The Urban Voodoo Machine live 13 06 15

Gig Review

Mark Foster ventured to Swansea to check out the band!!

Most of the gig-going population of Llanelli were either in Donington or the Isle of White for festivals last weekend so I ventured over the Loughor  Bridge to The Scene in Swansea to watch The Urban Voodoo Machine. The band refer to themselves as bourbon soaked gypsy blues bop ‘n’ stroll and I think that goes some way to describing their show. They mix elements of burlesque, comedy, carnival and heavy drinking and that’s before we even get on to the music. The show started with the eight members of the band, which included an accordion player, a brass section, two drummers (one of which was a zombie) and a preacher on double bass, filing onto the stage, as saxophonist, Luci Fire, banged a cymbal and welcomed us all into the family. The band started their set with the rockabilly track, Cheers for the Tears, which brought instant energy to proceedings. Musically, the band mixed elements of blues, country and good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll with a dark edge, a lot of passion and a great sense of theatre. One of the highlights for me was when they played my personal favourite Rolling Stones song, Factory Girl, on the banjo but there were many more highlights throughout the gig. Each member of the band was entertaining enough to watch individually throughout the gig, from  the zombie drummer, The Late J-Roni-Moe, rowing his drum kit behind the rest of the band, keyboard/accordion player, Slim, sharing his scrumpy with the audience, singer Paul-Ronney Ange, exchanging banter with the crowd or Luci Fire crashing her cymbals. I’m sure she was staring at me throughout the gig but I’m also sure that every bloke in the audience thought that she was staring at them. Their lead singer joined the crowd on several occasions getting everyone to kneel and sing around him, taking the trombone player for a walk through the venue and everything from leaning on the side of the stage, winking and asking us, “how you doing?”, to being carried aloft on his back to the bar for a shot of sambucca. There was a very poignant moment late on in the gig. Guitarist, Nick Marsh, had lost his battle with cancer the week before and there was a very emotional minute’s silence. The band were very obviously upset at this moment but they carried on in a New Orleans’ style funeral celebration of his life. Even though they were told they were running out of time, Paul-Ronney Ange, performed one of Nick’s tracks acoustically as I congratulated one of the drummers on an excellent gig. Thankfully, he informed me that it wasn’t over yet and with that, he joined the rest of the band on the front of the stage as they lead the audience in a rendition of the gospel song, Down by the Riverside. The band offered a couple of souvenirs at the end of the gig and although no one wanted the sweat from the singer’s bandana, and there was a lot of sweat, the zombie drummer’s sweaty face did leave a nice green imprint on a sheet of paper for a slightly less gross memento. Every member of the band stayed behind to mingle with the crowd after the gig which really made you feel part of the family. The crowd were asked whether they had seen The Urban Voodoo Machine before and about half a dozen people said yes. These half a dozen had brought another half a dozen with them and next time I go to see the band, I will be bringing half a dozen with me and I recommend that you all do the same.

Check out The Urban Voodoo Machine  on their website here

Mark Foster for Llanelli Music Scene