Roadhouse & The Pirates at The Rayners - 17 August 2002

I missed the early part of the set by Roadhouse, although it was clear a good crowd was already enjoying them doing their thing when I arrived. They played a varied set, mixing a sprinkling of covers with their own songs, including Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me", taken from their latest CD "Dark Ride", and very good they were too! Roger Hunt and Bill Hobley provided the solid backbone on drums and bass respectively, coming to the fore on the foot stomping "Telling Lies", behind the dual girl vocalists, Anne Campbell and Billi Shaw, who excelled on the countryish "Get Off My Land", as well as the bluesy "Whiskey Man".

The band create a big sound, fronted by the fine lead guitar and growling vocals of Gary Boner and, helping out on this occasion, former founder member Robert A Roberts on slide and harp, particularly on their rendition of B B King's "Rock Me Baby". Some of their sound has an American country feel with jangling guitars, notably on "Backstreets", with slide and harp giving it a blues edge. I couldn't figure it out at first, but, with their version of "Proud Mary", it all dropped into place. They may not stick to the standard British version of the blues, but the variety of their sound makes it all the more enjoyable - catch one of their Roadhouse Club jams at a venue near you soon and you won't be disappointed.

And so to The Pirates - three old geezers, of which only one was left standing - and that was at the start of the show! Seriously though, it was terrific to see Frank Farley back behind the drum kit, larger than life and knocking out a backbeat that was always on the money - whatever song came next and despite the 200% humidity. Johnny Spence remained seated throughout and sipped water (no bubbles please!), but the bass lines were as tough as ever and he still belted out the vocals like the old days. Last man standing, Mick Green gave us the fire that set the gig ablaze with his extraordinary guitar playing, combining rhythm and lead at the same time. You can certainly appreciate the early rock and roll upbringing in his playing, as well as the choppy rhythms that influenced Wilko Johnson and many other British r'n'b artists.

All the songs were crowd favourites, kicking off with "Please Don't Touch", "I Can Tell" and "You Don't Own Me", through the rock 'n' roll of "Tear It Up" and "Lindy Lou", plus the sixties flashback ""Never Get Over You". Mick broke a string during ""Going Back Home", prompting a switch to his petrol blue guitar and a searing "Peter Gunn". Other highlights included "Brand New Cadillac" from the Japan 2000 live CD, now out on Indigo, and the race to the finish line with "Gibson Martin Fender" and "Shaking All Over", dedicated to Johnny Kidd's son who was in the audience. The encore had the whole crowd singing on "All In It Together" before they were gone. Let's hope we haven't seen the last of these Godfathers of r'n'b just yet!

Darrell Parsons, Blues in Britain