Monday 18th May. The Boileroom. The Strypes. First time at the Boileroom in Guildford and it was living up to its name. It’s a sold out show and you can barely get in the door and past the hot steamy audience that’s a fair cross section of ages and sexes. From the old guys who were there for the sixties R n B groups first time around to tweenies checking out one of the hottest new bands with me and John somewhere in between.
The Strypes are four very young men (the oldest not twenty till later this year) from Cavan in Ireland. Their music is a mash up of all the great sixties British blues and rhythm and blues bands such as The Feelgoods, Yardbirds, etc.
Coming on stage to the Pogues Dirty Ol’ Town gets the crowd singing along and then they launch straight into a blistering ten minutes of high energy rhythm and blues. A minute to draw breath and we’re off again. The set is mainly pulled from their first album and recent EPs with a couple of new tracks thrown in.
The musicianship of the guys so young is amazing and props to Josh McClorey the lead guitarist and chief songwriter who must defy the 10,000 hour rule by being that good so young. But this is no one man band and you feel that the sum total is greater than the single parts.
It’s a runaway train performance as they rattle through the songs at breakneck speed not stopping at any stations along the way pausing briefly to mock the stockbroker Surrey audience into buying their T Shirts (come on Guildford we know you’ve got the money).
In a flash they disappear down some rabbit hole at the side of the stage to spring back out with a rousing rendition of Kick out the Jams that would have left the MC5 struggling to keep up and ending finally with the crowd favourite and the great Bo Diddley song You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover.
The best part of twenty songs in little over an hour, I’m exhausted just watching their energy. It’s a critical time for this talented group to ensure that they’re not labelled a heritage act but they have the songs and musical craft to rise above the bar room brigade.
Get a ticket and jump on board this train now you will enjoy the ride.
The Strypes are four very young men (the oldest not twenty till later this year) from Cavan in Ireland. Their music is a mash up of all the great sixties British blues and rhythm and blues bands such as The Feelgoods, Yardbirds, etc.
Coming on stage to the Pogues Dirty Ol’ Town gets the crowd singing along and then they launch straight into a blistering ten minutes of high energy rhythm and blues. A minute to draw breath and we’re off again. The set is mainly pulled from their first album and recent EPs with a couple of new tracks thrown in.
The musicianship of the guys so young is amazing and props to Josh McClorey the lead guitarist and chief songwriter who must defy the 10,000 hour rule by being that good so young. But this is no one man band and you feel that the sum total is greater than the single parts.
It’s a runaway train performance as they rattle through the songs at breakneck speed not stopping at any stations along the way pausing briefly to mock the stockbroker Surrey audience into buying their T Shirts (come on Guildford we know you’ve got the money).
In a flash they disappear down some rabbit hole at the side of the stage to spring back out with a rousing rendition of Kick out the Jams that would have left the MC5 struggling to keep up and ending finally with the crowd favourite and the great Bo Diddley song You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover.
The best part of twenty songs in little over an hour, I’m exhausted just watching their energy. It’s a critical time for this talented group to ensure that they’re not labelled a heritage act but they have the songs and musical craft to rise above the bar room brigade.
Get a ticket and jump on board this train now you will enjoy the ride.
