Review by Nigel Foster photos by Steve Sweetie Monster.
Jesse arranged the gig to celebrate the release of the band’s debut single ‘Keep On Rollin’ and terrific for the band that it was a sell out and an unqualified success. Jesse said he chose the venue as he wanted it somewhere intimate to help create a special memory for the audience. Well he, Elliott Francis and Ben Hancock surpassed that objective and I hope the boys have a special memory too.
The trio fired themselves straight from the traps and punched out a hard and heavy version of said single. Elliott threw down a driving drum pattern, Ben oozed out thick bass slabs and Jesse splayed out hard jagged riffs and added a forceful vocal.
Following some haunting slow blues the guys switched to funky blues with a pulsing rhythm to sit beneath Jesse’s tight riffs and clean vocals. Now bathed in blue we were then treated to some Freddie King with a lovely interpretation of Across The River. The song opened with Jesse’s soulful voice in the spotlight before Elliott and Ben locked in a sweeping rhythm and Jesse’s evocative solo had as much soul as his voice.
Back on the gas to race to the break with a double shot of heavy blues rock, Matt Schofield’s Black Cat Bone was multi layered while band original The Banker was hard and uncompromising as the groove looped again and again, Jesse strafed the strings of the guitar for the lead break while throwing down a howl of a vocal.
The start of the second set was the calm before the storm as Jesse delighted us with three sumptuous acoustic numbers, including a clever stripped back version of Whiskey In The Jar.
This segue really was the calm before the storm because the trio proved just why they are a power trio as they proceeded to rock and rock hard and we were right there with them.
ZZ Top’s dirty bluesy Just Got Paid was followed by three quarters of side 1 of Thin Litzy’s epic Live And Dangerous. Oh and then why not throw in Rory Gallagher’s Tattoo’d Lady. The place was throbbing now as the band and crowd were one.
Hendrix’s Purple Haze closed the set in all its psychedelic glory with some serious Wah Wah action thumping on the trippy groove from Elliott and Ben.
No way were the boys getting away without an encore and it was a superb encore, a faithful haunting delivery of Purple Rain.
The Jesse Garwood Band were exhilarating, they were exciting, it was a stormer of a gig.
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