What an amazing evening !!
O2 Islington , London .. smallish Venue ...( the old Marquee Club) and Tuesday night ..So not expecting super great things tbh
20.45 and on stage comes Joanne Shaw Taylor all blond hair and skinny jeans , looking amazing , Strapped on the Telecaster .and whapp !! from the very first chord, she and her band were on the money with every song .............an amazing gig. Drawing heavily from her latest CD "Diamonds in the Dirt" and the earlier "White Sugar" .. she performed pretty much full on and non stop until just gone 22.30...... and what a set.
Great Vocals and blistering guitar work ... belting band .....and a very very well done trbute to Jimi Hendrix with "Manic Depression"... how many people do you know who can do justice to JH "the man" himself. She absolutely blazed into it .....close your eyes and it could just have been him!!
and all delivered by a young slip of a girl .............all of 24/25 maybe ???
Its also a real and very big paradigm challenge.........what you are hearing ......and what you are seeing ..just don’t add up !!
Seeing ...........a very , very foxy, long haired nymph like lady ....almost impish and quite small , mid 20's... .. very pretty, loads of long blond hair and more hair tossing than you can shake a stick at !!!! .. ( She would certainly turn you head if you walked past her in the Street )
Looks like butter would not melt in her mouth !!..... .The sort of gal you be happy to take home to meet Ma !! ( I wsih !! My wife would kill me !!.. even for thinking about it !! )
But !!!!!!!
What you hear .......amazing guitar !! .......you almost expect a guy to walk out half way through the gig, To a huge round of applause as “The real guitar player “ ( I know that is a pretty sexist remark!!) But No ... Its Joanne .........................I have never heard or seen such amazing guitar work.
And
No hiding place ............I expected Joanne to be cosseted as a “Star” lead player / vocalist in a big band. Two or even three other guitarists , bass player , keyboards etc etc Lots of back up and a big sound that she only had to ‘pose ‘ against
But no no no !!
This was a 3 piece band ..a real Power Trio ..al la Cream and Double Trouble and SRV
Bass player .. Paul ( superb) Drummer ( bloody amazing !!! .......and a woman as well !!!.. Layla )
And
Joanne !!..that was ‘it’
She played amazing Rhythm and lead combined and Sang. Hers singing is like everything else ... Full on !! ... a bit like a raucous , husky mix between Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt ........
So she both looked and sounded amazing !! and such talent !! ..how anyone can be this good so early on and writing her own material too !!
It would be a travesty if this woman is not invited to the next “Crossroads “ Festival ....Eric ...make a note please !!
She’s as good as Bonamassa on the guitar, ( Honestly !! and I rate JB and have seeen him live twice ) probably as good perhaps better than him vocally .......better .....because she is a woman and there are so few women blues singers and players ............and way better looking !!!
Blues , well that is the category she is placed into... but she seems happier in Blues/Rock to me.
She told a wee story abouyt the fact that she 1st performed here at the age of 16 ( she had her own band even then) and as she was 16 she couldn't be given alcohol ......but the bar staff were kind to her and mixed her up lovely Strawberry Milkshakes...................laced with Vodka!!.... "Could she have one this evening ?"" For old times sake ?? ) Born in the Midlands of the UK and now based apparently in Detroit .....Not sure why .. Detroit ?? Blues ?? I dunno.
If you get a chance to go see this Blues star in the making whilst she is still performing in smaller intimate venues ...grab it !! She'll be headlining in big arenas before too long. Otherwise grab a CD...quick !!
Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
- Strummer07
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- Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:59 pm
Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
- losaavedra
- Posts: 213
- Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:47 am
Re: Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
Well, I'd never heard of her, but then I don't get out much!!!
So I Googled the name ... and there are a lot of tracks on YouTube which I'm looking through. Absolutely amazing!!!! Go look.
It all seems so easy for her, lovely style of playing, a joy to watch.
There's gonna be quite a few of us here wondering which of our axes to bonfire first (me included!!!).
Thanks for the heads up Strummer, good bit of writing that ... made my day (week, month, year too probably!).
