This debut gig by the Black Eyed Sons marked the start of something new, after one of the more ill-fated episodes in rock history. When the other members of the Quireboys dismissed Spike, whatever the ins and outs, without the singer the face, voice, image and original member of the band, the brand name was tarnished in the public’s eyes and after initially soldiering on without him they went on hiatus before too long.

But an exciting new chapter is just beginning- renaming themselves the Black Eyed Sons after a more recent Quireboys album (and after Guy Griffin’s nephew, we discovered this night) and have recorded their debut album with a number of well known collaborators, reflecting the respect in which they are held as musicians. Rather bravely with the album yet to be released, they emerged into the wider world with a headline show and the upstairs room in the Lexington was jam packed with curious fans.

Not only are the members identical from the last Quireboys album, but ironically, they opened with a song from the old band in ‘Louder’ with some trademark excellent slide guitar work from Paul Guerin. The one addition was backing vocals from Ria Hall to give the sound a fresh dimension.

However, the BES have if anything a tougher sound and despite a piano intro to ‘Lie to Me’, the first of a number of songs to boast guest harmonica playing from Lee Vernon, keyboardist Keith Weir seemed to be playing more of a supporting role than hitherto. Next came the first of those all-star collaborations in the title track ‘Cowboys In Pin Stripe Suits’, which on the album features Joe Elliott and bore some of the seventies influences of Mott the Hoople, as befitting Guy and Paul’s roles in the ‘Down’n’Outz’.

On ‘Medicine’, a collaboration with Buckcherry members, ‘Dig Me Out Of This Hole’ (originally written by Paul for Angry Anderson) and ‘True Colours’, Guy emerged both as a frontman comfortable in his own skin and a more than decent singer. His style is to elongate those vowels into a slight drawl like Ian Hunter or even Bob Dylan, and the absence of the guest singers on the album was certainly not felt.

They slipped in a couple of 21^st century Quireboys numbers, ‘Stubborn Kinda Heart’ from the from the eponymous ‘Black Eyed Sons’ album, then ‘Hello’ with a sweet extended solo from Paul. It was noticeable that, whereas the two seemed to share guitar solos evenly in the Quireboys, the Geordie took nearly all of them, allowing his partner to focus more on frontman duty.

Many of the new songs bore the hallmarks of the parent bands of their collaborators, be it the country rock-ish ‘Autumn Reigns’ (Blackberry Smoke), or ‘Foolin Yourself’ (Company of Wolves), featuring harmonica and big background vocals. ‘So Glorious’ was a Dan Reed cowrite while brand new single ‘Don’t Throw Me in the Corner’ saw Lee really whipping up a storm on harmonica.

Then Quireboys tradition was maintained as Alan Clayton from the Dirty Strangers came on to duet on a Mink Deville cover, ‘Savoir Faire’, with its sleazy barroom feel perfectly suited to a packed sweaty venue such as this. The printed setlists ended there but such was the reaction the band came back for an encore, indeed probably The Quireboys best-known song outside those much-loved debut album classics in ‘This Is Rock’n’Roll’.

The music is not dissimilar to the previous band, albeit with a slightly rawer and heavier edge on this evidence. But much like the Black Star Riders reinvented themselves by shedding the Thin Lizzy monicker and making original music, the Black Eyed Sons will within a short space of time lay old ghosts to rest, and their album and inevitably more live dates is going to be something to watch in 2025. They certainly made the best possible start on this night.

Review by Andy Nathan

Photos by John Adams

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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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)