Topic: Oli Brown, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Virgil & the Accelerators – Jazz Café
On a cold, wet miserable night these 3 young bands well and truly warmed up the Jazz Café in London's Camden Town.
Heavy traffic meant it took me over 3 hours to get there so it was very pleasant to see the friendly faces of forum buddies Maggie, Lydia and Tricia the moment I arrived and to find out that I hadn't missed Virgil and the Accelerators as I'd feared. Martin (mbcl) looked very busy but we did exchange a quick “hi” yelled across the room.
If Virgil, Tom and Gabriel were nervous before the gig they didn't show it once they got on stage. Even after Planet Rock's David Jenson had informed the audience while introducing the band that legendary blues producer Mike Vernon and the boss of Ruf Records were in the audience. So no pressure there then.
Virgil and bass player Tom share the vocals to great effect and a tight young band they are too. Raw (in a good way) and powerful. You just know they are going to get more and more well known. They made quite a few new fans last night (including me) and they deserved to. And yes Martin, I DID buy the EP – I'm enjoying it while I'm typing this. And I met another forum buddy, Mansfield – hi Rob - by pure chance on the way back from the merchandise stall.
Joanne Shaw Taylor had flown back from the states only that morning but she was raring to go. Unfortunately her equipment was not. David Jenson had to fill for a bit while Virgil and our very own super-hero Martin tried to fix the leads. Except it wasn't the wiring that was the problem it was Joanne's guitar. So Virgil, being a gentleman, lent her his and she finally started her set. She was explosive. I swear she has ratcheted it up a notch since I saw her at Leamington (what did you guys do to her over the other side of the pond eh?). Her singing and her guitar playing were as full of passion and energy as ever.
Luckily, Oli Brown did not suffer any technical glitches. He doesn't seem to suffer from lack of confidence either. He really is an accomplished performer which is even more remarkable when you consider his age. Just as at Leamington, Oli played the crowd to great effect and his good humour shines through all the time he is on stage. We were treated to a number of songs from the upcoming album which bodes well as they were red hot. Oli was brought back by the crowd for a couple of encores. The final number was a cover of Black Betty in which Oli left the stage, serenaded the diners on the upstairs gallery and then re-appeared at crowd level in front of the stage. I think Tricia got a real close up on her phone.
Then it was back into the cold wet night singing “whoa, black Betty, bam-a-lam” in my head (at least I hope it was in my head and not out loud) on the Tube ride back to where I parked my car.
