The Switch                           8th Nov 2006

Line Up

Lead Guitar/Vocals                                                     Bob

Bass/Vocals                                                                 Chris ‘ Groovy’

Drums                                                                          Martin

Vocals / Electric/Acoustic Guitar                                Ken

+ Guest (Saxophone & Ken’s son)                             Dan

A Teesside based group, recently re-assembled with ex-Whisky Sky drummer, Martin from Tow Law, who were playing here for the first time. Their publicity poster promised something with a twist, so not knowing what to expect, their sound set gave nothing away.

It was very unusual then, for any group to kick-off with an instrumental, and especially ‘Sylvia’ by Focus, together with the yodelling. Not a bad start but the strength of the bass, gave a one-dimensional feel. Better was the next number, the Joe South version of ‘Hush’. The intro. was good as was the harmonies, especially the ‘Na..na’s’, only affected by the lead guitar being a bit thin on sound, which was quickly sorted within a few more songs. A rare airing of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Fire’ came next. This I felt was treated with an almost Ska beat to it, with the strong bass line very much in sinc with the lead. A trip back in time to Loving Spoonful’s ‘Summer in the City’ gave us the opportunity to appreciate Bob’s guitar skills. Having said that, I was starting to have concerns about Ken’s ability to front strong vocal songs, it was fine when supported but lacked expression.

Up to now we were being treated to the unusual, at least for The Quaker, so when ‘Feel Like Making Love’ by Bad Company came next, we were looking for something different. The slow rhythm, unfortunately, gave an almost C & W (I can’t bring myself to say it in full) feel to it, with virtually no explosiveness to the ‘feel’. 

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd was very well played, with the lead being clear and precise, I felt the band now was starting to enjoy themselves.

Ken’s son guested with sax. on ‘Black Magic Woman’ by Santana, who, I have to say was excellent (even with a touch a ‘Careless Whisper), and was a fine counterpoint to Bob’s guitar. A tribute to Carlsberg lager came next in the form of Atlanta Rhythm Section’s ‘Spooky’. Similar to the previous track, everything worked fine, but again Ken’s vocals were being tested. Although we were told and verified, the next song was by The Eagles –‘Get Over It’, though I could have sworn we were being treated to a ZZ Top number, with Martin’s drums and Chris’s bass producing that kind of backing, a good driving number. You have to applaud the band’s attempt of Procul Harem’s ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ without keyboards (apparently they used to have a keyboard player), especially Ken’s vocals which were fine on this one. Best number so far, was a rollicking version of Jo Jo Gunn’s ‘Run, run, run’. A cracking intro. with guitar and vocals really tight….excellent!! They were less together, unfortunately, for the last set number, ‘Friday on my Mind’ by The Easybeats. Chris’s bass dominated too much and Ken’s vocals needed to be more aggressive, leading to a bland end to what was, on the whole, very good entertainment, so far.

The unusual started the second set – The Four Tops ‘Get Ready’, I’ve not heard it played as rock before, but wouldn’t mind hearing it again….was this their own interpretation? Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Stuck in the Middle’ was ably done, though maybe a touch slow, but where was the sax? Smashy and Nicey must have had stirrings of nostalgia with Bachmann Turner Overdrive’s classic ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’. The introduction of Ken’s electric/acoustic guitar complimented the vocal harmonies.

Again, as stated above, we get a lot of songs that become stock numbers of a lot of bands at The Quaker, ‘Wishing Well’ by Free, is one of them. There are very few that succeed in copying the sound ( Paul Dannett being one), and so one hoped for the ‘twist’ on this one, but there wasn’t one. Things improved slightly with ‘The Hunter’ again by Free, but here the vocals weren’t distinguishable enough for me. We got next the totally unexpected ‘River Deep Mountain High’ by Ike & Tina Turner, this was brilliant !! The standard and quality of the unknown was maintained by Cameo’s ‘Word Up’ (although one suspects this is The Gun’s version). The Who’s ‘Substitute’, had Ken’s guitar making a reappearance, producing a nice 60’s feel to it, but maybe Martin’s drums would have benefited from a bit of Keith Moon’s madness. The Switch ‘Fought The Law’ (The Clash) and overall probably won, with backing and rhythm combining well. Dr.Feelgood’s ‘Tell Me No More Lies’? came next, a first time at The Quaker and another good rollicking number, keeping up the fast tempo of the performance. Again, the unexpected- ‘Funky Music’ by Wild Cherry, although jhaving very good lead guitar interpretation, please get Dan to stay and play his sax. on this one? A combination of The Spencer Davis Group (Mony, Mony and Give Me All Your Loving), Eddie Cochrane  and The Ramones gave an excellent end to the set. Although Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones became the encore, I felt the peak of their performance had passed.

On the whole a good night’s entertainment, and The Switch do the unexpected and very well. Employ Dan on Saxophone on a few more numbers, and miss out the stock numbers mentioned above or change / challenge the interpretation, the makings are there. Hope to see them again in the future.

Gazinho