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Review in Blues In Britain - August 2007
The Chantel McGregor Band
The Bridge, Huddersfield, 10.6.07
Those seeking a peaceful Sunday afternoon pint would
be well advised to give this public house a wide
berth. The Sabbath day regulars here like their live
music played loud, and 2pm finds some of West
Yorkshire’s (and beyond) finest strutting their
stuff at this Colne Valley rockers haven.
The first set was well underway when I arrived.
Feeling almost guilty in interrupting the barmans
wide eyed enjoyment of a staggering take on Joe
Satriani’s ‘Up In The Sky’, I nursed my drink to a
stage-side table to obtain a better view of the
source of his distraction. The pint-puller’s
amazement was understandable – 21 year old Chantel
McGregor is blonde, petite and has the smile of an
angel. Wearing a white summer dress with matching
sandals, she could have stepped out of one of those
Cadbury’s Flake TV adverts from the 70’s. But as
Willie Dixon so rightly summed it up, ‘You Cant
Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover’. This girl
from Bradford plays a mean guitar, and how! The
equally youthful Nick Green (bass) and the more
mature Martin Rushworth (drums) provide the smooth
rhythmic platform of this impressive power trio.
It’s a refreshing change to see a young guitarist
playing with such feel, devoid of histrionics and
facial grimaces bar those that come with ‘holding
big notes when your fingers cramp; it doesn’t half
hurt’. There were some fine moments of restraint too
– ‘Stormy Monday’ and ‘Red House’ were particularly
well constructed and found Chantel’s controlled
soloing matched by her naturally strong expressive
voice.
She also possesses a spontaneous sense of humour
that borders on the whimsical, best exemplified when
(on just after discovering the impossibility for
herself) inviting the audience to try, from a
standing position, to bend down to pick up a drink
placed on the floor when clenching the buttocks!
Jimi Hendrix is a big favourite, and the trio did
more than justice to renditions of ‘Little Wing’,
‘All Along The Watchtower’, ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘I
Like Marmite On Toast’. That last one left us
scratching our heads. Could it be one of his yeast
known songs? Sounded like a beefed-up version of
‘Voodoo Chile’ to me.
The welcome inclusion of Joe Bonamassa’s ‘Miss You,
Hate You’ indicated that this band isn’t just
looking to the past for inspiration.
However, my favourite of the day was from a time
gone by and came after Chantel tackled the
complexities of Steve Vai’s ‘For The Love Of God’
with ease. Prompting a member in the room (I suspect
a frustrated guitarist) to call out, good naturedly,
‘alright smart arse, what yer goin’ to do now?’ What
she did do, superbly, was remind me of just what a
good rocking number Blind Faith’s ‘Had To Cry Today’
was, with Martin doing his best to emulate Ginger
Baker’s thunderous stick-work.
They encored with Jethro Tull’s ‘A New Day
Yesterday’, given a treatment reminiscent of some of
Gary Moore’s heavier outings, which pleased the
moshers in the pub no end. This had literally been a
blast of a gig, and I urge anyone who loves classic
rock and blues to check this trio out. I’ve a
sneaking suspicion they could go far. – Martin
Byrom
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