King Bees @ Lindisfarne Social Cub, Wallsend - July 22

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, vocals); Dominic Hornsby (piano, vocals); Ted Harbot (double bass); Giles Holt (drums) + Mick Cantwell (vocals)

Lindisfarne Social Cub supports a regular blues night and this evening King Bees were in town. Blues fans and musicians were out in force to hear one of the great Chicago blues bands. Two sets, classic '50s Chicago blues numbers, Wallsend is hardly the South Side, but, hey, these guys could hold their own with all comers, from Wallsend to the Windy City and every two-bit juke joint in between. 

Front men Michael Littlefield and Scott Taylor are the real deal, shared, but contrasting, vocals, Littlefield's guitar playing never less than convincing, Taylor a formidable harmonica player. And then there's Dom Hornsby rattling the 88s and singing Kansas City-style. Bass and drums - new boy Ted Harbot, a great fit for the band, and Giles Holt, the best blues (as opposed to blues-rock) drummer bar none your correspondent has ever heard - make King Bees one killer outfit.

Little Walter, Sonny Boy, all the usual suspects, we've heard them time and again, the key to it is how the material is performed, and these guys never fail, the King Bees are the Chicago blues band, from Wallsend to the Windy City and every two-bit social club juke joint in between.

Earlier in the day blues fans gathered in Ashington to bade farewell to guitarist John Whitehill who died on July 1st. This evening Groove-a-matics' front man Mick Cantwell joined King Bees to sing Stormy Monday. Cantwell dedicated the number to his old band mate, John Whitehill. It was a rare moment. Russell