Troy Redfern 100 club – 27 May in Oxford Street.

Review and Images by Fraser Allen

It seems to me that right now is a pretty good time to be a fan of live music. Yes, music venues are under a lot of pressure these days, but the quality of acts that perform across our small venues is truly outstanding. I go to quite a lot of gigs and can’t remember the last time I wasn’t amazed by the talent on offer. If it is indeed a good time to be a fan of live music, then it’s an amazing time to be a fan of the blues, as the genre seems to be taking the live circuit by storm.

Tonight I find myself at one of London’s most celebrated small venues, The 100 Club in Oxford Street. The club has been around since the 60s and has seen many a famous face grace its legendary stage, from classic punk icons to modern jazz royalty. For fans of all things blues, Tuesday nights at The 100 Club have become the place to be, and tonight is no exception. There’s a great variety of music on offer, all flying the flag for the blues but very different in style.

Bristol bluesmen, Kirris Riviere & The Delta du Bruit, are in charge of the opening slot with their wilfully retro, soulful blues sound. They are a beautifully tight band of clearly accomplished musicians fronted by multi-talented singer/actor/director Kirris Riviere, and tonight they deliver a wide spectrum of authentic blues tunes, a joy to watch and a performance that would be enthusiastically welcomed by any fan of blues music.

Next up, YouTuber and guitar prodigy, Dave Simpson’s blues rock project, Red Giant, take to the stage, featuring the mad skills of John Joe Gaskin on drums and the self-titled Mistress of Groove, Keira Kenworthy on bass. All three are great players and performers, and tonight, they give us a selection of tracks from the band’s eponymously titled debut LP.

They kick things off with “The Dark of Me,” a straightforward rocker which builds nicely, followed by “Monsters” with its beautifully melodic solo. “Don’t,” “Was It All My Fault,” and “Why?” all continue to demonstrate Dave’s tasteful guitar playing and sense of melody. “Bad Penny” delivers Hendrix-y vibes, and then the atmospheric “Tell Me” takes things down only to build them up again as Dave Simpson roars through the layers of reverb at the end of the track. The super-catchy guitar intro kicks off “Free Me,” which marks the end of the band’s original tracks for the night as they close the set with a blistering version of “All Along The Watchtower”.

Troy Redfern takes to the stage with his guitar and giant white curly cable, alongside him is drummer/percussionist, Nicky Waters, armed with a somewhat minimalist drum kit consisting of just a floor tom, a snare, and a single cymbal. However, the sound that the duo produce is far from minimal. Throughout the night, Troy’s guitar goes from literally unplugged and acoustic (while running around the club getting up close and personal with the small but appreciative crowd) to barely controllable screams of resonant feedback while Nicky effortlessly holds the grooves together.

Opener, “Shakin’,” sets the tone for the rest of the evening with its pounding drums, slide guitar riffing, and catchy choruses. “Taking My Soul” is another superb slice of pounding rock-infused blues with a massive chorus. If you like your live performances super-produced and identical every night, then you will be missing out on the beautifully organic wall of mesmerising noise that happens when musicians such as Troy and Nicky lose themselves in the moment and just let the music flow – I guess it’s where the magic happens, and there seems to be a lot of this going on tonight.

“Take Me High” from 2024’s Invocation album follows with more big choruses, until Troy picks up his sitar and uses a looper to create some real atmosphere, soloing over a picked loop which carries on while he changes guitar and slides into a hauntingly beautiful intro for “The Calling”. Nicky’s drums bring in the next track from the album Invocation, “Native”. A change of guitar and we are treated to an instrumental, “Western,” once again using a looper to create a bed of guitar over which to solo, using sustained slide notes to create great atmosphere and build the song. A swampy version of “John the Revelator” is next on the list, followed by the single “Sweet Carolina” from 2022’s The Wings of Salvation. “Come On” from the same album is next, before “Waiting for Your Love” from the 2021 album The Fire Cosmic, and then a great version of “Sanctify” to finish off the night, and that was it!

Tonight was the last night of Troy Redfern’s 26-date UK tour – his biggest headline tour to date – which has seen him and Red Giant play all across the country. If you missed it, you really should make sure to catch him on the next run!