Banooba and Curly & the Rocket live at The Platform, Morecambe
Bluesbunny is on tour again, and has chosen to visit Morecambe to catch the CMEAS autumn tour at its midpoint. The venue for tonight is the Platform. In a previous life, prior to being converted into a concert and theatre venue, it was just that as part the now defunct Promenade Station owned by the Midland Railway Company. Come to think of it that might be a good use for other railway stations, and would instantly create a ready made touring circuit. Just a thought.
First on stage are the Convulsions. Meanwhile however, having forgotten that council owned venues invariably start at the prescribed time, the Bluesbunny reviewer and photographer are still having a curry. This is indeed unfortunate as the curry is particularly bland and nowhere near spicy enough to satisfy our refined tastes. And while the Convulsions may not qualify as spicy, they are certainly never bland, and from previous experience we know they would have been much more enjoyable. With the added bonus of no nasty after effects the following morning!
Finally we are in place with notebook and camera, as well as the necessary refreshments, at the ready. Tour organiser and Convulsions front man Ben Ruth takes to the stage again to announce Washington DC's Curly & the Rocket. This duo doesn't hang around with idle chit chat and they launch straight in to the opening couple of numbers. The Rocket remains largely motionless, apart form his fingers which are a blur as they wander the fret board. Curly on the other hand as the drummer has no such luxury, and is the storm to counter balance The Rocket's calm.
We are treated to "Free" and "Lot 32", and then Curly produces a couple of spoons. Are we about to have dessert eating presented as performance art we wonder? Fortunately not, instead she provides accompaniment to Curly's slide guitar for the bluesy "I Think It Might Be Raining", and shows that spoons can be a musical instrument in the right hands. They deliver a set of blues tinged rock, which provides a welcome contrast to the permanently red tinged lighting that is a source of much annoyance to our photographer.
The final act, all the way from New York, is Banooba who immediately set about punching out their brand of funk. Singer Ryan O'Connor is the animated ringmaster; guitarists Kevin Kershke and Kevin Torres effortlessly swap leads, while the rhythm section pound out a relentless beat. By the time we get to "Crazy Cab Driver" the band are going full tilt and the two Kevins trade their favourite licks and tricks. Then it's "Sinora", which quickly develops into a jam session and Ryan, clearly feeling left out, hangs a large bongo style drum round his neck and joins in the fun.
The end of the set is announced. The audience however seems to know better. They demand "Chicken Wings", and inevitably the band yield and set about delivering a raucous version of the song that was apparently written in honour of their favourite food. Suddenly drummer Peter Cunningham finds himself being assisted by someone from the audience. We assume he is known as Mr Cunningham doesn't set about him - and we all know how volatile drummers can be! Anyway, with two people on one drum kit the show ends with a suitably crowd pleasing piece of mayhem.
So we make our way out into the night, and wind our way back to our seaside guest house. We have been entertained and refreshed, and all that now remains is to face the inevitable consequences of our earlier curry!
Reviewer: Bluesbunny Editor
Review Date: 20 October 2007
Websites
Banooba
Curly & the Rocket
CMEAS
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