The VooDoos                       13^th Dec 2006

Line-Up

Drums/Backing Vocals                                      John Taylor

Lead/Backing Vocals                                        ‘Biff’

Bass/ Lead Vocals                                              Dave Caley

In the area of Colne, in Lancashire this three piece has built up a pretty good reputation, headlining in their recent blues festival and receiving rave reviews.

It was their first time at The Quaker, and on the top of this performance, certainly not their last.

The start of the performance was delayed because of Dave going AWOL, rumour was he was asleep in the back of the van… well it is a long way down South in that there Lancashire.

So it was, with the delay, the group played straight through without a break, leading off with ‘Swan Snake’ by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Now, to my shame, I’m not really into S.A.H.B., either in the past or having any inclination to see their current tour (minus Alex Harvey, of course). Dave led entertainingly on vocals, but straight away, the harmonies between all three gave a very strong indication that this band knew what they were doing and how to do it very well. ‘Biff’s laid back approach to lead guitar playing, with the strong rhythm and beat laid down by drums and bass, gave the impression of a very tight act and one which was very used to playing with each other (in the best possible taste, of course). The 60’s /70’s predominance of material also came to the fore with The Who’s/Pete Townshend’s

‘The Seeker’. Dave Caley, whose vocal range lay firmly within the Roger Daltry/ John Fogerty range, aggressively complimented the excellent tempo of John and Biff.

I mentioned John Fogerty because the next song ‘Up Around The Bend’ by him was a very neat number, pushing my memory lever way back. ‘Heartbreaker’ by the Rolling Stones followed, and although Dave is nothing like Mick Jagger, this was very well done in a guttural Roger Chapman type of way.

Now I didn’t get who performed the next number, just the title ‘Get It Right’, again a well-performed pure Rock’n’Roll number with a very good guitar solo by ‘Biff’. Strains of other well-known songs (Mustang Sally for one) crept into the intro. of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Greek River’. Despite losing a drumstick, John demonstrated the full range of his talents, including what sounded like a coconut shell, into a blues dominated track, which was very nicely handled.

The bands full talents leapt into what I thought was an excellent Hill-Billy rock number, which turned out to be their own – ‘Home in the Country’. Excellent guitar work between verses!!

Now Dave has the capacity for showmanship and although his vocals are confined to one level, he stretched to his full potential, on the back of a very strong and forceful guitar intro. with S.A.H.B’s ‘Faith Healer’. The guitar work was spot on and to me was the best number so far. The slower tempo of ‘One Sunny Day’ by John Fogerty, enabled the full blues potential of the band also to be displayed.

‘Six days on the Road’, I think by the Flying Burritto Brothers, was another blues rock number which the band certainly gave the opinion that they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. I hadn’t a clue about the next number, other than the bass had a very recognisable riff in a blues number where ‘Biff’ dominated the song by a superb guitar solo, showing their true adaptability to the full range of blues rock.

The classic ‘Proud Mary’ by C.C.R including some excellent harmonies and spot on vocals from Dave.. a very good number!

Although Dave was very much there with the Bruce Springsteen song ‘Too Hard to Handle in Love’ and a fairly decent sound produced by the band, I just felt that the song was a little out of place in the set. This was quickly rectified by Thin Lizzy’s ‘I’m a Rocker’ which was very, very good and personally interpreted by the band, with a very intricate guitar solo by Biff, who if it wasn’t for his fag drooping from the corner of his mouth, I would have said was playing in his sleep, despite the excellent use of feedback.

The band finished the set with a Who medley, including The Kids are Alright, Can’t Explain and Substitute. I have got to say that the harmonies made it superb, and John’s drumming a very fair representation of Keith Moon at his best.

The encore consisted of ‘Go Man Go’, but by that time I was satisfied enough not to get the artist. 

There was not a single song I have heard performed before, and it was great to review a band for what they do, rather than compare to a tribute band. The VooDoos will be sensational at the Blues Festival in September as a last band at The Quaker, let’s make an effort to get them.

 Gazinho