The Lady, The Band
Samantha Fish brought her new band to Edinburgh as part of the tour to promote her newest album Faster after having to change dates twice (to my recollection) due to bloody Covid.
However, the people of Edinburgh obviously kept their tickets as they wanted her back in town. The last time she played here it was a much smaller venue (around 200 capacity in Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms), as to this one which is around 900 capacity… and it was busy, not far from a sell-out by the looks of it. This proves her popularity is growing (the fact that Samantha is playing BOTH Edinburgh and Glasgow on this tour is also testament to that) and that her reputation is getting around due to people raving about her. Her new band features Matt Wade on keys, Ron Johnson on bass and Sarah Tomek on drums, and what a damned fine band they are.
The Performance
Coming onstage promptly at 9pm they wasted no time in getting started. “Bulletproof” is a lively in-your-face track that stomps along merrily and features Samantha on her box guitar and utilising a second mike to change her voice for some parts of the song.
They followed that up with 2 songs from the new album, those being “Better Be Lonely” and “Twisted Ambition“. The first being quite a funky track with plenty of attitude where Samantha uses facial expressions to highlight the sarcasm or possibly bitterness of the song about an ex-partner. It is a fun song that grooves along nicely.
The second of the new ones was the first of the extended songs, with extra soloing. Her opening gambit was “Are you ready to have some fun?” which of course got an affirmative reaction. This was the song that I really started to notice what a mighty fine drummer Sarah is. I knew from live videos online she was good but watching her improvise, smiling away, laughing along with Samantha in particular whilst playing very jazzy free-flowing drums really was a joy to watch and listen to.
Fun With The City’s Name
“Love Letters” was delivered in a sultry manner, the way she points to folks in the audience when she delivers the “you and I” lyric line each time with a cheeky smile that makes the song even more captivating. The ending with the keys was also really good. Before the next song of the evening, Samantha said she was “going really old school with this, it’s a cover of Barbara Lewis’s “Hello Stranger” (a no 3 hit back in 1963 in the USA pop pickers).
The song of course is one from her Chills And Fever album. The track is jazzy late-night soul but with added punch here. There was much laughter and cheering when Samantha started singing “Edinburgh” during a melody/refrain. As the band played she explained that she had some stick from folks about her pronunciation of the city with some trolling her a bit, although she was laughing about it, so she wanted to show she now had it down pat and almost sounding like a local (it is pronounced “Edinburra” locally). Right at the end of the song, she threw in another “Edinburgh” for a big cheer. It is always great to see an artist be able to have a rapport with the audience, and she is great at it.
Having The Times Of Their Lives
Staying “old school but MY old school” she went back to 2015’s Wild Heart album for “Highway’s Holding Me Now” which is a cool slower funky track and in places reminds me of late 70s Deep Purple. Folks near me were dancing and grooving along as it has that vibe.
I almost got confused as they cleverly merged this into another song from the new album called “Hypnotic” which also has a funky groove but is more laid back for the most part. Samantha uses a higher register on this which again show her versatility.
Before “No Angels” she said she was inspired to write due to her visits to Edinburgh… but she might say that to everybody😀. The interplay in the band was extra good fun to watch on this with once again Samantha and Sarah seeming to be winding each other up to greater heights and musical experimentation. They all look like they are having the times of their lives, and that tends to translate to the crowd. There was plenty warmth on and off stage. This was another track that they improvise quite a bit and you know each night will be a bit different. Samantha certainly showed her slide guitar skills on this one.
Interesting Cover
Putting on an acoustic guitar the band played a Neil Young cover from 1970’s After The Goldrush. It was one the band started playing during lockdown as they had fun playing it. “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” was very different from the original (which is superb) as they rework it including changing back to electric halfway through so she could do some blistering soloing where she threw herself about, hair flying and prowling the stage. An artist completely in the zone. Absolute quality.
