Hereford has been known, primarily, as the home of the SAS, and there were certainly some special forces at work tonight at The Wild Hare Club, which is situated in the ballroom of the Green Dragon Hotel. It was a Gypsy Hotel night brought to you all the way from Dalston by The Urban Voodoo Machine.
First up was DJ SCRATCHY, who has worked with The Clash & Gogol Bordello, and who set the scene by playing an eclectic mix of Gypsy folk, blues, ska, and rock ‘n’ roll. This got the crowd up and dancing and certainly in the right mood.
LADY ANE ANGEL was on next, with her snake charming and fire eating act, complete with fake snow and python wearing a Santa hat! As always, her act was mesmerising and raised plenty of shouts of admiration.
Headliners, The URBAN VOODOO MACHINE hit the stage with a vengeance, and it was clear right from the start that they were going to take no prisoners! Opening up with a blistering ‘Theme From The Urban Voodoo Machine’, they had the audience up and dancing straight away. As always, the band put 100% into each performance and it showed. Newer material such as ‘The Death of Celestina Rose’ and ‘Lightning From a Blue Sky’ blended in seamlessly with older favourites and proved that this years debut album ‘Bourbon Soaked Gypsy Blues Bop ‘n’ Stroll’ was not a one-off in terms of quality, musicianship and clever lyrics. ‘Killer Sound’ was also another highlight with a really loud double drum assault by J and Gary.
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Singer P-R is always watch able, and was in and out of the front rows of the audience on several occasions, and at one point performing ‘Love Song #666’ from on top of the speaker stack. The band didn’t put a foot wrong during this set, and everyone was on top form.
Of special mention is the encore ‘Down in a Hole’, which this time ended up merging with of all things, the ‘James Bond Theme’, ‘Munsters Theme’, ‘Jesus Gonna be Here’, ‘Tequila’, ‘Susie Q’ ‘Don’t You Just Know It’, and ending with ‘What d’I Say’. By this time both band and audience were drenched, and the atmosphere resembled a sauna!
As if that were not enough, the band returned for yet another encore of ‘Gettin Hot, Goin Down’, which left Hereford wondering what the hell hit it, the gig having the precision and timing of a commando raid. As I left, everyone I could see had big smiles on their faces.
This was without doubt the best UVM gig I have seen this year, there isn’t a band that can touch them for sheer power and delivery. They are simply the best live band on the planet.
The Urban Voodoo Machine. They blitzkrieg. You’ll bop!
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