SODS LAW

24 th October 2007

Members

JOHN  P TAYLOR       Lead Guitar / Vocals 

Geoff KEELER             Lead Guitar & Vocals 

JAY                                Bass (odd B/Vox)

TONY                            Drums

 

Arriving early, I was pleasantly surprised to see John and his gang already setting up - early set -up , early start? I was even more pleased to see that they had their own Sound Man with the desk at the front of the band. Having said that John has his own music studio and so you would trust that the sound would be close to the mark - and so it was! I haven't seen John Taylor perform either with or without his band, so everything below is without bias.

The warm-up, as each individual was given the once over, included use of keyboard pedals operated by John, which I hoped would be made ample use of. ( I like keyboards..don't you know).

Set 1 

Whilst the sound was right for the purpose of performance, John's introduction to the first set was rather muffled, so I'm sorry, I have no idea who the first song was by or what it was called - perhaps someone at the front could tell me? Having said that, I was very impressed with the balance and interplay between Geoff and John on lead guitars, matching the strong bass and rhythm line provided by Tony and Jay. The next song brought Paul Weller to the fore, and although I can't stand Weller, this is one of the few songs I'll doff my cap to - 'Changing Man' . Straight away the balance was right with John providing enough evidence of  a voice capable of mixing genres. Geoff's solo was decent enough although I wasn't sure of his backing vocals. The introduction of the keyboard pedals to Python Lee Jackson's 'Broken Dream' was spot on, and although John's voice was more Stereophonics than Rod, everything came together in a very relaxed and enjoyable way ( although I thought the switch to the solo guitar could have been smoother?). 'Tightrope' by Stevie Ray Vaughan (no..not Elvis) followed, again good use of the keyboard, but highlighted by John's solo, very well backed by an almost jazz/funk feel to the rhythm, as well as an instantly recognisable riff ( but I don't know where from?). 'Scar Tissue' by The Red Hot Chillies had a very good feel to it, with very nice fill in guitar role by Geoff. Both Jay and Tony were excellent on this one, ably providing a solid background to John's solo work. 'Louisiana Blues' by Paul Rodgers, by it's name headed of into the more Southern blues area, and although it was ably done, I felt this wasn't the direction to go in and seemed to be missing something - slide guitar maybe, but nice interplay again at the end with Geoff and John. With no pressure from my better half, the best number to date came with Thin Lizzy's 'Don't Believe a Word'. Led into by the previous song, the backing and dual guitar roles were spot on, and John's voice wasn't that far off Phil Lynott's. Hendrix's 'Little Wing', however you perform it relies on the sound of the lead guitar, in this case the lead came down to Geoff. His vocals were O.K. but the guitar work I felt was too nice initially but finishing fantastically well. Cream's 'White Room' continued the prominence of both guitars together, which was fine but as whole lacked the power of Ginger's drums. To finish the first set we had Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid'. Oh dear....not the grand stand finish we were looking for, again it seemed to be lacking the 'kick in the guts feel'. 

Set 2 

A 'Fudgit' specialty - 'Tush' by ZZ Top obviously raised some comparisons, but not enough to detract from a decent start to the second set, with the guitar work and vocals overcoming a little lack of urgency and drive to the song. I wish I knew the who by or what the next song was called, but again at the back, the introduction just muffled it's way to obscurity. Although I knew the song, I couldn't place a name to it... again much apologies. Having said that, this was 'not three bad', with the band regaining their togetherness most effectively. To more effect, 'The Riverboat Song' by Ocean Colour Scene was really very good, and had a fine feel to both the rhythm and vocals, with Geoff's solo guitar work putting the icing on the cake.

Bad Company's 'Feel Like Making Love' is one of those songs played quite often at The Quaker , all to a varying degree of performance level. Despite the vocals and backing being more or less there, I always wait for that guitar/rhythm bridge just before ..'Feel like..', and again the smash in the face impact wasn't quite there. Keeping the Paul Rodgers connection going with 'Can't Get Enough of your Love' b y continuing the intro. form the previous song was good, but the dual guitar playing of John and Geoff was mighty fine!!

I totally agree with John's intro. about Adrian Lister's ' Wherever I am' being a damn good song even though the name may not be familiar to one and all ( actually on Classic Rock's Bone Rattling Blues Compilation). Geoff's guitar work was very good but a little let down by his voice not being as strong as it should be. There followed another unfamiliar song with John Hiatt's 'I'm a real man'. Again blues orientated, but much more in the safer grounds of the very first song.....they do this sort of song very very well.  'Living after Midnight' by Judas Priest came next with Jay adding his vocals to the mix to great effect, as again was the guitar tennis between Geoff and John.

The final song I heard before the chiming of the Town Clock, was Stereophonics' 'I'm Not Looking'. This was a truly well played song by everyone in the group and was a very good end to to my nights entertainment.

Sods Law enjoy what they do and that enthusiasm is evident the way all members interact with each other. Their strengths lay in that area of blues/rock where the emphasis is on the quality of the song. It is all to easy to go through the numbers by playing the classics and I agree it is important to include some in your repertoire, but the make them the best ones. A very decent night out and a group I hope to see again as I am sure their set lists is as varied as the songs on show tonight. 

 

Gazinho