Live at
Boom Boom LIVE, Sutton,
Friday 9th January 2004
All too often in life high expectations of an event turn out to fall considerably
short of the mark. Happily in the case of this bi annual Ruthless Blues reunion,
a capacity crowd revelled in a show that was packed with great playing and bags
of good humour.
For the record, Ruthless Blues enter their 23rd year of against all odds with band members living as far afield as Portugal and the Highlands of Scotland, and rehearsals were restricted to three band members spending 10 minutes brushing away the cobwebs.
And barely an hour after stepping off his bumpy commuter plane from Inverness, South London legends Stevie Smith rolled back the years with some gritty harp player, passionate singing, and some great “call and response” routines, in front of a band who gave their all.
Drummer Tony Fernandez contributed a thunderous back beat, alongside Andy Herbert on bass who in turn added a beaming smile to some sumptuous 6 string bass, while guitarist Martyn Taylor’s steely licks added punch.
Above all Ruthless Blues area band who understand the simple
concept of entertaining their crowd. From the opening Chicago blues of Sonny
Boy Williamson’s “Help Me” and the self penned “Break
My Back” to the climactic closing cover of “Gloria”, on which
the crowd belted out the chorus in unison, Ruthless enjoyed every minute of
this sparkling reunion. The smiling faces on the way out spoke volumes.
Pete Feenstra
also see Andy Snipper's review of the gig at The Torrington two days later