VATA gig plug Wales

Virgil and the Accelerators are playing Borough Blues Club, Pontypool this Saturday £5 on the door, best to buy in advance boroughblues.com here is review of our last gig from someone who writes fro Blues Matters and Music News, dont miss out in seeing this band in its infancy, raw, talented and powerful:

What a helluva way to see January out!
Virgil & The Accelerators played a stunning show at the Buzz Club tonight and managed to add to their growing collection of admirers as they tore into a set of so many different turns I got dizzy.

They started with just Virgil MCMahon on acoustic guitar and bass player Tom Sansbury and played a few numbers that showed Virgil’s chops and allowed us all to get into the Blues groove he makes his own. Kicking off with 'Crossroads’ shows that you are either confident and talented or just plain stupid – Virgil McMahon ain’t stupid!

When they were joined by drummer Gabriel McMahon (Virgil's younger brother) they kicked up a gear and ripped into a stunning electric Blues/Rock instrumental with Virgil’s guitar staying just this side of shredding and Sansbury’s basslines stretching and fluid while the younger McMahon played the most incredibly restrained but effective drums I have heard from a mere 16 year old. It is frightening to think that the ages of the entire band combine to less than the age of any of their management but these kids have talent way beyond their years.
'What Am I To Do?’ was excellent with great feel from Virgil and 'No Turning Back’ featured vocals from Tom over a jazz influenced and bass driven little number. 'Working Man’ saw the band really stretching out and Virgil was ripping solo after solo from his Flying V.
The audience was beginning to realise that something special was happening here and Otis Grand was brought up on to the stage to play with the band. Grand discovered Virgil at age twelve and mentored him through his earliest years but this was the first time that they had played on stage together – the result was stunning with the two of them trading licks and, after a furious exchange, Grand beaming a huge smile and nodding to his pupil as if to say 'Ok, you got what I taught you’.

After a short break the three came back out for a second set and the mood got a little rockier with Virgil acknowledging the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton and Tom Sansbury looking and even sounding like a young and energetic Jack Bruce. Gabriel’s drumming was a perfect foil for the other two and they played totally as a band with contributions from all three and a ridiculous amount of confidence for three youngsters. A staggering version of 'Voodoo Chile’ – which somehow morphed into 'Miserilou’ – that saw all of Virgil’s chops on display and stopped just a gnats pube short of psychedelic, was the brilliant set closer. The entire crowd at the Buzz Club roared their appreciation for what they saw and swarmed around the stage to congratulate the band and anyone else in reach.

Otis Grand said to me afterwards that 'He is scary as a ##%@$ – he is the future of the Blues' and I couldn’t disagree – this was a special night and Virgil & The Accelerators showed that Blues Rock has a bright future in Britain.