#TEAMw21 are now in our 10th year of covering Steve Young, from his debut EP, through to his latest single and live shows from the Bedford in Balham to the inaugural Corn On The Cob jamboree in Hertford. Tonight with a show brought to us by TALENTBANQ and Black Deer Live, and slightly ironically given all that he has been through in recent times, Steve Young looked and played better than ever. He may now sport a beard with more than a fleck of grey in it. however dressed in his red hat and boots with a matching red guitar, he seemed truly unburdened and free to play what he felt like playing rather than perhaps trying to second guess what our expectations might be. Backed by the Real Time Players, a solid band of professionals, this would prove to be a most successful album launch.
Possibly the one mistep of the evening came from the Skelton Nashville Band but not for the reason you may think. Normally a six piece but tonight reduced to a trio, they provided a highly entertaining superior set of well performed covers, with excellent harmonies. Their between song patter was obviously honed for a less knowing crowd "Anyone heard of Maren Morris?".
Nestled in between "My Church" and "Girl Crush" etc lay their own little home written gem "Seven Years". It's being recorded for an EP later in the year which suggests that they have at least three more potential nuggets up their sleeve. It was real, it was vivid and while it may not be what the occasional country fans of Hertfordshire want to hear - tonight was the ideal opportunity to give their home spun material an outing. It would have been so much more interesting to have heard them play those rather than another cover. Nonetheless they were good fun and definitely fulfilled their warm up obligations - just #TEAMw21 wonder if they could have set their sights a little higher - We'll definitely keep an eye out for "Seven Years" when it eventually surfaces.
Making an entrance that would put a Heavyweight Boxing Champion to shame, the band took to the stage while stirring classical music played out and Steve form the side of the stage looked on with a broad smile. There followed some some electronica and then 4 drum clicks would take us into the rocking opener "SY UK Special" the opening track of the new album "Famous For A Day". it was something of an explosion of sound, 2 guitars, the drums, the keys and bass all coming together as one magnificent sound naturally graced with a Steve Young trademark solo.
Things would take us on a slower soulful diversion with "Back To Mine" one of his older singles, it would see Steve walk the stage a bit, heading over towards the bassist and then later resting his foot on the monitor in front of him. surveying he scene - it all ended with big smiles all round.
Another "golden oldie" - "Fool's Dream" sounded as fresh as ever, with Steve reminiscing about touring America. Moving to upbeat superior country rock for "Looks Like You", with Steve's phrasing reminiscent a little of Joe Walsh on "Life's Been Good" which is no bad thing. With the audience clapping along the celebratory party atmosphere was well under way
"2030" came initially with heavy rock intro, before dropping back a little to let Steve spit out the lyrics at a rapid rate - the chorus a party classic with the line
"In 2030 Everybody's Stoned". Driven by a powerful backbeat and supplemental keys - inspired apparently by Germans being allowed to grow limited numbers of cannabis plants! Moving to a heavy blues sound "Feeling Fine" showed yet more versatility from the Real Time Players whose joy at playing was evident to see by the smiles on their faces.. It came with a naturally superior bluesy solo.
At this moment the band would leave the stage to let Steve play a couple of acoustic numbers. Steve would open up about his melanoma and paid tribute to the staff at UCLH who were in attendance. It was also a sign that it was time for this narrative to be in the past which was great to hear. The next song would be a cover "Hero" by Canadian group Family Of The Year. It would turn the Fiddler's Elbow into something of mass singalong. The second acoustic song "Long Long Road Ahead" would turn into some of a drinking song on the line "Another shot of whiskey" as ably demonstrated midway through fornt of stage by Talentbanq Supremo and MC of the night Ray Jones.
A new song "Yeah" would see the band return to the stage. A slow guitar intro would lead into a song with twin vocals with guitarist Rory joining in. A gradually building sound with epic keyboards and big drums this will definitely be one to watch out for. Steve's vocals would be at their most prominent on the chorus as he would throw in extended notes to great effect.
There is no event, no matter how good, that cannot be enhanced with the arrival of Savannah Gardner and so it would prove to be when she took to the stage to reprise her role on the recent single "Dog 'n' Bone", With Savannah holding the microphome in hand, she would provide the response to each of Steve's lines. Once more the crowd would find their singing voice on this good time party song on the
"You Came Along " line.
Track five on the new album "Who You?" came with swathes of keys and an unusual guitar sound that showed again just how versatile this band could be.
The excellent new single "Come Around" announced itself as a superb ska rock crossover which was another wall of sound with Steve again firing out his vocals at speed.
The only melanoma related song was revealed to be "Killer Eyes", an all out aural assault on the senses which would see Steve emphasising the point by pointing to his head on the line
"Finally got you out of my head"
The second guest of the evening would arrive in the shape of Jade Cuthbert who would add fiddle on "My Son" wich would come with a truly heartfelt intro from Steve about his Dad.
Jade would be a veritable puppet on a string striking all manner of poses and providing a splendid intro for Steve to open his vocal over. With Jade's fiddle it would be another kaleidoscope of sound.
A fast cymbal intro would take us into one of Steve's favourite covers, a bit of old time boogie in the shape of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "I Know A Little". The final tune of the evening would see "Beautiful Tonight" start with a slow guitar intro and shimmering cybals before turning into a mid paced singalong.
It brought to an end a fine evenings entertainment, and certainly launched the new album "Famous for A Day" in true style. It let Steve draw a line under the past and leaves him in perfect shapre to start thinking about the future.
