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Danielle Nicole Band, Ross Stewart & The Shunters, Rockavox

Dereham Blues Festival 2023, The Memorial Hall, Dereham

 

Wednesday, 5^th July 2023

 

With an itinerary of Camden Town, Dereham, somewhere in Sweden (via Oslo to a destination that was not clear to the guitarist, Brandon Miller), the intrepid Danielle Nicole Band from Kansas City, have had to face up to some logistical challenges in the past few days.  Happily, such challenges were pushed aside by Nicole and her band and the evening ended with roars of appreciation and a standing ovation from the knowledgeable audience who had been totally engrossed in the show from the opening beats.

Danielle Nicole Band, Ross Stewart

with Doreen and Stewart Aitken of 

The Dereham Blues Festival 2023

(Photo: Caroline Stewart)

On the night, there were two other issues to address.  Firstly, where to get a drum kit from in Dereham, less than 24 hours before headlining the gig?  Award winning drummer, Go-Go Ray had happily carried his cymbals and sticks all the way from Missouri to mid-Norfolk, but all the big bulky bits had stayed at home. What to do?

Doreen Aitken, Stewart Aitken and the Dereham Blues Festival committee haven’t been running this jamboree since 2013 without a good contacts book.  In fact, this year’s celebration of blues, running for four days from Wednesday, 5^th July to the evening of 9^th July has more than 50 bands playing at 102 different events.  Which is almost ridiculous!  No one will be able to get to all the gigs, but what a set up the festival has become!

 

The first event of the festival was the performance of the Rockavox, rock chorus. Resplendent in pink polo-shirts, they performed under the musical direction of Tiggy, who formed the singing group in 2012. 

Rockavox, who rehearse twice a week, alternately in Swaffham and then Dereham, provided the pre-match entertainment in the foyer of the Memorial Hall, while people gathered together for the evening.  

Luckily, I managed to catch up from the middle of the set, which fully merited its encore.

Ain’t No Sunshine,  Don’t Bring Me Down anda powerful rendition of Gimme Some Lovin’ were good fun and looked even more fun to sing in a chorus.

Rockavox chorus at Dereham Memorial Hall
(Photo Chris Perry)

Returning to the drum problem, a Sonar Delite drum kit was conjured up from Henry Lascelles of Drumsense, who was rewarded for his assistance with a front row balcony seat and the unadulterated joy of hearing his drums being given the time of their life, by Go-Go.  That must have been a bit weird for him, but Henry’s essential contribution to the show deserves full credit.  More of that later.

 

The Grammy-nominated band had one more bridge to cross before the end of the night too. How on earth were they to follow the opening set from Ross Stewart and the The Shunters?  This had turned out to be an opening set that nearly brought down the house, even before the main act had reached the stage.

The music fans of Norwich and Norfolk have had Ross Stewart on the radar for well-over 18 months now.  First appearing at Norfolk Blues Society meetings, notably at The Walnut Tree Shades and subsequently at The Brickmakers, Stewart is a guaranteed draw for customers to local pubs.  Even so, Dereham Memorial Hall was a big step up for Ross, who did not show any nerves once on stage.  A two-tier seated auditorium, of experienced blues fans, who had paid for their tickets, was quite a leap for a guitarist used to playing in front of Sunday afternoon drinkers and Friday night pub-crawlers, or the inquisitive Tuesday night, open-mic dudes at Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom.

 

Stewart wasn’t on the substantial stage alone.  Riding shotgun, on bass was Stuart Aitken, the understated veteran, probably capable of playing any rhythm line in his sleep. Drums, (his own drums) were under the complete control of Geoff Cooper and on the Hammond organ, Andy Cooper. The evening’s compere had lovingly described these characters as “geriatric”, but certainly their fine talents and experience gained over decades of playing, contrasted vividly with the few short years that Ross Stewart has been playing his guitars in public.  Whatever the age range, the inter-generational combo played a fabulous set. 

Ross Stewart, Geoff Cooper, Andy Cooper

Photo: Caroline Stewart

From the opening notes of Sirius / Be Like You the audience were captivated by Stewart’s enchanting, heartfelt guitar playing.  

Anyone who tries to define good music, finally comes down to the basic sense that good music is music performed with heart and soul.  The technicalities of playing are, in many ways, incidental to the spirit and emotion communicated by performers to the audience.  Here, unmistakably, Stewart with guitar and voice, filled the hall with emotion.

 

Part of the delight of those in the audience discovering this musician was that, here was a man not yet 20 years of age, who is hard-wired into the blues.  BB King himself would undoubtedly have recognised the electricity in this performance. 

 

What takes Ross Stewart’s performances to a different plane is his ability to put together a set that moves from blues, to funk to rock.  It jumps, rocks, jives and rolls the audience from Higher Ground, to Ain’t  No Sunshine, through One Way Out, then a unique and stunning interpretation of Crossroads, into a rumbustious medley crescendo of Scuttle / Wipeout.

 

You have to understand that this wasn’t an exhibition of licks and tricks.  The audience were taken on a wonderful journey, through a range of emotions, by a guitarist, who not only plays with heart, but also sings with real feeling. 

 

The set was not all about Stewart, but The Shunters Company too.  I mention Stewart Aitken again here.  He doesn’t even get a solo break to show off his down and dirty bass skills, but he would argue that providing the foundations for the band to play off is good enough.  He’s there and he’s on it, unfailingly from beginning to end.

Geoff Cooper is a subtle and accomplished drummer.  On first appearances, Geoff is just quietly, (for a drummer), also doing his job.  However, when let off the leash, as he is in the grand finale of Scuttle / Wipeout, the man is an absolute demon.  His flourishes in the closing number, draws cheers and delighted laughter from the audience.  A man transformed, from mild-mannered gentleman on general percussion, to a bloke you wouldn’t want to cross on a dark night in a rough part of town. Fabulous!

