Welcome back Aynsley Lister!!! (Page 2 of 15)

Great review Mike, off go see him at the The Robin 2 on thursday. Aynsley has invited V down, the last time they got together it was a 90 minute show and then 3 hours of the pair of them cooing over each others gear:) Aynsley is one of those genuinley really nice guys. So or those who can make it, should be some cool goings on at The Robin.

Stunning gig at the Robin last week! What I can’t get over is that in five or six years of Aynsley gigs since I first saw him, I’ve never come away thinking “well he was better than that the last time”. Always a quality show with a great mix of blues rock originals supplemented wth some inspired covers.

As mentioned above, Aynsley invited Virgil McMahon along to join him on a couple of songs, returning the favour after Aynsley had been asked to join the VATA boys at their Leicester gig. What a blast! It was a bit like Obi-Wan and Luke getting together, but more fun - lots of smiles from both - lots of mutual respect too - and truly captivating to watch these two trading licks back and forth. Here’s a video of “Running Out On Me”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIKNo0eb … ture=share . It’s not brillant quality but well worth sticking with to halfway through ‘cos that’s where it gets really interesting.

Over the course of this year Aynsley's been roadtesting some new songs and they are sounding really strong now. Noticed a few tweaks here and there in some of them, and I'm sure it won't be long now before he's ready to get back in the studio and cut the next album.

Here's a slideshow of my pics from the gig http://www.flickr.com/photos/42034502@N … 4731/show/

and a few in monochrome http://www.flickr.com/photos/42034502@N … 6171/show/

Ian

Thanks Sandy.
Aynsley has just announced a whole load of gigs in the UK and Europe for the first half of 2012..
Here's a link to those dates on his website  http://www.aynsleylister.co.uk/index.php/gigs

Quite a few solo dates this time too - well worth catching if you've not seen one before.

Ian

European dates for Aynsley; April/May 2012

Wed April 18th       
Thurs April 19th Harmonie  Bonn Germany
Fri April 20th Hirsch Nuremburg Germany
Sat April 21st Hirsch Glems Germany
Sun April 22nd TBA TBA TBA
Mon April 23rd Muddys Weinheim Germany
Tues April 24th Spectrum Augsburg Germany
Wed April 25th Hirsch Nurmburg Germany
Thurs April 26th Die Halle Reichenbach Germany
Thurs May 3rd Meisenfrei Bremen Germany
Fri May 4th Schmullings Bergkamen Germany
Sat May 5th Blues Club Baden Baden Germany
Thurs May 17th Charly's Oldenburg Germany
Fri May 18th Downtown Hamburg Germany
Sat May 19th Blues Club Rheine Germany

Enjoy
Mike

Well, caught my first Aynsley gig of the year on Saturday, well worth the drive over the A66 to Kendal Bootleggers. My first time at that venue and won't be my last, that's for sure. The stage is low, but well sized, well lit and good sound (drowns out noise from the bar without blowing your eardrums out). Great atmosphere and friendly crowd.

Aynsley was in sparking form, though have to say, there were more changes in the band line-up than in the set list from the Autumn/Winter tour. However, it had the feel of a Spring training session. As ever, Aynsley batting in the lead-off spot, Dan Healey back on keyboards and batting clean-up. Usual drummer Tim is out on the DL, so the dynamo that is Simon Small drafted back in as the DH. Midus, also on the DL, to the surprise of many Aynsley followers meant that Colin Peters was called off the bench at the last minute to pinch hit for her. What we got were 2 solid (60 minute) innings.

And that's where I'm ending the baseball metaphor. As I said, not much different in the set list from my Cluny review a little back on this thread, but really tight. Even though most of the band have been out for a while (a long while for Colin on bass), not only tight, but everyone on stage was thoroughly enjoying themselves. Aynsley and Dan trading licks; Aynsley coming back at Dan's fills while he was changing or tuning guitars. Always good to see Simon behind a kit, no matter who he's playing for and a major acknowledgement to Colin, standing in after apparently years at really short notice; if you couldn't see the stage, you would know he was having to play from sheet music. Aynsley was really giving it the beans, looking like he was ready to do some guitar slinging through the break in Early Morning Dew - at that's one of the slower numbers in the set!! The newer songs, Inside Out, Posession, Home, Sugar all settling in nicely, as is the Feeling Good cover. Aynsley's playing is as incendiary as ever.

Think this was one of the first "band" shows since Christmas, and the majority of gigs until mid-April are solo shows (and not to be missed), this was a great chance to blow away the cobwebs, and they went for it. Aynsley also announced from stage that he's heading into the studio in the summer, so think of him while you're off to Spain, Turkey, Florida or the DIY Store.

Mike

Both Tim and Midus are out following minor surgeries (not "Tommy John" I don't think...) but are itching to be back in action soon, hopefully for the band dates.

Wow!! Not some much The Aynsley Lister Band, more the Trent Valley All-Stars: that was a band and a half to hit such a small, quiet corner of Yorkshire; and hit it they did. So who are they? Well, there was Steve Amadeo on Bass (think that’s the first time I’ve seen him with an electric one); Andre Bessing working the magic over the keys; the mighty Wayne Proctor on drums and finally on Strat, Les Paul, Slide and vocals, a familiar looking guy in a smart suit. Typical of Yorkshire to squeeze every drop of value from the admission; however, a line-up like that certainly delivers.

Opening the night were Guisborough’s finest, The Mentulls. . Even though I’ve seen Andrew jamming with a few bands over the last couple of months, this is the first time for a while I’ve seen them do a set and there are a couple of changes; mostly in Andrew’s voice; its getting stronger but he’s loosing the higher register so a couple of the old stock covers are gone. That said, nothing to complain about and his guitar playing is hot; Jamie, still steamin’ away in the corner on keys and Nick on drums giving a blistering solo on the second song all rounded up to give a good 40 minutes of rockin’ blues in their own style, including a brand new song. They finished off with Just Got Paid / Starship Trooper a la Joe B and their own I Got The Blues to which I noticed a certain lady having a quiet “bop” to.

So on to the meat an’ tatties. I don’t which is more amazing, the number of quality mates Aynsley has on call to help out while band regulars are on the DL or the fact that the quality of the show has the needle off the scale. The interplay between Aynsley and Andre is to be heard to be believed, and the take on Feelin’ Good for me is almost eclipsing Purple Rain. The set list isn’t really much different to Kendal last month, though it was one continuous, rather than a split set. All the new songs are really bedding in nicely,  Possession, Insatiable, Inside Out, Sugar (sounding a bit “beefier” in the 3 chord dept.), so the new CD should be in great form - just wonder what else Aynsley’s going to pull out the hat….

And what about Ripley Blues Club? Well, if like me, you’ve never been before, expect a warm welcome, friendly atmosphere and a nice drop of Theakstons in a Victorian hall that will take 200 people and nearly did even with Chris Rea next door in Harrogate and Joe Bonamassa close by.

Mike

Tour starts tomorrow and my ticket for Bonn the day after tomorrow is ordered.
I hope that I can make it just in time ...
Really looking forward to the gig as I haven't seen Aynsley Lister in 2011.

I will miss Midus and I don't know whether I like Aynsley's business man dress.
But as long as I can wear my jeans ... I don't have a real problem with Aynsley's outfit.
2 days