Live Review from 1999!
by Roy & Debbie Palmer

We have been great fans of Bobby Mack and his terrific band since '95 and have seen Bobby many times at various gigs around England, and also last year in Austin, Texas. So it was with great pleasure that we were able to catch Bobby and his band on three of their recent gigs in England.

THE FUGGLE AND FIRKIN (FORMERLY "THE BREWHOUSE"), OXFORD.

MONDAY 12/04/99. Admissions free.

No support band.

Held every Monday night, this has to be one of the best blues venues in England. Where else can you see world class blues acts for free? A great friendly atmosphere, very lively crowd, and always packed to the rafters when Bobby plays there!

We managed to say a quick hello and welcome to Bobby, Mark, Kelly, and Matt before they took to the stage. Amanda Palmer (photographer and journalist for Blueprint magazine) was there with her husband and son to video the gig for the "Blue Archive."

9:30 p.m. Here we go! Bobby and the boys take the stage to a rousing welcome from the audience. Straight into "Somebody’s reading my mail," then into a fast ‘n funky "the ship’s going down." Bobby then brings it down nice ’n low for the brooding introspective "Pourin’ rain."

On goes the slide and we are into "A matter of time," (cue massive outbreak of toe tapping and head nodding.) Bobby unstraps the "Stratovarious" and brings out his beautiful Sunburst Gibson 335 (the first time we have seen it in England.) Bobby gives a little rap about how he got to see Freddie King when he was younger, and then he offers up a superb heartfelt tribute to Freddie with "Palace of the King," (Bobby really made this song his own!) immediately followed by an instrumental "Hideaway" chock full of classic Freddie King riffs.

Mark is featured on vocals next on a great version of the blues standard "Sugar Sweet." Greasy and funky as always with Mark!

Bobby returns to the Strat and the slide for "Hip shake" (any Slim Harp fans out there?!!) This is a real favorite at the Fuggle and Firkin. Everyone is heads down and boogying! Bobby quietness down the raucous applause by going into the INKY, insistent riff of "Borrowed Time," and takes us all down for a while. Next up is an absolutely stunning version of the old Mose Allison number "Parchman Farm." (Anyone out there remember the Cactus version from 1970?) A classy jazzy beginning, then Bobby and the band proceed to hang Parchman Farm on a "Third Stone from the Sun" influenced bass and drums riff (in fact Bobby subtly quotes the Hendrix riff in the midst of a real wild solo.) "Ain’t that a groove?" laughs Bobby, asking the audience to show their appreciation for the band steaming away behind him. The song brought a great roar of approval from the audience! Mark’s vocals on this song were the best we had ever heard from him (that’s going some!) Kelly was amazing on his new Sadowsky bass, and Matt sat grinning at the back nailing the whole thing down!

Without pause to catch breath, they are straight into "Fender Bender," Bobby’s super tight tribute to "The Iceman" (more amazing playing from Kelly.) Then into a motoring version of "Highway Man," and off go the band to much wild cheering and stomping! We are not ready to go home yet though! After three or four minutes of further cheering and stomping (while Bobby repaired his shredded fingers with super glue!) they came back on with a slide laden "That’s Alright," and ended with the crowd pleasing "Had my Fun." (We certainly did!)

Well, a really successful night for Bobby on the first night of the England tour. Bobby and the band mingled with the crowd afterwards as usual, and he sold armloads of CDs! We managed another quick chat with all the band then headed off into the night already looking forward to the next gig!!

THE BOTTLENECK BLUES CLUB (AT THE JAZZ AND BLUES CAFÉ), MAIDSTONE, KENT.

SATURDAY 17/04/99. Admission £ 8.00

Support: Jet Martin – solo delta style blues.

Well here we are at the "Bottleneck" in Maidstone. It is the first time Bobby has played here and the gig is a complete sell out! (We applied for tickets a month beforehand, and managed to get the last two!)

In complete contrast to the Oxford venue, the audience is seated at tables, as this is primarily an eating establishment.

After the support act had finished Bobby and the boys appeared to put finishing touches to their equipment before going on stage. As we were near to the stage we managed quick hellos with them all, (Bobby was superglueing his fingers again as we were speaking!)

A few minutes later Bobby and the band took to the stage to great applause. The set was the same as for the Oxford gig for the first four numbers. Then into "Change my Mind" (a great stage favorite!) complete with Bobby’s rap in the middle about his time spent in Amsterdam whilst touring Europe! Then we are into "Parchman Farm," an even tighter version than in Oxford!! Bobby brings the first set to an end with the promise "When we come back for the second set, we’ll move the tables back and make this into a real Texas roadhouse!!"

While the band had a break they took time to chat to the crowd and sign CDs.

At the start of the second set the tables had been pushed back as far as possible in order for some serious parting to start!

Strapping on his 335, Bobby and the band blast straight into the "Hideaway" instrumental and without pause "Palace of the King," prompting many of the audience to get up out of their seats and start boogying! Then into "Sugar Sweet" with Mark on vocals. Bobby picks up the Strat and goes into "Don’t put no Headstone on my Grave" with, to our surprise, Mark taking lead vocals! Mark continues on lead vocals for a funky "Otis Rush" number. Then the band launch into "Fender Bender," and the finishing number "Highway man" and then leave the stage to the enthusiastic pounding of glasses on tables (a few glasses getting broken in the process!)

The cheering crowd bring Bobby and the band back on for an instrumental boogie jam, and a rousing version of "Sweet home Chicago" (with Mark on vocals), that brings the house down! Yet another great night on Bobby’s English tour!

THE TORRINGTON ARMS, LONDON

SUNDAY 8/04/99. Admission £ 7.00

Support: Pride and Joy – SRV tribute band

The Torrington Arms is an old pub steeped in atmosphere, with a long history as a premier London music venue. There is a real buzz of anticipation amongst the audience for Bobby’s first appearance here. This is the last night of the English tour (can’t wait for the next one!)

The set starts with a storming "Somebody’s Reading my Mail," during which Bobby and Mark have problems hearing the p.a. monitors, but Bobby being the true professional that he is manages to sort it out swiftly whilst he plays on! The next four numbers are in the same order as at Maidstone, the band is sounding exceptionally sharp and tight tonight! "Hideaway", "Palace of the King", and "Sugar Sweet" are next. Responding to the repeated calls for "Honeytrap" from the audience, Bobby obliges with a stunning version of his old favorite, great to hear it once again! Straight into a "Hipshake" that has everyone boogying frantically, then into a personal all time favorite of ours "Blackjack" that literally stuns the audience when bobby brings it all down real low and steps to the front of the stage and sings to the audience off mike. You could have heard a pin drop, sheer class! Into ‘Fender Bender" and "Highway man", and the band come off to the thunderous applause of the audience, who continue cheering until they return for a terrific "Borrowed Time," and an absolutely incendiary "Parchman Farm." A fitting end to a fantastic tour!!

Chatting to the band after the gig, they were all in very good spirits, and were very please with the way the tour had gone, and before we left Matt presented us with a signed drumstick each!

What a great bunch of guys! Roll on the next tour!!

Roy and Debbie Palmer.

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