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  QUIREBOYS GO HOOCHIE COOCHIE COO FOR THE BLUES AT NELL'S
The Quireboys: Nell's Blues & Jazz Bar, London

mark taylor
Words: Mark Taylor, Pictures: Eric Duvet
12th October 2017



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No matter what the time is, The Quireboys are always up for a party, and what a right royal jolly ole knees up it proved to be for a Sunday night out at Nell's Blues & Jazz Bar in London's West Kensington.

There's no band in the world who fall under the heavy rock banner who know the blues better than The Quireboys, a band whose true spirit is deep in the rich vein of the blues and good ole ragtime rock'n'roll.

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They've just released their tenth studio album, 'White Trash Blues', a set full of covers that laid down the blueprint for The Quireboys sound. That album was celebrated and heavily featured in the live set at this suave venue that has an intimate standing area down the front surrounded by tables and chairs on the upper level.

The drinks were already flowing as The Quireboys took to the stage and grooved into Freddie King's 'Goin' Down', one of seven covers from the album performed this evening.

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After a strutting version of Taj Mahal's 'Leaving Trunk', Spike and the boys took us down more trodden path of Quireboys favourites with 'Misled' and 'There She Goes Again', dedicated to former member Guy Bailey who was in the house and was happily handing over his PRS payment to the bar lady.

The reason why this mixture of covers and originals worked so well is that The Quireboys have plenty of damn fine criminally underrated tunes of their own. 'Mona Lisa Smiled' is an overlooked bonafide classic while the smokey ballad 'I Don't Love You Anymore' is the best thing that Rod Stewart could never write.

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'Tramps And Thieves' thumps by, from 'Bitter, Sweet And Twisted', the second album that's full of hidden gems which need rediscovering and after a raucous 'Hey You' come a couple more covers with the gutter strut of 'Crosseyed Cat' bolstered by the added harmonica of Pearl Handed Revolver's Lee Vernon and the customary ivory tinkling from Keith Weir.

Rufus Thomas' 'Walkin' The Dog', a track also covered by Aerosmith and Ratt, set the pace perfectly for 'Seven O'Clock' but the party didn't end there as Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin got to lay their chops into the deep blues of 'I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man', but it was The Quireboys chestnut 'Sweet Mary Ann' that saw glasses raised the highest for a mass singalong and dance to this delightful merry tune.

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One day The Quireboys will get their due respect from the wider circuit for being one of the best live bands out there who constantly guarantee a damn good night out. Long may they continue.

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Setlist:
Going Down
Leaving Trunk (Taj Mahal cover)
Misled
There She Goes Again
White Trash Blues
I Wish You Would
Take Out Some Insurance
Mona Lisa Smiled
I Don't Love You Anymore
Tramps And Thieves
Hey You
Crosseyed Cat
Walkin' The Dog (Rufus Thomas cover)
7 O'Clock

I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon cover)
Sweet Mary Ann

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