Christopher Nosnibor
October is absolutely rammed for new album releases and live music offerings, to the extent that it’s nigh on impossible to keep track. In the wake of the festival season, there’s always a brief lull before it all goes completely bonkers, but this year things are beyond crazy. Across Leeds and York, just tonight – a Thursday, no less! – I would have happily have been in at least half a dozen places at once. Dazzling Killmen at Wharf Chambers would have been an absolute cert any other time, and I’d have been interested to see Joe and the Shitboys at Hyde Park Book Club, but having subsequently seen how that went down, perhaps not, and I’d add as an aside fuck those guys, and I hope the cancellation of their show at Gullivers in Manchester the following night is only the start of their removal from venue listings here in the UK.
Jim Jones, and the various incarnations of his band, on the other hand, I have only ever heard good things about. Regardless of musical preferences, some acts are just bloody great entertainment, and this is an act around which there seems to be a universal consensus. And so it proves to be true. On record, they’re great, sure. But it’s live they really go to the next level… and the next.
Support act Edgar Jones – no relation – sits onstage with nothing but a guitar and practice amp and a thing on the floor that he taps with his foot to create a bass drum sound. He showcases some unconventional guitar playing and a gritty blues style, paired with a flexible voice with soul. He’s a Scouser, but his speaking voice is positively aristocratic – well, at least half the time: the rest, he rattles away barely intelligibly. ‘Whole Lotta Trouble’ is a slice of modern electric blues. And it’s decent. Yes, there are clearly hints of Joh Lee Hooker’s ‘Boom Boom’, but blues isn’t about originality as much as execution. ‘Old Man Trump’ is introduced as being a song about an ‘absolute cunt’, and finds Jones going a bit Tom Waits. ‘There’ll be a hell of a party when that fucker dies’ he growls, and the song is met with rapturous applause. When introducing ‘Further Away’, he casts a nod to Frankie Valkler, and it’s a fair indication of his sphere of reference, which is very much that of an older generation. But despite the minimal setup, there’s range to his influences: ‘Turning Point USA’ is more reggae influenced. Something about his stripped-back and highly political set possessed a certain awkwardness, but it was well-received, and deservedly so.
Edgar Jones
There’s a full forty minute gap between bands, during which time I pop to the bar and have to check that I’ve heard right on being charged just £3.65 for a pint of hand-pulled blonde. I can’t recall the last time a pint – or anything – cost less than the last time. But this is The Brudenell, a place of magic. I’m still recovering from the bewilderment when, suddenly, bang on 9:10, the place is packed as Jim Jones All Stars take to the stage and immediately launch into a wild sax frenzy… And in seconds, it gets wilder. Hell yeah. On stage we have two saxes, tenor and baritone, with one of the players resembling a behatted muppet. There are two guitars, too. Pinning it all down is some killer drumming and seriously detailed bass playing. Yes, it’s a seven-piece band, and they go large in every respect.
Jim Jones All Stars
The blues has been around for an eternity, and it’s been done to death, meaning that if you’re going to do it nowadays, you have to be absolutely fucking outstanding. And Jim Jones All Stars are truly fucking outstanding. Jones himself is a god, in black Levis and snakeskin winklepickers with Cuban heels, his slim-fitting shirt burst under the armpit. They do more than just play the songs – they perform, and deliver max energy every single second, guitars aloft, leaning forward, hanging over the audience who are dancing with abandon, completely immersed. The energy is electric, an explosive amalgamation of Blues Explosion, Rev Horton Heat, and Gallon Drunk.
They pack twenty songs into a set that last an hour and twenty minutes, and there is so much movement happening on stage it’s impossible to know where to put your eyes. Maybe halfway through, I’ve moved closer to the middle, and I hear a ‘plop’ behind me: the baritone sax guy has dropped off the stage and is suddenly ambulant amidst the crowd. All the players are throwing poses and positioned right at the front for the entirety of the set, and this is ROCK ‘N’ ROLL cranked up to the MAX. To carry this off, a band has to be THE BUSINESS.
Jim Jones All Stars
Toward the end of the set, ‘Troglodyte’ goes full primitive, primal rock riffing, but does slow the pace and afford band and audience alike a much-needed breather. But then, suddenly, the foot is back on the gas for the last three songs: in an instant, the volume goes 15% louder and they power to a frenzied climax. What a show. 100% entertainment. There can be no debate about this. Whether it’s your kind of music or not, it’s simply a fact that Jim Jones All Stars showcase live music at its best.
