The handful of Jerry Joseph gigs that I’ve attended have taught me a couple of things. Firstly, you never know what he’s going to play or in what order, and secondly, you can be absolutely sure you’ll be blown away by the power and intensity of the performance. As someone mentioned on the night, Joseph has around 400 songs in his back catalogue, and it’s clear that he’s happy to dip into it as he sees fit. Attending a Joseph gig is not about waiting for the big hit to be played or hearing a preview of his new record. The audience waits with tingling anticipation as Joseph takes to the stage and performs his carefully curated set, delivering his chosen verses and chapters like the rock ’n’ roll preacher he is.
Often, when touring in the UK, Joseph appears solo. Yet even when it’s only him and his acoustic, he projects such percussive power and volume that you temporarily forget that it’s just a guy and a guitar. This time, he had the very able support of Steve Drizos on drums and Steve James Wright on bass, aka The Jackmormons. This power trio positively blows through the songs, as tight as the proverbial ducks’ rear end, measured and controlled, Shellac-esque in their combinations of manic sound and silence.
Opening with Supper’s Ready from his 2008 album, The Denmark Veseys, this initially laid-back, bluesy song gently drew us into the set, its hopeful message a reassuring counter to all the angst and anger in the world today. The band slowly warmed up and tuned into the atmosphere, and by the third song they were in their stride, launching into the monumental Fog Of War from 2016’s By The Time Your Rocket Gets To Mars. Joseph demonstrated his considerable lead guitar chops as this musical tour de force developed, the album version of which is over 16 minutes long. I suspect we got at least that, as Joseph shows no propensity to cut anything short, feeling his way through, living the moment and calling the changes when the song and the emotion demand it, no charts in sight or needed. The audience fell trancelike into this vibe, and the set progressed in a similarly captivating vein, the force of nature that is Jerry Joseph totally dominating the room. One of the few other songs I could identify was San Acacia, from the brilliant The Beautiful Madness album on which he was superbly supported by The Stiff Boys, aka The Drive-By-Truckers. This hypnotic song, filled with room, an incessant drumbeat and a driving bass line, with Joseph pleading with the crowd, “Take me as I am” – I think I can speak on behalf of the audience when I say, of course, Jerry, we would be delighted.
I feel slightly vindicated in my inability to identify some of the songs since, as Joseph has pointed out, “Over the years it has been repeatedly brought up that many, if not most, of my imaginary “hits” only appear on live records, or in the case of a song like Frost Heaves, don’t exist on any records”. Whilst this certainly adds to the magic and uniqueness of his live performance, it also means that those of us who aren’t able to attend many of his gigs are missing out. However, and thankfully, Joseph’s latest project, Panther Tracks, makes some of these songs available to a wider audience, offering “newly recorded… classics that never found a home on any studio record”. As Joseph explains, “Panther Tracks gives the band the chance to go down any artistic rabbit holes we want and not trim the stuff our fans like. For instance, Hearts Gone Blind is eight minutes long because, fuck it, we can do what we want”. Long may Joseph and the band do “what they want”. It makes for joyous and glorious rock and roll, entertaining and uplifting.
First up in support of Joseph was Ella Spencer with her excellent band. Spencer played a brief, impactful set including the excellent Scotty’s Tyres, getting the evening off to an excellent start and setting a high bar for the acts to come. Spencer is building a solid reputation as an innovative and versatile artist, and on this showing, we’ll be seeing a lot more from her. Spencer will be appearing at the Americana 25 festival in Liverpool in November, which is certainly something to look forward to. Next up was London-based psych-rockers Red Hash. These guys provided an energy and level of performance which would have probably frightened the hell out of a lesser headliner than Joseph. A mixture of a contemporary and retro vibe, the band, fronted by singer-songwriters Sam Barker and Tom Pereira, blew their way through songs which recalled early Stones, The Who and a glorious cocktail of full-on rock ’n’roll. These two opening acts between them teed us up perfectly for the mesmeric Joseph performance ahead.
By the end of the evening, the atmosphere, the ridiculous heat and probably the copious pints of IPA were taking their toll. What an amazing gig with three high-quality artists and all for the price of a couple of pints. Yes, of course, we are in London, where the price of a pint appears to have been directly affected by the traffic reduction in the Strait of Hormuz, yet still excellent value and certainly a night to remember.
Americana UK has ongoing running costs. If you have enjoyed reading this post, please consider supporting us for £2.99 a month.
Great review of a great evening. All 3 bands on top form!
Hi. No biggie but I, Bradley K Rosen was playing drums for Jerry that night. Steve couldn’t make this tour and I filled in. I’ve. been playing with Jerry on and off for 45 years.