It’s that time agai. Six months have passed since the JIM JONES REVUE were last at The Thekla, and here they are back again on another gruelling UK tour.
Opening the proceedings is LEWIS FLOYD HENRY, a one-man band who plays psych blues. He’s a great performer who was discovered whilst busking. His set is very much what you would expect from a street performer, up close and personal. His mix of blues and twangy jams went down a storm, and got the crowd in just the right mood for the headliners.
Each time The Jim Jones Revue plays Bristol, it is to larger crowds, and The Thekla is full to bursting point, in fact I’m surprised that the boat didn’t sink!
Starting as they mean to go on, The Jim Jones Revue launch into ‘Dishonest John’, their latest single, a howling Eddie Cochranesque punked up rock ‘n’ roll number that sends the crowd into a frenzy. Keeping the momentum on a high, they follow this with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Psychosis’, which has pretty much been their signature tune for the last few years.
The band’s membership has changed since they last played here. Pianist Elliot Mortimer has now left to be replaced by Henri Herbert. Henri does a brilliant job, leaning back, his hands a blur as the band launch into ‘Another Daze’, with Jim’s vocals well to the forefront. This is the best version of this song I’ve ever heard from the band.
Running through a series of crowd pleasers from both their albums, the band have the audience on the go throughout. Jim seems more relaxed this time, and there is plenty of banter with the crowd, including Jim giving the microphone to one chap in the front row in order to belt out the first few lines of ‘Elemental’.
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One surprise of the night was the band running through their cover of The Beatles ‘Get Back’, which was released as the flipside of ‘Shoot First.' Their cover, a searing, blistering version more than gives the original a run for its money.
The band play a six song encore set, ending with ‘Princess and the Frog’. After a total of eighteen songs in the space of an hour, the set is over, both band and audience sweat drenched and with some first timers looking like they don’t know what’s hit them. The Jim Jones Revue always deliver an energy driven set, and probably the band members lose a large proportion of their body weight due to the sheer guts and grind of another high octane performance. This was a top night out, and the band are an absolute must see. Just perfect!!!
Jim Jones Revue online
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