It’s always a pleasure to welcome new friends to the Mid Wales Rhythm & Blues Club, and on Sunday it was a special pleasure to host one of the finest bands we have seen at the Club in a very long time – Massachusetts’ own Misty Blues.
It was immediately obvious to the capacity audience that they were in for a treat, as the band kicked off their set with the raunchy blues swing of ‘Silver Lining’ – the title track of their new, 15th album. Such a cohesive, powerful, tight sound from the outset… you could see the audience thinking “Wow – these guys are good!”
It would do Misty Blues a disservice to describe them simply as a “blues band”, since their influences range much more widely, encompassing elements of jazz-swing, soul, and an occasional thread of Mississippi Delta blues. At times they conjured up the funky soul styles of James Brown or Sam Cooke – and then at other moments you were reminded more of the hypnotic swampy-blues sound of Little Feat. And just for good measure, there was a little nod to Frank Zappa along the way, which was greatly appreciated by the ‘hot rats’ among the audience.
But perhaps the most impressive thing about Misty Blues is their unaffected and exuberantly joyful style of playing – you can tell that they’re really enjoying themselves, as they trade solos and work together seamlessly to create an absolute powerhouse of a band.
Gina Coleman is an incredibly charismatic and accomplished front-woman, charming the audience immediately with her wonderfully expressive singing style. And her voice is just excellent… channeling the power and passion of Aretha Franklin, but also harking back to the soul and tradition of the blues & jazz greats such as Bessie Smith and Nina Simone.
But each member of the band is a virtuoso in their own right: Seth Fleischmann on guitar has a brilliantly fluent style, producing some jaw-dropping torrents of bluesy notes that really ramped up the power. David Vittone contributed a wonderfully fluid, classy and tasteful rocking keyboard “swirl” to the overall sound. And Aaron Dean conjured up some of the most exhilarating intense solos that you could ever wish to hear, as he seemed to wring the notes physically out of the screaming metal of his saxophones.
With many bands, the rhythmic backup of drums and bass tend to get mentioned as an afterthought – but not so with Misty Blues. It was obvious from the outset that Diego Mongue is one heck of a bass player – he was a complete master of his 5-string bass. Rob Tatten was equally masterful on drums, and the virtuosity of these two guys was plain for all to hear when they treated us to a wonderful drums & bass solo performance during the set encore. Apparently it was a borrowed drum kit for the evening – but you’d never have known that: Rob made it his own, seemingly effortlessly.
Their range of excellent self-penned material is huge, drawing upon their impressive back-catalogue of 15 albums… but nevertheless they also found time for some superbly rhythmic and funky cover versions of Howlin’ Wolf / Willie Dixon classics. The audience also greatly appreciated ‘Nothing’s In Vain’, their moving tribute to their old friend and champion the late Steve Beastie. You could tell that it meant a lot to Gina to perform it, and the audience responded in kind.
All in all, the band absolutely played their hearts out across two memorable sets, and the audience left knowing that they had been privileged to witness something truly special. We wish Misty Blues safe travels for the rest of their tour, and there will be a warm welcome (and more pies in the Brecon Tap) waiting for them, should they swing by these parts again.
As ever, many thanks to all the folks who contributed to making this gig such a success, to the Muse for their hospitality, and to everyone in the audience for turning out.
https://www.mistybluesband.com
Review and photos by Jim Kerslake
