The highly anticipated debut album, 'Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits', from Black Eyed Sons, the new Rock ‘n’ Roll collective featuring former members of The Quireboys and Down 'n' Outz, including many collaborations, is due to be released next month on Friday 31st January via Off Yer Rocka Recordings, and last Monday we had the pleasure of attending a sensational. sold out album launch party at London's The Lexington.

The last time I saw The Quireboys was just over six years ago at Kentish Town's Forum, and suffice to say, since that night in London, the band have gone their separate ways with frontman Spike now fronting his own Quireboys version alongside Thunder's Luke Morley. As for Joe Elliott's Down 'n' Outz, memories flood back from their High Voltage set at London's Victoria Park in 2010, that saw Mott The Hoople's Ian Hunter join them for two songs, before Emerson, Lake & Palmer's crew allegedly pulled the plug given that they went over their allotted time, which apparently ended in fisticuffs very reminiscent of Spinal Tap!

Tonight, the very welcome Black Eyed Sons constant from both those memorable gigs were Guy Griffin (lead vocals/guitar), Paul Guerin (guitar) and Keith Weir (keys), complemented by brothers and former Quireboys to boot, Pip (drums) and Nick Mailing (bass), plus Ria Hall on backing vocals. A packed downstairs bar greeted our arrival, before the great and the good from the four corners of the world (seriously) made their way upstairs to the venue, where the industry banter and stories continued until the sextet arrived on stage just before 9pm.

They kicked off the night perhaps surprisingly with two Quireboys covers, going back to 2008's 'Homewreckers & Heartbreakers' and 'Louder', followed by the more recent 'The Band Rolls On...' and the swagger of 'Lie To Me', of which the former saw some neat slide work from Guerin, while, not to be outdone, the latter was accompanied by Pearl Handled Revolver special guest Lee Vernon and his mouthwatering Blues harp. The peak-capped Griffin then dedicated the next song to Joe Elliott, who indeed, along with Alice Cooper's Ryan Roxie and Enuff Z'Nuff's Chip Z'Nuff, had collaborated on this stand out new album title track, with its Beatles vibe outro.

'Medicine', a further collaboration from the new album, this time with Buckcherry's Josh Todd and Stevie D, was preceded by a Happy Birthday message from Griffin, before Guerin let rip with yet another trademark solo. Indeed, with both Guerin and Griffin tearing out awesome riffs front of stage on their beautiful vintage guitars, in the background Keith Weir's honky tonk keys plus the rhythm section of the Mailing brothers more than contributed to their feel good Rock and Roll sound.

Two more new tracks from 'Cowboys in Pinstriped Suits' followed, firstly Guerin's blistering riff on 'Dig Me Out Of This Hole', an album collaboration with Skid Row's Scotti Hill, while Griffin's stand out vocal on 'Your True Colours', was another collaboration with White Lion's Mike Tramp. Before launching into two further Quireboys covers, Guy then shared the story that his nephew was the reason behind the band's name, as well as the title of The Quireboys 2014 album. Cue 'Stubborn Kinda Heart' followed by "an old one", and one of the highlights of the night, 'Hello', another from 'Homewreckers & Heartbreakers' that featured a cracking solo from Griffin.

Taking things down a notch, the band returned to the new album and 'Autumn Rains', that saw Blackberry Smoke's very own Charlie Starr sing on the album, along with backing vocals from Paul Guerin, but tonight Guy poignantly dedicated the Blues number to his late brother Daniel, with a vocal that would no doubt have made him proud, as well as some on the money backing vocals from Ria Hall. Another highlight of the evening was their scorching debut single 'Foolin Yourself', a collaboration with both New York Dolls Steve Conte and Company Of Wolves Kyf Brewer, that not only saw the welcome return of Vernon's Blues harp, but also accompaniment from the understandably clap happy audience.

Never afraid of doing a bit of name-dropping, and with everyone's ears pricking up following Guy's mention of David Bowie, it was now Dan Reed's turn, although to be fair, the "vodka drinking" frontman of Dan Reed Network was yet another star who had also collaborated with the band on their next song, the very aptly named vibe of 'So Glorious'. Released today to coincide with the album launch, their latest single 'Don't Throw Me In The Corner, written by Guerin, was introduced by Griffin as a "divorce song", although this was a nod to their many influences such as Mott the Hoople, albeit with a fast-paced Punk Rock edge, with more clapping along from the crowd, plus another reappearance from Vernon, but all in all, another Rock 'n' Roll highlight, which Chip Z’Nuff had also contributed to on the album.

They ended their set with a cover of Mink Deville's 'Savoir Fayre', that's also on the album, of which one of the contributors is also one of their noisy neighbours, Chris Johnstone! Another collaborator was Dirty Strangers Alan Clayton, a vocalist who puts the 'R' in Shepherd's Bush, and who also delightfully joined the band tonight on stage for this finale of proper good old Rock 'n' Roll. Despite no Down 'n' Outz cuts being aired, it could only be one encore couldn't it? Cue the title track from The Quireboys 2001 album 'This Is Rock'n'Roll' for a storming conclusion and deserved applause from the great and the good, who very happily continued their bar banter late into the night with a meet and greet.

To coin a phrase from another British Rock 'n' Roll band: Black Eyed Sons - This Is Rock and Roll ... and we like it, like it, yes we do!

AJ