Many of us harbour fond memories of the late, great Rory Gallagher, so the arrival on the scene in 2013 of the Band Of Friends to pay tribute to his music was more than welcome. Led by Rory’s long time bassist Gerry McAvoy and also including the great man’s former drummer Ted McKenna, the sound was authentic Rory, even if the flying Dutchman on guitar and vocals, Marcel Scherpenzeel, was a new name and a wonderful surprise to us. Even Ted’s unexpected death during routine surgery in 2019 could not derail the band’s progress, as Brendan O’Neill (Mr Sticks), who had a decade long stint with Rory, was available to step in.

Sadly, the economics of life on the road led Marcel to leave the fold when Gerry announced his intention to add a second guitarist; his replacements were a Geordie and a German in Paul Rose and Stefan Graf, with Jim Kirkpatrick stepping in for the latter during the pandemic’s travel restrictions. The decision to employ twin lead guitars always felt a bit odd (Rory managed just fine on his own!), especially as the band’s North American gigs were still played as a trio, with Chicago based Isle Of Man native Davy Knowles (of the short lived, but highly regarded Back Door Slam) out front.

With Rose and Kirkpatrick, like Scherpenzeel, preferring to concentrate on other projects, the band’s recent European shows had seen the return of Graf and the addition of David Cowan from Glasgow on keyboards (perhaps an attempt to conjure up memories of Lou Martin’s work with Rory). All of which had me wondering just who would take to the 229’s stage alongside McAvoy and O’Neill; the answer turned out to be Knowles and Cowan.

And, as an additional surprise, the merch stand revealed that there had been 2025 releases by this quartet (‘Ballroom Of Dreams’) and by the core trio without Cowan (MKO). Quite how well the original music sold to an audience who wanted a constant stream of vintage Rory, I’m not sure, especially with CDs priced at £20 and £25…

Anyway, off we went with ‘Double Vision’ (from ‘Jinx’, 1982), followed by a romp through Junior Wells’ ever-popular ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ (‘Live! In Europe’, 1972). That momentum was slightly lost during two songs from ‘Ballroom Of Dreams’, with ‘Lonely Mile’ (only released as a bonus track on the CD issue of ‘Jinx’, I think) sandwiched in between with McAvoy on vocals.

The ebb and flow continued, with ‘Moonchild’ (‘Calling Card’, 1976) and ‘Bought And Sold’ (‘Against The Grain’, 1975), alternating with three new songs (titles unannounced) and a rather subdued ‘Heaven’s Gate’ (‘Fresh Evidence’, 1990) in which McAvoy’s vocals were more spoken than sung. Then, just as I sensed some unease around me at the unfamiliar material, the gig finally hit its stride and took off!

‘Daughter Of The Everglades’ (‘Blueprint’, 1973) was a welcome surprise, then a stirring ‘Tattoo’d Lady’ (‘Tattoo’, 1973) featured some energetic drumming by O’Neill. We got our collective breath back during ‘I Fall Apart’ (‘Rory Gallagher’, 1971), which McAvoy introduced as the very first song that he’d recorded with Rory, before the set closed out with two more fan favourites. ‘Bad Penny’ (‘Top Priority’, 1979) saw Knowles and Cowan trade solos, before ‘Shadow Play’ (‘Photo-Finish’, 1978) allowed for some audience participation in the vocals.

The encore choice ‘Bullfrog Blues’ (‘Live! In Europe’, 1972) featured some fine slide guitar by Knowles and another Cowan solo. The band has already been re-booked for next year’s January Blues Festival, so it will be interesting to see how many changes there may be in the personnel and the setlist for that one.

Earlier in the evening The Stumble had played a well received support set of nearly an hour. Based in Preston, but co-led by two Scots in guitarists Colin Black and Boyd Tonner, the band has released five albums over a period of 20 years, although I think only three songs in their setlist appear in those CDs.

Vocalist Paul Melville has a little of Paul Carrack’s soulfulness in his voice, while saxophonist Simon Anthony Davis leans towards the Soul/Funk end of the Jazz spectrum favoured by the likes of King Curtis and Maceo Parker. As a Jazz fan myself, I found the sax solos a little over-dramatic and a bit of a distraction from some fine, Bluesy guitar work by Black, most notably on B.B. King’s ‘All Over Again’.

Setlists:

BOF – Double Vision; Messin’ With The Kid; Under The Gun; Lonely Mile;
Stand Your Ground; Moonchild; ?; Bought And Sold; ?; Heaven’s
Gate; ?; Daughter Of The Everglades; Tattoo’d Lady; I Fall Apart; Bad
Penny; Shadow Play; Bullfrog Blues.

TS – Cradle Of Your Love; Small World; Bus Stop; All Over Again; Hellfire;
Maudie; Unnatural; Desensitized; Fill Me Up; Canned Heat.

Review: Gary Smith
Photos and Videos: Denise Lester