The Dirt Road Band and The Milk Men live in Leamington
Review
It was a pleasure & a privilege (the gig sold out swiftly) to witness the Leamington leg of the Dirt Road Band's national tour with The Milk Men (the next stop is the International Arts Centre in Leicester tonight) having already played the likes of Barnoldswick and Darlington.
In an era where I'm increasingly worried about the dwindling of venues for live music, it's good to note the occasional arrival of a new name: Barnoldswick Music and Arts Centre wasn't on my radar before DRB played there the other year, but now it seems to be a de rigueur stop on many tours of similar sized bands. That they also have played a place called Albert's Shed in Shrewsbury speaks not just to this occasional increase in places to play but something of an enrichment of the language of touring.
St Patrick's Club represents something of a home town gig for them & it was rammed with their friends. It's worth noting here that few groups seem to co-exist equally comfortably in the ream of international renown & grassroots connection but DRB are totally committed to the latter & gigs like this are regular & not exceptional for them.
Beyond those general views, I'm going to struggle a bit: with emerging bands one can at least report on development but this group were superlative from birth and I've commented often enough on their individual & collective prowess to leave little unsaid & even their obvious enjoyment crops up most times I write about them.
I discussed this with their producer John Rivers last night & he agreed pretty much with my assessment: when a band are this good & you've already said so, there only remains repetition, though I can I hope pass that off as reinforcement.
Colleagues The Milk Men were new to me, so that gives me something to tell you about. A strong R&B quartet of the old school (it's the sort of music I'd expect from such a band but so wide has the definition become that younger audiences might be a little surprised by this version of R&B, even if to me it's the proper one): they even popped in a version of "Pinball Wizard" to connect with the traditions of Maximum R&B.
Chatting with Steve beforehand, he told me that bassist Lloyd was the son of Mick Green, one of the most significant guitarists in British rock & an influence beyond measure. As a huge admirer of his, I was even more pleased when Steve later introduced him to me. Appropriately, this connection was made tangible when they played their version of "Going Back Home", the Dr Feelgood classic Mick wrote with Wilko Johnson.
Naming two covers in their set is a bit unfair as they otherwise played originals from across their several successful albums and their music has recently topped both the iTunes Blues Chart & the Amazon Blues Chart: both in single & album form.
The stage is not a big one so although keyboard collaborator Bob Jackson was in the crowd, there really wasn't room for him to play on tracks such as "You Steal My Heart" from their debut album ‘Righteous' which we featured on ‘Hot Music Live Volume Thirteen' but they did find room for Sam Powell & his harmonica and at the encore, Milk Men Adam & Jamie.
Otherwise it was a mainly originals set, though with one strange characteristic worth mentioning which sets DRB apart: I get covers bands & I fully understand why originals bands drop the occasional cover in to highlight their influences: but what other band who plays largely their own compositions fits in three covers by the same artist: in this case Rory Gallagher? Well it's a band totally confident in what they are doing & not feeling obliged to follow any conventions in such matters.
I suppose one advantage of seeing a band multiple times is that you can pick up on those finer details: little innovations or things you hadn't seen before. For example I'm not sure I've ever seen Horace play a Rickenbacker before.
DRB play their music at a ferocious pace (one indicator of a great gig is seeing the performers having to towel themselves repeatedly throughout) yet the individual numbers last quite a long time: each is explored at length to wring the most out of it (which is another factor in the sweat). In particular, their take on the song whence they derive their name Charley Patton's "Down The Dirt Road Blues" is extended way beyond the original: I wish I'd timed it to give you the precise duration, but it's impressive.
I have mentioned before how Ted eschews a floor tom with this band: which is obviously unusual but last night I observed him play the snare with one stick & his left hand: again far from what you'd expect especially with this sort & pace of music. It reinforces the depth of originality of DRB: they don't feel obliged to play in the conventional manner and the songs don't necessarily address the obsessions of the genre. (The song introductions actually are really educative & worth paying attention to: I'd not have ascribed the themes of two of them to the movie "Roadhouse" nor an early stage name of Jimi Hendrix simply on my own reading of the lyrics).
It was a cracking good night at the most obvious level & this band are top of their game, enjoying their music & granting everyone a great night out. If you want to get a bit more out of the experience like the aspects I've just outlined, then that's on the menu too: all part of their demonstration of their love for what they play & desire to keep it fresh & share their knowledge as well as talent with you.
