Live Review: Blues Pills, Fleece

They’ve yet to trouble the mainstream media, obviously, but Blues Pills are already making quite an impact at grass roots level on their first full UK tour. This packed show was one of several to be upgraded (it was originally booked into the Exchange), and proved a perfect fit for Bristolian openers BlackWolf. This was the Wolfies first hometown show since being nominated in the Best New Act category at the Classic Rock Awards, which took place in glamorous Hollywood last week. They didn’t win, but the profile boost was well timed as this impressive young quintet have now evolved into rather more than the sum of their influences. From opening number Moving Mountains onwards, they now look like serious contenders for a slice of the Rival Sons/Temperance Movement soulful hard rock pie, albeit with a metal edge. Howler Scott Sharp’s titanic voice inevitably recalls the young Robert Plant, which is never a disadvantage in this genre.

Proof that there’s more to Iceland’s contemporary music scene than the soporific hipster sounds of Sigur Ros, Reykjavik’s The Vintage Caravan are a classic power trio with a reckless disregard for the Google search implications of their name. They look about 14 in their promo photos, and were indeed 12 years old when the band was formed, but now appear to have grown into their psychedelic and progressive twist on the Cream template. Drummer Guojon Reynisson is relegated to a far corner of the Fleece stage, permitting guitarist Oskar Logi Agustsson (hairy) and bassist Alexander Om Numason (beardy) maximum room to gallivant around. Objectively, the vocals are the weak point here, even though Agustsson and Numason both contribute. But there’s no faulting the enormous, propulsive sound they produce, with epic standout song, the suitably titled Expand Your Mind, winning huge applause.

Two Swedes, an American and a Frenchman, the multi-national Blues Pills rock as though 1970 never happened and are certain to have lazy hacks reaching for the ‘retro’ tag as soon as they get too big to ignore. The first thing you notice is that, excellent as it is, their self-titled debut album fails to bottle the sheer elemental power of Elin Larsson’s incredible Joplin-esque vocals, which seem to be quite effortless. Opening song High Class Woman is stretched into a leisurely jam as if to signal that the foursome are not simply in the business of recreating their recordings on stage. This is underlined by their cover of the obscure Elements and Things by sixties singer-songwriter Tony Joe Wight (y’know – the bloke who wrote Rainy Night in Georgia). But although she’s also a striking focal point and – let’s be honest here – valuable marketing tool, this isn’t simply the Elin Larsson show. A ringer for the young Robbie Krieger, 19-year-old guitarist Dorian Sorriaux is a prodigy who eschews flash in favour of subtlety, while the versatile rhythm section of Zack Anderson and Andre Kvarnstrom are equally at home with Grand Funk Railroad hard rock and the Fleetwood Mac-style (Peter Green-era) blues of current single No Hope Left For Me. It’s the former that dominates as their expertly paced set romps towards encore Black Smoke, with the gargantuan, ridiculously catchy Devil Man provoking the biggest audience response. In common with fellow travellers Kadavar, Graveyard and Witchcraft, Blues Pills are probably too heavy and exciting for the Mojo/Radio 2/Jools Holland pipe’n’slippers demographic which might otherwise take to them, but this should prove no impediment to their continued rise. Next stop the Academy, then.