Review - the poacher, portishead, may 2010

Hearing that the Corinthian Casuals were going to be playing the Poacher was a little confusing as I was under the impression they were an amateur football team from Kingston On Thames and The Poacher has always been a little more rugby orientated than football. Still, it was Friday and maybe the team had put together an eleven piece harmony group or something.

A little wander around the net (that's the internet, not the football one) and I found a few videos of the band that didn't inspire a great deal and left the impression they were a young group of lads starting out with a lot of work needing to be done.

Maybe at the time those videos were made that was a reasonable assumption but being fortunate to watch and listen to them last night was an eye opening pleasure.
The expression "old heads on young shoulders" might sum them up, four young twenty somethings with an amazingly eclectic and fascinating musical appreciation and the talent to pull it off with ease.

It was so refreshing to hear a band, especially a young covers band, launch into their set with a Stones song, not your usual Jumping Jack Flash or such but the powerful 'Gimme Shelter'.

It was quite evident from that first song that more quality songs were to follow and they certainly did.

These guys are a tight enthusiastic band of youngsters with their feet and their fingers firmly entrenched in a blues rock genre of music that was creating a stir long before they were even born yet they played it with a renewed lease of life and as if they had been playing forever.

Actually, their second song, the old Muddy Waters track 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You' was released in 1954 and I wasn't even born then (contrary to local belief).

Slipping nicely into the Free's 'Walk In My Shadows' made life interesting as it appeared that they weren't going to rely solely on surefire crowd pleasers but more on quality songs played well.

A few Status Quo covers, The Clash's 'I Fought The Law', a bit of Van Morrison and even a superb Jailhouse Rock moment certainly filled the more popular covers slot but the true beauty of this band was in the other choices.
Highlights of the night for me were the wonderfully extended 'Hey Joe', which proved a perfect opportunity for lead guitarist Alex Mitchell to pull out all the stops and dare us to guess how many fingers he had working that fretboard. A brilliant young guitarist who more than made me forget about those old clips on YouTube.

Being a huge fan of Rory Gallagher also ensured that 'Laundromat' and moreso 'Bullfrog Blues' had to be special and they certainly were.

Frontman Stu Joslin was confident in what he did, had a great rapport with those listening and a good sense of humour. He also threw up the biggest surprise of the night when I heard the words 'Daddy's in the back yard..' jump from his mouth (haven't listened to that for years) and having not noticed the Mandolin in his hands, I thought I'd imagined it but he certainly carried it off brilliantly, his mandolin playing inspired and a nicely timed interpretation of 'Going To My Home Town' was enjoyed by even those who thought only Oasis had Gallaghers.

Someone I was stood with actually mentioned that you never notice the bass player until he does a solo and that goes for drummers sometimes too so the drum solo went down very well and emphasised how the band's talent is equally shared and how well the bass player (John Boddington) and drummer Tom Page keep everything pumping along.

All in all the band were outstanding, played a captivating tight set and it's good to know that songs by the greats, Rory Gallagher especially, are safe in the hands of these talented and dedicated musicians.

The Poacher is quickly becoming known for top quality live music and last night's gig will add to that reputation and I'm sure that when the Corinthian Casuals come and play a return gig there will be very little standing room.