FANZEYEVIEW
Davy Knowles & Back Door Slam O2 Academy 3 - Birmingham. April 6th 2010 (Reviewed by Dave Evans)
Knowles himself is part of the UKs ever growing army of young and talented Blues guitarists, a list that includes Midlands own Joanne Shaw Taylor and also Oli Brown, Matt Schofield, Virgil McMahon and so on. Like the aforementioned - Knowles has already chalked up an impressive CV, two studio albums, tours with Govt Mule, George Thorogood and The Who. He has also worked with the legendary Peter Frampton, coupled with that extensive tours of America, for someone still in their early 20s Knowles has a wealth of experience under his belt already.
Bathed in simple coloured spotlights Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam hit the modest stage with a confidence that belied their collective youth. ‘Tear Down The Walls’ the opening number sounded ‘immense’, it’s a track from the latest album ‘Coming Up For Air’. Although Davy Knowles hails from The Isle of Man vocally he has a vocal style not dissimilar to Paul Weller. This is indeed a great opening gambit- and we instantly get to see why is he ‘lauded’ by his peers, armed with little or no effects pedals - that I can see - he wrings every last ounce of soul out of his PRS guitar, with such ‘touch’ and ‘feeling’. Next up the ‘vibe’ changes to that of the ‘deep south’ the fantastic groove of ‘River Bed’ here Knowles gives us the ‘infectious’ guitar melody, and although the change ‘sonically’ was subtle - it demonstrates Knowles and his bands ability to diversify musically. The crowd by now were mesmerised by Knowles’ playing- everyone trying to see how someone so young could carry it all off with such ease.
In fact ‘ease’ is a word I would equate with Back Door Slam, somehow everything was made to look effortless, bass player PK and drummer Steven Barci having an almost telepathic understanding of their front man. ‘Coming Up For Air’ is next up, this is a beautifully ‘soulful’ title track - bringing to mind the Southern sound . Knowles’ playing here is nothing short of breathtaking- showing a mix of heavily ‘flanged’ guitar and wonderful volume control harmonics. This is when you realise - great guitarist ‘feel’ their instrument - not just ‘play’ it.
Back Door Slam have played with the great Govt Mule, and they acknowledge this by playing ‘Worried Down With The Blues’, here Knowles does his best Warren Haynes impression - with his ‘brooding’ style, this is punctuated with some ‘bombastic’ drumming and some wonderful bass guitar runs courtesy of PK. Like all the best musicians they can cover a song - and make it their own property. The pace once again changes with the ‘cheeky’ ‘Come Home’ from the debut album - ‘Roll Away’, this track has an almost ‘skiffle’ vibe to it - Barci making full use of his ‘rims’ here, and there is wonderful interplay between the band, again it all seems so relaxed, and even when Knowles’ sublime guitar solo is interrupted by a mobile phone going off, he looks up gives a wry smile and continues without missing a note - even remarking with a smile; “even the phone was in tune”. This the sign of three musicians relaxed with each other and their repertoire.
Sensing the warmth of this Birmingham audience, they even try out a new song ‘Catch The Moon’. This tune brought to mind the Commitments doing ‘Mustang Sally', and again the ‘skiffle’ sound of the drums gave it a ‘cheeky’ and ‘fun’ vibe. Although an untried number it sat at ease with the more familiar sounds of the set. Peter Frampton produced Back Door Slams latest album and his presence is felt with the following track - ‘Keep On Searching’, There was some serious ‘groove’ going on here and the band were clearly enjoying their Birmingham experience, all three members smiling like the ‘blues cats that had got the cream’, and the cover versions that led to the sets end indeed had us the audience smiling in awe…
‘Almost Cut My Hair’ by Crosby, Stills and Nash is by any stretch of the imagination an ambitious song to cover, such is its ‘brooding’ and ‘reflective’ nature, but for the following 10 minutes Knowles and his band proceed to stun the audience with a spell binding version. Every emotion humanly possible was wrung from the neck of Knowles’ guitar - covering the whole range of sonic sounds, ‘rich‘, ‘wailing‘, ‘soaring‘, these are all clichéd descriptions - yet all accurate and add on top ‘feel and touch’ and you get some idea of what a player Knowles is. But whilst we talk about his ability as a guitarist we must not forget the stunning mature vocal delivery, whilst ‘Almost Cut My Hair’ was the highlight of the set for me, the bands version of ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ by Junior Wells - but popularised by Rory Gallagher - was a joy to behold. Knowles indeed can be compared to the late Gallagher such is his emotive playing, and this is a song that cant be entered into ‘half-heartedly’, and here Back Door Slam quite literally shake the Academy to its foundations…as the chants of “more“ ring out the band return with a storming version of ‘You Don’t Love Me‘, once again they demonstrate perfectly how to work an audience. And after being thoroughly entertained for approximately 80 minutes we the audience are left feeling ‘euphoric’.
