It’s been nine long years since we last saw Chuck down on the south coast in Brighton but he is, I think, still my most watched artist racking in at over fifteen times. Always good value and is responsible for some of my favourite gigs of all time, from the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden, through the 12 bar and the Luminaire to many shows at the Borderline. Sadly not one of those venues still exist.
It’s the old gang tonight with John and Graham joining me. Onto the show, it’s an early, 8.30, start and thanks to the usual complete lack of any published stage times by venue or promoter we luckily arrived just in time, seconds before the first song.
I recognised most of the band from last time around with of course Stephanie on keys, accordion, guitar and vocals and James dePrato on lead and the slide maestro on the night. The rhythm section is made up of Kevin T White on bass and Vincente Rodriguez on sticks. They don’t miss a beat all night and sound is spot on.
Chuck is looking well after his recent brush with cancer and there is no lack of energy in this two hour show. He is his usual witty self and segues into many songs with a story, anecdote or aside that can’t help to bring a smile to all of our faces. As is usual with all recent Chuck sets there are no tunes from the 20th century and I still pine for the odd track from Balinese Dancer and Homemade Blood but it’s a minor quibble.
Given it’s his first tour for some time there’s a hearty selection from his last album the excellent ‘Land that Time Forgot’ which I think features a lot more of Stephanie’s harmonies on many of the tracks than usual.
My other observation with a Chuck gig is it’s not necessarily about individual songs but the whole package with the band seamlessly moving from one classic rock song into another. That said ‘High as Johnny Thunders’, audience singalong ‘You Did’ along with epic solos and set closer the hit that never happened ‘Summertime Thing’ stood out.
So the usual high quality Chuck set with a band at the top of their game performing a super rock n roll show.
Keep on rockin’ y’all