Danny Bryant and RedEyeBand @ The Boot and Shoe Ackworth
I must warn you that this is a totally biased review of a gig I had no intention of reviewing! Danny B and his fine band have justifiably been given a huge amount of exposure in the British blues press over the past eighteen months. This is all down to merit and when a band works as hard as they do, they deserve their exposure. I went to see Danny and the boys at my favourite music venue, The Boot and Shoe, purely for pleasure. The gig was so good and the quality of music so outstanding, I simply could not let this opportunity pass by without documenting at least some of the highlights.
I must also admit that I was pretty well-oiled this particular evening, helping to keep Landlord Les Thompson's accounts buoyant! Les can do no wrong in my view; we need people like Les to keep the promotion of live music healthy. During this gig Danny played Les Thompson's 1959 Gibson 330. On occasions, when Les thinks the artist of the day is good enough, he will allow them to play his very expensive and exquisite instrument. I know Danny likes this guitar, he considers it to be a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
Danny kick-started the evening's fare with Elmore James' Dust My Broom , his 1970's sunburst Stratocaster sounding superb through a Fender Super Reverb amp. As there had been no time for a formal sound check, a few tweaks and twiddles were necessary and the sound quality sounded great once again. I was really enjoying this first of three sets this evening. After the first set, I spoke to Steve White of Raw Gallagher, who was delighted with
Redeyeband's performance. He said, “What a Voice, it's great!” It's nice when a fellow musician takes time to compliment another's work. Steve is also a guitar tutor and fully appreciated Danny's brilliant guitar playing.
The band played into the second set on this December Sunday evening with more great songs by Danny's pen and compositions of other great songwriters. The Bob Dylan classic, I Shall be Released was one, and was performed with great integrity and feeling. Danny then invited Joe Lally to play bass on the Walter Trout super blues Reason I'm Gone . What a great song with Andy Burt on Tama drums and Joe on his Peavey Zephyr bass keeping the relentless beat while Danny sang and played this fantastic song to the Boot and Shoe's appreciative punters. Regular bassist Ken Bryant continued his ten-minute break whilst Danny, Andy, and guest bassist Joe Lally played another of Danny Bryant's compositions The Losing Game , a great song, sadly only ever released on an independent single CD and now supplies are sold out. Ken (Diamond Geezer) Bryant returned to the stage to take his rightful position on his Fender bass to play the Billy Roberts penned and Jimi Hendrix styled Hey Joe . This is a great old classic and is always done justice by this great band of musicians from Royston in Hertfordshire.
I have to say that the effects of too much of John Smith's beverages were making me want to pick up an air guitar at the same time as wanting to use my thighs as a drum kit. This was proving to be a great gig. The sensory pleasures I was experiencing continued with John Fogarty's Fortunate Son . This is a fantastic mover from the Creedence Clearwater man and one I didn't expect at all. This is a great song.
The crowd were loving it. As I watched, Terry from the Welsh T Blues Band (another great band) turned to me and shouted in his best South Wales twang, “ F***in' Great This, Innit?” I was thoroughly amused by this comment from yet another musician! It was great too.
Danny and the band also played two of Popa Chubby's superb compositions, Sweet Goddess of Love and Beer and Nobody Loves Me Like I Love Myself . These renditions just blew my mind completely, I was truly steaming during Danny's interpretations of these outstanding songs. They were absolutely stunning!
I mentioned Danny and Les Thompson's beautiful Gibson 330. Danny took out his bottleneck slide and played, to my wife's delight, Dancing Girl from the Watching You CD. Les Thompson also gleaned much pleasure from seeing his 330 played so well! Also from Danny's studio album, the instrumental Purple and my favourite, the truly fabulous Falling Tears were offered to a great reception, as well as the title track Watchin' You .
This gig was another triumph for this brilliant band. As the evening ended, I spoke to many people who hadn't even heard of them but were totally blown away by the evening's performance. I didn't make any notes on the evenings proceedings but after the gig I knew I would have to write about it. The content was shear quality and the comments I heard have compelled me to report on this gig. I may be biased but I know what is good and what is ordinary. This band exceeds all expectations and is without a shadow of a doubt among the top flight of the UK 's finest blues bands. Make a point of seeing them as soon as you can. This is an Internationally acclaimed Festival band playing at a pub venue. We are fortunate to see such quality in such small venues. I am so pleased I experienced one of these pleasurable moments! This is Blues at it's very best, a small venue and a big artist, it's simply as good as it gets.