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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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BLUES
EXPLOSION
Shepherds Bush Empire London - 10/20/04
by guest writer Nick Morgan
The first time I saw them it took almost a week
to recover. So I should have known that four days
sailing (as it turned out we were on a spaceship,
not a yacht) and three nights sleep deprivation
in the company of a well known Malt Maniac, followed
by a few days in the Fun Factory, was hardly the
right preparation for a full frontal assault.
Now, aficionados may note that the JSBX have been
rebranded by those pesky marketeers to the purer
Blues
Explosion – but believe me
– the product is no different! |
| Starting
with ‘She said’ from 2002’s Plastic
Fang, to an astonishing ‘Down in the Beast’
at the end of the main set, Spencer’s tightly
knit three piece beat an audience of mixed-aged
admirers into a pulp of holy submission with twelve
bar blues infused with a manic effects-pedal driven
complexity – a brilliantly engineered layer-cake
of sound and rhythm. Six songs into the encore he
was pulled off by the stage management (I recall
seeing this happen to the Climax Blues Band in 1973
– when their power was switched off by the
caretaker!). Spencer sang, shouted, growled, howled
and hunted his audience, like an old time Mississippi
preacher. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had
LOVE and HATE tattooed across his knuckles. And
with him the razor sharp Telecaster of Judah Bauer;
and at the heart of the band Russell Simins’
sensationally visceral drumming. Buy the CDs, watch
the video – but to touch and feel the Blues
Explosion you really have to be there.- Nick
Morgan |
Check
the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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There's nothing more down there... |
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