The Commoners/Troy Redfern –
Greystones, Sheffield, Tuesday, 18th April, 2023
So good to be back at the venue. The last time was before sh*t hit the fan in 2020 so up the hill we climbed to get to that well-known room that puts on the more rootsy types of artists.
Set List: All Night Long/Sweet Carolina/Come On/Getaway/Dark Religion/The Native/Scorpio/Down/The Fever/The Strange/Waiting for Your Love/Sanctify.
It's pretty packed for a guy who has become no stranger to the live stage lately, Mr Troy Redfern who with a full band including Keira Kenworthy on Bass (of JoanOvArc/ex-Tequila Mockingbird/ex-Syteria etc) plunging into those deep 'n' fat bass notes on that Fender with plenty of flashness & powerhouse, Finn McAuley manning the drums and being that final needed piece of the musical jigsaw
We are treated to songs from his last two albums, 'The Wings of Salvation' and 'The Fire Cosmic' and even cuts that are not even out yet that will appear on his next release that's out the back end of 2023 – talk about being privileged.
Highlights include the vibrant and lively starter 'All Night Long' with its fired up Southern greatness and killer riffing on the slide; the vaudevillian voodoo sounds of 'Dark Religion'; the deep and gutsy 'Down'; the wailing coolness meets 70's Glam Rocked vibe of 'The Fever' and the delta fuelled 'Waiting For Your Love'.
There is nothing like a close intimate performance and we got just that right here at Greystones with strong sound and even stronger lighting – especially on the red! I think his vocals should have been louder in the mix thought as they were overshadowed by the instrumentation too much for my liking.
Overall, my personal opinion is that Troy will no doubt will hit a Worldwide status in the next couple of years and definitely give may others of his calibre a run for their money when it comes to the festival stakes.
Set List: Intro/More Than Mistakes Jam/More Than Mistakes/Find A Better Way/(Devil Jam) Devil Teasin Me/(Body And Soul Intro Jam) Body and Soul/Who Are You? (Ain't Knocked Down)/Naturally/(Deadlines Intro Jam) Deadlines/Sweet Melissa/Hangin' On Again/Fill My Cup.
Encore: Shake You Off.
The headliners tonight are The Commoners – a young band who you'd think hailed from the stagnant swamps of Louisiana but are in fact straight in Canada (Toronto and Ontario to be exact).
The line-up consists of Chris Medhurst (Vocals/Guitar), Ben Spiller (Bass), Ross Citrullo (Lead Guitar), Adam Cannon (Drums) & Miles Evan Branagh (Organ). What immediately struck me was just how well they gel together and really flow well throughout their songs – definitely a band who have matured amazing as a tight unit who appear to have similar styled influences judging by the way they play.
They strike me with their incredible ease and flavour of bands like The Black Crowes, The Answer, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band – hey we even got delighted with 'Sweet Melissa' in their set which I loved to hear my buddies, Bryce Barnes & Joe Monroe of The Oysters play on Fort Myers Beach, Florida!
Highlights of their show included many songs from their current album 'Find A Better Way' such as the opening instrumental 'More Than Mistakes' that's pure Gregg 'N' Duane that glides right into the Chris 'N' Rich Robinson feel of the title track 'Find A Better Way'; the emotional blues ballad that is 'Naturally' and the beautiful vocally arranged 'Deadlines' with the organ jam at the beginning of it.
'Body And Soul' was a real mind-blower of a track that sadly didn't make it onto the album (and will be on the next one no doubt) whereby Ross took the violin bow to his guitar (A La Jimmy Page) for the songs introduction before it turned into a moody 'n' enchanting epic with a touch of slide popped in too to really round it off. Things came to a rocking end with new ditty 'Shake You Off' that reminded me of those famous Brothers from Atlanta, Georgia again.
A surefine 60 minute set ensued that was delivered with huge slabs of splender not to mention so honestly and lovingly through the hour. Their frontman Chris, reminding me of local legend, Stevie B of Baranovich who looked rather naked without his guitar in tow but sounded fabulous vocally regardless. He even wore Phil 'Catman' Elsey's hat for a while too which is awesome.
All through the gig they completely engaged with the audience and instead of it simply being a concert, turned it more into a memorable happening. After the music stopped, it was great to chat with them outside in the bar area and have them fully sign the new album.
The night were so good I even bought myself a t-shirt from them!
By Glenn Milligan