Playing their second show in a week at Shepard's Bush's very own Bush Hall, the young Country Blues singer Pokey LaFarge brought along the South City Three for a show which was hotter than a 2 dollar pistol.
Coming off the back of a sterdy warm up performance of the Ouse Valley Three, delivering a host of classics from Johnny Cash's (I Was There When It Happened & Big River) and Jimmy Hendrix's (Easy Rider) impressive catalogue of hits and set a blue grass tone, old southern American feel for the whole evening. Plenty of cowboy enthusiased turned up as a rare performance from the Illonois star loomed ever closer.
Popularity for Pokey LeFarge & The South City Three rose over on these shores after an appearance on the legendary Late Night With Jools Holland program. The American blues man seems to be bringing a rivival to the genre, espeically on these shores. There has never been a real following for artists such as Willie Dixon and Bill Monroe in the UK, but with the young Pokey LeFarge coming through to showcase his passion, we will soon learn a lot about the American way of life.
Not only does Pokey LeFarge sing and play like an old time Southerner, but he talks like it to. Entertaining the crowd as he goes with funny anecdotes about his music and how its not a real performance until he sweats. Believe me, he was sweating by the gallon so it must have been a good show in his eyes when performing the hits 'Drinkin' Whisky Tonight' and 'La La Blues' to the packed Bush Hall audience.
What impressed me most was band member Ryan Koeing who not only had a talent for the harmonica but also brought along an old fashioned washboard and used that as a rhythmic instrument. The once upon a time invention was used in the past to wash clothes before washing machines were around and it seems with a few bells and plates attached, The South City Three have found a new lease of life for the home apparatus.
Though I was in a different environment to what I am used to, you could see the love clearly through everyone around. In my eyes, I couldn't really tell each song apart unless Pokey himself was telling us what song was next. The same instruments were used throughout the hour and a half the band were on stage and there was no real variety in their play.
Nonetheless, Pokey LeFarge & The South City Three are a breath of fresh air for a number of reasons and I minor detail can be ignored... For now anyway.
