Finally escaping from gigs in Camden I head south - south of the river in fact. On my ancient map it says 'Here be dragons!' - but I'm strapping my armour on and risking it...
A long train journey from North London finds me at
The Amersham Arms in New Cross. Unfortunately I miss the Kult 45s who I'd been looking forward to seeing again. On stage when I arrived were
Bad Day Blues Band.
This lot were new to me but certainly worth checking out. Fronted by a bass player - which is unusual for a blues band, they play hard and mean with quite a different take on a genre that can seem stale in the wrong hands. Not with these boys though.
Next up are
John E Vistic Rock n' Roll Soundsystem. This bunch are a little weirder. A little like a psyched and amped up version of The Doors - with a frontman who's 'out there' in more ways than one. You can't accuse them of being boring.
Then it's onto the headliners.
The Urban Voodoo Machine are a band like no other. This is the first time I've seen them for a while, although I have been to many of their gigs over the years. Tonight's show is a bit of an odd one for them - the turnout is noticeably less than usual for them as their gigs are normally full. Maybe it's a combination of the high ticket price and their usual crowd not wanting to venture south of the river and far from their usual haunts around Stoke Newington and Dalston? You get get a train direct from Dalston Junction to New Cross these days so who know's?
Still, this mob are always highly entertaining and tonight is no exception. There are usually at least nine people in the band so there is always plenty going on - with some people playing more than one instrument during the band's performance. And when I say 'performance' I mean
performance. This is
not a band who play well but simply 'go through the motions'. Some bands think it's all about how loud you are or how fast you can play - this band make you realise those things are irrelevant. You are unlikely to ever see a more
lively band than this.
The Urban Voodoo Machine with their patented blend of 'Bourbon Soaked Gypsy Blues Bop 'n' Stroll' are a band like no other. All excellent musicians in their own right, but when you put them all together you get a unique chemistry that no other band can match. They have been doing this for quite a few years now and have got it down to a fine art.
As always this outfit are loads of fun, but due to the lower than expected turnout the atmosphere isn't as good as it usually is at their shows - and it really is a
show - not just a band on stage playing music. A lot of work has gone into this so it's a shame to not see so many people here to enjoy it tonight. I guess every band has nights like this occasionally, and to be fair the venue is far from empty although just a shadow of this act's normal crowd. I hope not to leave it so long next time before seeing The Urban Voodoo Machine again...
No comments:
Post a Comment