Review written by Nigel Foster and shared with his permission.
Images By Ken Jackson
John Verity has been making and performing music for more than 50 years, and tonight that showed. It showed so much because John is such a consummate professional, a great musician and a great raconteur.
The band is very much a power trio, and a power trio stands or falls on the abilities of the rhythm section, and John has a top-flight rhythm section in everybody’s favourite bass player, Roger Inniss, and the young drummer Chris Mansbridge. The duo was supergluetight, and they provided a rock-solid and permanent foundation for John’s lead guitar and vocal abilities to shine bright.
The opening to the first set was a fiery demonstration of the sonics that a real power trio can create. Help opened up as a throbbing groover built on Roger’s heavy pulsing on his plank of a bass aligned with Chris’s drum sequences. John’s voice had an authority, as did his first string-bending solo.
The number segued into Nothing (But The Blues), which revealed itself as a slice of slow blues with the rhythm section low down underneath John’s deeper voice and his tight riffs.
Sand In My Pocket John revealed it was written about he and his friends getting into bands as kids, and it was structured on surging drums and bass butting up against the nagging riff, which in turn drove on John’s voice.
Three anthemic covers brought the first set to a close: Cocaine, The Thrill Is Gone and You Shook Me All Night Long, and between them, the songs and the band’s interpretation ably demonstrated the real broad scope of the blues. Cocaine was delivered as a formidable chunk of blues rock with some audience participation. In a similar vein, the final number, You Shook Me All Night Long, was a lowdown dirty groove splintered by John’s taut and tight solo and slotted in between a beautiful rendition of BB King’s The Thrill Is Gone. John’s vocal had a slight vulnerability to it, capturing the emotion, and he equalled that with a sumptuous, passion-fuelled solo.
The twin assault attack that opened the second set was thrilling. The crazy named Biggus Stickus and Red Devil allowed the trio to stretch out in different directions with rhythm and lead gear changes. On the former, John changed guitars for one with a different tone, and it was immediately evident the difference it brought, sounding thicker and harder. The rhythm section plunged deep to set the tone; there was no time for passengers; the trio were in it together.
John introduced Blues In Heaven, and with the title, I was thinking it would be a blues ballad, written as it was as a eulogy to a dear departed friend. Wrong, Nigel; it turned out as a bruising, hard-driving rocker with thick, fat bass lines, punched, urgent drum patterns and a powerful vocal.
The night’s ballad then made its appearance with an impassioned cover of Stay With Me Baby, where the voice was to the fore, soulful.
Then an absolute treat for me and I suspect many in the audience, as the trio delved into John’s own impressive back catalogue and shared two Argent classics with us. First up is Hold Your Head Up, with its heavy-gauge drum and bass patterns laying a thick platform for John’s nagging hard riffs. Of course we wanted to join in with the chorus and duly did so. Then it was straight into God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll To You, not a Kiss song as many believe. This morphed into a giant singalong, with the instrumentation keeping our timing perfect.
The gig ended in pulsating style as the trio delivered a stinging version of the Jimi Hendrix classic Purple Haze. I was happy because John’s boot fully bruised the Wah Wah pedal, and at the same time, he wrenched the Whammy Bar for that sustained echo sound. Roger and Chris were dialled in straight away and wove over and under John’s fretwork.
A standing ovation was the least the band deserved.
Another top night of entertainment, so my enduring thanks to Richard and Rosalind.
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