JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR + SONIA LEIGH – THE OLD MARKET, HOVE 02.03.20
Monday night and The Old Market was crowded, 90% of which were middle aged men, and Joanne Shaw Taylor exploded on stage wearing a black sequinned jacket, her long blond hair swinging wildly as she launched into her set with ‘In The Mood’; both the crowd and she and her band were definitely ‘in the mood’. Despite suffering from jet lag, having just flown in from Nashville, Taylor chatted between songs and played magnificently her raw, aggressive brand of blues, exuding great energy and displaying her phenomenal skill at guitar playing.
Her sixth and most soulful album, ‘Reckless Heart’, was mainly recorded live in her adopted home of Detroit, and was released last year, this subsequent 20 date UK tour started last night in Brighton. Taylor, who grew up in Solihull, is a rock guitarist who was discovered at age 16, in 2002, by Dave Stewart. She played with Stewart’s supergroup, D.U.P., and also played in Annie Lennox’s band at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in London, the latter performance was praised by the great Stevie Wonder.
The audience was quite quiet throughout most of the evening, I’m not sure whether it was because it was a Monday evening, but I think it was due to their concentration on Taylor’s performance and awe at her amazing guitar playing and rasping vocals. Second up was ‘All My Love’ and ‘The Best Thing’, the latter a song written to remind boys just how wonderful us girls are. ‘Creeping’ was next, written by Taylor about a boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend who was stalking him. Taylor played all tracks from her latest album plus many from previous albums to her fans’ delight, my personal favourites of her set were ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’, a bluesy ballad, ‘No Reason To Stay’, a funkier, upbeat number and ‘Reckless Heart’. ‘Reckless Heart’ was a lovely soulful track, which started softly with the Hammond organ and an insistent drum beat, and showed off Taylor’s vocals well; it was quite a different, muted and more popular sound than most of her songs, reminiscent of Beth Hart at times.
As the evening progressed, Taylor and her band settled happily into their signature blues rock, ‘Bones’ and ‘Going Home’ made the audience gasp at Taylor’s guitar speed and accuracy. Taylor considers herself as primarily a soul singer and is a fan of, amongst many, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, last night showed to me that, whilst able to ‘put over’ any soul number with conviction, she remains a rocking, impeccable blues musician.
Band:
Stephanie Williams, drums and backing vocals
Steve Lehane, bass guitar and backing vocals
Bob Fridzema, Hammond organ and backing vocals
Setlist:
‘In The Mood’
‘All My Love’
‘The Best Thing’
‘Bad Love’
‘Creepin’’
‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’
‘Break My Heart Anyway’
‘Reckless Heart’
‘New 89’
‘Jake’s Boogie’
‘I’m Only The Lonely’
‘Dyin’ To Know’
‘No Reason To Stay’
‘Jump That Train’
‘Bones’
‘Diamonds In The Dirt’
‘Going Home’
(encore)
‘Mud Honey’
Support
Sonia Leigh, loosely described as a Country and Americana singer songwriter from Georgia, defies obvious pigeon holing. Her debut album in 1998 was ‘Remember Me’, since when she has released 5 albums. The album ‘Run Or Surrender’ was produced by John Hopkins, a member of Zac Brown Band, with whom Leigh has co-written ‘Goodbye In Her Eyes’ and ‘Sweet Annie’. Leigh has performed widely over the last two decades and provided support for many acts, including Blackberry Smoke and Jason Mraz, as well as Zac Brown Band.
First up on stage, Leigh provided a contrast to Taylor, singing her self-penned love songs on a new acoustic guitar. A close friend of Taylor’s, Leigh, an impish, short haired blonde, said that she would leave the rocking numbers to Taylor. Yes, there are a great number of good female singer songwriters out there, so, did Leigh stand out? The answer is a definite ‘Yes’, as her songs were so well crafted and she had such a charismatic stage presence, Leigh came across as relaxed but compelling.
Her set of six songs included her new single ‘Give You Love’, a catchy number which could be a chart hit. ‘A Poem From The Ocean Floor’ was her initial song, ‘My Name Is Money’, ‘Shelter’ and the new ‘Slippin’ Away’ were all favourites of mine and well worth a listen. Leigh ended her set with Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Gypsy’. I was left feeling that Leigh should be on her own tour, with her own support act.
www.facebook.com/sonialeighmusic
Visit and ‘LIKE’ our ‘What’s On – from Brighton and Hove News’ Facebook page HERE.
