First of all a special mention to local support band Skam (you kind of just knew that had to be spelt with a 'K') who are a ‘classic rock power trio’.
Although they have a guitarist/vocalist as a frontman, they have the advantage of having a second frontman as their bass player pulls the greatest rock/orgasm faces ever and has the unnatural ability to spread his legs from one side of the stage to the other.
It would be obvious to mention bands such as DC and Maiden in order to describe Skam but there were others that also came to mind whilst watching and they were Motorhead, The Datsuns, Metallica (particularly vocally) and KISS! Basically they rock hard, the songs are true and tight and they are very impressive vocally. Not only that but they do it with a smile on their face and that is very refreshing. Very shortly they will be embarking on a fifteen date tour and releasing an album so have a look see if you can. Skam rule OK.
I first saw Aaron Keylock at The Musician a year or two ago and it was hard not to be bowled over by his prodigious talent. He was fifteen at the time.
Two years is a long time in the life of a teenager so what’s new? Well his band for a start. It feels more like a ‘unit’ this time around. Some of these young guys are so talented you could drop them in with anyone and it would look like they had been there for years but this feels like his band. The bass is in the zone and the drummer locked in, leaving Aaron to get on with his thing and his thing seems to be developing. It was more straight ahead blues at The Musician with some ‘southern rock’ thrown in but now that seems to be the predominant flavour. Set opener and single ‘Medicine Man’ and following track ‘Against The Grain’ are good examples of that early ‘Twice As Hard’ Black Crowes vibe.
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‘Self Destruction Blues’ is a vintage Johnny Winter number and Aaron does it great. The waif like Keylock wears his guitar by his hip and leads the band and the track through some great changes. ‘Lovin’ Lies has a fast fingers blues intro and the band is tight, tight, tight. ‘Just One Question’ is his signature blues tune and the ghost of Johnny Winter still looms large. ‘Sadness In Wealth’, ‘Connie’ and ‘Spin The Bottle’ will hopefully all be on the forthcoming album and ‘Turn The Page’ could definitely be a single.
In a contemporary sense all these tracks I have just mentioned do bear a passing resemblance to early Kings Of Leon, for example, although perhaps a little less ramshackle, so there is potential for Mr. Keylock to pick up a younger audience but instead he plays here to a predominantly ‘ancient’ white male audience.
It must be difficult at times to know what to do as a young guy starting out in a potentially quite restrictive genre such as blues but at the end of the day if that is what floats his boat then I personally have no problem with that.
He plays out his set with the solid trio of songs, ‘Take Me Home’, ‘Ain’t That Kindness’, and ‘Give Me A Chance’ and I can’t help thinking this type of bar room blues could do with being a bit more ragged around the edges but who am I to tell a young guy this good how to play?
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