Chris Montague (guitar), Kit Downes (organ) & Josh Blackmore (drums)
(Review by Russell)
(Review by Russell)
Schmazz at the Cluny on the South Side! A one-off relocation south of the Tyne to the Central Bar in Gateshead to present Troyka paid dividends - a full house, no less. Well, it helped that guitarist Chris Montague, a Gateshead lad, had the Montague Clan (grand mother et al) in attendance to lend support in numbers. The trio arrived late due to the band bus (aka humble car) breaking down en route to Tyneside. It was agreed to play one long set rather than the regulation two sets. On a warm night make-shift fans were fanned, brows mopped, beers quaffed.
Moxxy, the soon-to-be-released CD, featured prominently and the opener – Dropsy – laid down a riff straight out of the Jimmy Page guitar tutor. Another new one – Tax Return – followed and solos were few and far between. Central to the performance was the group dynamic with frequently shifting rhythms developed by non-stop drummer Josh Blackmore and Montague. Organist Kit Downes clocked-up his third appearance on Tyneside in a matter of weeks and once more played a blinder. Troyka allows Downes greater freedom to go off on a tangent although he has the self-discipline to bring it home in good time. The slow tempo Chaplin (?) engaged a low gear heavy groove and in contrast Rest drifted on a (momentarily Metheny) thermal. The highlight of the evening came from an unexpected source – the blues. The tune (Crawler), a slow blues written by Downes featured a contender for solo of the year from Montague (eliciting spontaneous applause) with the trio showing how it should be done; measured, tasteful and an avoidance of excess.
Moxxy is released on June 11th on Edition Records (www.editionrecords.com).
Russell
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