 

The final part in the Shunters Company is Andy Cooper on the Hammond organ, the iconic keyboard of the blues sound.  I am not quite sure where to start with ‘Loco’ Andy Cooper.  'Superb' doesn’t quite cut it for me to describe the weight of this guy’s playing.  I am beginning to wonder, where Norfolk gets all this musical artistry.  Andy Cooper plays the Hammond with such energy and depth. He can hold a chord for just long enough, with just enough emphasis to ice the whole cake of the set.  Were we really in Dereham? Not in an authentic blues dive bar in Memphis, Chicago, or St Lou-is (as the Americans call it down South)? You gotta be kidding me! Dereham Blues Festival was well on the way after this.

 

So, after that standing ovation for the circuit blowing opening act, it was a case of follow that Danielle Nicole Band, if you dare.

 

Dare they did and how! This was not a case of meeting fire with fire.  It was about meeting fire with soul. 

 

As the first number Pusher Man developed, the realisation began to dawn on the still stunned audience, that Danielle Nicole has got an amazing blues voice.  This was definitely a warm-up number.  As Nicole’s vocal chords began to stretch and her voice gradually kissed each corner of the hall, she ended on a beautifully sustained line, “I want to be your pusher man” that signified that trekking all the way to Dereham on a Wednesday evening was fine decision, even from Camden, (as one punter had).

Danielle Nicole Photo: Caroline Stewart

Lord, I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes, a more traditional sounding number, presented as an acapella blues number, with under-stated support from Brandon Miller on slide guitar and simple drum backup from Go-Go Ray, indicated clearly where this performance was heading. 

 

The song is a blues classic, recorded by Blind Willie Johnson and Willie B. Harris (his first wife) in 1928, but thought to be from the songbook of Rev. H. R. Tomlin a few years earlier.  It is a beautiful song that combines the pain and beauty of blues and gospel. 

It was at this point in the set that the appeal of Nicole’s music grabbed me. She is a wonderful soul singer.  There is a richness to her tone, a powerful range in her singing and she squeezes out every last drop of juice from her body to convey the sense of each lyric.

 

I am not sure that I have ever seen a sung performance of such intensity.  This was a performance during which the singer puts every last once of strength into the song, so much energy that she is almost staggering on the stage from the effort used to expel the words from her gut. It was mesmerising.

 

Danielle Nicole does this at the same time as playing her bass guitar, which looked like quite a beast against her slender frame.  It’s a trick of the eye, of course.

 

Nicole’s bass playing was also full of energy.  She seemed to be recharged after each sonic exertion through the power of the bass.  She high-kicked her flared legs, bounded about the stage and re-booted her voice, before entering the soul mine to sing strong and hold the audience in her palm again.

 

The set had a really pleasing mix, including some originals from her back catalogue and a new song, as well as an occasional classic, including a Bill Withers’ number, for example.  It was a very satisfying musical experience all round.

If there was an absolute peak to the show, it might have been, You Only Want Me When You Need Me. (This link to the official band video gives you a flavour).

 

As the set began to wind up, we were presented with Brandon Miller playing one of his own guitar solo compositions and a solo piece from Go-Go Ray on those borrowed drums.  

 

Miller further demonstrated the wonder of the electric guitar and its capability to produce otherwise unimagined beauty in the right hands.  He balanced his solo performance just right on the tightrope between clever, technical and musically satisfying. Brandon Miller records his own music and it might be better not to expect it to be on the traditional side of blues, but it is definitely something a contemporary music lover would enjoy, almost contemporary classical at moments.

 

The final piece of the show, was the drum solo.  What is left to be said about drum solos?

 

Every child would love to be a drummer from the moment they first clamber into the pan drawer in the kitchen and start clanging and banging lids and pots together and some drummers don’t seem to have got past that point, but there was no danger of that being the case here.

 

I seemed to be surrounded by drummers where I sat.  They all had been positively drooling at the work of Go-Go, (they all seemed to be on first name terms, but maybe he is known like Ringo was known, with no need for a surname).  Hence, when Go-Go was left alone on stage with Henry’s drums, an expectant hush fell upon the auditorium. The attentiveness of the audience was a quality mentioned by Danielle Nicol, when saying how much she valued being in the “city” of Dereham. 

Go-Go Ray, Ross Stewart, Danielle Nicole, 

Brandon Miller - A Great Night's Work!

Photo: Caroline Stewart

Go-Go provided a lesson to us all on how musical a traditional rock drum set-up can sound.  Again, not just the technical, but the rounded sound of the performance, the use of every last element of the kit to carry the listener along.  Gentle, subtle, strong, without ever losing the underlying and reassuring, steady pulse of the rhythm.  This was not a quick-fire drum solo to test the fibre of the kit, but an extended piece of music that flowed.  As Mr Lascelles said afterwards, that particular set of drums has never sounded that good! I can only take his word on that, but they sounded wonderful tonight.

And finally, at round quarter to eleven, the totally sated audience, rose to their feet, applauding and cheering the trio from the stage of this picture postcard music hall.  Danielle Nicole had knocked this gig far out of the park and still had the energy to chat with everyone who came to the merchandise stall straight after the show.

The last word must go the sound engineers, led by Mark Gregory, who did a great job.  Everyone was able to concentrate on the music and enjoy the quality of the show, which is as it should be. 

 

The Dereham Blues Festival runs until the evening of Sunday 9^th July.  All events are free for the rest of the week.  Get full details from the website, or festival brochures, that are to found in various pubs and cafés around the area.

 

~

 

Chris Perry

6^th July, 2023