Day two of a three night stand this week with Sarah Shook and the Disarmers tonight. The first surprise of the night was that Omeara had found the on switch for the air conditioning, a venue renowned for its extreme heat inside at almost unbearable levels. Whats not surprising is the usual lack of beer in the main bar with them having ran out of most things.
First up tonight is quirky West Country singer Anne (didn’t catch her surname) who delivered a lovely acoustic set with a great vocal range. She did offer a complete contrast to what was about to happen.
My first time seeing Shook and the gang and wow what a breathless ninety minutes cramming twenty two songs into an unrelenting set. The band are superb as they launch straight form one song into the next after a three minute blitzkrieg of country punk rock a billy. The sound is spot on and it was nice to hear the pedal steel so high in the mix and the separation of the instruments in the mix was amazing.
The set has equal measures of tunes from across their last three albums with no song outstaying its welcome as we segue into the next. Not that we would have minded another minute or two of each song. There is some light to the shade too with torch song ‘If it’s Poison’ for example highlighting Shook’s inner Cline.
It’s all leads up to the crescendo at the end where the band just let go and jam it out for six or seven minutes (thank you to the guy who filmed it from an earlier show). A special mention for the bass player who towers over the diminutive shook on this tiny stage with a manic grin on his face throughout when he was not singing every word. PS he was also an excellent bassist too.
Highlights were too many to mention as this was a masterclass of good old fashioned simple balls to the floor rock n roll. No frills, just great music in a tiny room. Perfect.
Keep on rock a billy punk rockin’ y’all.