Oli The Kid Hits Town!

He’s not American, he’s not black, and he’s not old.  Despite these Blues ‘handicaps’ Oli Brown came out onto the Harmonie stage ‘guns blazing’ and quickly shot down all those critics who claim a young, white Englishman can’t play the Blues.

My first sight of 20 year old Norfolk born Oli Brown on Wednesday was a fitting one.  He was leaving the hall after sound-checking.  Hung over each shoulder was a guitar and he was holding them steady like they were in the holsters of a western gunslinger.  A musical Billy the Kid.  Okay,  Billy never wore a belt-buckle with the Batman logo emblazoned on it (as far as I know!) but when it comes to the ‘killer touch’ Oli’s Vanquish signature guitar should have more notches than Billy’s Colt.

Also very un-Tombstone like – Oli thanked me politely for the souvenir Bonn fruit gums I presented him with.  Graham, Oli’s Manager and father, said any food was especially welcome.  This was the first date of a short German Tour and they’d travelled over via Dunkirk and had been up since 3am – Motorway jams however meant they still barely had time to set up and soundcheck in Bonn.  Dinner was on hold until after the show.

Inside the hall there are a number of confused people.  I hadn’t seen seats and bistro tables in front of the Harmonie stage since Louisiana Red was here last year.  Many of the audience today had never seen them here before full stop.  Maybe the Harmonie Management put in the seating out of politeness and the expectancy of a higher than usual female contingent for a Blues show (there are never this many women at Walter Trout!) more likely, this being a Wednesday, they were being conservative about the turn-out. I remember rebellious Thin Lizzy fans throwing seats aside at a Portsmouth concert many years ago.  Here too the audience is rebelling.  Well, sort of…  I see a middle aged (ex-Thin Lizzy fan?) heading up the stairs of the hitherto closed off balcony.  When after five minutes he still hasn’t been forcibly removed, others throw caution to the wind and join him.

When ‘Oli the Kid’ fires off the first notes of  ‘Evil Soul’ at the crack of 8pm the seats are pleasantly full both downstairs and up, but without the swaying mass of heads there seems a lack of atmosphere.  Despite large marketing banners each side of it, the stage seems a bit empty too.  Oli has a mike in the wall corner, drummer Simon Dring is at the back, and bassman Roger Innis is in the other front corner so stage centre is oddly empty, as if  the vocalist had failed to turn up.  As it turns out, the vocalist is most definitely there as Oli Brown proves he is more than just a guitarslinger.  In the course of the show he also manages to not only cover every inch of the stage but also most of the auditorium when he goes on a Buddy Guy style walkabout with guitar in hand.

I’d wanted to see Oli with his own band since last years appearance with the RUF Blues Caravan Tour.  No offence to the Caravan musicians who are superb, but a musician should be judged on their own band.   So I was a bit disappointed to find Bassist Freddy Hollis has just left the trio.  In his place for the European dates is – you guessed – Blues Caravan bassist Roger Innis.  This is a man I would like near me at a nuclear catastrophe.  Innis exudes calmness onstage.  “End of the World? Bummer eh? Stay cool!” would probably be his pre catastrophe advice.  He even remained calm when I mistook him for an American (he’s a Brit) and did I mention he is also a fine bass player who does what all bass players should – keeps the beat rather than beat it to death – which can also be said of young drummer Simon Dring.  Both men keep things simple, allowing Mr Brown to take his signature Vanquish electric (a British Firm I might add) where he wants it to go – whether thats deep into his soul or deep into the audience.

Oli Brown’s music is a curious mixture of boyish charm and enthusiasm with the musical sound of a seasoned veteran.  This is quite amazing when you consider that the first gig Oli did was in March 2007.  This coming June will see The Oli Brown Band playing at the revered Glastonbury Festival – yes, that’s little more than three years of gigging.  Can anyone really be THAT good THAT quickly?  Mike Vernon thinks so.  Mike produced such illustrious names as Eric Clapton’s Bluesbreakers, Freddie King, Peter Green and David Bowie in the 1960’s/70’s until retiring.He was so impressed by Oli Brown’s music that he ended that retirement to produce the new CD ‘Heads I win, Tails You Lose’.  Vernon believes Oli is a part of the future for Blues Music.

Signing autographs after his super show Oli Brown is polite to a degree that you have to admire.  He not only asks who to sign to, he thinks about a few words to add and even asks exactly how names are spelt.  He even showed calm when, asking how to spell a tricky name, he got the answer “with an ypsilon” (Y).  He seems to have a genuine interest in what people say to him.  Ah, I’ve been looking for a word to sum up Oli Brown.  Genuine seems to fit perfectly.  Give him a haircut and any mother would be glad to have their daughter bring him home (whoops, sorry Oli, I promised no hair jokes!).

This boy is going to be enormous – in the words of a song from his new CD “No Diggity!”

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