Into the January gig desert where nothing much happens for at least a couple of weeks normally, I found this gig at the 12-Bar club to kick off my gigging year.
We got in just after the Soul Hustlers came on playing some fast and furious garage soul of the sort you'd expect Freddie Hubbard or Booker T to be into mixed in with a healthy dose of garage rock. They were cool and did a nice version of Elvis' 'Marie', were the first band of the night to break a string and in the absence of a spare guitar they finished the set on 5 strings. They were fun.
Second on were Florence Joelle's Kiss Of Fire, who I wanted to see again after their excellent set at the 100 club last year opening for the Flaming Stars. Any band that has Arthur Lager on the drums is worth seeing, although they seemed a touch more subdued on Friday night, generating a much more mellow set.
There was a nice smokey vibe in a no longer smoky club version of When I Get Low I get High and (getting into tradition) Hank Whitney managed to break a string so they altered the set while he sorted it out. Unchain My Heart was sultry while the three or four new songs they tried out had a hint of the Burlesque about them. A fairly good set that will get better once the new songs have beenroad-tested a bit more. I look forward to the album I'm guessing they are recording at the moment.
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Last on where 12 bar club perennials The Witchdoktors who I have seen there at least 4 times now and enjoyed all of the shows, even if I still haven't added them on Myspace/facebook. It's probably about time as they are a great Estuary punk band. They may come from South London but sound more like a mix of the Essex Estuary bands like Eddie & The Hot Rods, Dr Feelgood and Medway delta bands like The Milkshakes.
They play hard and fast and the songs all drive along with lots of good banter inbetween numbers. They were promoting their 3rd album '$3 Hooker' which if it sounds like the live shows will be a good fun record.
They cut down on the cover versions this time around but still stuffed The Working man's Prayer in near the end of the set which went down well with those of us still in the room. Sadly, the gig room was packed at the start of the set and about a third full by the end of it. Still, they did their thing and put a good show, even if most of the dwindling audience failed to agree with my ears!!
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