Reviewed by Paul H Birch
During my chauffer driven journey into Wolverhampton the conversation nearly gives me a couple of heart attacks. The first’s remedied by the man at the wheel’s sat nav taking us to the right venue rather than the one I thought it was. The other’s my discovery of how much a pint’s going to cost and him nearly having to make a detour to the hospital. Once inside, I can see why the Wulfrun’s had to factor alcohol consumption so sharply into its profit margin. It’s gone upmarket since last my feet stuck to its floor. It’s impressive, for the most part: The sparsity of toilets, and them being mixed will inevitably lead to problems later. No problems with the sound, mind.
Seated a little to one side of the stage, a semi-acoustic in his hands is Connor Selby, wearing double denim and a white t-shirt, and seemingly sporting glasses since last I saw him live. He’s chipping down on chords, a growing sound enveloping alongside a melodic groove for ‘Falling In Love Again’ with a jazzy solo tucked in there near the end to spread the mood wider.
His voice is pitched a little high tonight, distinct because of the crystal clear PA, and the chalkier Ray Charles come Georgie Fame vocal tones I’m fond of aren’t always present, but there’s a soulful croon present through the next slow, bluesy tune. “Enjoying it so far?” he asks, and while he’s talkative enough, giving an anecdote or two about each song, there’s also an apparent inward shyness present. It’s something I’ll notice with the main act later, hers more a self-depreciating tone. Neither of them should worry. Next up is what he refers to as a ballad, it’s ‘The Truth Comes Out Eventually’ and it’s broken chorded jazzy textures are revealing in themselves. It’s a two-thirds full seated audience who are quiet during his playing, but particularly loud in their applause when this one concludes.
His first studio recording was in 2018 and he’s about to play the song that got him a record deal, ‘That’s Alright’, a 60s style mood number with a deft modern tone, the sound becoming fuller, rhythmically empowered. Next up, ‘Love Letter To the Blues’ borders on the melancholy, but the audience like it, then for his final number – before returning to Wolverhampton to headline on the 3rd March – is a particularly up tempo rendition of ‘Emily’ that’s rocking the blues and edging its way into what would be an epic with the horse power of a full band behind it – His guitar ranging from smooth blues licks, through a series of chord changes into a more distorted wall of sound, vocally resonating with personality throughout.
It’s a good start to an evening that proceeds to get better as but a short while later Joanne Shaw Taylor’s band walk on stage, followed by the lady and her guitar but a moment later. Having seen Miss Taylor live a half dozen times now, rarely in the same Midlands venue nor with the same band line-up, tonight the stakes are raised. 2022’s Nobody’s Fool album saw soul, old school R ‘n B and some quality pop hooks stirred into the blues rock that’s become her trade. Added to the fire power of her guitar was also now the wit and wherewithal to make an effective emotional use of that deep voice of hers. Tonight, she’s armed with four hirsute bearded sidemen, decked out in black who help embellish her talents.
With keyboard player Phil Whitfield blasting away on his piano as we warm to ‘In The Mood’ the pink-jacketed guitarist delivers her mission statement vocally and whips up a storm as she grapples the neck of her six string smoothly but firmly. The song both rocking hard but with some added swing getting the foot tapping, with its partner due to join it for the rest of the evening. Funky, with deep sensual vocal as she grasps the microphone, we get a cover of Otis Rush’s ‘Keep On Lovin’ Me’, musically it’s quite simple but it’s the sympatico way the band are playing it making it resonate, and drummer Eric Savage in particular breaking down the beat and constantly reshuffling it while never overplaying. Taylor’s voice rises into an emotive smoky sigh either side of two solos, the first cheeky and brief, the latter progressively more profound in intent and delivery. Powered by funky rocking chords is ‘All My Love’ where Whitfield’s tinkling away impressively on the ivories again, in what’s practically a pop rocker with a R ‘n B gospel sugar rush.
Apologising for slipping badly into her natural Black Country brogue, the Wednesbury born lass, thanks Connor Selby, the band, road crew and others, then almost apologetically mentions her manger’s requested she promote her records and that merchandise is available in the reception area. Retreating into the safety of familiarity we get another cover in ‘If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody’; eliciting the full range of her vocals but notably the upper end of her register, her second guitarist Shane Sanders taking a solo before she compliments with one of her own that concludes with a blast of echoed fury. More blues come with the double timed infectious percussive riffing of albert King’s ‘Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me’ and the guitarist is in her element, relaxed in her soul, walking either side of the stage towards Sanders or leaning shoulder-to-shoulder with bass player Steve Lehane, flicking the leg to her bootcut trousers out and soloing away
Country boogie broken chords lead us into ‘Dyin’ To Know’, hip and trippy folk rock one minute and raging away the next. It’s lighter moments have now led us towards some of tonight’s highlights. First up, a heavy beating soul rendition of ‘Wild Love’, her hands laying down the most impressive rhythm guitar while Whitfield delivers Max Middleton styled keyboard textures. Interrupting the music to tell us how she hates making videos so throws out oddball ideas to put producers off the trail, a cowboy theme featuring Billy Bob Thornton got tossed about for ‘Wild Love’, and while you got aerial views of horses running over the plains on the eventual footage, hearing the song tonight is what counts. She also reveals how she wanted to make an eighties styled number and the beautiful earworm that is ‘Won’t Be Fooled Again’ is delivered with metronomic charm, the guys in the band delivering perfect harmony vocal accompaniment to her own most delicious voice as guitars play sweet counter melodies that only a cold-hearted sonofabitch wouldn’t want to dance to.
With her first guitar change of the night, now armed with a Gibson, she tells us she going to do an old number off her White Sugar album, and the band stomp down on the Free-styled furious blues rocker that is ‘Watch ‘Em Burn’, this song of hope beyond revenge changing tack come the solo as high-ended pinched notes dance softly, becoming exploratively deep with deft noted tones turning into anguished screaming, a complex array of notes making coherent sense as they tumble back into the main song and its climax.
With a warm organ flowing through, ‘Diamonds In The Dirt’ proves an edgy rendition of this funky blues, another one where the pulse of the band moves as one, before she literally wrings the life out of her guitar’s neck with some elongated complicated phrases on an extended instrumental journey. Switching over to acoustic, you know the mood’s about to change as she plans to “slow things down” and explains how she lost her mother to cancer some ten years back, the pain never really subsiding and leading to her writing ‘Fade Away’, deep sombre vocals lifted by the male harmonies on a tender slice of Americana. As she wraps an electric guitar back round her neck she takes a potshot, mocking critics who take her lyrics too literally, as they launch into ‘Runaway’ – The music skips and dances with joy, a keyboard solo slows things down at which point one again notices just how impressive the drummer is laying down the beat, then they follow it through with ‘Sweet Lil Lies’, the guitar hooks getting more contagious, the song itself while retaining its pop ‘n soul studio groove coming on with a heavier blues rock bite, more akin to Albert King playing ‘The Hunter’.
With band introductions made we know closure is drawing near, her guitar barks loudly and we move swiftly into a particularly hard rocking ‘Bad Love’, the temptation to headbang just about resisted, with more neck wrangling in store for her guitar before they triumphantly reach the song’s climax. We get one more song tonight when they come back to encore, and another apt title in ‘Going Home’, picking out blues licks Taylor croons away in reflective refrain before the band begin stomping out defiantly on a number that might owe its debt to Southern rock but goes beyond that now, with Joanne Shaw Taylor and her band having delivered a particularly impressive performance throughout this evening.
