The Journeymen
The Barrel, Banham,
1st October 2020
At last a real live indoor gig with a full five piece band, proper
lighting and sound, my first for 6 months. It took place at The Banham Barrel, a pub in deepest
The band was the fairly recently formed Journeymen was fronted by
well known blues man Dave Thomas. He was backed by a fine group of local
musicians, notably the excellent Gareth Tucker on blues harp and Mark 'Boweevil' Howes on lead guitar.
The 80 minute set was full of classic blues numbers from the likes of B. B.
King, Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan, John Mayall & more. Interspersed with these was a smattering
of songs from Dave Thomas' back catalogue, including his recently released
album 'One More Mile'.
The evening opened with B. B. King's 'Everyday I Have The Blues', that set the scene for what was to come, foot
tapping blues of the highest order. Thrown into the mix early on was John Mayall's 'Burn Out Your
Blind Eyes' and Jimmy Rogers' 'Ludella'. Slim Harpo's 'Got Love If You Want It' allowed Gareth Tucker to
take the lead with a masterful demonstration of his harmonica skills.
Similarly, B. B. King's 'Help The Poor' allowed
guitarist Mark Howes to take front of stage.
As we got deeper into the set it became apparent that the band,
although not having played live for a long time had not lost their touch. The band were tight, the performance slick and the entertaining
inter-song anecdotes from Dave Thomas added to the evening. The shackles were
off, they were clearly enjoying themselves, as were the audience.
The latter part of the set featured a couple of Dave Thomas' own
compositions with 'Sweet Black Angel' and 'Subaru Blues'. 'Sweet Black Angel'
was preceded with an amusing tale about the beautiful “Miss Alice” who Dave
Thomas had taken a liking to, and was the inspiration behind the song. To wrap
the evening up The Journeymen closed with Rosco
Gordon's ‘Just A Little Bit' and J.B. Lenoir's 'Talk To Your Daughter'. For the
latter, appropriately, Dave's daughter Jess joined them on stage to accompany him
on vocals and add a new dimension to the sound. However, she could not be
persuaded to join the band on a more permanent basis, even though pressure was
applied.
There was no mid-way break in the show ensuring as much music as
possible could be crammed in. Even so, a couple of songs had to be dropped from
the planned set list to meet the 9:30 p.m. target and ensure everyone had left
the venue before the Government imposed 10 p.m. witching hour, so sadly no time
for an encore. The seating arrangement reduced the 270 capacity venue to a mere
40, so it remains to be seen if the model can be made to work and be
financially viable. On the basis of tonight's audience it was a success,
everyone stuck to the rules and there is certainly plenty of hunger for such
events. The organisers at The Barrel must be applauded for giving it a try.
Words & Photos: Laurence Harvey