London Blues Festival
Sunday 24th November 2024
Dingwalls, Camden, London
Having thought that I’d given myself plenty of time to get to Camden, things were not what I’d hoped for and so, to my surprise, I found myself arriving late for the opening band, Back To The One. I might have missed the first and second songs, but was more than able to get the vibe. Billed as a ‘hard driving, Funk band’ and with two percussion players as well as a drummer, on appearances, they certainly came across as Funk, but I would say they strayed more towards the Blues, than maybe anticipated. Interesting, and not quite what I had expected. Somehow, I had maybe hoped for slightly more of a Santana vibe to it but maybe that was to come…
Interestingly, Backbone Blues Band probably brought with them the biggest crowd of the afternoon, doing exactly what they said on the tin. Tony Seaman seemed right up for this gig and provided some excellent vocals and guitar, well and truly equalled by Steve Pearce on keyboards to back it all up. With great vocals from two female backing singers (once we could actually hear them), plus a little cameo from Neil Packman on harmonica, all in all this was a nice counterpart to all the guitars. The crowd lapped it up, although sadly a number left after the set, seemingly that they only came to see this band, which was a bit of a shame for everyone else.
From what I could glean, Red Giant is a pretty new band and apparently the brainchild of guitarist and internet guitar expert, Dave Simpson. But on this evidence, I can see why! He’s good, needing a much bigger platform to showcase this ambitious project and concept (not be confused by the US band of the same name) and I hope it works! Indeed, maybe the small crowd was a bonus, given “It can only get bigger from here!”, plus the fact that a UK tour is already planned for next year.
Two guys with their guitars (and their drummer, although very much in the shadows) The Too Bad Jims very much took things back to basics! This was Roots Blues that you don’t really hear that much these days. You could say that this is what the Blues is all about. Indeed, a refreshing reminder of how it once used to be, with two guitars (father and son) and a groove! Great fun!
Trying to do some advance research on Long Road Home, I was overwhelmed by the amount of media on the web with exactly the same title! Suffice to say that this band were not only a little more of a Rock/Blues melange than the rest so far, but were also a refreshing breath of fresh air. Despite not knowing anything beforehand about this band (or any of the others on the day), this didn’t stop me enjoying them as much as I did.
Headliner Kyla Brox finally took to the stage and quickly showed off her family’s heritage within this business! With her father, already an established vocalist, and her mother having been in the original 'Jesus Christ Superstar', Kyla certainly has the genes, the voice and she is good! It was also fun to see her using her flute too, an old legacy of her musical upbringing, definitively delivering on the vocal front, throughout her set, despite a few troubles at the start. With a selection of six albums to chose from, plus a new one to promote, namely 'Pain And Glory', Kyla kept us well entertained from the start, of which her flute segment on 'Don’t Mess With My Man', was a real highlight! I will have to check out more about Ms.Brox!
Despite not knowing much about any of these artists, I now know a lot more about them and have now my research cut out for me! All in all, an entertaining afternoon/evening of mostly Blues on a cold and wet Sunday in November. Such a shame that more people had not made the effort to support live music today.
Tim Russell