Joining AK & The Red Kites at The Giffard Arms last Friday at The Giffard Arms were Eddie & The Wolves. Formed in 2019 in Derby by husband and wife Edd & Char Saffell (guitar/vocals and vocals/percussion respectively), Eddie & The Wolves produce an engrossing classic heavy blues rock sound that is inspired by such luminaries as Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac.
Eddie & The Wolves
The Giffard Arms – 25 April 2025
Words: Sophie James
Photography: Sandis Luttropp
Eddie & The Wolves are completed by Cain Paisley on guitar, bassist Joe Griffiths and Ben Gaines on drums, though this evening’s appearance was unfortunately a ‘man down’ as Cain was unable to perform.
Notwithstanding the enforced absence, the rest of the band proceeded to blow the proverbial roof off with a piledriving set delivered in their own distinctive style.
“She’s a lady, that’s what they say. You’ve never seen a lady move this way.”
The bluesy initial strains of Bad Touch make way for an incisive modern expression of ’70s bass-heavy funk that may well have been matured in moonshine-soaked barrels for at least a couple of decades.
There is a palpable vocal chemistry between Edd and Char that colours the rich sonic tapestry. The variations are a delight to absorb, be it Edd taking the first verse and Char the second, with each augmenting the primo with their evocative backings.
Following a haunting intro, Char takes the lead on the more immediate Voodoo.
A veritable feast of intricate swirling melodies and pounding rhythms which break out into a section that draws audience participation with claps and even howls. A consummate example on how to cram so much musicality into the confines of a comparatively short composition.
Burning Embers, meanwhile, is a straight-ahead, hip gyrating soundtrack to a good time.
“He’s not a god, he’s just a man.”
Does it come as any surprise that the delightfully titled The Devils Wrong, But Not To Blame has, we were informed, surpassed 120k streams?
The suspended menace of the opening chord was most reminiscent of a particular diabolicamonious Brummy, but that’s where that similarity ended, continuing as it did at a more direct, skull-oscillating tempo.
The arrangements just seem to be getting better with each song. That or my ears are finally getting accustomed to the sonic sorcery. Even referring to my notes for the all-encompassing Vindictive makes me breathless at some of the adjectives I jotted down, so here goes.
A towering riff before a spatial backing tracks leads into Char’s sassy lead which interplay delightfully with Edd. There are slight Soundgarden cadences (Spoonman?) in the mid-section enhanced by Char hammering the bejeezus out of a Floor Tom at stage front. 
With harmonics striving to reach Olympus, the number sprints into a heads-down boogie prior to pulling up in a coarse, grinding climax.
And breathe! For scale, this is a tad over 3 1/2 minutes on record.
The irresistible, hip-swaying funk of The Coming Storm preludes set closer to Nine Lives, where there is a Prince-like inflexion in Edd’s tone, but the vocal textures shift closer to Sympathy For The Devil when they harmonise dynamically.
The song is extended so tastefully, not least in the ‘talkative’ solo. With rock and blues influences aplenty, this alone would cause Grand Masters of the genre to leap from their grave and plug right in. 
Eddie & The Wolves are the type of band whose musical alchemy overwhelms your senses on first exposure but mandate you return to ingest more of the rich concoctions that are blended within.
Now with that aforementioned member AWOL, I have a feeling that my next exposure to this multi-talented outfit will be equally, if not significantly more engulfing.
Virtuosity delivered so visually strikingly, we will be hearing so much more from Eddie & The Wolves.
Eddie & The Wolves – Setlist
- Bad Touch
- Voodoo
- Burning Embers
- The Devils Wrong, But Not to Blame
- Vindictive
- The Coming Storm
- Nine Lives
