Hot
red chilli peppers
On
Friday (25/01/2013) I went to see the Hot red chilli peppers at the
Sitwell Tavern, Derby, they played some decent chilli peppers
classics really well.
They
put on a most excellent show and dressed like their counterparts
which is always a nice touch with tribute acts sometimes they just
don't bother and you just get some guys in their day clothes prancing
about which is just plain wrong. No costume, no point. The band
covered a wide range of chilli pepper classics such as 'under the
bridge' , 'give it away' and 'Californication' which went down really
well with the crow. The Sitwell really does just keep booking great
bands every Friday and Saturday night and these guys were no
exception so for anyone too poor in this current climate to see the
actual chilli peppers then these are a decent substitute and not to
be missed if they come to your area.
Rating:
hot to trot
Dodgy
Strawberry Promotions Acoustic Monday
These
Acoustic Nights are (almost) a monthly occurrence at The Vic which is
surprising as getting artist this good to perform for the joy of
performing (and sausages) should take longer to organise, Dodgy
Strawberry Promotions generally books small-medium time artists
looking to get some exposure while not exclusively limited to
acoustic acts, indeed some have to learn how to transfer to acoustic,
this is the main staple for this promoter.
The
first act on was Eric, I never did find out his surname, he was
booked as a last minute replacement as the act that was meant to have
played pulled out at the last minute. Eric who hails from France
started out with the GnR classic 'Civil War' and played it
excellently even though he had to put up with a bog standard
Westfield acoustic which went out of tune regularly and often. At
this point his phone rang so he did the decent thing and chucked it
behind him then carried on with his set with 'Foxy Lady' which is a
favourite of Dodgy Strawberry's as she was once described as looking
a bit like Garth from 'Wayne's World'. I have no comment on that
matter.
He
played 'Foxy Lady' very well and it came across as well as it
could've done he followed this up with another GnR song 'My Michelle'
which was surprisingly good as not one to be expected to transfer
well to acoustic so well done Eric . Next was a strange choice 'dude,
I totally miss you' dedicated to a friend in France, and to show he's
not a dedicated covers artists he followed this up with an original
work called 'Come On' which went down really well with the amassed
crowd. After 'Creep' By Radiohead it was time to finish, or so we
thought for he had one more song to play the classic 'Knocking on
heavens door' which was warmly welcomed and polished off this most
excellent set in the finest way possible. This was indeed a great
start to the evening.
Rating:
Jack Black with a hint of decorum
Next
came Retro Active a band formed for the occasion by Leenus
Livingstone of Metalloid and friends, they consist of two guitarists
and two vocalists, they hadn't had much practice and so only played 4
songs but each came out really well under the circumstances, They
started with 'two steps behind' the well known Def Leppard staple
which came out quite well the female vocalist sounded a little
nervous at points and faltered whenever she checked the lyric sheet
but did very well all-in-all. Following this came 'Sweet child of
mine' a fine song and faultless, 'À Tout le Monde' came next and
an excellent choice as they 2 singers worked together really well for
this and Leenus seemed to give the guitar work a Spanish edge which
worked really well. The last song was 'Sweet child 'o' mine' which
wrapped this up nicely and I hope to see more of them in the future.
Rating:
Senór Seven fingers
------Sausage
Break------
Adequate
sausages with some chips and buttered bread, normally the sausages
are better and more plentiful but this was not entirely the venues
fault and they are forgiven as we know this was just a one off.
------Sausage
Break------
The
headline act, sort of all the acts are generally equal and saying the
last act is better than the first is usually incorrect, were regulars
Crompton's Thresher a 'local' folk band normally consisting of a
bassist from Fife (Banquo McDuff), a resonator guitarist from
Chesterfield(Dred Roberts) led by a Bolton bouzouki player(Fingers
McGraw) who all happen to live in Derby, though on this occasion
Banquo is away experiencing major back pain and could not perform so
he was replaced by accordionist Mitzi Willison.
Playing
their own work they belted out 'Lord arran' and followed it up with
'Corsair ' a song about French pirates unfortunately Eric had left
just befor this somng and didn't get to experience this belter or
it's French corus, though this was a shade of itself without Banquo
McDuff doing his stuff. Three more historical songs followed' Sodom
and Gomorrah;, 'Black Galleon' and 'Persephony' about Sodomy, Slaves
and incest respectively, each brilliantly put across and as clear and
as powerful as you could ever want. 'Long ships' and 'Black
Waterside' followed each setting the scene for the finale 'The
Alchemist' really well. A brilliant end to an excellent evening and I
look forward to the next one, no bands are booked yet but I assure
you there will be some by the time it rolls around.
Rating:
The illegitimate child of Donovan and Korpiklaani resulting in a
something smack bang between the two.
