A double shot, you say? Well, you had our attention straight away, so we headed to The Grace at Highbury Corner. Turns out it wasn’t sambuca, Jägermeister or baby Guinness on offer, but something even more intoxicating – Jack J Hutchinson and Matt Pearce And The Mutiny in a joint headliner.
Matt Pearce And The Mutiny – Jack J Hutchinson
The Grace, London – 12 April 2025.
Words: Liz Medhurst
Photography: Steve Ritchie
It is a hot spring day and an early start due to club night later on, and although it felt a bit strange entering the room from bright sunshine, it took precisely three seconds after Jack J Hutchinson and his band took to the stage to feel right at home.
A power trio with passion, soul and fire, Jack went straight on the attack with his immense guitar playing, setting the scene by opening with Don’t Let The Fuckers Get You Down. Preach it, brother.
Jack joked that his new album Battles is now twelve months old. However, the past year of touring has honed and polished these tracks into tight gleaming pieces of heaviness that hit in all the right places, allowing him to weave solos and riffs supported by an absolute monster of a rhythm section with Phil Wilson and Greg Smith. The trio look seriously cool together, and that’s because they are.
The set was dominated by tracks from Battles, and Days Are Gone, Love Is The Law and Running On Empty were huge and powerful yet remained melodic and emotive. The groove never faded and, if anything, increased as the songs kept coming, with some surprises like the Paul Weller track Out Of The Sinking given the Hutchinson treatment.
Even ballads like the heart-wrenchingly beautiful I Will Follow You concluded with a massive extended solo, which lifted the song to new heights.
By the time a frenetic Overdrive and a hard-hitting Call Of The Wild brought proceedings to a close with well-deserved roars of applause, we were not only warmed up but almost overheated.
Matt Pearce And The Mutiny
If you thought that Matt Pearce And The Mutiny would bring things down a notch you would be wrong. The six-piece band took to the stage and kept the dials turned up high with the stupendously funky Got A Thing Going On. Yes. I’ll say they have.
We have seen Matt wearing so many different hats over the years (including literally), whether as the guitarist with Voodoo Six or expertly playing the back catalogues of Fleetwood Mac or Tom Petty and more besides. He is always compelling to watch but seeing him head up his own band doing his own material is joyful.
There are so many extra layers here it almost defies categorisation – funk, jazz, soul and plenty of rock. It’s all seamlessly blended together like Prince used to do and I’m not using that comparison lightly.
The Mutineers tonight are on top form – Daliah Sherrington (vocals/percussion), Chris Burgham (keys), Ash Milburn (bass), Ollie Dixon (drums/vocals), and Pete Back (saxophone). Huge praise also to the sound guys as on a relatively small stage each member of the band could be heard perfectly in splendid clarity.
These songs really are stunning. All The Gods, one of the standout tracks on The Soul Food Store, took on new life here, with a vibe that pulsed right through your body. The vocal line on its own is a strong, smoky, smouldering blues, and when given the full band high energy treatment, it is genuinely spellbinding.
On Promised Land, Matt was gear-changing through tempos and styles with all the power and finesse of a Ferrari. From Here To The Moon (amended to Pink Moon in honour of the spring full moon tonight) was another vibrant and soulful number that lingers long in the memory.
Midway through the set, I was thinking of a good word to describe tonight’s performance when someone from the crowd shouted out “Tasty!” Thanks very much. That hits the spot.
There was one cover tonight, a smooth-as-silk version of Drift Away, which, although unintended, served as a lovely memorial to Mike Berry, whose passing was announced the day before.
A massive final track of Scarecrowing, segueing into Oh Well, had the entire room bopping, and there was genuine disappointment when it marked the end of the set. 
Is there anyone left who is going to trot out the tired old cliché that blues rock all sounds the same? If so, then tonight’s joint headliner ought to be compulsory watching so they can apologise profusely afterwards.
This was a double shot of magnificence, just the way we like it. 
