Deborah Bonham

Saw her live a couple of years ago supporting Paul Rodgers at the Colston Hall in Bristol. Fantastic voice and a real nice person.

The nearest gig to me is the Square & Compass in Ilminster. Well worth a half hour trip to see her again

Great, great night at Darlington Forum on Friday, Deborah Bonham's 1st N.East gig in a few years (and not for the lack of trying to get here...); she looked glad to be here and a packed Forum were glad that she was; Deborah took to the stage and for the next 2 hours she owned the venue, the street and probably half of Darlington with a voice big enough to have filled the Civic Theatre at the other end of the block.

Imagine if Heart covered The Faces, and for the uninitiated, that's as close to the vibe and feel of Deborah's music; very much rooted in early 1970's rockin' blues with a tinge of Folk. The set covered much of Deborah's 2 previous, strong albums, Duchess & The Old Hyde, tracks like Grace, Jack Past 8 and Pretty Thing as well as a good chunk from the forthcoming The Spirit album, especially with a vocal tour-de-force I Need Love and great takes like Fly and the infectiously catchy Take Me Down.

Deborah's band, Ian Rowley (bass) Gerard Louis (keys), Peter Bullick (gtr/mandolin) & Rich Newman (drums) are well known backing other great artists, but with DB, there's not only a closeness of friends but a real tightness and unity of purpose that propels Deborah's vocals even further. All too soon the main set is reaching it's finale with the moving Old Hyde before the Forum's foundations are shaken by the stomping and cheering of the audience until the band take the stage again and Deborah finds another vocal gear for Stay With Me Baby with surely one of the soul/blues voices that others should be measured by; before the band launches into an explosive Rock an' Roll.

And off-stage, Deborah is one of the most gracious and appreciative performers you'd ever meet; so yeah, great night. Now somebody, up here, get her booked again!!!

Tasters from Kinross, earlier in the month:-
I Need Love - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHs8r_qaef8
No Angel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CLFLkAv-yI
&
Take Me Down (acoustic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIyiM6B3ak8  (@Little Rabbit Barn)

Deborah's dates for 2014, anyone interested:-
APRIL 

Thurs 10th  LONDON Half Moon Putney, 93 Lower Richmond Road, London SW15 1EU 8pm T:020 8780 9383 http://halfmoon.co.uk

Tues 15th  MILTON KEYNES The Stables, Stockwell Lane, Wavendon, Bucks MK17 8LU  T:01908 280800 http://www.stables.org/Whats_on

Thurs 17th  LEICESTER The Musician, 42 Crafton St W, Leicester LE1 2DE T:0116 251 0080 http://www.themusicianpub.co.uk/

Fri 18th  NANTWICH Jazz & Blues Fest, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5AS  T:01270 625283 7.45pm £11.50 http://nantwichjazz.com/category/the-cr … ah-bonham/

Fri 25th  STOURBRIDGE Moochers, 11 New Road Stourbridge, West Midlands DY8 1PH T:01384 394794 £10 http://www.moochers.co.uk

Sat 26th  RIPLEY Ripley Live, Town Hall Ripley, North Yorkshire HG3 3AX T:01423 860340 7.30pm £8 (members)/ £10 (non-members) http://www.ripleylive.com 

JUNE

Fri 20th  BUILTH WELLS Sonic Rock Solstice Festival, Penmaenau Farm, Wales LD2 3RD http://www.sonicrocksolstice.com/

JULY

Fri 19th  FRANCE (18) BOURGES FEST http://www.106db.com

AUGUST

Sat 16th  FRANCE LIMOGES FEST http://106db.com

Sun 31st  WEYFEST  Reeds Road, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 2DL http://www.weyfest.co.uk/

OCTOBER

Thurs 2nd  BELGIUM Spirit of ‘66, Vevriers

Sat 4th  FRANCE (71) CHAUFFAILLES FEST http://www.106db.com

Fri 17th  LOWDHAM VILLAGE HALL 37 Ridge Hill, Lowdham, Notts NG14 7EL T:0115 9663596 http://www.warthogpromotions.com

NOVEMBER

Fri 7th  ULVERSTON Sports Club, Priory Road, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 9HT  T:01229 582258  £10 http://www.ulverstonlivemusic.co.uk   

Sat 8th  DEVIZES Long Street Blues Club, Wilsford House, 30 Long Street, Devizes Wilts, SN10 1NW  T:01380 725614 http://www.longstreetbluesclub.co.uk

Fri 14th  HULLBRIDGE Touchline, Hullbridge Sports Club,  Lower Road, Essex SS5 6BJ Essex  http://www.touchlinelivemusic.co.uk

Deborah Bonham & Peter Bullick - Trillians; Newcastle 30-9-22

Now that's what Friday nights are for, a smokin' hot band and a singer with an almighty voice, delivering classic Blues rock. Deborah Bonham & partner Peter Bullick with band were in town and promoting their crackin' recent "covers" album, and don't forget, these guys are virtually Blues Rock royalty, they've been there and don't it, first hand..

What else is to say, the performance was as passionate as it was powerful, the majority of the 2hr, no-break set was from the new album with a couple of personal highlights being Bleeding Muddy Water and It Ain't Easy - all the time Deborah voice sparring with Peter's guitars, and he wasn't averse to dropping a couple of Zeppelin licks into the mix. Another new cover, not on the album, was a take on John Lennon's Jealous Guy, but done in the style of Frankie Miller, rather than Bryan Ferry

It wasn't all covers though, Deborah went through her own back-catalogue, mainly the Spirit album (the last tour I caught) and a brace of mighty tracks from her Duchess album, the title track and a powerful Grace. All too soon it seemed they were winding up the main set with a great, passionate The Devil In New Orleans that had Deborah on the floor.

That just left the encore then... With a name like Bonham, guess what it was. Wrong, you're forgetting the band is shared with Paul Rodgers so we got a pair of Free songs, back-to-back - Mr Big (complete with stunning bass solo) and then The Hunter that had Trillians reeling,

Phew - off to recharge now...