It’s been a long time since their moment in the sun at the height of the funk-rock heyday of 1989/90 but the Electric Boys have been regular visitors to these shores since reforming in the late 2000’s. However this was the first time I had seen them since the pandemic, during which time they released a new album last year in ‘Upside Down’.

There was the bonus of a better than usual support act in Slyder Smith and the Oblivion Kids, featuring members of the Last Great Dreamers, who were around from the mid 1990s but never quite made the big time.

Unusually for a band playing in power pop style they were a trio with singer Slyder playing both rhythm and lead, rather than having two guitarists. After hearing the likes of ‘Calico Queen’, ‘I’m Done’ and ‘Crash Landing in Teenage Heaven’ (a resurrected Last Great Dreamers song), I got more into the set as it went along with the melodic chorus of ‘Maya’, a surprisingly good cover of Limahl’s ‘Never Ending Story’ and the Cheap Trick-esque single ‘When the Rain Comes’.

The last two songs were excellent- a cover of ‘Malibu Beach’ close to the Hanoi Rocks spirit and the eponymous ‘Oblivion Kids’ sounding like an outtake of a new wave song you might have seen on Top of the Pops or Whistle Test circa 1978 or 1979. My interest was certainly piqued in exploring further.

It hadn’t been a big crowd, then the stage area of the Underworld emptied worryingly in the interval, but a respectable crowd was in place by the time the Electric Boys came on to usual intro tape ‘March of the Spirits’. However they threw a curveball to start with in a lengthy instrumental jam ‘Upside Down Theme’ whose southern bluesy feel and twin guitars were closer to the Allman Brothers or Wishbone Ash than the sound they are more usually associated with. There was then a pleasant surprise with ‘Ready to Believe’ from 1994’s almost forgotten third album ‘Freewheelin’, boasting a massive riff.

There was a new name stage right, or more to the point, a returning one in Slim Martin (Thomander) who played on the latter album and he had a striking image- clad in white with a mane of hair to match and playing a Flying V, almost like the young Michael Schnker. Whereas his predecessor Franco Santunione was more of a rhythm player, he took more solos and this gave the set a different dynamic as both he and Conny Bloom weaved their lead guitar sonic tapestries. The latter, charismatic as usual, was sporting a cowboy hat and waistcoat which only added to the American feel of the sound.

Sandwiched between new songs in ‘Super God’ and ‘Never Again Your Slave’ came the first of the familiar old ‘Funk o Metal Carpet Ride’ favourites in ‘Electrified’ with a brilliant groove that few can match, which had the audience grooving and responding to Conny’s scat singing.

Last time I saw them they were touring the 25th anniversary of my favourite album of theirs, ‘Groovus Maximus’. This time it was represented by ‘Mary in the Mystery World’, which began with a forest of hands swaying but went off unexpectedly into a long jam, then the title track which segued midway through into ‘Tear It Up’, Conny doing just that on harmonica to a song with another huge riff.

There was a substantial selection of new stuff including ‘Its Not the End’, a retro sounding ballad, and the catchier ‘Tumblin’ Dominoes’, before another oldie in ‘Rags to Riches’, albeit heavier than the original and with the band again jamming but still with more audience participation. ‘Angel in An Armoured Suit’ (the one choice from the reunion period prior to the current album) had an irresistible chorus hook, though I was less keen on the rather thrashier and punkier closer ‘Twang Em and Kerrang Em’ (sic).

After Conny proved beyond doubt he was an Anglophile by calling the evening ‘spiffing’, the first encore was another ‘Freewheelin’ song in the long, bluesy ‘Sad Day’, but the second could only be ‘All Lips n Hips’- actually this was one song where the guitar sound missed Franco’s chunky approach and was a little thin when Conny was concentrating on frontman duties. As always people were going crazy to a song that in the day was a guaranteed dancefloor filler at rock clubs, but there was a final twist with a lengthy instrumental coda including a snatch of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.

Lovers of the funkier sound of the first album may disagree but this intriguing set showed the band in a much more rounded light, inspired by all kinds of seventies music. I loved it and the Electric Boys get better, or at least more interesting, with age.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)