Barry's Views

Review:

The Stumble

This forceful Preston-based six-piece is the perfect band for a good ol'-fashioned soul-blues knees-up and I'm delighted that Barry has managed to bag 'em for the Britannia's end-of-year party. They were great at Millers last night but here they really ripped it up, stretching out to fabulous effect. Colin Black played incendiary lead guitar all night, beautifully expressive on slow numbers and explosive on anything uptempo. Jon Spencer provided fabulous rhythm guitar backing and some great slide breaks. Paul Melville is a classy vocalist with a big rich voice and bags of personality. Simon Anthony is a devastatingly good saxophonist, occasionally utilising a delay-pedal to stunning effect. And can there be a better or more experienced rhythm section than drummer Boyd Tonner and bassist Dave Heath? Such a complete outfit and they do everything with brio and elan - hmm, could be the name of a variety-hall double-act! - from well-chosen covers (Freddie King's 'Hideaway', BB King's 'You Upset Me' and 'All Over Again', Hound Dog Taylor's 'Gimme Back My Wig', Ike Turner's 'Leading Me On', all of them superb) to really distinctive original material such as 'The World is Tough', the excellent title track of their well-received CD. They have a real showband feel while maintaining a hard blues edge on numbers like 'Louisiana', 'Good Times Roll' and 'Maudie'. Heck, there wasn't a thing wrong with any of it - my kinda band for sure and I can thoroughly recommend the New Year's bash after tonight's entertaining and often exciting performance.

Dave Kingsbury