DR FEELGOOD – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 18.01.2019
My first memory of hearing Dr Feelgood was when I was skiving off school aged 14. I heard ‘Milk and Alcohol’ on the Jukebox in a cafe in Newhaven. My choice to of what record to spend my weekly pocket money on was between Dr Feelgood, Generation X or Thin Lizzy – I found myself loving all of those songs that week! I chose Dr Feelgood and it started a 40 year journey of great songs and gigs.
The Dr Feelgood story has been well documented and they are considered to be one of the pioneers of ‘Pub Rock’, where the origins of the emerging punk sound of 1977 came from. Pub rock was mainly a live experience but some amazing bands were produced from it.
The current line-up of the band doesn’t have any members left from the original recording of ‘Milk And Alcohol’. Back in 1978, the line-up was South African born vocalist Lee Brilleaux (who sadly passed away in 1994 from lymphoma, aged just 41) and guitarist John ‘Gypie’ Mayo – who passed away in 2013 aged 62. He co-wrote ‘Milk And Alcohol’ with Nick Lowe’s ‘I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass’. ‘Gypie’ had replaced the well known figure of Wilko Johnson (who went on to form The Wilko Johnson Band and also became a member of Ian Dury & The Blockheads). The line-up also included bass player John B. Sparks and drummer John Martin, who was known as ‘The Big Figure’.
Tonight’s line-up at Patterns was the enigmatic vocalist and superb harmonica player Robert Kane (who joined the band in 1999), bassist Phil Mitchell (who originally joined in 1983 to 1991 and then 1995 to the present), drummer Kevin Morris (who’s been leading the beat since 1983) and probably one of the the best guitarist that I have ever seen, 61 year old Steve Walwyn.
The crowd was not quite as big as I had expected, however, did not matter one bit as everyone was up for this one, even though most of us were over 40! The band came on around 8.30pm and started us off with ‘Drives Me Wild’. Instantly the audience were dancing and singing, knowing we were going to get a night of great rock ’n’ roll, rhythm and blues. The crowd knew all the words and the craftsmanship of this band is incredible – hairs up on the back of my neck up already!
Next up was ‘I Can Tell’, and the tempo raised even more. Robert Kane has to be one of the most gregarious and charismatic frontmen in any band. He lives and breathes every note and is so into the performance. If you haven’t seen this band, you really should. Next up ‘No Mo Do Yakamo’ slowed us down a little but still had the crowd jiving and bopping. Next ‘All Through The City’, really raised the tempo again. This track is one of my personal favourites from their 1975 ‘Down By The Jetty’ album.
I was really having such a great time and everyone around us was too. The set continued and we were treated to some great blues numbers made famous by the likes of Muddy Waters – ‘Dust My Broom’ and ‘Shotgun Blues’. These were especially great because of the amazing slide guitar work of Steve Walwyn. It really was a ‘wow’ performance! Steve plays these songs so well and captivates the audience bringing great feeling that uplifts the soul. Truly awesome!
We were treated to the old favourites ‘Back In The Night’, ‘Roxette’, ‘Milk And Alcohol’, ‘She Does It Right’ and ‘Down At The Doctors’. All of these were absolutely brilliant. The band went off the stage. The crowd were not going to give up with chants of ‘One more song, One more song’ ringing around the venue. Back they came to great applause and played ‘Gimme One More Shot’, ‘(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66’ and ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ which included former Dr Feelgood lead guitarist from 1983-89, Gordon Russell, who lives in Hove.
What a fabulous first gig for 2019. To my mind, Dr Feelgood are still one of the most popular and exciting live rhythm and blues acts in the world. I always look forward to seeing them live. If you want to catch them they are back in Brighton on the 26th of March supporting the Stranglers at the Brighton Dome. Grab your tickets for the gig HERE.
The full setlist was:
‘Drives Me Wild’, ‘I Can Tell’, ‘No Mo Do Yakamo’, ’Been Down So Long’ ,’All Through The City’, ’Baby Jane’, ’Dust My Broom’, ’Rollin’ & Tumblin’, ’Back In The Night’, ’Roxette’, ’Shotgun Blues’, ’Milk And Alcohol’, ’She Does It Right’, ’Going Back Home’, ’Down At The Doctors’, (encore with Gordon Russell) ‘Gimme One More Shot’, ’(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66’, ‘Great Balls Of Fire.
The Brighton & Hove News music team have previously reviewed one of their two 2018 Brighton concerts – read it HERE.
More info on Dr. Feelgood:
www.drfeelgood.org
www.facebook.com/Dr.Feelgood.Official
