With little more than a year between this gig, and their previous appearance at the Guildhall, it was not surprising that The Climax Blues Band were able to bring a show-stopping finale to Lichfield Arts 2013 season.
Support act Bekah Downes, a local favourite on the live blues season gave a good and solid account of herself.
Her voice, part Nina Simone, part Tina Turner part Janis Joplin and part Aretha Franklin, was ably supported by her own guitar playing and that of Steve, her guitar playing counterfoil.
She played a number of her own songs, such as Breaking my Heart, Walking with Shadows and Real Life, while her folkier side – with something of a nod of the head to Joni Mitchell – was revealed in set closer The One Who Got Away.
A couple of well chosen covers in Bright Lights, Big City and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Pride and Joy raised the temperature.
The Climax Blues Band have built a large and loyal following, with a number of alumni who have played with house-hold names, and over 30 years have occasionally troubled the charts, as well as playing hundreds of gigs.
With a six man band, the sound was thick and fully rounded, with a solid backbeat. George Glover on keyboards, bassist Neil Simpson, guitarist Lester Hunt, drummer Roy Adams, saxophonist Chris ‘Bebe’ Aldridge and gravel-voiced singer Graham Dee all played with aplomb.
Their set largely consisted of blues standards, as well as a few of their own songs. They started with two numbers from the Willie Dixon songbook, in Seventh Song and Down in Louisiana, while their own Fool for the Bright Lights was able to keep up in such august company, and featured a Hammond organ solo from George Glover.
Lester Hunt was featured on Take Me Back to Georgia – a study in guitar technique, as well as musical subtlety, and showcasing his own vocal talents, before another Willie Dixon song, I’m Ready, closed the first half.
Although their songs were largely from the blues cannon, they also featured many jazz ideas, such as tight, unison, or harmony guitar and saxophone solos, which helped to show how well honed the band’s sound and style was.
Two of Willie Dixon’s most covered songs, Spoonful (made famous by Cream) and Little Red Rooster (which the Rolling Stones among many others have recorded and regularly featured in live concerts), opened the second half, and gave free rein for the band to improvise.
A song by the group’s lamented founder Colin Cooper was played, with Last Chance Saloon being a fitting tribute to a much missed musician, while What You Feel featured the obligatory bass and drum solos, which were well played and greatly appreciated by the band.
Their biggest hit to date, Couldn’t Get It Right was a rock song dressed in blues dynamics and closed the second half.
A two song encore of Let the Good Times Roll and their own Heading Towards The Sun were both fine ways with which to end the concert.
