not of huge interest to long-standing fans, except on a completist basis, but if you’re not familiar with King King yet then: (a) where have you been? And (b) check out this video, and get on board!

Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Method To My Madness

If you like Mike Zito & The Wheel (and their Keep Coming Back was probably my favourite album of 2015), then this should be right up your street.  There’s a strong seam of Creedence-like 60s rock’n’roll, driven along by varied rhythms from Bowen Brown, as on the opening track 'Common Ground'.  There’s also some great blues, infusions of funk, and tinges of country, while the laid back ‘Ride’ sounds like a drive with the top down on a sultry night in NOLA.  

Rebecca Downes – Believe

I happened to give Downes’ first album, Back To The Start, a listen just recently, and thought to myself, “This isn’t half bad”.  The same applies to this follow-up.  It kicks off in a satisfying groove, with some nice playing and stinging guitar to back up Miss D as she unwraps her tonsils.  There are some pretty good songs on show too, often in a soulful, funky vein, but also taking in the good-time break-up song ‘1000 Years’, and the smoky ‘Could Not Say No’.

Wily Bo Walker & E D Brayshaw – Stone Cold Beautiful

With his deep, rumbling voice, I can imagine that Walker is aiming for a Tom Waits vibe.  He doesn’t quite have the poetry for that, but this is still an evocative collection of songs, with a cinematic quality to the stories and imagery.  The music is a good fit too, reminding me of Chris Rea in ‘Road To Hell’ mode, with Brayshaw’s piercing guitar work the icing on the cake from start to finish.  They like to spread themselves too – just six songs across about 40 minutes – but there’s not a minute wasted.  Here, though, is the relatively short 'Motel Blues'