Sari Schorr began her second tour of the UK this year at the Boom Boom Club, run by GRTR’s own Pete Feenstra, a suitable venue as in his stage introduction he mentioned that other noted bluesmen who had played the club had recommended this New York City based singer, helping to set her on the path to being an established favourite in the UK.

She was preceded by support from Eddy Smith, who should have been accompanied by his band the 507, named after their rehearsal room at Kingston University, just a 213 bus ride away. Unfortunately the band had not made it so the eponymous bearded, baseball capped youngster had to carry the set himself armed only with a keyboard and, for a couple of songs, guitar.

Starting with ‘Lost On You’ and a forthcoming single ‘Love Sick’, his pure and soulful voice called to mind more contemporary acts like Sam Smith, even if Pete had introduced him as sounding like Joe Cocker. ‘The Ballad of Bobby Grey’ was stark and haunting and some of the songs such as ‘Ticket Out of Here’ also had a tinge of old-school country.

By the time he has finished with ‘The Good Times’ I was very impressed and curious how these songs would sound with a full band. Even more impressively his set was received in respectful silence by this discerning audience with no crowd chatter to interrupt the acoustic delivery.

When Sari Schorr came on it was with an unfamiliar new song in ‘Where Have You Been My Old Friend’, passionately delivered but rather dark and downbeat. Moving onto more familiar fare, ‘Demolition Man’ was the closest to pure blues in the set while ‘Back To LA’ always reminds me of Melissa Etheridge, both in Sari’s throaty delivery and the heartland rock nature of the arrangement, and old favourite ‘Aunt Hazel’ was a special request.

Preceded by some very personal reflections, the ballad ‘Beautiful’ allowed Ash Wilson to stretch out with some tasteful work. The guitarist is versatile with a lovely feel to his playing and a perfect foil for his singer- the two also pulling some flirtatious poses whenever he moved in from the wings. In the latest of a line up that seems to vary between shows his brother Phil was forming an effective rhythm section with bassist Matt Beable, while the keyboard stool more usually filled by Bob Fridezema was this time occupied in admirable fashion by Adrian Gautrey, who I remember playing with Atomic Rooster, sporting a spectacular mane of curly hair like a Stuart courtier.

A wide range of songs were all compulsive listening- whether slower numbers like the jazzy ‘Ain’t Got No Money’ or her cover of ‘Ready for Love’, or muscular rockers that break out of the blues pigeonhole like ‘The New Revolution’ and the snarling ‘Thank You’.

The commercial appeal of ‘Turn Your Radio On’ was only enhanced by Adrian playing piano rather than the more usual organ, while on ‘Damn The Reason’ the chorus was rendered even bigger by Ash and Matt’s backing vocals. Another personal ballad in ‘Ordinary Life’ saw Sari take the microphone and perch on the edge of the stage, singing directly at the crowd like an old school singer on a variety TV show.

She is always a compelling, engaging live performer who puts everything into her delivery but seemed inspired by being back in such familiar surroundings and increasingly the way she sang and moved was almost as if she was possessed, ironically reaching a peak with the Robert Johnson tribute ‘King of Rock N Roll’.

The set ended with a medley of old Leadbelly songs ‘Where Do You Sleep’ aka ‘In the Pines’ and ‘Black Betty’, sparse and stripped down, before the latter changed gear and Ash was let off the leash on a spectacular climax. For the encore the good time vibe of ‘Valentina’ had a straight ahead and looser feel, and she unexpectedly even sneaked in an unscheduled cover of the Martha Reeves and the Vandellas r’ n’ b classic ‘Heatwave’.

I’ve seen Sari Schorr and band several times either side of the pandemic but this was easily my favourite, the surroundings seemingly inspiring them to raise their game even further, making for a special performance.

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.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

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 1 December 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 3 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)