THE TESKEY BROTHERS + JOY OLADOKUN – BRIGHTON DOME 24.4.23
Last night there was a palpable feeling of excitement and anticipation filling the Brighton Dome. A Brighton capacity crowd of all ages waited good humouredly for The Teskey Brothers to take to the stage.
The last time I saw The Teskey Brothers was on their previous European Tour in January 2020, not only has the world changed since then, but the band has also halved in size. Josh and Sam are now simply a duo of brothers, having said goodbye to both their drummer, Liam Gough, and bassist, Brendan Love at the end of last year.
For those yet to discover the wonder that is The Teskey Brothers, Josh provides the strong, distinctive and soulful vocals (think Joe Cocker and Otis Redding with a tiny pinch of Steve Marriott) and Sam provides the strong, sensitive guitar playing which supports his brother’s voice so well. Siblings who write and play music together often display a natural, unspoken empathy and The Teskey Brothers are no exception it seems.
The band was formed in 2008 by the two brothers: Josh (vocals) and Sam (guitar), along with Brendon Love and Liam Gough. As with many of their contemporaries, they started by playing at friends’ parties, on street corners and in small venues; forward to 2017 and The Teskey’s released their excellent first album, ‘Half Mile Harvest’ to great acclaim, since when they have produced another excellent album, ‘Run Home Slow’ and two live albums, not forgetting, of course, their latest offering, ‘The Winding Way’.
It is easy to hear the brothers’ influences in their music, namely vintage southern soul and blues and it is also all too easy to dismiss them as purely talented revivalists, but Sam and Josh bring their own passion and seemingly recognisable but fresh self-penned songs, sharing their love of the genre. It’s great to see two good looking Aussie guys who don’t fuss about their appearance, they both seem completely laid back and quietly confident in their abilities. Josh’s pure soul vocals pull us into every track, with Sam’s guitar playing providing a heart wrenching accompaniment.
Strolling onto the stage with their supporting band of musicians, to great applause and whoops and hollers, they started off their set with a gentle new song, ‘Remember The Time’. The dynamic may have changed but the songs remained just as captivating and passionate.
‘Carry You’ from their album ‘Run Home Slow’ was next up, a sweeping ballad which showcased Josh’s vocals, followed by ‘Crying Shame’ from ‘Half Mile Harvest’. ‘Oceans Of Emotions’, a promise of fidelity love song, and ‘Take My Heart’, a gorgeous and passionate offering of a love song with soaring horns and orchestration, are both from their upcoming album ‘The Winding Way’, due out on June 16th. This album promises to retain their signature strong, soulful blues sound while adding layers with its orchestration, the horns always giving a perfect accompaniment. ‘I Get Up’ and ‘Rain’ followed swiftly, the latter a slow burning blues number which Josh sang with power and conviction. ‘So Caught Up’ was a favourite of mine, a seductive number from the excellent ‘Run Home Slow’ album.
The lament ‘I’m Leaving’ was next up, which Josh said was a new song written about the boys’ sadness at leaving their old recording studio and all its associated memories. ‘Paint My Heart’ and ‘What Will Be’ concluded the heart warming and thrilling set. ‘Paint My Heart’ started off as a slow love song with glorious horns and Scott’s Hammond organ, Sam’s lovely bluesy and rocky guitar then led us to a different dimension, the brass section and Josh’s vocals then brought the song full circle and to its final crescendo. A great song to see performed live and adding a touch of Pink Floyd to the soul input.
‘Pain And Misery’, and ‘Hold Me’ provided the encore, two well-known numbers to all The Teskey Brothers’ fans. Josh introduced everyone in their band to their audience, plus those important backstage tour staff; we also learned that Tom Rogers needs three things in life, namely cheese, beer and live music! The brothers enjoyed the lively banter from the Brighton audience and Josh jumped down off the stage during the rousing ‘Hold Me’, we all joyfully sang along and ended the evening being taken to church, Josh and Sam were the evangelists of blues and soul and it was a religious experience for the excited congregation.
Half-way through their set the duo had played their great upbeat cover of The Zombies’ ‘This Will Be Our Year’ which said it all: this will be The Teskey Brothers’ year. We wish them both well on the remainder of their sold out European tour and conquering tour of North America and look forward to watching them again in the UK before too long.
The Teskey Brothers:
Josh Teskey – lead vocals & guitar
Sam Teskey – lead guitar & backing vocals
Backing band:
Nicholas Lawrence – drums
Fabian Shaw – bass guitar
Olaf Scott – Hammond organ
Hector McLachlan – keyboards
Lily Shaw – saxophone
Audrey Powne – trumpet
The Teskey Brothers setlist:
‘Remember The Time’
‘Carry You’
‘Crying Shame’
‘Oceans Of Emotions’
‘Take My Heart’
‘I Get Up’
‘Rain’
‘This Will Be Our Year’ (The Zombies cover)
‘So Caught Up’
‘I’m Leaving’
‘Paint My Heart’
‘What Will Be’
(encore)
‘Pain And Misery’
‘Hold Me’
Support:
Joy Oladokun
The well-attended venue welcomed Oladokun as the evening’s support act and she performed an enjoyable but short acoustic set of mainly her own music, plus an unexpected cover of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’. Oladokun came across as an amiable American singer songwriter with a clear pleasant voice, an infectious laugh and many influences.
Hailing currently from Nashville, via Los Angeles, Joy Oladokun is originally from Arizona. Her Christian church upbringing provided a difficult beginning for her but Oladokun has used the sometimes painful experiences to inform her writing of popular music, which defies easy categorisation. Oladokun is a poster girl for Black Lives Matter and is happy and proud to share her experience these days as a queer woman of colour.
Her music has been incorporated in many tv shows including ‘This is Us’ and ‘CSI:Vegas’ and she has collaborated with Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris, Brandi Carlisle and Jason Isbell, among many others. Oladokan has produced 3 albums to date, her latest, ‘Proof of Life’, is being released on 28th April. ‘This album is evidence of how I live. It tries to capture the human experience’ Oladokan explained. The resultant songs manifest a personal but open sound which thoughtfully documents life as she sees it and embraces its changes.
Standouts from Oladokun’s set included ‘If You Got A Problem’ and ‘Jordan‘ from her 2021 album ‘In Defense of My Own Happiness’ and ‘Keeping The Light On’, a single from last year.
