It's snowing in New Orleans - Beau Gris Gris and the Apocalypse live at the Voodoo Rooms

 Going to see Beau Gris Gris and the Apocalypse at the Voodoo Rooms when it was snowing in New Orleans was always going to be a special night. So I hoped and so it was. 

No support just a four to the floor rock'n'roll band playing to an enthusiastic audience for two and a half hours. 

They opened the night and their tour with the instant crowd pleaser 'What's My Name' audaciously introducing audience participation from song one. It worked and set the scene for the rest of the evening.

Beau Gris Gris are on the face of it the unlikely pairing of a skinny guitarist from Devizes and an ebullient singer from Louisiana have perfected a crowd pleasing sound mixing rock'n'roll, soul, americana and at times crunching glam guitar into the perfect night out. 

Slowing the pace down mid set with a stripped back acoustic guitar a voice and a brace of songs including a soulful cover of 'Nothing Compares 2 U'. 

The band are fronted by Greta Valenti and Robin Davey  and although this was a different backing band  than the last time I saw them  it was clear that these guys all add to the whole. 

After the band return the gig moves up a notch and there are audience invasions by Greta and Robin - there's bound to be film out there go find it. 

Finishing with a curfew pushing rendition of their 'Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down' I can't help but feel that this is probably the best live band I've seen this year! If you get the chance don't miss them. 

Frazey Ford at La Belle Angele...at last

 This was a gig that i thought would never happen. Tickets bought early in 2020 for a date in June that year. So before Covid 19 hit and closed down the world and live music with it. Even this rescheduled date at the end of November 2021 had that 'it might not happen' mood preceding it. A cancellation was only ever a positive Covid test away, for the band, the venue, or me.

I was grateful, then, to find myself at the venue duly masked, queued and reflecting on the last time I'd been at La Belle Angele to see Anais Mitchell weeks after that other disrupter Donald Trump had become American President.

Frazey Ford though was a balm sorely needed in these troubled and anxious times. She's been called Americana and she is but it was telling, for me anyway, that pre-show the music playing was Al Green. It seemed apt to me as Frazey's music now is a soulful and funky groove that the Rev. Green would be proud of. Mainly featuring the music from 'U Kin B the Sun' Frazey moved through her songs backed by a band (key players from the album sessions) that gave life to those songs with soul and sophistication. her songs reflect on life with all its nuances and affirm that life with joy.

As this gig turned out to be my last live experience of 2021 thanks to Covid 19's Omicron variant it was certainly a good feeling to leave with a smile on my face (obscured by a mask).

https://www.frazeyford.com/

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Another hook for this gig was the appearance of support act Gwenifer Raymond. It is not often I see an act that is purely instrumental and this one was mesmerising playing a punk folk blues inspired by 'American primitive'. One woman and a guitar that's all. The sound she creates reminded me of the folk guitar of Bert Jansch and Davie Graham but heavier and riffier. Well worth catching if you get the chance.

https://gweniferraymond.com/

American primitive guitar