Martyn Roper (guitar, harmonica, kazoo, vocals); Ian Blackburn (double bass, backing vocals); Billy Hickling (drums, washboard, backing vocals)
A fleeting (first set only) visit to Billy Bootleggers. As a 'sound engineer' simultaneously set the levels for the evening's gig and blasted out one tune after another (quite a feat!), post-Christmas revellers were determined to revel, noisily. A Camden Pale, a Guinness, a half of Pepsi in a pickle jar (the Ouseburn watering hole's distinctive 'offer'), Leeds City Stompers would soon take to the stage.
Martyn Roper's trio opened in booting (sans sax) Shake, Rattle and Roll style. A 1935 resonator guitar and a pedalboard weren't 'a thing' way back when, 'never the twain' sprang to mind. 1920s, '30s, '40s, fifties' Elvis to Johnny Cash (Folsom Prison Blues) made for an eclectic set list. The punters - some clapping along, some clapping along in their own time - were revelling in it. They were having a good time and that's all that matters, isn't it?
Set list included: Shake, Rattle and Roll; Sweet Home Chicago; On the Sunny Side of the Street; After You've Gone; That's Alright; Kansas City. Russell
1 comment :
Eclectic indeed! Possibly the 'best' number we heard was their take on Rag Mama Rag, the retro country blues classic written and recorded first by The Band in the late 1960s.
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