The AGMP January Blues Festival has been one highlight after another and it peaked for me on this cold Monday night. One thing that wasn’t so good about the festival was the amount of information available in advance about the support acts, so it was a case of mostly turning up to see what “TBC” meant in reality. On this night there was a nice surprise in the form of two acts I’d never seen, or even heard of before, that both highly impressed and who could have been headliners in their own right. I don’t know the reality but, given that Lucca Mae has performed with James Hunter before, I would imagine that the quality of the support acts was down to him.

Lucca Mae is described in her publicity blurb as combining the raw soul of Sam Cooke with the energy of Amy Winehouse. Raising an eyebrow slightly it has to be said that she has, along with a lot of young singers, some vocal inflections that bring Amy Winehouse to mind, namely a mixture of jazzy liberties with consonant sounds and sweetly, melodic vocal licks. She played solo, standing up, accompanying herself on electric guitar very effectively. She had the audience captivated with some very good songs, among which were ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Wasted’. A short but very sweet set.

The stage was already set up with a bandstand for a three piece horn section, which I wrongly assumed was for the James Hunter Six’s horn section. It turned out that Laura B and her Band had the full monte, double bassist, keys, guitar and horn section playing joyously swinging R’n’B grooves from a different era when hepcats would be swinging their partners around the dance floor with gay abandon. Laura obviously bought quite a few fans with her as there were a number of couples attempting innocent rhythmic manoeuvres in response to the energy coming from the stage. This sort of delightful music almost demands some swaying hip action, luckily the crowd had a higher number of young people than pure Blues gigs normally attract to do the jigging and prevent a mass medical emergency among older members of the audience. Laura B cut a striking figure with her 1940s styled red hair and her singing voice matched her big stage personality. All the songs sounded like bangers and included tracks from her 2021 album ‘Just A Little Love’, like ‘Gonna Find Me A Good Man’, ‘Too Tired’, ‘Love and Treat You Right’ and the title track. One of the standout moments was a sultry version of Barbara Lynn’s ‘You’ll Lose A Good Thing’. The band were collectively red hot but special mention goes to Pete Farrugia on guitar who really swung. A brilliantly enjoyable band.

James Hunter has been described as one of the best Soul singers in the UK. That doesn’t adequately paint a picture of his unique style, which superbly recreates the vocal finesse of forgotten R’n’B singers from the 50s. His vocals are supported by his sophisticated guitar playing, which combine with his vocal delivery to create his smoothly, vibrant sound. His songs all sound like something you might hear on an old vinyl album picked up second hand in a specialist record shop. They mostly follow the same pattern, mid-tempo grooves where the lyrics are the thing that provide the most variety between numbers. He quipped, with a cheeky grin, at the start of the second number in his set “it’s pretty much the same as the last one, just a bit faster.” I used to see him quite a bit, way back in the day down at the Dublin Castle in Camden, when he went under the stage name of Howling Wilf. He used to amaze audiences then with his total mastery of the mic and guitar; nothing has changed. His songs and performances, backed by a hot quintet (including two horn players), are the sort that take you away from any gloomy thoughts by creating a positive atmosphere even if he frequently sings about failed, forgotten or lost loves.

He played a number of songs from his very recent album ‘Off The Fence’, including the title track, ‘Ain’t That A Trip’ (which on the album he duets with Van Morrison), ‘Two Birds One Stone’, ‘Let Me Out Of This Love’ and ‘Here And Now’. His other original material on the night seemed to be mostly taken from his 2020 album ‘Nick Of Time’ and his classic 2008 album ‘The Hard Way’. He also peppered his set with a few diamond covers like ‘Baby Don’t Do It’ by The “5” Royales and Clarence Gatemouth Brown’s ‘Okie Dokie Stomp’, both of which featured him soloing brilliantly. He’s such a tasteful player when accompanying himself on rhythm, with sharp chord slides, always tight on the beat, but he can let rip and solo with ease, managing to combine his playing with a real sense of showmanship. Lucca Mae came back to join Hunter for a few numbers at the end to add to the occasion. The encores of course ended with the lovers beat of ‘Carina’, which is almost his signature number and set the seal on a wonderful evening.

Review and Photos: Simon Green