Stevie Nimmo

Saturday, Dec 14th

Harr! t'was a squally night over in Hartlepool, the wind lashing the riggin' of the Trincomalee; aye, but the atmosphere in the Nursery Inn was warm as the grog and convivial as......better stop there.....

Not a bad way to open a few notes on Stevie Nimmo's solo gig at the Nursery Inn, Hartlepool. Not the biggest room in the town, it was full with 50 people sat round tables, never mind the dozen or so of us stood at the back; but it was warm, the beer was reasonable and ample and the sound was superbly handled; the venue is known on the folk and acoustic cirucits. The audience was settled into a good mood by Andrew (Mentulls) Pipe doing his first ever acoustic solo, so there was a great vibe as Stevie took the stage.

So, this is the "less noisy Nimmo", according to Stevie, well for me the set just showed what a fantastic voice Stevie has, as well as his great guitar technique that make him and Alan the two sides of the same coin: they are dynamite together, but separate, they're still great. Stevie tends more on the Americana and singer/songwriter, leaning a lot on his sublime solo album, Wynds Of Life, but as he showed, the rocker is still in him as he bursts into Voodoo Chile, which is no mean feat, unplugged.
The audience is with him every step of the way, cheering and urging him on every guitar break or poignant lyric emphasis - and they come think and fast.

Lesser used songs from Nimmo's back catalogue, especially from the New Moon Over Memphis album are mixed with some of Stevie's favourite songwriters in a very relaxed style, interspersed with anecdotes and some back-and-forth with the audience. Split over 2 sets, it was 90+ minutes of some of the very best acoustic I've heard in a long while; up there with Messers Segal, Parker, Lister & Bonfanti.

Keep an eye out through the early part of 2014, Stevie may do more solo shows, but he has a growing number of shows in Trio form.

Looking forward to a couple of Stevie Nimmo Trio gigs in 2014 - he's promised to turn up the Orange amp.... I'd still recommend one of Stevie's solo, acoustic shows if you haven't caught one yet; great, intimate night.

Another great show from Stevie, Matt & Craig at Newcastle Cluny on Friday night. It's no secret what a great player & singer Stevie is within the Nimmo Borthers, but just as Alan is on a roll with King King, then so Stevie is due a bit solo spotlight with this rockin' trio.

The set as such wasn't greatly changed from earlier in the year, though the soloing had that bit more "bite" and long-term sideman Mat is a superb foil, along with the powerhouse that is Craig. The only other slight change, the encore wasn't so much Goin' Down as Ganin' Doon.

Sooner these guy's get in the studio, the better, though on this form, a Live CD wouldn't go amiss either.

I have an advance copy of the Sky Won't Fall (its available at the gigs) - will be a contender for album of the year.

I'll go along with that... Fantastic gig at Darlington on Friday night; both Stevie and Ben were on fire. And the finale jam was something the club will be talking about for sometime to come.

Well, getting toward the end of the co-headline tour and once again, Ben sets up the audience and once again, Stevie just blasts it through the roof......
Unlike Ben, Stevie's no stranger to Hartlepool, though his last visit was acoustic; and the packed Supporter's Club were really eager for Stevie's return, and he didn't disappoint. The set I doubt has changed at all since Darlington earlier in the tour, but then why should it; a great mix of Stevie's older and newer solo work, with Storyville, Allman Brothers & Big George covers, Stevie a Blues genre of his own - Glas-texas Blues.
And as said before, the encore with Ben Poole and Ben's keyboard wiz Steve Watts is epic. We've all seen great gigs, but this has been a great tour.....

Friday 9th March - Darlington Forum

It’s not often you go out to see a guitarist with a broken arm, and not wonder how they’re going to cope with the obvious limitation, but trust a true pro like Stevie Nimmo to get round the problem with great aplomb.

Before Christmas, it was the unique situation of almost-but-not-quite a Nimmo Brothers reunion with Stevie singing but not playing and Alan N playing but not singing due to recent throat surgery. This time though, Alan’s off touring with King King commitments so Stevie has brought in a new guitarist, a relative unknown young guy, Dave Devlin, and what a find he has been; within three songs, he was getting ovations for his solos. Not that the gig was just a showcase for this nascent talent, but it also brought to the fore what a powerful & expressive singer Stevie is. There are very few guitarists who can show equal prowess in their playing and singing, and Stevie is toward the top of the list. Add to that, a solid backline of the ever present Craig Bacon on drums and old Nimmo Bros face Sam Firth on Bass and you got a top flight band.

No surprise that the set was most of the Sky Won’t Fall album, with a powerful cover of Stroyville’s Good Day For The Blues and Freddie King’s Goin’Down closing the main set, the latter being a blazing showcase for the young “wunderkind”  and also in there was a Nimmo-ed up cover of a little known recent Clapton, River of Tears. Another treat for the night, was Stevie picking up a guitar and managing to get through Gambler’s Roll for the 1st time since his spill and he’s probably still suffering for the impromptu bit of physio, but good to see the magic is returning. Closing the night, Stevie got back to his roots with young Devlin playing his heart out on Big George’s The Storm.

So, great as always to Stevie in action, even partly so, but however long left Dave Devlin has on the road with the band then I think the lad has earned from being “(+ 1)”, passed “+ 1” and should be “+ Dave Devlin”; what a find this quiet young talent is.

Here's some footage our ol' mate Walter took in Weert about a week previously, featuring Dave Devlin:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gld_BwDCHcU