This show is part of this year's Le Beat Bespoke festival that usually happens over the Easter weekend, we arrived at Oslo just after The Baron Four had started there set of 60's infused garage rock power pop. The first song I heard in full was Religious Heat or at least that's what I think the bass Baron introduced it as, a great Power pop tune with some nifty guitar.
They then went a little bit Junior Wells on a cool version of You Don't Love Me that was tight and insistent. Change Your Mind was begging and pleading for some love as the twin guitars went off in search of the Byrds. Will You Be My Girl kept things in keeping with this band, being all barren and in need of some action soon.
Hypnotized was a great psychedelic miasma that almost had a perfect Medway garage rock sound. I Don't Need You Anymore was a classic break up song for the sort of guys who thinks a month is a long-term relationship, this shook and shimmied and was great fun.
They switched vocalists letting the guitarist take lead vocals on a song about running away from love once more, the guitarist had slightly grittier vocals, the bass Baron was back on lead vocals for She Said Yeah that like most of the bands set you could sing along to the chorus after hearing it once.
They closed a very enjoyable opening set with I Just Wanna Make Love To You that had way more passion than Adele's version, this was full on Psychedelic miasma of sound and passion and had most of the audience chanting along with the chorus a great way to end a good support set.
After the break it was time for the truly immense Jim Jones All Stars to destroy anyone in the way of this juggernaut of a band, who opened with the bands theme as they vamped it up and Stuart Dace and Tom Hodges let rip on Sax Jim started to proselytize they were going to take things Nice And Slow.
Jim let rip some super nifty moves as he yelled about what happens Every Night And Day yep the guitars and Sax work in perfect sync as Carlton Mounsher's guitar lines drove this on. I wish I knew the song titles here as I have the next song down as Louise either way the band were totally on fire the interplay between Gavin Jay's bass and Elliot Mortimer's keyboards worked as a brilliant base for everything else going on. Parchman Farm is such a brilliant reworking of this blues classic to always stand out as we try imagine this lot doing hard time.
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Jim was in full on rock & Roll preacher mode with his wife Ali shaking her tambourine like her life depended on it, for what I think was Never Let You Go. Born To Ride was played like the biker anthem it is and was introduced by Jim telling us about all the scooters they saw on the motorway the day before. Break In The Weather had so much sax action it was mesmerizing as Stuart and Tom moved and played in sync.
Jim took us all the way back to his roots in Thee Hypnotics for a rumble through Shakedown sounding great even if it lacked the dry ice it used to be swathed in. Satan's Got His Heart Set On You made the case that it may be better to play with the devil than the angels. It's Your Voodoo Working had a real southern soul stew approach to this Charles Mad Dog Sheffield tune like they were casting spells on us.
This set didn't let up with the immense blues soul You Might Go is what I thought Jim was singing it didn't matter they are so pin sharp they have to be seen live, I Want You Anyway I Can was full of love and the band were just this great machine. Ready to blast to the heart of Troglodyte making this Jimmy Castor Bunch tune their own as always.
Jim has always had flashes of Rock & Roll Psychosis and this version of The Jim Jones Revue classic was as full on in your face as it could be, they closed the set with a slightly slower tune.
For the encore they came back to blast us with Eddie Floyd's Big Bird that was perfect to shimmy and shake along too. They were still on fire and Come On really got everyone going ready for them to close with a brilliant version of 512 to again show they are one of the tightest most exciting live bands around no matter how much I can never get the song titles right.
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