Sometimes you are witness to something or someone that literally takes your breath away, and tonight Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam left us speechless, necks were craned fists were pumped, jaws were on floors and more importantly - we were left knowing that ‘The Blues’ are in very safe hands.
Davy Knowles knew he wanted to play the guitar when he first heard ‘Sultans Of Swing’…well tonight Back Door Slam were the Kings Of Cool.!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/davyknowlesbackdoorslam
Bathed in simple coloured spotlights Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam hit the modest stage with a confidence that belied their collective youth. ‘Tear Down The Walls’ the opening number sounded ‘immense’, it’s a track from the latest album ‘Coming Up For Air’. Although Davy Knowles hails from The Isle of Man vocally he has a vocal style not dissimilar to Paul Weller. This is indeed a great opening gambit- and we instantly get to see why is he ‘lauded’ by his peers, armed with little or no effects pedals - that I can see - he wrings every last ounce of soul out of his PRS guitar, with such ‘touch’ and ‘feeling’. Next up the ‘vibe’ changes to that of the ‘deep south’ the fantastic groove of ‘River Bed’ here Knowles gives us the ‘infectious’ guitar melody, and although the change ‘sonically’ was subtle - it demonstrates Knowles and his bands ability to diversify musically. The crowd by now were mesmerised by Knowles’ playing- everyone trying to see how someone so young could carry it all off with such ease.
In fact ‘ease’ is a word I would equate with Back Door Slam, somehow everything was made to look effortless, bass player PK and drummer Steven Barci having an almost telepathic understanding of their front man. ‘Coming Up For Air’ is next up, this is a beautifully ‘soulful’ title track - bringing to mind the Southern sound . Knowles’ playing here is nothing short of breathtaking- showing a mix of heavily ‘flanged’ guitar and wonderful volume control harmonics. This is when you realise - great guitarist ‘feel’ their instrument - not just ‘play’ it.
Back Door Slam have played with the great Govt Mule, and they acknowledge this by playing ‘Worried Down With The Blues’, here Knowles does his best Warren Haynes impression - with his ‘brooding’ style, this is punctuated with some ‘bombastic’ drumming and some wonderful bass guitar runs courtesy of PK. Like all the best musicians they can cover a song - and make it their own property. The pace once again changes with the ‘cheeky’ ‘Come Home’ from the debut album - ‘Roll Away’, this track has an almost ‘skiffle’ vibe to it - Barci making full use of his ‘rims’ here, and there is wonderful interplay between the band, again it all seems so relaxed, and even when Knowles’ sublime guitar solo is interrupted by a mobile phone going off, he looks up gives a wry smile and continues without missing a note - even remarking with a smile; “even the phone was in tune”. This the sign of three musicians relaxed with each other and their repertoire.
Sensing the warmth of this Birmingham audience, they even try out a new song ‘Catch The Moon’. This tune brought to mind the Commitments doing ‘Mustang Sally', and again the ‘skiffle’ sound of the drums gave it a ‘cheeky’ and ‘fun’ vibe. Although an untried number it sat at ease with the more familiar sounds of the set. Peter Frampton produced Back Door Slams latest album and his presence is felt with the following track - ‘Keep On Searching’, There was some serious ‘groove’ going on here and the band were clearly enjoying their Birmingham experience, all three members smiling like the ‘blues cats that had got the cream’, and the cover versions that led to the sets end indeed had us the audience smiling in awe…
‘Almost Cut My Hair’ by Crosby, Stills and Nash is by any stretch of the imagination an ambitious song to cover, such is its ‘brooding’ and ‘reflective’ nature, but for the following 10 minutes Knowles and his band proceed to stun the audience with a spell binding version. Every emotion humanly possible was wrung from the neck of Knowles’ guitar - covering the whole range of sonic sounds, ‘rich‘, ‘wailing‘, ‘soaring‘, these are all clichéd descriptions - yet all accurate and add on top ‘feel and touch’ and you get some idea of what a player Knowles is. But whilst we talk about his ability as a guitarist we must not forget the stunning mature vocal delivery, whilst ‘Almost Cut My Hair’ was the highlight of the set for me, the bands version of ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ by Junior Wells - but popularised by Rory Gallagher - was a joy to behold. Knowles indeed can be compared to the late Gallagher such is his emotive playing, and this is a song that cant be entered into ‘half-heartedly’, and here Back Door Slam quite literally shake the Academy to its foundations…as the chants of “more“ ring out the band return with a storming version of ‘You Don’t Love Me‘, once again they demonstrate perfectly how to work an audience. And after being thoroughly entertained for approximately 80 minutes we the audience are left feeling ‘euphoric’.
Sometimes you are witness to something or someone that literally takes your breath away, and tonight Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam left us speechless, necks were craned fists were pumped, jaws were on floors and more importantly - we were left knowing that ‘The Blues’ are in very safe hands.
Davy Knowles knew he wanted to play the guitar when he first heard ‘Sultans Of Swing’…well tonight Back Door Slam were the Kings Of Cool.!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/davyknowlesbackdoorslam
roger@fanzeyeview.com
