Local & Live Music Review

Rosco Levee & The Southern Slide

The Black Griffin - Dukes of Hazzard Event - 6 July 2013

 

A  hot and sultry afternoon, and Joanna who manages The Black Griffin, and her crew had obviously worked hard to turn it into a Saloon for their second annual Dukes of Hazzard event, with a large Southern States Confederate flag on the wall and the whole pub sporting the Deep South bar look.

If there was a dress code, then it was straw cowboy hats and Jack Daniels T-shirts minus sleeves for many, and in tribute to Daisy Mae Duke, denim shorts and plenty of Southern cleavage for the women, allowing everybody's inner cowboy and cow gal full rein !

A man who looked like he could have  been a roadie for The Allman Brothers with a plaited beard to his waist and a racoon tail dangling from the back of his hat just added to that good ol' down home cosmic vibe, and another guy wearing a nice sensible crimplene women's frock seemed to fit in just fine with the surreal and congenial feel of this 4pm to midnight event.

But enough of the fashion reporting. The party was well and truly on! Joanna had scored a coup by securing the five piece Rosco Levee & The Southern Slide as her first and headlining band, with three more to follow. They played a superb and finely distilled one hour set of entirely original Rosco-written tremendous songs.

They've been described as "An old school country, blues, & Southern rock band, combining these styles with funk, soul, gospel and a lot of rock'n'roll" and all of that was amply demonstrated as they launched into their first number Old Bessie from their critically acclaimed debut CD Final Approach To Home  - see the review on this site - which was greeted  by loud applause from the denizens of the temporarily dream like 'Moonshine Honky Tonk' who were immediately treated to the British Blues Awards nominated song Goldrush with 'rush' (in a wonderful way) being the operative  word; it's a powerful piece of music that just rolls over you taking no prisoners, letting everyone know they're being presented with sheer class and virtuosity.

An exhilarating  song sequence followed also from that exceptional CD including the next number All May Change Tonight and Seven Sea's My Name with Rosco's great slide guitar work being generously offered throughout.  Then there was a preview of the band's digital download single (out on 12th August) Some Angels Fall from the forthcoming new CD Get It While You Can (out in September), which also received loud appreciation; Rosco had said earlier "A good crowd".

On the next number My Gospel there was an outbreak of line dancing - given the nature of the event it had to happen!  The dancers led, by Joanna, were instantly christened The Levettes by Rosco, who has a touch of the 'Holy Roller' preacher about him when he's in full flow, and My Gospel elevated the bar into being my kind of church !

There's more details of the marvellously exciting music this band makes in the album review, but suffice it to say at The Black Griffin they somehow simultaneously achieved the feat of being both loose as a goose and tight as the well honed professionals they are.

A fantastic show y'all! Full of joyful intensity, and with the stunning whirl and swirl of their finale When You're Gone To Ramble this writer was 'Seeing the Light' and having his soul cleansed by that big righteous sound! Great guitar work, magical keys, the rhythm section in overdrive, a glass of 'Jack' ... Hogg Heaven!

 

Submitted by Nigel

 

Read the album review:Final Approach To Home

See who's on next at The Black Griffin