I picked up the review baton at short notice, as I was already due in Soho for the early show at Ronnie Scott’s. Good as that show was, it sadly meant missing Ryk Mead’s opening set of this Blues night; he’s always good value (as, indeed, are all Solid Entertainments’ promotions) and I’m told that he was in fine form.

The two following co-headline acts were given around an hour each and first up was Snake Oil Band. They may have omitted a song or two from their fifteen strong setlist (reproduced here) due to time constraints, but they rattled through the numbers with barely a pause for breath.

There were some nice harp solos by vocalist Hugh Evans and some very good guitar work by Tony Harris, as bassist Jeff Dudley and drummer Ed Marks stoked the fire. Vocalist Gemma Elmes, who also played rhythm guitar on some songs, is somewhat younger than her bandmates and her voice will probably increasingly suit the Blues as it matures. For now the songs associated with female voices, such as ‘Love Me Like A Man’ (Bonnie Raitt) and ‘Bad Woman Blues’ (Beth Hart) seemed to fit her best, while others either required a rougher edge or were too well associated with other voices (e.g. Rory Gallagher on Junior Wells’ ‘Messin’ With The Kid’ or Nina Simone on Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ ‘I Put A Spell On You’).

The band certainly provided the majority of the night’s audience, who clearly enjoyed themselves hugely; unfortunately, their raucousness at the bar extended into the final set and was distracting at times for both Felix and the rest of us.

If there’s an artist out there in the rather saturated Blues/Rock scene who deserves a bigger audience for his talents, it’s arguably the French born, Swiss based guitarist Felix Rabin. Blessed with technique to burn, he has been visiting these shores for the best part of a decade and should by now be the sort of name that we pencil in our diaries as soon as each tour is announced.

Perhaps London audiences are sometimes too spoiled for choice, as Felix has developed a loyal following elsewhere; he’s certainly a talent deserving of wider acclaim.

This tour is ostensibly to promote his new ‘Blue Days’ EP, which was sadly unavailable at his merch desk, but his earlier work provided the majority of his setlist. The opener ‘Little Hurricane’ was taken from his debut EP (‘Down Our Roads’, 2016) and introduced the guitars of both the leader and his long time bandmate Francesco Gagna, who alternated between acoustic, electric and keyboards as the set progressed.

‘Say’ provided a welcome reminder of Felix’ sophomore EP (‘Pogboy’, 2020), before three less familiar songs, of which only ‘What You Need’ appears in the advance track listing for ‘Blue Days’. This part of the setlist felt rather lighter and the promotional info for the new EP suggests that the new music incorporates elements of Pop, Soul and Funk; this may be Felix’ attempt at broadening his appeal, but he is too Bluesy a guitarist to leave that behind, I hope.

‘Pogboy’ also provided ‘Angels’ and, although ‘Death’ (from the same EP) was also listed, I think it was replaced by the long, funky trio (minus Francesco) version of ‘Crossroads’. The change seemed to be prompted by Felix’ realisation that the noisier element of the audience had drifted home and I think he decided to stretch out for his own enjoyment and that of the core listeners who remained. The extended closer ‘Gone’ (also from ‘Pogboy’) was the highlight of the set, showcasing both guitarists, who were ably propelled by bassist David Caraccio and drummer Fantin Moreno.

So, another entertaining gig by Felix, but enjoyed by too few punters. I can highly recommend a Felix gig or CD, so please bookmark his name and look out for him when he returns next April.

Gary Smith

Photos: Bruce Biege

Setlists:

FR - Little Hurricane; Say (You Won’t Leave Me); A Good Day; What You
Need; Can’t Really Feel It; Angels; (Death); Crossroads; Gone.

SOB – Come On In; What You Gonna Do About Me; The Stomp; Love Me
Like A Man; Parchman Farm; I Put A Spell On You; Roadhouse
Blues; Sinner’s Prayer; Rolling Drunk; Can I See You Tonight; She
Loves My Automobile; Bad Woman Blues; Talk To Me Baby; Messin’
With The Kid; Flip, Flop And Fly.