By coincidence, for the second week running, Islington Assembly Hall played host to a pair of bands playing music inspired by the sounds of the American south, yet based thousands of miles apart. On the heels of Robert Jon and the Wreck and These Wicked Rivers, an altogether larger crowd was in evidence for a pair of bands all the way from Canada, but with their hearts way further down south on the other side of the Mason Dixon Line.

The junior of the two partners, The Commoners, have been regulars here for the last couple of years and impressed me when I saw them for the first time in the summer at Maid of Stone. The Toronto quintet’s sound on songs like openers such as ‘Shake You Off’ and ‘The Way I Am’ is strikingly similar- particularly in Chris Medhurst’s vocals- to the early Black Crowes.

‘Gone Without Warning’ had a faster and more urgent feel to it before a total change of pace as both the title track of current album ‘Restless’ and ‘See You Again’ were country-ish with delicate slide work from guitarist Ross Hayes Citrullo and Chris adding acoustic. The twin guitar intro from the pair and the prominent keys helped ‘Devil Teasin’ Me’ to be the nearest in the set to an epic. More Crowes-esque numbers (fortunately delivered crisply and without excessive jams) in ‘Fill My Cup’ and ‘Find a Better Way’ ended a very fine set from a band making the UK their second home.

Hailing from considerably further west in Saskatoon and sporting impressive facial topiary and retro clothing, The Sheepdogs seem to have built a larger following. I saw relatively few familiar faces from the London gig scene yet it is clear they have attracted an audience both young and old, male and female who don’t use the same channels as I do to find out about classic rock. My only previous show of theirs was at the Electric Ballroom a couple of years ago- at that time they were still bedding in a lineup change which has settled down nicely.

Opening with ‘Find the Truth’ and ‘Downtown’ where those fans were singing along to the ‘keep all my money in a paper bag’ chorus, their sounds were right up my alley, in particular the regular twin guitar harmonies between broad shouldered lead singer Ewan Currie and the diminutive Ricky Pacquette. They not only presented a visual contrast but had different guitar styles, the former more melodic and languid, the latter bringing a sharper hard rock edge, usually on a Gibson Explorer.

Ewan’s voice has almost an old-fashioned western feel which adds to their distinctive sound and ‘Let Me In’ was pure fifties style rock’n’roll while ‘Bad Lieutenant’ (sic) began in quite Creedence-esque fashion but was enlivened by a trading of lead lines between the guitars and the piano, the latter courtesy of Ewan’s brother Shamus.

But if Black Crowes are the band the Commoners most resemble, the Allman Brothers are the reference point for the Sheepdogs more than any other, particularly demonstrated on both ‘Southern Dreaming’ with a repeated twin lead passage and ‘How Late, How Long’ , with Shamus’ organ work and a Betts-like fluent guitar solo from Ewan, followed by a heavier one from Ricky on his Les Paul.

‘I’ve Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be’ was plainly a crowd favourite and ‘Now or Never’ was another stylistic throwback to the likes of Roy Orbison. ‘Take Me For a Ride’ was extended for a singalong, while the title track of recent EP release ‘Hell Together’ had a mellower start but turned into a jam prominently featuring piano and slide guitar.

After ‘Darlin’ Baby’ represented a diversion into old school country, ‘Scarborough Street Fight’ upped the hard rock element in the manner of the later seventies southern bands. By this stage some of the jams were perhaps a little long but, as with the Commoners, Allmans-like self-indulgence was in the main avoided.

Photo: Andy Nathan

‘I Don’t Know’ had me thinking that the Marshall Tucker Band are another noticeable influence, but the best was yet to come as on ‘Nobody’, Shamus in his dapper powder blue suit came out from the keyboard to complete a triple lead guitar line up, and their ‘guitar army’ pose as a jam came to a close was a sight to gladden any southern rock fan’s heart.

I actually thought first encore ‘Roughrider 89’ was one of the weaker songs of the night but things got much livelier when Shamus again appeared up front to play a synth solo on a keytar and generally ham it up with a knowing grin on his face. It set us up for a final encore to close this generous hour and 40 minute set in the fuzz-drenched ‘Feeling Good’ (ironically a rare song with a more contemporary sound), which summed up how we all felt after a night of retro sounds that deserved that old Kerrang! epithet ‘Maple Leaf Mayhem’.

(photo: Andy Nathan)

Review by Andy Nathan

Photos by Paul Clampin (except where indicated)

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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)