But before we get to the main act, a quick mention of the ever impressive support act, The Wynntown Marshals. In fact on this occasion the Wynntowns were more than a mere support, they were largely instrumental in getting the Wilson brothers up to Scotland and so a double thanks lads, much appreciated! The guys set off their relatively short set with a great rendition of thier current album opener Driveaway, their nod towards the mighty The Hold Steady. There then followed great versions of Canada, There Was A Time, Low Country Comedown and All That I Want to name a few. These songs and the band's ability to bring them alive have all grown since I first heard them back in early May 2013 in Oran Mor. As I mentioned in a previous blog about the Wynntowns, they are all great musicians who have a superb feel for country rock and I still can't believe that these guys are 'home grown'! However, I would like to make special mention of Iain Sloan's fine guitar work and Ritchie Nobel's keyboard playing which I think is really starting to define their sound. Murdo McLeod's Tide brought the set to an end and it was as fine a piece of country rock as you are likely to hear, starting as it does with slow guitar and keyboard notes, then building into a smooth swooning musical passage before finally crashing into a band workout during which everyone added magnificently to the mix. There are also some great chanting vocals towards the end of the song which was very reminiscent of Turn It Up by The Sons of Bill, but more of that later. It certainly left me wanting more and I hope one day to get to hear the sublime Snowflake performed live as well!
The stage was then set for The Sons of Bill (literally!) and the five lads launched into Lost In The Cosmos. It is perhaps no surprise that these two bands gelled when they met on a European tour and have remained friends as they have the same musical set up and musical ethos: drums, bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and keyboards. In the case of the SoB these roles are played by Todd Wellons, Seth Green, Sam Wilson, James Wilson and Abe Wilson respectively. The band (named in tribute to the trios Dad) hail from Charlottesville, Viginia which from a west of Scotland perspective sounds just so right!
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Sam Wilson |
Sam, looking like a morphing of Mike Mills and a young Warren Zevon, got things off to a great start by playing some accomplished pedal steel guitar to augment the sound then he stepped up to take over lead guitar duties, a task that I considered he undertook magnificanetly. As the night played out the rest of the band all showed why these guys are held in such esteem. Each band member contributed some fine vocal harmonies, instrumentation and some mighty fine melodies. They are a relatively young band with 3 albums to their credit and are about to release No 4 Love & Logic. They formed in 2006 when the three Wilson boys teamed up and started playing some of James' songs and the rest, as they say is their story! Also, they have some really fine songs in their catalogue with a couple of strong stand outs, both of which were played on the night: Santa Ana Winds and Virginia Calling, both real anthems in the making which bring to mind Springsteen and Tom Petty, yeah, they are that good!.
Taking on the role of lead vocalist, James looks the part with his rugged good looks and deep voice which give the band an instant and identifiable sound and vision. Also the three brothers are able to create some truely fine harmonies which were very evident during Roll On Jordan and Santa Ana Winds which includes the killer lines:
There ain't no skatin' by, we're all gonna die
No matter what the plastic surgeon told you.
Sam played some great guitar parts and some of his solos were top notch. I was blown away by the solo at the end of Turn It Up which, as I mentioned before, also has a chanting segment and it echoed the Wynntown Marshals Tide to great effect. Sam's playing on Virginia Calling and Siren Song were also a joy to behold. And over on the other side of the stage Abe sat studiously playing some great piano solos on Turn It Up, The Tree and Roll On Jordan. Architecture's loss was to be our gain as Abe had been studying the profession prior to joining his brothers in the band.
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James Wilson & Seth Green |
Meanwhile Todd Wellons and Seth Green played sound, clipped, pumping drum and bass and I really enjoyed Todd's playing on Road To Canaan, I thought that the shaker and brush work added greatly to the song. These two also laid down some powerful, pounding, pulsating beats to push Landslide and Bad Dancer along. In addition the pair tied down great slow bass notes and rim shots on the wonderful Joey's Arm. Exhilarating stuff!
Then the band served up a great finale with Virginia Calling followed by Santa Ana Winds, two songs that really capture the essence of their sound for me. Great vocals, thoughtful & cerebral lyrics, sublime harmonies, wonderful guitar and keyboards and all underscored by a solid, strong, stentorian bottom end.
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Todd Wellons |
Santa Ana Winds, the first track from 2012's album Sirens and written by Abe starts with William Faulkner speaking lines from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: "When the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, even then there will still be one more sound: that of man's puny, inexhaustible voice, still talking." Then bam the song starts and the beat pounds out.
After these two anthems, which I can just picture being sung in stadium venues in years to come, we were left wanting more and the guys obliged with a two song encore. James and Abe returned to the stage and were about to start on a preferred choice when a persistent voice from the audience got them to change their minds and play Broken Bottles from 2009's One Town Away album. It was an inspired request as it allowed Abe to lay down a great keyboard solo and James sang the soulful lyrics beautifully:
Hank Williams might have been a love-sick drinker
but bein a love sick-drunk doesn't make you Hank
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Abe Wilson |
Then to wind things up the band returned and they performed another of Abe's songs, the cracking Last Call At Eschaton which is a great song to end a show on. The slow military-esque drum rolls started off the song as James sang the refrain, "Just remember that the twilight looks a whole lot like the dawn," as the rest of the guys joined in to pound out another wonderful slab of country rock pointing out that you can't look behind you if your back is against the wall! All I can add is that I will look back on this gig as one of those great serendipitous events when two bands reaching a cohesive plateau performed some damned fine music which kept the audience exhilerated, excited, entranced and entertained for a few wonderful hours. Thanks for a cracking night and haste ye back!
Seriously, what's not to like!
Lost In Cosmos
Siren Song
The Tree
Bad Dancer
Turn It Up
Joey's Arm
Landslide
Brand New Paradigm
Road To Canaan
Roll On Jordan
Never Saw it Coming
Virginia Calling
Santa Ana Winds
ENCORE:
Broken Bottles
Last Call At Eschaton
Siren Song
The Tree
Bad Dancer
Turn It Up
Joey's Arm
Landslide
Brand New Paradigm
Road To Canaan
Roll On Jordan
Never Saw it Coming
Virginia Calling
Santa Ana Winds
ENCORE:
Broken Bottles
Last Call At Eschaton
