Stevie Jones (ten/keys); Sam Tanner (vcl/keys); Otha Smith (gtr); Steve Pearce (bs); Frankie Tontoh (dms); Mary Okeiyi (vcl).
Brother! is this band well named? Take it from me, the Brothers Strut are well named! On stage they strutted and swayed and a sold-out Hoochie audience swayed and strutted along with them. The groove is infectious, the excitement enough to cause a coronary, the funk is the most soulful, the soul is the funkiest whilst the actual music is merely magnificent!
Stevie Jones (pictured), whom I first encountered blowing blistering tenor with Elkie Brooks earlier this year, introduced me to Brother Strut via the band's CD and from first listening I knew I had to catch them live.
Well I did and I wasn't let down.
Not only does Jones make the cut on tenor but he can handle the keyboard effectively and complemented Tanner's B3-like sounds that came from the Roland. When it came to strutting, the Fedora topped Tanner moved like a young Mick Jagger, sung with the same passionate intensity, and there were moments when The Stones weren't too far away!
On guitar, Smith brought the authenticity of his home town, Chicago, to Newcastle with some blues drenched solos. He even managed a Duck Walk à la Chuck!
Steve Pearce steadied the ship which rocked and rolled in a musical gale force 9 and on drums - whew! Frankie Tontoh is your man.
Oh yes and Mary Okeiyi is no ordinary warbler but a slender soul mama - let's call her Sister Strut - who can do solo and backing vocals as good as the best of them. Hallelujah Sister.
This was the last gig of the tour and if you missed any of them - tough!
Check out their website.
Lance
Oh yes and Mary Okeiyi is no ordinary warbler but a slender soul mama - let's call her Sister Strut - who can do solo and backing vocals as good as the best of them. Hallelujah Sister.
This was the last gig of the tour and if you missed any of them - tough!
Check out their website.
Lance
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