The Steve Reay Band

Lead Guitar/Vocals            Steve REAY                     

Drums /B.Vox                     Paul WHITE

Bass                                    Dave ANDERSON

Warm Up 

Now apart from Graham Russell and Russ Tippins, this was the shortest warm up I have seen, nor have I seen the mixing desk in this position before. So with Dave on desk, we had a short and fairly sweet blues version of 'Tush', with early evidence of Steve's guitar playing. 

Set 1

 The nights  entertainment started with what is becoming a fairly stock opening by visiting groups, - 'White Room' by Cream. The combination of the 'wah-wah' peddle and Steve's voice put the difference into the feel of the song. Drums and bass were very quickly into their stride, and the harmonies were good. The only drawback was Paul's lightwieght vocals on the refrain, fine in harmonies but falsetto - not quite. Quickly on came Rory Gallagher's 'What's Going On'. This was very well performed and Steve's first solo was very impressive. I don't know whether there was a deliberate attempt at muffling the bass but it seemed to work fine. An excellent presentation of Peter Green's style of blues came with 'Need You So Bad?' - very much nighty night music allowing everyone just to drift away with the ebb and flow of the music - how very poetic!! Continuing with the blues theme, Cream's 'Born on the Bad Side' was a prime example of what this band is all about, excellent solo guitar with very tight support, - wholly together. A song from the Website, it sounded good on the site, it sounded excellent here. Steve isn't afraid to interpret the song the way he wants, and I wouldn't be far wrong in saying it is probably different each time he plays it. Very, very good!!. The Peter Green connection continues with Fleetwood Mac's 'Oh Well', a pretty good intro. led into what truly was an excellent version, one of the best I have heard. An rare appearance of a Radiohead song, 'High and Dry' came next, though this started quite jolly for Tom Thorn it became particularly downbeat when the vocals kicked in, especially the harmonies between Steve and Paul. To finish we had the warm-up song 'Tush' by ZZ Top. Now this was certainly a different version away from the high powered driving of ZZ Top, it works with the blues feel and slow time treatment. A fairly impressive first set which left you wanting more of the same.

Set 2

The second half started with a blues version of a soul classic by Dobie Gray 'Drift Away'. Here the harmonies were fine even with the hint of audience participation. Again this is a song that is interpreted very differently and successfully from the original 1973 version. 'Peacock Suite' by Paul Weller came next. Now I'm not one of Weller's biggest fans, however on numbers where his voice is over-layed with harmonies, as this was, then it works quite well. 'Paperback writer' even made a brief appearance. Next came an excellent version of a number quite often played at The Quaker -'The Stealer' by Free, containing all the driving rhythm needed with a superb solo - in the words of Tony the Tiger ---grrrreeaatt!! 'Love the One Your With' by Stephen Stills followed, and still possessed a strong laid down bass track and the harmonies were fine, but what we got was a totally different but fine version. I don't know whether it was deliberate or not but Steve altered his vocals to give an almost George Thoroughgood feel to 'Cocaine by Eric Clapton but it was certainly an E.C. feel to the guitar solo which was rather good. A mixed set of styles invaded 'Lay Down Sally' by Clapton next. Country and Western in essence with a touch of Benny Hill thrown in, made this unfortunately the least well received number of the night. Despite the massive back catalogue of most ardent fan of Rory Gallagher ( The Ghost) I was unable to get the title of the next number, but nevertheless everything else about Gallagher was there. Despite the vocals not being Phil Lynott in style or inflection, 'Rosalie' by Thin Lizzy was energetic and very good. The songs were coming thick and fast now and the horses weren't spared with 'Ziggy Stardust' by David Bowie, with an excellent intro., and great vocals, things were only getting better. The Doobie Brothers with 'Long Train Running' came next with the harmonies taking first place, topping a nice laid back feel to the song. 'Another Brick in the Wall' by Pink Floyd is one of those songs attempted by many, with or without keyboards, Steve's band is one of the former. What I couldn't get was how full the sound was without keyboards. Steve's solo work was very effectively supported by a strong bass line, and the finish was just short of sensational. 

The reprise came through with Steppenwolf's 'Born to be Wild' and Lynnard Skynnard 's 'Sweet Home Alabama', all greatly received, topping a really superb night of entertainment.

The Steve Reay Band are nothing short of being one of the best bands we have had on at The Quaker and would be ideal for the Rhythm and Blues Festival in the autumn. Their repertoire as indicated was immense and there wasn't one song that you weren't able to find something totally enjoyable. Don't be too long in coming back !!