Dani Wilde Band & Mitch Laddie

I was at a great gig last Friday night as the Dani Wilde Band made their first ever trip to Scotland to play the Ferry in Glasgow.

First up was the Mitch Laddie Band, Mitch looks like a young Jack Black but fortunately can play far better as he played a selection of songs from his debut album. I'd been aware of Mitch for a while and was looking forward to seeing his set. His playing was very good, flamboyant, yet controlled. The influence of Walter Trout is apparent yet their is a funkier edge to his playing. The picks were probably the instrumental tribute to Eric Johnson, Mr Johnson and the Hendix style This Time Around. The fact he did not play Here's A Drink or Papa's Got A Brand New Band which I thought were dead certs to be played, does indicate his has a good range of material.

The Dani Wilde Band came on shortly after, without Dani, and Will lead them through a slow blues, demonstrating his fine vocals and bluesy harp playing, before the band launched into Little By Little. It was apparent very early that this is a very tight band of talent musicians. It may be unfair to compare Mitch to Dani, but the contrast was apparent due to having three charismatic and talented frontpeople on stage. Dani has a warm and likable stage presence and always told the story behind the song in her introductions. Most of the new album was aired and too list the standouts would be foolish as their were no lowlights, yet the haunting Abandoned Child dedicated to a girl she met on her regular charity work in Kenya and the impassioned Don't Give Up On Me were stunning. Poole impressed on guitar, agreesive but always within the context of the song and Will on harp just gave the band that extra dimension. Red Blooded Woman, Miss You and Bring Your Loving Home had the crowd in a cheerful mood before Dani unstrapped her Tele to sing People Say, and the amusing The Blues Comes First You Come Second, sang as a duet with Dani and its composer Will. The performance really confirmed my view that a fuller band is a better band, and at a push I'd say Dani's band are probably the best of the early twenties blues acts on the UK circuit.

It was great to have such a wealth of great young talent playing the blues on one stage, what was less great was a rather small crowd. Having purchased Ben and Will's CDs as well as Dani's they all come highly recommended. Will's is harmonica based blues which highlights his fine vocals too, while Ben's is blues rock and includes a fine version of Free's Fire and Water. Dani's Shine is superb and twice as good as her debut, with that Vernon touch. They will be alternating on the player for a while! Buy then and even more so, go and see them live.