Written by Nigel Foster Images By Ken Jackson
Big Wolf Band – Tuesday Night Music Club – 11 November. Review written by Nigel Foster and shared with his permission.
Jonathan Earp, Mick Jeynes, TimBo Jones, Justin Johnson and Arran Shanghavi, gentlemen, that was an absolute masterclass in blues rock, and I thank you for giving me and a full house such incredible entertainment. Across their two sets the quintet delivered high-energy, high-octane blues rock that was truly intoxicating, and the feelgood factor and adrenaline it generated in me carried me home. The hot rock triple shot that the band opened with set the template for the gig.
Take My Love, Better Man and Walk In My Shoes were built on thundering grooves from Tim and Mick on drums and bass, Justin chopped out bold rhythm guitar, Arran built a wall of sound through the Hammond and piano, and Jonathan threw down high-powered aggressive riffs, and on Walk In My Shoes he floored the wah-wah for the screaming sonics. It needed a powerful, hard-edged voice to carry that little lot, and that is what Jonathan gave it.
Done Wrong By You was a shift into blues shuffle territory. Tight, fast-paced rhythms poured out, sweeping, swirling keys circled, and Jonathan carved out taut lead hooks whilst adding a vocal of richness. If you love a no-nonsense piledriving rocker, then you got it with the aggressive bruising Hot Blooded Woman. Jonathan dug deep to produce a howling vocal while the band hit a serious groove with Arran weaving vibrant keys together and Jonathan laying down a torrent of staccato riffs. The needle was in the red zone now, and the band pushed it higher as they dived into an exhilarating cover of the absolute blues rock classic Going Down.
The rhythm section punched drum fills, pulsing bass lines and razor-sharp rhythm guitar; Arran generated vibrant sounds on the keys, and Jonathan spat out filthy, dirty, reverb-driven licks, all under the forceful voice. Then a complete about-turn as he turned the volume button gradually to zero whilst still travelling the frets and plucking the strings of the Strat. Tim dropped in feathered snare fills to support his frontman. Then boom, the volume shot up as the quintet headed for the interval.
The second set opened in a similar vein to the first, and Living On Borrowed Time and Valley Of The Fallen Kings had identical DNA. They were pedal-to-the-metal rockers with piston-pumping drum and bass runs, searching rhythm guitar and plunging thick keys. Matching the coda, Jonathan hit chugging, reverb-heavy licks all under the urgent vocals. Dropping the pace a notch, the guys wove together another surging shuffle built on vivid rhythm section patterns and sweeping keys added to by Jonathan’s echoed riffs.
Those that love a slow blues number got that courtesy of the gorgeous and evocative Darker Side Of You. Low, slow rhythms from Tim, Mick and Justin were teased out, and Arran put down richly textured keys, all of which wrapped around the rich voice, and Jonathan split the melody with a crying and screaming note-laden solo where his nimble fingers almost joined at the nape of the Strat. A little further down the track came the big blues ballad, and it was a beauty, Standing In Rain, that Jonathan described as being written to capture those that experience mental health struggles.
The band eased in together to lay down empathic passages of instrumentation that both carried and enveloped the voice that was in sympathy with the lyrics, and it was further matched by the note-drenched solo. The centrepiece of the penultimate song of the set, Black Dog Blues, was the fiery interplay between Jonathan and Arran as they teased and cajoled each other to add a torrent of notes to their guitar and keys forays.
A band with the verve and power of Big Wolf Band could and should only end a gig by flooring the accelerator. Which they did with Empyre & A Prayer. A full-bore riff-rabid rocker with a hammerhead groove, dirty searching riffs, bold forcing keys and a power-hungry voice.
A deserved standing ovation gave way to an absolute monster of an encore that began with Jonathan singing solo with no amp before the sonics of the chainsaw riffing of Joe Bonamassa’s Oh Beautiful segued into Zeppelin’s Kashmir, AC/DC’s Back In Black and Heavy Load before it cut back to Oh Beautiful with the 5-piece pulling back to allow Jonathan to carve out one final storming solo.
The guys then dived back in, and the 5-piece floored the accelerator to hit the finish line. A second standing ovation hopefully showed the band our appreciation, and they took their bows. Thank you as ever to Richard and Rosalind for making this happen, to Mike the sound man, the ladies behind the bar and John at the front desk.
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