A wet and windy Monday evening meant that myself and camera carrying colleague Mike hid out in the bar pre-show (the quirks of living around the corner from the venue) however at 7pm we corralled by the security to make our way into The Tramshed for an evening or rootsy, bluesy rocking courtesy of two fine acts.
Having seen them previously in Clwb Ifor Bach, Cornish (and one Devonian) roots rockers Wille & The Bandits (7) got things off to a louche, riffy start, frontman Wille delivering some sweet lap steel, guitars and those gritty, soulful vocals as his band of Bandits brought a sound with southern, blues and Americana influenced rocking drenched in keyboards but unfortunately overridden a lot of the times by the loudness of the drums. While this wasn't as noticeable during their rockier material, when they played the quieter lighter stuff from their most recent album, the drums were a little distracting. Still they quickly won over a damp crowd with their infectious energy/camaraderie, even getting them to clamp/stomp/sing along. An opener that quickly set fire to the room warming everyone up nicely in 45 minutes of blue collar rocking.
The changeover began and the stage was set for tonights headliner a woman who has managed to shift the blues into the 21st Century, collaborating with Tech9ne on a song and using electronics on her most recent albums, although from her and her bands retro aesthetic you would think otherwise. It was time for kick off and Samantha Fish (8) hit the stage toting a cigarbox guitar and a slide to get the night off to a strong start with big hitter Bulletproof (Tangle Eye Mix) from previous record Kill Or Be Kind, the twangy cigar box reverberating around The Tramshed as Fish's vocals give a whiskey soaked, angelic hue. This was only one of two from that record with 3 coming from Faster her most recent release.
The country shuffle of Better Be Lonely, the attitude-filled Twisted Ambition and the classic sounding blues of Hypnotic bringing a bit of St Vincent (Masseduction-era) as the traditional blues was given a modern makeover. Still the blues loomed large on Highways Holding Me Now, the swaggering No Angels and Bitch On The Run which are all steeped in Fish's take no shit attitude. She's a great singer and guitarist, with a well drilled band behind her, it was only between the songs where there seemed to be nerves as the wet Monday crowd were a little muted, however as the night progressed things did heat up and by the time of the encore of Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down was played there was a euphoric reaction. Redefining the blues with every show and every album
Fair review ,personally I thought the audience were with her from the off ,loved the show,great atmosphere, leaning on the bar with a jack daniels in hand soaking up the music of Sam is my type of night out .
ReplyDeleteGreat review and pretty much on point. The only thing I disagree with is the crowd; flat as a pancake for most of both acts. Apart from my wife and me, a rather colourfully attired chap in the front and a couple of others, most people just stood still. I didn’t get it and I still don’t. Just dance and enjoy!
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