Oliver's Jazz Bar, Greenwich
Vicky Martin (vocals, guitars); 'Lady' Diana Stone (vocals, piano, violin); 'Little' Rosie Swan (backing vocals); Terry McInerney (cajon, percussion);
3 O'Clock Blues (Lowell Fulson/B. B. King); Route 66 (Nat King Cole/Bobby Troup); Blues All Day Long; <a song about prison farm in US>; Like A Hurricane (Neil Young); All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan); Mystery Train (Elvis/Junior Parker & Sam Phillips); Just Another Someone; Hellbound; Trouble; Morning Letter Blues; Miscommunication Blues; Brown Water Everywhere; Devil Calling Out My Name; Last Train;
Overall, this was not that great, I'm sad to say it. The beginning was very promising, with the evergreens of B.B. King and Nat King Cole, but it was all downwards from there. Lady Di was all right on piano, but her violin skills and voice were either too avant-guard for me, or pretty bad, and I tend to go for the latter option.
I was also annoyed by the absence of a bass and proper drum session. The cajon does have a fuller, warmer tone, but the piano did not always fill in the low register gaps and then it was sometimes replaced with the dreadful violin.
Not my kind of blues really, I'm more of a Stevie Ray Vaughan-electric-blues guy, and the Delta Ladies were very acoustic, pop, folk and without the jazzy complexity that I enjoy in this king of music.
Nevertheless, they had some strengths as well. The cajon guy did throw in some pleasant surprises every now and then - despite the volume fluctuation - the backing vocals lady was absolutely brilliant and the set-list was not bad at all. They played Brown Water Everywhere, which was inspired by an interview with Ronnie Wood about Katrina and dedicated it to the victims of the disaster in Japan. Just Another Someone was a nice juicy hook as well. Vicky Martin was pretty decent on guitar as well I'd say, and she's got a very deep solid masculine voice, which backed up by the colourful voice in the background was quite impressive.
To sum up, the band sounded quite tired, but it had a feeling of decency and honesty about it which made it enjoyable.
Bottom line is about Oliver's, which has to be the perfect place for live gigs, very small, intimate, makes you feel comfortable just like between friends.
Copyright Helen Love
Copyright Helen Love