A faulty alternator caused the John
O’Leary Band to arrive late at The Harbourside Club, which denied
them the luxury of a relaxed set-up and sound check. Great credit is
owed to the band that their stressful dilemma had no apparent effect
on them as they immediately settled to their task and stamped their
authority on the evening right from the outset.
The programme was opened minus John
O’Leary, with a jazzy, funk-edged instrumental. The
singer/harmonica player then entered the fray on “Born In Chicago”
and Junior Wells’s “Snatch It Back And Hold It”. They were
followed by two slow blues - “Early In The Morning” and “Drifting
Blues”. The former featured wonderful solos on harp, keys (from
Jools Grudgings) and guitar (from Jules Fothergill) before a
relentless crescendo that culminated in some frantic drumming from
Joachim Greve. Jools Grudgings then delivered a fabulous
boogie-woogie number before the set was concluded with “Little By
Little”.
The second set started with
“Yonder’s Wall” that drifted effortlessly into “Help Me”
and “One Way Out”. There followed a stream of delight that
included Jules Fothergill on lead vocals on one number and a fabulous
version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Who’s Been Talkin’”, which
featured some lovely harp from O’Leary and an incredible solo by
Roger Inniss on his six-stringed bass guitar. On “Black Cat Bone”,
Inniss was again in prominence, this time sharing the limelight
in a vibrant duet with Joachim Greve that, whilst entertaining, was
perhaps a shade too long. Very appropriately, “Pink Champagne”
completed what was a truly vintage performance.
The
John O’Leary Band is a match for any British blues band on the
current scene and simply oozes quality. The mellow tone of John
O’Leary’s harmonica and the superlative virtuosity of Jules
Fothergill and Jools Grudgings are brilliantly underpinned and
considerably enhanced by the rhythm section from heaven. The suitably
large audience was understandably knocked out by the performance –
for the second year running. It is my wild guess that a third
appearance next year is a distinct possibility.".....Lionel
Ross