For many years now the January Blues Festival has given the traditionally quiet gig calendar a welcome boost in that most depressing of months and showcased a variety of artists old and new. The 100 Club was its traditional habitat but this year it has decamped to The Forge, a newish and compact venue off Camden High Street, whose airy, high ceilinged design and pristine sound make it a welcome addition to the endless venues in this part of North London.

The fact that my last January Blues shows just before COVID struck featured Kim Simmonds and Bernie Marsden was a sad reminder that we are losing the first and second wave of British blues players, but fortunately there is a newer generation coming through. My two shows this year featured two such, playing successive nights, in Laurence Jones and Ben Poole.

We probably don’t dare call them young as they have both been on the scene for over a decade now, but they still give away many years to the bulk of their audiences, a common theme in the genre I’m afraid. On both occasions The Forge was only half-full, but on a school night and with a choice of so many blues shows over a short period, perhaps this was inevitable.

Laurence Jones has a winning stage manner with a big grin as he moves across the stage throwing shapes. Beginning with ‘You’re Not Alone’ and the title track, his latest album ‘Bad Luck and the Blues’ featured heavily, and well supported by Jack Alexander Timmis and Alan Taylor in a taut power trio, showcased his current musical direction, blistering blues rock on the heavier end of the spectrum like Johnny Winter, Pat Travers or, of more recent vintage, Larry Miller.

There was less variety of pace though ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ was a little slower and bluesier in nature, reminding me of Robin Trower. Personally I regret the move away from the song-oriented melodic awareness that characterised his previous few albums: however, the fact he could boast of ‘Lonely Road’ being playlisted on Planet Rock showed that new doors are opening and indeed he appears to be playing an increasing number of heavier and NWOCR oriented rock festivals.

I found a lengthy ‘In Too Deep’ the most interesting song of the set musically, while a faithful cover of ‘Voodoo Child’ played tribute to his hero Jimi Hendrix, though the encore saw him put his own blistering stamp on a lengthy cover of Leadbelly’s ‘Good Morning Blues’. An 80 minute set appeared to be very well received but I thought to stick to the one format sold his talents a bit short.

24 hours later, it was the turn of Ben Poole whose fashionable undercut and tattooed arms make him look like a standard bearer for a new generation of bluesmen. His four piece band included bassist Mat Beeble who I’ve seen regularly with Sari Schorr, and a second guitarist in Dutchman Guy Smeets. The two have regularly played acoustic shows together but this was a rare chance to work together in a fully plugged environment, which was to have a significant impact on the gig.

Openers ‘Take It No More’ and ‘Win You Over’ featured pleasant vocals and had pop and soul influences with guitar histrionics kept to a minimum but ‘Start the Car’ (how did I fail to recognise it as the Jude Cole song?) was the first where the band started to jam at greater length. A cover of Don Henley’s ‘Dirty Laundry’ was quite faithful yet worked surprisingly well as a blues rocker and was one of those where both guitarists had solo slots, with Guy’s in danger of upstaging his bandleader.

‘Don’t Cry For Me’’ and ‘The Question Why’ were both lengthy epics where at various points the pace was taken down only for Ben to suddenly go on explosive and exhilarating, yet never predictable, solos. In both stage presence and playing style he seemed more intense than Laurence Jones had been the night before. The fluent Stratocaster work of his Dutch partner, head swishing as he played ever faster, complemented Ben’s own style.

‘Have You Ever Loved a Woman’ began with him singing without a mike and taking the old Freddie King standard down to its minimalist essentials before it became a showcase for each guitarist. His own ‘Anytime You Need Me’ and a lengthy encore featured more jams between the two guitarists and shape pulling, and indeed after really enjoying the first half of the show, by the end of the 95 minutes, as a more casual fan I found attention wandering and was wishing the jams had been reined in a tad, and wanted to hear more of Ben’s very respectable vocals.

So my experience both nights was not wholly favourable, and yet there was more than enough to convince me that the genre is in safe hands with these two talented, and very different, gunslingers.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Album review/interview (Laurence Jones, Bad Luck & The Blues, 2023)

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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
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THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
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