Brilliant!
So I Googled the name ... and there are a lot of tracks on YouTube which I'm looking through. Absolutely amazing!!!! Go look.
It all seems so easy for her, lovely style of playing, a joy to watch.
There's gonna be quite a few of us here wondering which of our axes to bonfire first (me included!!!).
Thanks for the heads up Strummer, good bit of writing that ... made my day (week, month, year too probably!).
Brilliant!
Mike
"I feel more like I do now than when I first came on" (Ronnie Scott, Maidstone)
"I feel more like I do now than when I first came on" (Ronnie Scott, Maidstone)
- VikingBlues
- Posts: 4466
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:44 pm
Re: Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
Great descriptive writing there - I'm sort of getting the impression you quite enjoyed it!!
I remember Joanne Shaw Taylor being recommended on a thread on the old 12bar forum and I chipped in a massive agreement.
I also remember some disagreement with the recommendation. Lumped in as one of the "painting by numbers" guitar playing crowd if I recall. I'm glad you saw a concert much better than that level. TBH for me it's not just the very good guitar or just the very good voice - it's the combination of the two that makes her better than that and stand out from the crowd for me.
I did have the chance of going to one of her gigs in Edinburgh - I'm starting to regret passing up after seeing what you said - though nearly two hours at the rockier end of the blues-rock spectrum might have been too much for me.
I remember Joanne Shaw Taylor being recommended on a thread on the old 12bar forum and I chipped in a massive agreement.
I also remember some disagreement with the recommendation. Lumped in as one of the "painting by numbers" guitar playing crowd if I recall. I'm glad you saw a concert much better than that level. TBH for me it's not just the very good guitar or just the very good voice - it's the combination of the two that makes her better than that and stand out from the crowd for me.
I did have the chance of going to one of her gigs in Edinburgh - I'm starting to regret passing up after seeing what you said - though nearly two hours at the rockier end of the blues-rock spectrum might have been too much for me.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
Re: Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
ZOWEE... Strummer. It's been a blues week all around the world! Joanne Shaw Taylor is one of my favorites. I am watching her schedule closely to see when she comes within range. That's a great description of her performance, almost makes me feel like I was there. It also makes me want to see her all that much more.
"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."
- Henry Ford
- Henry Ford
- Strummer07
- Posts: 671
- Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:59 pm
Watch out for this lady !! She is hot! ( Blues !!)
A few Pics from the Tuesday night Gig..... Music press seemed to rate the gig highly !! .and so they should .. It was belting
http://www.music-news.com/showreview.asp?nReviewID=7125
and apparently ..... The evening was graced by the attendance of Ian Siegal and no less a superstar than Joe Bonamassa and they both looked on admiringly as Ms Shaw Taylor showed why she is rated as not just the best female guitarist around at the moment but one of the best guitarists period.
Joe .......well he could of at least come up and said hello !!.......or bought me a beer !!
Obviously he was out Scouting for a few new licks !!
http://www.music-news.com/showreview.asp?nReviewID=7125
and apparently ..... The evening was graced by the attendance of Ian Siegal and no less a superstar than Joe Bonamassa and they both looked on admiringly as Ms Shaw Taylor showed why she is rated as not just the best female guitarist around at the moment but one of the best guitarists period.
Joe .......well he could of at least come up and said hello !!.......or bought me a beer !!
Obviously he was out Scouting for a few new licks !!
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"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
Re: Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
I must admit that I didn't know her before - but a quick search at youtube showed that I missed something. Certainly very SRV-ish playing, lot of power.
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the tip!
Re: Blown Away by Joanne Shaw Taylor ......
I have both the JST CD's you mention Strummer and love them both. I would love to see her live.
And Detroit...a great blues town. Very underground. I spent the first 18years of my life in southern Michigan. Lot's of rock & roll grew out of the Motor City as well...
And Detroit...a great blues town. Very underground. I spent the first 18years of my life in southern Michigan. Lot's of rock & roll grew out of the Motor City as well...
The blues won't get you to heaven but it'll drop you at the front door.