Review: Blues Pills, Marble Factory

Poor old Lupus from Kadavar has lost his voice, which means Bristol is denied one of the best double-bills of the year tonight. Consequently, the oddly named Stray Train from Ljubljana, Slovenia, find themselves promoted to main support act and seize the opportunity to impress a packed crowd with their novel Slavic take on hard blues rock.

Well rehearsed and blessed with an excellent vocalist and positively funky rhythm section, they’re not much more than the sum of their influences but do have some promising songs – notably the catchy Green Card Paradise. Playing a cover was probably a mistake though, especially one as recent as Rival Sons’ Pressure and Time.

Swedish/French/American quartet Blues Pills made their Bristol debut at the Fleece two years ago this month and followed it by playing much the same set at the Bierkeller six months later. For all their enormous talent, they were desperately in need of more material than that impressive debut album, a couple of singles, a jam or two and a cover. Now they’ve got it. What’s more, Elin Larsson’s confidence as a performer has grown with all that touring to the point where she completely owns the stage tonight. From the opening notes of the title track of second album Lady in Gold, she’s a seemingly tireless barefoot whirling frenzy of dancing, bouncing and hair tossing, none of which gets in the way of that extraordinary soulful, Joplin-esque voice.

Blues Pills are clearly relieved to have a bigger catalogue to draw on, as much of Lady in Gold gets an airing. The ominous psychedelic false prophet gospel blues of Little Boy Preacher is described by Elin as “a story about Donald Trump” (we’re not laughing now), while Bad Talkers and Won’t Go Back prove mighty hard rockin’ ripostes to those who feared that the band might be tempted to go all bland, mainstream and Jools Holland on our asses as a short-cut to wider appeal.

Elin may be the obvious focal point, but it’s also hard to keep your eyes off Robbie Krieger-alike Dorian Sorriaux. Still in his early twenties, the prodigiously talented guitarist is on exceptional form, equally comfortable with the exquisite Peter Green blues of the intro to Astralplane (returned to the set as compensation for the absence of Kadavar) as he is with heavier material.

The rhythm section are far from flashy, with bassist Zach Anderson hidden behind a curtain of hair and drummer Andre Kvarnstrom seated at the most basic of kits, but their contribution is vital to making this music swing where others might plod. Lurking in the shadows, an anonymous keyboard player/second guitarist proves effective at fleshing out the sound, especially on those more sophisticated newer songs.

Having ably dispatched scintillating debut album crowd-pleasers High Class Woman and Devil Man, Elin returns alone for first encore I Felt a Change – a defiantly analogue solo keyboard ballad steeped in ’70s goodness yet remarkably untainted by retro-fetishism. The rest of the band then join her for a barnstorming Rejection and Gone So Long from Lady in Gold, underlining their justified confidence in the new material. Bigger venues surely await.

All photos by Mike Evans

Read more: Metal & Prog picks: November 2016