Jared James Nichols – Black heart, London – 23rd June 2015

Tonight’s gig kicked off with a set from the Dave Hanson band.  They’re a four piece band from Leeds, fronted by Dave Hanson on vocals and lead guitar, and play music that is fairly laid back – a mix of blues and funk.  It’s very good but did feel a bit too laid back to really get the audience going, although the last song of the set was one they recorded with Jared James Nichol and that was a lot more lively and really went down well.

Up next were Buck and Evans, a Welsh band fronted by guitarist Chris Buck and Sally Evans on keyboards and vocals.  They took things up a notch with a far rockier set.  He’s a great guitar player, and her powerful vocals worked really well with his playing, and the result was a powerful blues-rock set that really got the crowd warmed up nicely for tonight’s headliner.

Finally it was the turn of Jared James Nichols.  He’s recently been announced as the support act for Glenn Hughes on his UK and European tour dates, so I was expecting him to be good, but other than that and knowing his style of music I really didnt know what to expect.  Well, it didn’t take long for Jared to impress me as he started the set as he meant to go on – powerful bluesy southern rock played with a huge amount of passion and energy.  It’s an absolutely superb performance and one that makes the Glenn Hughes tour even more unmissable than it was already.
As well as songs from his album (Old glory and the wild revival), he played a Robert Johnson cover – “Come on in my kitchen” which featured some nice slide guitar work.  He ended the set with a Mountain cover – “Mississippi queen”, but it wasnt long before he came back out for an encore.

An absolutely superb performance – Jared James Nichols is someone you really should go and see live.

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About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.