Fun Live Songs
Asking if we were “ready to rock” we replied “YES!” Samantha joked that “Scotland is always ready,” getting cheers. The guitar had a slight issue at this point. Being the complete professional she explained that her guitar is “shy, especially in Scotland” before asking “can you give my guitar some love” which everyone did. As if by magic (more likely her hard work) she was able to start “Bitch On The Run“. Always a fun live song and a staple of her shows, this also allows a bit of a sing-and-clap-along.
Again aware of her surroundings she suggests that the “balcony is not loud enough” only to continue “but that could be the acoustics here, first time you know“. It definitely got louder so the job was a good one. Finishing the set was “Dream Girl” and “Black Wind Howlin” which reminds me of Hendrix (I am sure he would approve) in particular “Voodoo Child, Slight Return“. This lady can damn well play the blues and rock. She makes her guitar sing.
The Encore
After a short break, the band came back on with Samantha once again on her box guitar to play “Shake ‘Em On Down“. If she had rocked before she really went for it here on this Bukka White blues standard, giving her all to the performance. To top it all she even threw in another sung “Edinburgh” whilst laughing and got a cheer.
Bigger Venues Ahead
Without a doubt, Samantha is one of the finest performers around. Each tour is not only different but each and every night. She always surrounds herself with good musicians and these guys and lady are right up there (I will say it here, I honestly think Sarah is the best drummer I have seen with her, she was magnificent). Not only do we get just over 90 minutes of great music but also chat and fun. I can only see bigger venues ahead so if anyone reading this hasn’t seen her yet, get along whilst you can be close to the action and performance.
The Support
It would be very remiss of me if I didn’t take time out to talk about the excellent support Wille And The Bandits from down Cornwall way. The band have one toe in the blues, another in folk/country and another in alternative. Like the headliner, they can get quite funky, as they did on “Keep It On The Down-Low” with both keyboard and steel slide guitar solos.
“Still Go Marching In” allowed them to ask us to sing along asking “when will that rainbow come”, the rainbow of peace. I definitely heard some of the “Edinburgh choir” on it. The song was quite stripped back and atmospheric and captured folks attention.
“Good Stuff” got the crowd’s hands in the air clapping along. Wille explained it was a “positive” lockdown song and how when he went out walking it was lovely to be in “Cornwall with no tourists“. I think being a city with lots of tourists some folks understood his point. Again there were folks going in on the repeats of “good times” along with the “wo-ohs“.
They kept it upbeat and rocking, for the most part, to warm everybody up, especially on the absolutely rocking “1970” which could have actually been recorded then. There were plenty of solos in it and good energy. They finished their set with “Bad News” which apart from an atmospheric midsection was funky rock n roll. The crowd certainly seemed to enjoy it.
Final Thoughts
So a great night in a lovely venue with 2 bands that play blues/rock/funk/soul and more. As for the headliner, Samantha has got it all. Talent both vocally and in guitar playing along with personality and charisma. As I said earlier the lady loves to change sets regularly keeping things fresh and new so each time fans get a different show.
There is plenty of improvisation going on as well to keep everybody on their toes. The band were wonderfully tight and the shows always seem to be (from my experience) highly entertaining. If Samantha and her band come near you do the sensible thing. Get a ticket and go along. You won’t be disappointed. P.S Thanks to Phil who is taller, for the Samantha photos!
UK Tour continues: 21/10 Glasgow // 22/10 Southampton// 23/10 Nottingham // 24/10 Cardiff // 25/10 Newcastle // 26/10 London // 27/10 Bath //
Samantha Fish Official Website // Official Facebook
Wille And The Bandits Official Website // Official Facebook
Check out my other reviews and articles here
The Barbara Lewis song is ‘Hello Stranger’ not ‘Love Letters’ which Samantha Fish wrote for ‘Kill Or Be Kind’ album.
Neil Young song is ‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down’.
Hi, thank you for pointing out my brain farts.
Can I blame old age?
Appreciate the heads up.