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Pete Feenstra chatted to Virgil McMahon for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast 6 March 2022
They say you should never go back, but they were wrong.
Sure the levels of expectation are sometimes beyond reality and sometimes an artist never quite recaptures their former glories.
Happily tonight proves to be the exception. After taking a 6 year plus, sabbatical and in his own words “growing up”, Virgil McMahon is back, recalibrated, matured, probably a better musician and certainly a more experienced band leader.
And what a band his newly expanded quintet is! Helmed by the rhythmic pulse of Mo Pleasure – credits include Earth Wind & Fire, Ray Charles, George Duke, Stanley Clarke and Bette Midler – he locks into some magisterial grooves with drummer Jerry Brown, of Tina Turner, Dave Stewart, George Michael, Courtney Pine and M People fame.
And if the engine room positively purrs, then keyboard player Luke Smith – BB King Eric Clapton, Robin Trower, Chaka Khan etc – fits into the sonic landscape perfectly. He shifts from an essential supporting middle role with judicious fills, into an all too infrequent soloist who brings dappled textures and rhythmic patterns to the high end.
He’s the voice of clarity in a set that has plenty of drama and tension resolving moments.
And it’s the essential interplay between the trio and fellow guitarists Virgil and Joel Wildgoose that gives the band its impact.
Incredibly, this is a band that is still in its infancy, as Virgil intermittently dips into his back catalogue for the likes of the high-octane ‘Backstabber’ and a handful of covers on which he impressively leaves his own imprint.
He visibly grows in confidence on his own ‘Fell To The Floor,’ the proggy undertow of which contrasts sharply with the ascending sweep of ‘Crazy’.
The band locks together to create the perfect platform for the sonorous Peter Green classic ‘Need Your Love So Bad’. At this point Virgil’s voice teeters the brink of a croak, but he digs deeps and lets piano player Luke Smith take the strain and subtly fill the gaps.
Bassist Pleasure percolates contentedly as Virgil contorts himself to prise out an aching tone with real feel.
The band is achieves a fluent equilibrium as everything flows naturally into a pivotal moment on ‘Had To Cry Today’. It is the perfect confluence of Virgil’s spiky licks and the band’s jammed out exuberance.
There’s a priceless moment when a power outage in the middle of a Stones cover ‘Tumbling Dice’ leads to the crowd spontaneously singing the hook, before the band comes back in perfectly as if part of the set.
The new Virgil rarely wastes a note as his tasteful flurries emphasise his melodic sensibility and provides defining moments of resolution.
‘Down In The Hole’ is a joy and Virgil revels in the loose reggae feel of the Jagger/Richard long forgotten gem ‘Hey Negritta.’
The dance floor nicely fills up and just when you think things can’t get any better, up pops brother Gabriel for a guest spot on ‘Rock & Roll’, as a combination of his manic bluster and Joel Wildgoose’s vocal takes the song home.
There’s still time for a well deserved couple of encores of which ‘Silver Giver’ reaffirms what the fledgling Virgil was all about.
A decade into its tenure, the slow-fuse blues has a searing melody quality carried by the kind of emotive substance and impressive technique that will surely help Virgil and his stellar band effortlessly reconnect with his latent fan base and beyond.
A quick mention too for Sutton’s very own Steve Eggs on acoustic, alongside Peter Wass’s electric bass who fill the room with self penned country-rock meets Americana and Dylan, the perfect hors d’oeuvre for a memorable main course.
Review by Pete Feenstra
Photos by John Bull / Rockrpix
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.
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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 2 April 2024.
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ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
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KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
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12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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