11/3/2022 The Sam Walker Band @ Club 85

It's been a long time since I've been to a gig out of town, but this Friday night finds me hitting the road and driving out to Club 85 in Hitchin. This is a surprisingly large and rather good music venue - much better than you would expect to find in a Hertfordshire town. The event is a night of female fronted music to celebrate International Women's Day.

Unfortunately I don't arrive in time to see the first acts - a shame as Andrea Wilde & the Whiskey Chasers sound like they might have been right up my street. Cara Beard goes on soon after I arrive.

She sounds pleasant enough in an inoffensive pop kind of way. She can sing well enough and has decent stage presence.

However, with no bass player and a guitarist who spends much time fiddling with a keyboard or laptop much of the music we are hearing doesn't sound like it is being played live. Personally I find that unconvincing.

Samantha Walker is probably best known to most people as the former bassist/singer with JoanOvArc, and previously was in The Suffrajets with her sister Shelley on guitar. Sam left JoanOvArc around three years ago due to other commitments, but has now found time to launch her solo project.

Although billed as the Sam Walker Band and playing her own new songs, the whole band are either ex or current members of JoanOvArc and are no strangers to Club 85.

In fact bassist Keira has played at this venue before with her previous band Syteria with Girlschool guitarist Jackie Chambers. Girlschool have played here in the past too. And talking of guitarists, it's no surprise that Sam has got her sister Shelley involved with her new project.

Like Keira, Shelly is a current member of JoanOvArc, and no doubt pleased to be playing a 'hometown(ish)' gig as the sisters originally hail from nearby Stevenage. As well as being interested in seeing what Sam Walker has been doing musically since leaving her last band, I was also keen to see a reunion of sorts of the early lineup of JoanOvArc - especially as I suspected the amazing Debbie Wildish might be behind the drumkit. I was excited to find my suspicions were correct!

It was terrific to see Debbie the 'smiley drummer' playing with the Walker sisters again after she also left JoanOvArc due to other commitments. She really drives things along with an urgency and energy few drummers can match and it's always a pleasure to see and hear her play as she so obviously loves what she is doing. The same very much applies to Shelly - especially when she gets an opportunity to really tear it up in a solo!

However, this isn't a JoanOvArc show. Sam has switched from bass to guitar for her solo material, leaving bass duties in the more than capable hands of Keira - who is a terrific player in her own right.

Sam's solo songs are less out-and-out rock than JoanOvArc, but highlight her amazing vocal range and more commercial songwriting style - very much an artist to keep an eye on.

Sam also puts the guitar down for a while to concentrate on putting her new songs over with her voice.

As the evening draws to a close some covers are thrown into to mix and Keira gets to show off her slap bass skills during a Stevie Wonder cover.

Then the ante is upped with a version of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' - featuring an exceptional solo from Shelley.

By this time the crowd are getting whipped into a frenzy and there is a lot of very energetic dancing going on.

By now the band are starting to move into full-on all-out ROCK JoanOvArc territory and the energy level is rising rapidly.

The girls give it the 'big rock ending' to the show. No actual JoanOvArc songs have been played by the end of the set, but the crowd are screaming for more.

Although this is billed as a Sam Walker Band show everyone on the stage is a current or ex member of JoanOvArc... Rather than leaving the stage and coming back for an encore the band respond to demand from the crowd to do 'Just one more' - a familiar rumble comes from Debbie's drums and the band launch into JoanOvArc's 'Live Rock 'N' Roll'. It's one of their older but best songs - a real hard rocking crowd pleaser.

It really is the perfect song to end the evening on a high energy note.

Sam's solo stuff sounded excellent and everyone played well as they always do - every member of this band is a superb musician, but it wasn't until halfway through this song that things really fired off big time and it was like JoanOvArc at their best.

It really was a terrific way to end the night! The actual current lineup of JoanOvArc should be back in action later this year with their new singer who is currently having to take a break for health reasons. And Sam Walker will also be back with her band for more live shows and more new music....