If you wanted something to cheer up a cold damp Sunday evening in London you couldn't ask for much better than The Billy Walton Band. You can't help but warm to these guys. I was standing in front of the stage chatting with Eldo and Tripsy and up comes Billy and joins us. We're chatting away and the drummer starts up – a kind of impatient, come-on-let's-get-on-with-it kind of rhythm. So Billy, cool or what, finishes what he's saying, strolls up onto the stage, plugs in his guitar and lets rip. And boy does he let rip.
This was the second time I'd seen the band and I'd say they were even better than before. It was a shame the club wasn't full but those of us who were there all had big smiles on our faces and were rockin' like we'd filled the place. The Bonabuddies were out in force with Maggie, Lydia and Tricia dancing away at the front of the stage.
Billy is such a showman. He does acrobatics on that guitar which are fantastic to watch but it's not just show - he's a stunning guitarist. William Paris on bass complements Billy perfectly and in one moody number they were both sitting on the edge of the stage playing like it was just for those of us standing round them. The new drummer, John Hummel, has really fitted in nicely with the band.
As Tripsy said they're such nice guys too and the group photo on the stage (with Tripsy's camera) was huge fun – thanks William.
Here are some of my photos :
http://picasaweb.google.com/currymandav … directlink
I'll put my review of the second part of this double header on the Oli Brown Band thread.
