NORTHUMBRIAN MUSIC
NIGHTS
A Review of a recent
gig with Les Wilson &
The Mighty House Rockers
"The Midlands based trio of Les Wilson on guitar and vocals, Ted Williams on bass and Tony Baylis on drums ensured that the 'Sold Out' sign was put on the door on this, their fourth appearance at the club. The set bagan with the Freddie King instrumental 'In the Open', which led into two originals, the excellent 'How Many Times' with a terrific soaring guitar solo, and 'Crazy 'bout an automobile', which featured lovely texas-style guitar with fine phrasing and choppy licks. The Ten Years After classic 'Going Home' and 'All along the watchtower' played Hendrix-style, really were superb.
Ted and Tony are a very tight rhythm section, and drive this very well-oiled machine through the slow burners 'I'll play the blues for you' and Buddy Guy's 'Damn right I've got the blues'. Les is a very accomplished guitarist and a genuine nice guy. He introduced the band before switching to slide guitar for Elmore's 'Madison Blues' played with loads of gusto.
The band played with their collective foot down on the gas for most of the set, keeping the audience on their feet and receiving lots of shouts for more, which was met with a Hendrix medley of 'Voodoo Chile'/ 'The Star Spangled Banner'/'Purple Haze' delivered with plenty of welly. The Hendrix fans in the crowd went bananas with this wonderful tribute that The Hamsters would be proud of. A Texas boogie called 'Get a Haircut [and get a real job]' with some fantastic slide guitar closed the night.
Les Wilson is a tremendous talent and the band are very entertaining, adding up to a great night's enjoyment."
