The 11th of July saw The Blueshoundz on Stage at the Penguin Club for the first time. The band had billed themselves as “into the style of the 60s ~ 70s British Rock Blues Original gritty blues from a tight four piece playing for the hell of it” and did not disappoint. They were surprisingly tight for a band that has been together for three practices and performing only their second gig. This is due to the combined skill and experience of the band members, with three of the four being old enough to remember the 60s, (even if through a haze) and having had extensive musical careers. Up front and larger than life was Maurice Sammons on lead guitar and vocals, showing extreme skill in both areas. His riffs and lead were varied and executed with a clean precision. The interplay between the guitar and harp was something to be enjoyed. Pat Trembeth tucked in behind the lead providing brilliant touches of colour that fattened out the sound and extensive lead breaks that gave an authentic dynamic. At one stage there was a sustained copy-cat competition between the guitar lead and harp where the gauntlet was laid down in an excellent impromptu jam. The balance, volume wise, was not always perfect but this would be easily remedied by putting someone on the sound-desk. While it wasn’t a perfect performance as there were moments of untidiness around some endings and the occasional mishap, it was nothing that won’t disappear with more time together.
On fretless bass was Pete Richardson, who along with Gregg Hussey on drums provided a solid platform for the music. Pete has had a strong background in Jazz and made easy work of laying down the bass lines. Gregg’s background is in Punk. Interestingly, Greg has just come back to drumming after a long absence, and brings a full and busy sound to the band. He did amazingly well considering this. The band had the ability to work across a wide range of feels and at times put their own spin on tunes; eg remixing old favourites such as “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” as a reggae number and “Summertime” as a blues. They were fun to watch as they were warm and knew how to please a crowd, from the light- hearted banter to the lead breaks. They had a really good communication vibe going within the band allowing each other to take risks and yet keeping everyone on track. They were a band that weren’t afraid of space in their music, and avoided the pitfall of everyone at full noise all the time. I particularly enjoyed the tour of the guitar effects pedal and hearing some old and some new sounds. I also enjoyed Pat’s Solo performance of “Elevator Woman” and marveled at the amount of hot air Pat could generate on the trot. The fact they were really enjoying themselves made it a fun night. I had the feeling they would have rocked their hearts out even if there was no-one there to watch. They were obviously enjoying the new dynamics in the band and being able to let loose in their preferred genre. It was about the music. I look forward to hearing them in six months time to see how time playing together adds to the already great sound. Thanks for a great night. I’ll be front and centre next time they are out on stage.
Gary Shirley
