Jon Amor Group

December 6th.

Not certain if Jon’s more recent Blues Group has been wound up or temporarily put out to pasture since The Hoax have swung back into action, but Saturday night saw the Jon Amor Band, which I think has been quiet since 2010, playing up a storm at Guisborough R’n'B Club.

Fronted by Jon, the band was made up of Hoax mate Mark Barrett on drums, Blues Group mate Dave Docherty moving from usual 2nd guitar to bass and on keyboards, Bennett Holland playing his first Blues gig in some time.

Jon took to the stage solo for the first handful of numbers, 2 taken from the Unknown Soldier album, to settle things in before dispensing with the loop box; “I’ve got a band in the back room, unless they’ve sneaked off down the pub”. What a band it was… driving through tracks from Jon’s earliest post-Hoax releases and right up to Blues Group’s Juggernaut, Repeat Offender and She Thought I Was An Eagle and powering through covers from Lightning Slim, Muddy Waters and J.J. Cale (Cajun Moon), these guys were flying.

I’ve seen Jon now in several guises, but while I’ve seen him share the stage with Dave Docherty in the Blues Group and of course, Jesse Davy in The Hoax, it the first time I’ve seen Jon interact with a keyboards player, and indeed, it was Jon’s first time on stage with Bennett Holland. All I can say is, what an almighty combination. If you’ve seen Bennett in the past with King King, then you know how good this guy really is, so matched up with someone like Jon, it was beyond thrilling. As true pros, they gave each other room, but when it came to solos, they sparked and fed off each other; pulling the best from one another: they were working hard, but enjoying it. Fingers crossed, it becomes a regular line-up.

It’s getting to be a cliché, but this really was something special to see and hear and really deserving of the near full-house at the Football Club. And for me, what a way to end my 2014 gig season; Aynsley Lister, then Jon Amor. (Now, how do you get the 2 together on the same bill…....)