MUSIC

O2 Academy, Bristol, Sept 25 2011

New Jersey r’n’b stalwarts Southside Johnny & The Asbury jukes have been making spine-tingling music since the early 70s. Their soulful big band sound came from the same stable as Springsteen, another New Jersey boy, and in the melting pot of bands around that area at the time they shared musicians, the most notable being The Boss’s guitarist Steve Van Zandt, or Little Stevie, who produced and played on several of their landmark early albums.

Three decades on and the band is still large, an eight piece, fronted by Southside Johnny Lyon, and the music still has the ability to send shivers down the backbone. It’s a romantic hybrid of anthemic soul, r’n’b and rock’n’roll that harks back to the 60s, and conjures up images of great soul balladeers and crooners and good-time bar-room blues.

Whereas Springsteen hit the stadiums, but certainly hasn’t forgotten the roots in his prolific output, Southside ticked over nicely playing medium-sized venues, alongside some of the bigger arenas. Years ago they played a stormer at The Bierkeller here in Bristol, its size and low ceiling perfect for capturing their punch. Here, in a fairly sparsely attended Academy, that punch is dissipated somewhat at times but they’ve still got the power as a band to overcome that.

Southside’s rasping white soul vocals carry some weight, and the tenor sax of big Joey Stann brings to mind the late great Clarence Clemons, Springsteens’ sax heavyweight. The vocal-saxophone duels are the same New Jersey brand.

On long European tours such as this one bands can be excused for getting place names confused, and there’s a couple of times when Southside has to ask if it’s Bristol he’s playing to. He may have had a few fingers of JD backstage too but the man’s still got great energy and a good, self-deprecating rapport with keyboardist Jeff Kayzee.

Tonight there are highlights aplenty from their rich back catalogue such as uplifting brass-backed and soul-rasped renditions of ‘I Played The Fool’, ‘All Night Long’, ‘Trapped Again’, ‘Talk To Me’, a Tom Waits and a Steve Winwood cover, their theme tune ‘The Fever’, some newer ones and the apt ending of ‘I Don’t Want To Go Home’. They are urged back for an encore of ‘Walk away Renee’ before Southside Johnny’s vocals give up and they depart…

Timeless. Johnny please don’t go… (Elfyn Griffith)

Words and picture copyright Elfyn Griffith 2011