Karena K & Roscoe Levee – 100 Club 24 Nov 2015
Karena K Band
The first time I had heard of Karena K was a couple of years ago when I suggested to a Radio Presenter a song called Jingle Bells (Go to Hell) by the Vampirettes. The Presenter liked the song but suggested the idea of chopping Santa’s head off might not go well with the BBC. Needless to say, no heads were chopped off on this occasion.
We were treated to an amazing night of Bluesy, Soulful music, delivered with a passion & quality which pleased the audience immensely. As the Band, The Riotous Brothers did not play we were provided with extended sets by Karena & Roscoe Levee.
Karena’s setlist included a great mix of her own great music & some really good covers. The guitar work of Alan Taylor and Darrel Welch blended so well with great rhythm and licks including some great slide work. Brilliant driving rhythm section with James Fox on bass guitar and Spencer Blaclkledge on drums. Karena completed the picture with some great saxophone breaks & superb vocals. Overall the effect was a really impressive band.
Among the covers played were ‘Let My Baby Ride (R.L. Burnside)’, ‘Steamy Windows (Tina Turner)’, ‘Tainted Love (Soft Cell)’,’The Letter & Unchain My Heart (Both Joe Cocker)’ and ‘Piece of My heart (Janis Joplin)’. Certainly songs not for the faint-hearted and all were delivered superbly and there were a few goose-bump moments believe me.
Karena’s own songs such as ‘Midnight Walk’, ‘Temptation Eyes’, Road to my Soul’ and ‘Battered and Blue’ are all really strong songs and were performed so well. ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’ is a song she sings with Wily Bo Walker on the ‘Long Way From Heaven album’ and it was so good to hear her version of this. The song ‘A Long Way to Heaven’ earned them runner up in the ‘Blues Song’ category in the 2015 British Blues Awards.
All in all this was a very competent and brilliant performance by Karena and the Band and they will surely do well in the near future.
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Rosco Levee & the Southern Slide
The 100 Club – 24/11/2015
Rosco and his band treated us to a great set of Blues/Southern Rock Music at its best! They demonstrated that they are a group of accomplished musicians playing with passion and the audience responded with their appreciation throughout.
With influences such as Robert Johnson, Delaney Bramlett, Elvis, The Allman Brothers, The Rolling Stones, The Band & Peter Green & Eric Clapton we knew we were in for a treat.
Some Great Music with songs such as ‘Howitzer Eyes’ & ‘Back to the Banks’ from his latest CD, ‘Get it While You Can’ were played with great virtuosity & all band members played their parts so well that the overall sound was enthralling. On a couple of numbers Rosco ventured into the audience to hype up the proceedings & played guitar solos. One of these occasions was on the song ‘Goldrush’ which was about 11 minutes long & was nominated in 2013 for Best Original Song in the British Blues Awards. Great guitar playing by Andy Hayes & Dave Tettmer kept a great driving beat on drums with occasional crescendos & Tension builds. After an interesting call & response between Rosco & bassist, Simon Gardiner, Simon burst into a brilliant fast bass solo followed by a brilliant organ solo by Lee Spreadbury while Rosco was changing his Les Paul Guitar for his Gibson SG before producing a brilliant guitar solo after joining the audience.
Another wonderful song ‘When You’re Gone To Ramble’ starts off in a slow soulful way then changes to a faster driving beat with great interspersed solos by Rosco occasionally at the dusty end of the fretboard, building intensity & tension. Finally towards the end Dave Tettmer bursts into an exciting drum solo while Rosco tweaks his effects pedal.
Formed in 2010, Rosco Levee has honed his band into a top class music machine 7 since he first started playing when he was 5 years old it is obvious that he has learned his craft well through his influences & has surrounded himself with a great bunch of musicians. All in all a Brilliant gig!