No Time for Jive @ Billy Bootleggers - October 6

Brian Lynham (harmonica, vocals); Pete Redhead (guitar, vocals); Keith Forsyth (double bass, vocals); Nat McLeave (drums) 

(Review by Russell)

Scotswood Slim (aka Brian Lynham) has been preaching the blues for longer than he would care to remember. No Time for Jive's current line-up stretches way back and one thing is for sure, the band's fan base keeps on coming back for more. 

Half an hour before Saturday night's first set Billy Bootleggers wasn't so busy, perhaps the Magpies’ loyal support was elsewhere drowning its sorrows following an early evening reverse at Old Trafford. As the band took to the stage the hordes duly arrived. West Coast, jump jive, a Windy City blast, No Time for Jive's tried and tested formula wasn't about to change. 

Who Do You Love? sang slap-bass man Keith Forsyth as Pete Redhead conjured a convincing Bo Diddley riff alongside front man Lynham sporting a natty pair of shades shaking shocking yellow maracas into the bargain (see photo)! More Forsyth vocals on Slim Harpo's Shake Your Hips, a Tex-Mex cha-cha-cha, then a classic Willie Dixon Chicago blues - I Want to be Loved - with Forsyth once more on the mic.   

Lieber and Stoller's One Bad Stud (think about it, better still, sing it to yourself) ensured the by-now-full dance floor remained that way 'til closing time (sometime around 2am) followed by Big Fat Mama (a hit for Roy Milton on Specialty) then a Lynham vocal on Big Joe Turner's chart success Flip, Flop and Fly. 

As Lynham and Forsyth basked in the limelight Pete Redhead's tasty guitar playing didn't go unnoticed, nor Nat McLeave's understated drumming. The band's sound is that of Little Willie John, Elias McDaniel, John Lee Hooker and a bar room full of boogie chillen'. Billy Bootleggers 2018, fast forward ten years to 2028...the odds are No Time for Jive will be found playing good time rhythm 'n' blues in Newcastle's self-proclaimed no.1 dive bar. Better put it in the diary.       

Russell.