Showing posts with label Black Merda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Merda. Show all posts

Monday, July 17, 2006

Merda was the case

Black Merda were Detroit funk rock pioneers back in the 1960s, inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Sly and The Family Stone and others. After a 30-year hiatus collectors began to pay attention to their groundbreaking style and the group reunited in January last year. Guitarist Charles Hawkins and bassist V.C. L. Veasey are the two originals. They have a new keyboardist in Clint Reid and a drummer whose name I don't know (he could be Darrell "Chuck" Robinson). I thought they were okay musically, but the crowd was unwilling to be impressed. Even teasing them with a distorted version of The Star-Spangled Banner before a segue into one of their own tunes failed to get a rise.

Charles H.



V.C.







First degree Merda!





V.C. attempts to resuscitate the inert audience.



The whole crew.



I won't say their performance was stellar; they still have some rust to knock off. I suspect the lame crowd response wasn't helped by their being scheduled between two dissimilar acts - The Asylum Street Spankers and Brazilian Girls.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Bluesfest: Day Two

The Asylum Street Spankers got the second day of my Bluesfest off to a raucous start - they had far more songs about beer and sex than I expected; I don't think I've ever seen a rubber chicken used as a musical instrument before, either.



They were followed by Black Merda. Unfortunately it took them a little while to hit their stride. I don't think the audience ever warmed to them - in fact, it was unresponsive to the point of churlishness.





I told myself yesterday I should go and see Otis Taylor perform. I did, and was well-rewarded with a truly kicking show. Here he is with mandolinist Nick Amodeo and his daughter Cassie.



Lead guitarist Craig Hadley.



They were followed by The Deadstring Brothers. They cite Exile on Main Street and Gram Parsons as influences, and that's the case almost to a T.



After that, I went home for pizza, a quick nap, and a cup of tea. I returned to the MBNA Stage to see Jason Collett and Feist ... they probably should have been billed as one act, because the performances were heavily intertwined with everyone from both acts on stage during each other's sets.



Feist accomplice Bryden Baird adds some horn ... you can also see Julian Brown at right.



Feist came on stage to sing and grab the flower from Jason's breast pocket. Later she tried her hand at the drums.



Later still, she put on a stunning set of her own.



Some singalong action from some of her band (drummer Jesse Baird and Julian Brown of Apostle of Hustle) and Paso Mino's Afie Jurvanen.



She also previewed several songs from her next album, so it was a treat all around.