By DJ Astrocreep
A first time seeing local blues rockers The Heavy North takes me back to an old work venue in Arts Club, to a room, in fact, I stage managed for a club for a couple of years. An earlier than expected doors meant I was scrambling to eat my omelette quicker than I would have preferred to get myself down in time to catch all of the live music action.
The Hazy Janes come on, a two piece comprising guitar and drums. We get a very early roots blues rock, complete with slide, to start before quickly adding a heavier element in, sounding akin to later White Stripes meets early Black Sabbath. It’s a pity there are only a handful of people in, as it’s a really enjoyable set, which I wish we would have had more of. An excellent start to the evening’s live music.
It’s clear from the very start that M T Jones is cut from a different cloth from our openers, with more of a feel of old school r’n’b fused with some jazz and classic soul in his music. The bassist has an almost funk twang to his instrument whilst the drummer never has to crash through the drums in same manner as our openers did. That said, there’s still something very smooth and very appealing about their music that you can fully appreciate easily. It’s good to see the room starting to busy up for the likeable trio, though the amount of people that seem intent on talking over the music is actually quite sad. They show through their set that they are very much worth their place on the line up with a tight, well rehearsed set.
The crowd is burgeoning as The Heavy North take to the stage and the cheers are loud. Silky smooth soulful vocals are immediately out to play amongst the tight six piece and it’s a mark of how much preparation they put into things that they manage to be so tight despite the 6 instruments in stage. With the two backing singers off in a corner too, it’s a busy stage but everyone just about has their own little space to strut their stuff.
We quickly have people dancing, singing and just generally moving around to the highly likeable blues rock. There are actually hardly any phones to spot in the air, with everyone just getting themselves caught up in the moment, showing even more just how well The Heavy North are doing on stage. It’s also nice to notice the little bits of camaraderie between members of the band between songs, showing that they are a collective, rather than just separate parts.
The great atmosphere carries on right through their set, with the highly enjoyable rock n roll performed in a highly creditable way, despite one of the guitarists apparently having repeated mic issues, as he has to ask for adjustments between most songs.
The three guitars work excellently together, taking turns to take the lead, to harmonize and rhythm and again indicates the high spirit in the band. Each instrument plays its role perfectly to create the layers that make their sound so powerful in the live aspect, including vocals. The spell that the whole weaves is far greater than I thought may come across live, probably best showcased for me during ‘Do you see me?’. All in all, it leads to a spellbinding performance from three high quality acts. The future looks very bright in The Heavy North.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.