Gig review: DEBORAH BONHAM – Pizza Express Live, Holborn, London, 6 September 2023

Photo: Michele Kostiner

Part of a rock dynasty, Deborah Bonham has quietly over the years become a force in her own right. I’d only really vaguely followed her career, though seen support slots for the likes of Paul Rodgers and Foreigner. However my own turning point in fully appreciating her was an excellent set supporting the late Bernie Marsden at Under The Bridge in the last great gig before Covid, then again at A New Day festival last year.

When she announced a relatively rare London January date in the basement of Pizza Express, I thought it would be a perfect gift for my partner, still enjoying music together but over food and wine in more up market surroundings than a sweaty small club with feet sticking to the carpet. Sadly the original gig was postponed after Deborah suffered a bout of pneumonia, so this rescheduled show served as the world’s latest Christmas present. Well, there is pleasure in deferred gratification…

In a generous length set, the opening numbers were from last year’s Bonham-Bullick release of obscure covers in which her musical (and life) partner Peter was given equal billing: the sultry slow burning blues of ‘See You Again’, then ‘Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me’ which reminded me of Christine Perfect-era Chicken Shack, and ‘I Had A Dream’ with a sweet guitar solo from Pete.

The set returned to more familiar territory with ‘Feel So Alive’, and ‘I Need Love’, one of those slow blues epics that allow her to pour every emotion into her physical style of singing. Jo Burt – who had earlier entertained us with a short set of thoughtful originals and a folk rock take on Paranoid in tribute to his brief time in Black Sabbath on the late eighties- returned to add guitar to ‘Take Me Down’ which had a country rock vibe not least with some mandolin playing.

One of the highlights of songs like ‘Painbirds’ was to see how well the four musicians who have been Deborah’s backing band for many a long year work together so well as a team, complete with smiles and little jokes. The lengthy jam of ‘Bleeding Muddy Water’, ending with a flourish on the cymbals from Rich Newman was a case in point.

There were more straight ahead blues rock numbers in ‘Fly’, the raunchy ‘Grace’ and ‘Duchess’. Played in tribute to the late Mo Foster, ‘Religion’ prominently featured the Hammond organ playing of Gerard Louis whose keyboards were a delight to listen to throughout. ‘No Angel’ was another long bluesy jam before the main set concluded with ‘Devil in New Orleans’ with a blues harp player John Dominic summoned from the front row of the audience, and he and Deborah fed off each other.

For the encores there were a couple of rock classics. It was easy to see how the band were handpicked by Paul Rodgers for his ‘Free Spirit’ tour a few years back as they mastered ‘Mr Big’ with solos from Pete and bassist Ian Rowley perfect both in note and feel . Then Deborah was now confident enough in her own status to dip into the Zeppelin family box of delights with a spirited ‘Rock and Roll’, the band now expanded to include superfan Leon who had been giving encouragement from the side of the stage and was now banging a Cajun- style percussion box, very effectively it must be said.

The music was impressive enough but all night long there was also a warmth and intimacy, helped by the surroundings but also Deborah and band’s jovial personality. That was what turned an already fun evening into something more special, leaving a warm and fuzzy feeling all round.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan (except where stated)

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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)