Unfortunately I didn't manage to catch
Jason & The Scorchers guitarist Warner E. Hodges on his last visit to the UK and I'm not familiar with his newest material. Consequently, I'm not quite sure what to expect - apart from some shit-hot guitar playing. This is exactly what I get!
Warner has put together an all new (well nearly) band to tour his latest solo album. Some of you may well recognise the bass player as the irrepressible Jason Knight who also toured with Warner last year as well as joining
Ginger onstage with Warner to perform Ginger's favourite Jason & The Scorchers song 'White Lies' at his
Birthday Bash.
Some people may also recognise the second guitarist Mikael Fässberg from Sweden's Bonafide - Mikael is also a mean six-stringer in his own right.
When I have previously seen
Warner E. Hodges play the music has been very much in a country-rock style - so I am somewhat surprised tonight when the show starts with several songs than sound almost exactly like AC/DC! And this pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the set. Certainly no complaints from me on that score. Warner later tells us that his favourite band ever
is actually AC/DC.
I think it's fair to say that Mikael and Jason are pretty big AC/DC fans too if their performance tonight is anything to go by. Actually, this won't surprise anyone who has ever seen
Bonafide.
There is precious little taste of country music to be heard in Warner's set tonight - this is an out and out rock 'n' roll show and there is no let up. The guitars are loud, dirty, raw, and in-your-face - exactly as they should be. As you might expect, Mr Hodges new album 'Gunslinger' is heavily featured in tonight's setlist, and (guitarwise at least) it sounds more than a little like AC/DC. Warner is happy to share the limelight with his bandmates - making sure everyone gets a namecheck, and even letting Mikael take lead vocals to perform his own song 'Parade'. This is a very entertaining show, not just because of the music but also because Warner has some great stories to tell between songs!
There are surprises in store later as some special guests appear on stage...
Ex-Bad Company guitarist Dave 'Bucket' Colwell appears for a song or two - an old friend of Warner's as their band's toured together last year.
More surprises follow as in addition to a Jason & The Scorchers song earlier some covers finish off the evening - including a wild and ragged 'Tie Your Mother Down' and a final bit of country in the form of 'Take Me Home Country Roads' for a singalong end to the set.
A cracking set from a terrific bunch of musicians - well worth battling through the West End traffic on a motorcycle for. My pictures are crap as usual due to my current cheapo camera being very unsuited to gig photography compared to my lower spec earlier ones. If you want to see some
really good pictures from this show then check out Trudi Knight's
pictures here.
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