Review:
'JIM JONES REVUE/ LOWE, NICK'
'London, Bethnal Green, Seabright Arms, 9 May 2013'
- Genre: 'Rock'
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Our Rating:
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This was the second of four night The Jim Jones Revue played at The Seabright Arms in Bethnal Green to celebrate the release of their new single 7 Times Around The sun, available through: Rough Trade albums online.
All 4 shows sold out double quick and getting hold of tickets was not exactly easy which is why I'm thankful to my friend Mark Pownall for offering me a spare ticket, thus getting me through the doors of what turned out to be a fantastic East End boozer that has the best selection of beer of any music venue I've ever been to in London! I'm sure if you had gone in here 15 plus years ago it might have been a different story.
I'd love to tell you the name of the support act who was in the hot, sweaty, rammed-to-the-rafters basement and thanks to my good friend Gurbs I now know it was Daniel Jeanrenaud, the Camden Cat. I had searched and searched for a listing that named him and came up empty handed. But he is an old rocker who has obviously been in a band or two over the years. He was playing solo but only playing the parts on the guitar he would have played with a whole band behind him. Great fun and very cool to watch whoever he was!!
It's been a while since I last saw the JIM JONES REVUE and they have had a change of Pianist since I last saw them with Henri Herbert taking over from Elliot Mortimer but thankfully no change of sound or style. As ever, they are one of the loudest bands you'll hear and in a tiny basement like this with all the Orange Amps cranked up loud it's deafening. From the opening bars of Dishonest John it's clear they are here to tear the roof off this sucker.
Never Let You Go is the first of the new songs that sound, well, just like the old songs and had all the passion we expect from the band. Shoot First was a primal blast straight through the room: it was like the whole place was shaking and the intensity was then just ramped and amped up on Burning Your House Down as Jim pretty much spat the lyrics at us from the centre of the sonic hurricane that was raging around him.
That was followed by the opening song of the most recent album The Savage HeartThe Jim Jones Revue at Play It Agin Sam Records, It's Gotta Be About Me which had some great testifying lyrics and rock and roll preaching.
Killin' Spree, meanwhile, was like being hit by a sonic machine gun. It was hard to keep your ears out of harm's way let alone anything else. I certainly know my brain was starting to scramble after the assault on my ears from Rupert Orton's guitar. I was s shell-shocked that I'm not sure what the next two songs were other than they scorched by like most of the set.
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Then they kind of dropped the engine out of the machine and turned into the Jim Jones hooligan choir for the new single 7 Times Around The Sun, where they all sang the chorus together with just some drumming as Jim bared his soul as to how long it took him to heal. It was incredible, a real stand out in an amazing set.
Then they all pummeled into Rock & Roll Psychosis, which has been a live favourite from back when they used to play at the Dirty Water Club. It still sounds great even if the sound isn't as overloaded as it used to be, making the lyrics that bit clearer and in our faces. Plus they are now such a tight unit that Nick Jones drums seem to propel us to the heart of the psychosis.
Now I'm guessing again as my notes seem to have sweated off the page but I think they closed with a rip roaring version of Elemental and were gone leaving the stunned audience to cheer like crazy for more. They didn't disappoint, coming back and blasting through In and out Of Harm's Way Followed by another song I ought to know but don't. That was followed by Do It Again, maybe possibly my brain was fried by this point.
They then went and pulled the ace from up Jim's sleeves and got NICK LOWE to come on and sing Danny Boy. The whole room lit up with smiles and looks of disbelief, of all the songs to get Nick Lowe to sing Danny Boy would not have been the choice of anyone I spoke to afterwards but damn, it was amazing starting off almost acoustic before Nick brought the band in to tear it to shreds and soon Nick was also howling about being "Down By the River." It was immense and a jaw dropping highlight that once Nick had left us could only be followed by Cement Mixer and the howls of "I'm A Man!" that ended the night.
This was one hot, sweaty and incredibly potent rock and roll show that left my ears ringing good and proper.
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author: simonovitch
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JIM JONES REVUE
SPECIAL GUEST NICK LOWE
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