Blues with passion, soul, aggression and more than a little funk. Although Marcus was clearly disappointed with the turn out tonight it didn't stop him pulling out all the stops to give a fine performance. From standard twelve bar to soulful blues ballads and slow, downright dirty blues he worked superbly with his four piece band. It was good to see the front man, himself an excellent guitarist, share the lickin' limelight with his second axe man Stuart Dixon. Vocally, Marcus has a sort of relaxed, softish style similar to Robert Cray mixed with an Otis Redding quality - really nice!
Starting out with the groovy, up-tempo 'Hear My Train' the band made their case straight off and immediately the responsive audience was completely taken in. The set was nicely worked with continuous changes in tempo and style; 'Drowning Man' taking the mood way down with it's slow, moody riffs effortlessly bolstering Marcus' vocals. The rhythm section of drummer Chris Nugent and bassman Jonathan Bankes was as tight as a tight thing in a very tight space. Keyboard man, Moz Gamble, laid down some fine subtle work throughout and belted out some amazing solo's. Marcus and Stuart worked brilliantly together ripping out some great solo's, working with and around each other and putting in some superb dual guitar work. 'Candy', 'Pushin'', Walk Away' and 'Christine' wound up the first set.
The band took a short break and then upped the ante for the second set and went for it big style; up went the decibels and even though there were still some slower pieces the pace seemed unrelenting as they tore through another six or so crisp numbers; 'Rollin' Stone', 'Heart For Rent', 'Double D' and the title track from Marcus' latest CD, 'Blue Radio' to name but a few. The second set featured more of Marcus' lead work and several sorties off stage in the audience.
Regardless of the small turn out tonight, Marcus and his men seemed to enjoy themselves and gave a totally professional performance rewarded by passionate audience reaction to every solo and every number. I'd like to think that they weren't too disappointed with the 'crowd' and hopefully they'll give The Marr's Bar a second chance. Certainly I'll pay to see Marcus Malone again!
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