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There seems no end to a newer generation of bands drawing their inspiration from the classic rock sounds of the late sixties and seventies. One such are The Sheepdogs, from Saskatchewan in rural Canada, though they have actually been around since 2012. I must admit their name previously put me off, as well as the hirsute hipster image that so many of these retro rockers hyped by Classic Rock magazine share.
However two fellow rock journos with similar tastes raved about them and in doing so namechecked some of my favourite bands, so curiosity finally got the better of me when they announced this date at the Electric Ballroom- their second London show this year following one at Lafayette, which may have accounted for the venue probably only being around half to two thirds full for a Sunday show.
There was also an interesting support act in The Hanging Stars, a home-grown band previously unfamiliar to me, but who also had an ear for vintage American sounds, not least as one of three guitarists Joe Harvey-Whyte played pedal steel for much of the set. There was a highly impressive opener in ‘Ava’, which the rest of the set did not quite live up to. ‘Summer in Her Eyes’ was a good demonstration of their harmonies like the Byrds or Crosby Stills and Nash, though they showed a little of that indie surliness and only came to life when singer Richard Olson dedicated ‘I Don’t Want to Feel So Bad Anymore’ to the Conservative Party, before they ended with the lengthy country noir of ‘Mother of Earth’.
It was always going to be a night to spot influences in The Sheepdogs set, and they were many and varied. As they opened with ‘Rock and Roll Ain’t no Simple Thing’ it was clear they included some of the less usual ones among bands of their ilk, such as fellow countrymen Bachman Turner Overdrive, the Marshall Tucker Band and the pre-Michael McDonald Doobie Brothers. Catchy melodies in ‘Who’ and ‘Downtown’ were received well by a crowd of a mixed age – with more than a few Canadians- who knew all the material much better than me.
The two lead guitarists cut contrasting figures: tall, bear-like waistcoated singer Ewan Currie, guitar strapped high to his chest, and his slightly built sidekick Ricky Paquette pulling some low poses and with a slightly more metallic style. I didn’t realise the latter is a new recruit so was in no position to make comparisons with his highly rated predecessor Jimmy Bouskill.
The slower ‘Bad Lieutenant’ saw both guitarists trade off solos with Ewan’s keyboardist brother Shamus, but their biggest single influence seemed to be the Alllman Brothers, and both the swampy ‘How Late How Long’ and the insistent riffing of ‘Southern Dreaming’ were like discovering lost tracks of theirs though, unlike the southern rock pioneers, they kept the jamming to a minimum.
New song ‘Keep On Loving You’ (no not that one) showed off their mellower soft rock side, before more twin lead harmonies on ‘Find the Truth’. ‘I Wanna Know You’, starting with a riff that reminded me of Sweet’s ‘Windy City’ (which in turn lifted from Woman from Tokyo!) saw vocal contributions from bassist Ryan Gullen, who handled many of the introductions and won the unofficial band retro fashion contest with his 1970’s big glasses and handlebar moustache .
The vocals were shared around with Shamus singing the mellow ‘Are You A Good Man’ and even drummer Sam Corbett taking a turn on ‘So Far Gone’, adding keys and percussion while a drum machine took his place on this number which had a Mungo Jerry or T Rex type stomp to it. You could tell the band were having fun even though their persona was low-key in that typically Canadian way.
‘I’m Gonna Be Myself’ was another where the twin guitar interplay was prominent, while ‘Scarborough Street Fight’ had a heavier, more muscular edge that reminded me of Pat Travers before culminating in a Foghat-esque jam, and ‘Jesse Please’ also had a Skynyrd/Allmans feel. In among the seventies influences there was just the odd nod to a more recent generation of retro rockers, notably ‘Feeling Good’ which boasted a fuzz guitar tone and called to mind the Black Keys.
‘I Don’t Know’ was another crowd pleaser before Ewan asked people to dance to ‘Nobody’: it began as a relatively stripped back pop song with a catchy ‘nobody’s gonna bring me down’ chorus, only to break into a jam with the guitars having a very Wishbone Ash pitch to them.
First encore ‘The Way It Is’ was the more usual retro blues rock fare, before ‘Learn to Burn’, which began almost psychedelic in nature and harking back to the sixties, before mushrooming into a lengthy guitar ‘wig out’ and a three guitar jam, involving Shamus who then even broke off for a mid-song trombone solo!
After a value for money set of over an hour and three quarters and 19 songs, I haven’t been so impressed with an unfamiliar catalogue in a long time and musically they were right up my alley. I may be late to the party but my instinct proved the right one, and I think I may have discovered a new favourite band and was wondering why it had taken me so long.
Review and Photos by Andy Nathan
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