Pulsating start to new music night in Leamington

A SUCCESSFUL start to Steve Walwyn’s monthly Kelly’s music evenings, the aim of which is to recreate the vibe of the regular gigs at that famous Leamington live music venue during its late 1970’s and 1980’s hey day.

The turnout was healthy and it was good to see a host of local musicians showing their support and rubbing shoulders with music fans.

The band Steve chose to play with at this opening night was Fireworks - a band that really kick-started the original Kelly’s pub live music scene, a rocking three piece with Keith Hancock (Jaykays) bass/vocals and Chas Chaplin on drums, joining our Steve, who shared lead vocals with Keith as well as supplying the blistering guitar work.

Split into two sets, the material was roughly a 50/50 mix of 1960’s early 70’s classics and a selection of blues numbers and included cracking versions of the Beatles Day Tripper, the Animals’ We Gotta Get Out of this Place and the groove-laden Humble Pie track Natural Born Boogie. Blues workouts included a truly dynamic Crossroads. Popular local musician Sam Powell made guests appearances on many of the blues numbers, adding his stylish harmonica playing to the mix.

My highlights of the evening were a pulsating Roadhouse Blues, made famous by one of my favourite bands, The Doors, and one of Steve’s tributes to his musical hero Rory Gallagher, the riff laden Laundromat.

The future is hopefully bright for this fantastic idea of Steve’s. We are so lucky in this town to have a musician of his quality who finds time to perform locally, especially given the hectic touring schedule of his day job with the awesome Dr Feelgood.

Andrew Lock