Vintage Trouble, The Sage, Gateshead
IF this was a movie it could well have been titled Two Proposals and a Wedding as two people popped the question on stage during the show while a wedding party complete with bride and full entourage entered the after-show party to a spontaneous eruption of applause.
This was no ordinary night. This was New Year`s Eve and The Sage was ready to party. The opening band, Big Boss Man, were the perfect hors d`oeuvre. Their up-tempo Hammond organ powered set evoked images of the great Booker T and the MGs where the swagger of Beat Breakfast and the drum/bongo duel of Party 7 filled the Sage with a feel good party vibe.
Headliners Vintage Trouble have a unique brand of soul-infused rock which burst onto the scene with The Bomb Shelter Sessions in 2011 and an explosive UK appearance on the Jools Holland Show.
Always impeccably dressed, looking more like Moss Bros models than rock stars, Vintage Trouble are the personification of cool but lead singer Ty Taylor surpassed even himself in a dinner suit and top hat that would have made Fred Astaire look like a scruff.
A groove heavy Come Together opened the show with Taylor looking well sassy as guitarist Nalle Colt provided the grit while bassist Rick Barrio Dill and drummer Richard Danielson nailed the rhythm to the floor.
For an hour and a quarter Vintage Trouble strode effortlessly across genres from soul (Nobody Told Me), to the breezy summer Calypso of Doin` What You Were Doin’ and the slide guitar Blues stomp-a-long of Run Like The River where Taylor ended up in the balcony.
In a moment of intense reflection Taylor called for a moment of silence to remember those artists and loved ones that are no longer with us. 2016 has been a particularly harrowing year to lose musical icons and Taylor`s rendition of George Michael`s One More Try was deeply touching.
With midnight looming a super charged Strike Your Light complete with gospel inspired sing along brought the show to an exuberant and exhausting end.
The Phil Davids Good Times Band provided a few choice covers in the concourse in the run up to midnight before the countdown to 2017 was heralded in with Vintage Trouble overlooking the spectacular fireworks from the Quayside across the River Tyne.
What a way to end 2016. Happy New Year.
Mick Burgess
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