Gig review: NINE BELOW ZERO – 229 London, 16 January 2026

January 19th, 2026 by Davoski

This gig was part of the January Blues Festival, now a regular fixture in the gig calendar at the very fine 229 Club on Portland Street. Nine Below Zero are hardly ever off the road. This festival appearance was shoe-horned into their already extensive tour, billed as a one-off concert to mark the 45^th anniversary of their debut ‘Don’t Point Your Finger’ album.

There was a decent turnout on this miserable Friday night and enthusiastic cheers greeted the band. Main man Dennis Greaves ripped in to the raw riff of ‘One Way Street’ with absolutely no fuss. Such a great slab of fast-paced rhythm ‘n’ blues, serving as the opening track on ‘Don’t Point Your Finger’. Without a pause, Mark Feltham’s piercing harp signalled the furious, adrenaline-fuelled stomp of ‘Doghouse’, barely breaking the two-minute barrier.

To complete the triple-header, ‘Three Times Enough’ was belted out with ragged glory, these two legends of the r ‘n’ b genre standing tall, ably supported by Dennis’s boy, Sonny Greaves on drums and Anthony Harty on bass. Not to mention the encouragement of the punters, shouting out the spiky chorus and holding up three fingers.

This was an exhilarating opening and the pace had to drop a little. Dennis, looking dapper in shades, necktie and cap, had a few words for us. He spotted a bloke down the front in a Dr Feelgood t-shirt and went, “Oi, mate! Read the room!!” Chuckles aplenty. Not least in the rest of the band who are currently in the middle of a tour with the Feelgoods. There were also some entertaining reminiscences about recording the album with storied producer Glyn Johns.

Gig review: NINE BELOW ZERO – 229 London, 16 January 2026 The middle part of the set was a mixture of the remaining material from ‘Don’t Point Your Finger’ and the band’s other landmark album, ‘Live at the Marquee’.

Original bassist Pete Clark took over from Harty for a good chunk of this material for a reunion with Greaves. The two guys go way back to primary school in 1973 and there was clearly much affection between them.

Greaves was in fine form. The vocals were as strong as ever, but it was the guitar playing that caught the ear. Not just the wham-bam 2 ½ minute slams, either. His extended solo on ‘Sugar Mama’ would make Bonamassa purr; ‘On The Road Again/Satisfaction’ was filled with wonderful fret work (both bass and lead); and lovely slices of slippery, lithe slide guitar powered up ‘Ain’t Comin’ Back’.

And then the stunning exchanges and interplay between Greaves and Feltham. The latter, not only giving the former a run for his sartorial money in a double breasted jacket and wrap-around sunnies, but also showing why he is one of most people’s top ten harmonica players. Come on, I know you’ve got a list.

‘Can I Get a Witness’, ‘You Can’t Please All the People All The Time’ and ‘Homework’, amongst others, were all filled with catchy hooks, driving boogie guitar and harp histrionics.

But maybe two moments particularly stood out. The intro to ‘Ridin’ on the L&N’ saw Feltham bent over his harmonica to offer up a few cool snippets – not least the Match of the Day theme, before the band kicked into a stylish and full-bloodied rendition of this set regular; and then a glorious workout around the Old Grey Whistle Test theme tune with nods and winks to other melodies, including a few bars of ‘Tequila’.

Gig review: NINE BELOW ZERO – 229 London, 16 January 2026 Other favourite moments were the rolling blues of ‘Don’t Point Your Finger at the Guitar Man’, the charming ‘Helen’, and set closer, ‘Got My Mojo Working’ with enough snatches of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to push pulse rates a little higher.

This gig did proper justice to the whole ‘Don’t Point Your Finger’ album, which is often overlooked in favour of (mostly very good) covers of blues standards in NBZ sets. That said, ‘Rockin’ Robin’ and ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)’ still made underwhelming appearances here. Albeit they are fan favourites and my view is probably in the minority.

A great show by a fine band. The material was delivered with enough swagger, humour and style to show that the fire still burns. Long may we point our fingers at the guitar and harp men.

Review by Dave Atkinson

Photos by Andrew Jennings

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