Time Travel with The London Souls
The music phenomenon known as the British Invasion of the mid- to late-60’s changed the face of rock and roll music forever. From The Beatles to The Rolling Stones, bands tapped into the trailblazers such as Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. At the same time, they were sampling from American jazz and acoustic blues, including artists such as Elmore James and Muddy Waters. Their sounds ranged from melodic to raw and eventually led to an indigenous British rock and roll sound. On April 15, a sizeable crowd jumped into the time machine to be transported back to that era by The London Souls. This show at Shaka’s Live was an early stop on their spring/summer tour of the U.S. and Europe.
This band from Brooklyn, comprised of Tash Neal on guitar and Chris St. Hilaire on drums, fashions their original music with British Invasion sensibilities, overlaid with a modern edginess that is unique. Their interpretations (not covers) of era classics are true to the roots but imprinted with their own style. Tash and Chris share vocal duties with a level of quality and matching tenor that makes you pay attention to see which one is singing. The only other time I’d seen the band they had a bassist, so I was open for the new experience of hearing them as a duo. Wow! I was floored by the breadth and depth of their sound as they opened the show with the Chuck Berry tune Lucille. They maintained that same level of intensity throughout the entire set as they showcased tunes from their latest CD, Here Come the Girls (released on April 7), along with favorites from their self-titled debut. I particularly liked the honky-tonk feel of Honey, and the vocal interplay on The Sound, a Cream-inspired rocker, was superb. They finished the show with The Who’s Magic Bus, followed by The Beatles’ Get Back.
[Setlist: Lucille (Chuck Berry), Certain Appeal, All Tied Down, Honey, The Sound, Sweet Thang (Shuggie Otis), The River, Workin’ (Lightnin’ Malcolm), She’s So Mad, Hercules, When I’m With You, Valerie, Some Day, Magic Bus (The Who), Get Back (The Beatles)]
Local rockers Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot opened the show. While they’re definitely not a British Invasion type of band, they draw on some of the same blues artists that so heavily influenced that era. Seth is a prolific and imaginative songwriter, guitarist and frontman, backed by Larry Berwald on guitar, Stephen Lazar on bass and Jason Bruner on drums. Their all-original set included songs from their initial release, Earth and Worm, as well as their newest album, Fire and Steel, which was produced by Anders Osborne. Stay tuned for more about this band in our regular feature, On The Rise, coming up on April 28.
[Setlist: Carolina Home, Fire & Steel, In The Evening>interlude>Through The Fire, Leather Strap, Intro (Mountain Jam tease)>Burn, Cold Steel Woman, White Walls, Devil Woman Blues, Intro (Amazing Grace tease)>Floodgates, Creekside]
You can check out The London Souls’ new album, Here Come the Girls, on Spotify. Here’s the link: https://play.spotify.com/artist/4WcWMe4Cpwm3L6vvBBhlhM
A sampling of both albums by Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot is also available on Spotify at: https://play.spotify.com/artist/2XigxmgDJLsnFVkGTmT8LD
By John Phillips | Photos by John Phillips/Festy Shots Photography
