NORTHUMBRIAN MUSIC
NIGHTS
What we said about
The Snake Davis
Band
Snake Davis Band Awesome in Allendale
You begin to run out of superlatives when you try to describe the experience last Saturday evening at Allendale's Village Hall. 'Exquisite', 'scintillating', 'top-notch', 'incredible' -- these words seem like pale descriptors of the reality, while 'energising' reflects only an evanescent and fleeting shadow of how the show felt. If you were there, you would surely 'Second that emotion'!
Snakey's reputation precedes him, and hundreds of fans from his previous gigs at The King's Head know the best professional quality when they hear it. The sax star of 'M People' is a major draw, after all. So it really was no surprise to find the hall heaving, and an audience ready for a great night out. What wasn't expected, perhaps, was how wonderful John Ellis on his Hammond organ and soft vocals would be, nor how rock steady and superb Steve Williams on bass guitar, nor even how important Eryl Roberts' percussive talents, would be on the night.
Moving from alto, to tenor and on to the big baritone saxophone, from special favourites like 'Here comes the sun', 'Mardi Gras', and even 'If I had a hammer', Snake also revelled in a wee tiny, sweet and sunny soprano instrument, a soft and sustained flute, besides demonstrating some incredible dexterity on the tin whistle, bringing even the most committed folk enthusiasts into an inclusive performance.
But in the intimate spaces of a darkened, blue-note hall, with superb surround-sound and shimmering stage lighting, it could only be deep and dusky blues to thrill the soul, or pounding jumping jive from the hot tropics to compel the dancing feet. Most noteworthy, apart from Snake's star quality, was the way John's soft voice introduced many of the songs, with some A-mazing organ riffs, only to give way lovingly, longingly, to the virtually human voices Snakey evoked from his instruments.
So it was an altogether superb and contrasting encore when the lads clustered around John to sing a Cuban-inspired refrain, 'You for me, and love, for we, will gain our power from energy'. It turns out the night was the first on a 9 gig tour for the Snake Davis Band, and from the mutual expressions of appreciation, it was a brilliant start, courtesy of the the North Pennines Festival!
