Concert Review: Big Boy Bloater & the Limits at 100 Club, London on 10th March 2019

What better way to spend a Sunday night than at the iconic 100 Club watching great musicians? Big Boy Bloater & the Limits played the 100 Club on the last night of a short UK tour. The venue was reasonably full and certainly the weather and Monday Morning’s proximity would have had an adverse impact on the crowd. The three-piece – Big Boy Bloater on Guitar and Lead Vocals, Steve Oates on Bass and Matt Cowley on drums – took to the stage to the Twilight zone theme “You are travelling to another dimension…. etc” and we were most certainly transported to a different dimension of Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll. Opening with “The Saturday Night Desperation Shuffle” a straightforward blues shuffle to get the band and the audience warmed up and straight into “I love You”, a much rockier piece altogether, that kept the rhythm up and toes tapping. After a cautionary tale about “Messing with the Booze”, Bloater confirmed that “Friday Night’s Alright for Drinking” a tasty little country rock ditty with some fine slide playing from the man. “Stop Stringing Me Along”, the angriest song Bloater’s ever written apparently, about the record industry of old where the man with the big cigar promised all but delivered nothing. The band engaged the audience in a bit of clap-along and some call and response on “That Ain’t my Name”. You must remember that Big Boy Bloater is a larger than life character Iin every way; A Man Mountain for sure, with a personality to match and a deep joy in what he does. He is a performer in every meaning of the word and the audience respond to that as he and the band power through a long set list, loaded with great tunes, witty lyrics and a lot of fun.

Big Boy Bloater & The Limits – Stop Stringing Me Along

Every song in the set is delivered with panache and they keep coming; short, sweet, with a ton of humour and Bloater grinning away, clearly happy in his work. “Oops Sorry”, from his latest album “Pills”, about breaking hearts carries the line //You can stick it back together with a little bit of gaffer tape and superglue// and is a proper old school rock and roller of a song. Following this is a brand-new song “Banging my Head Against the Wall” with choppy guitar intro and a great blues rock feel. The set finishes with the frenetic rocker “Devils not Angels”. The band encored with “It came Out of the Swamp” and then it was time for people to leave, picking up some Merch on the way, and hopefully facing Monday morning with a bit of a smile on their faces.

Big boy Bloater clearly deserves the plaudits he has received from the likes of Jools Holland, Mark Lamarr and Imelda May, to name a few. Having signed in recent years to the ProVogue label (home of Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart, Robert Cray and others), he is in good company and I am sure we can expect more great things from Big Boy Bloater & the Limits in the future.

Big Boy Bloater & the Limits Setlist

The Saturday Night Desperation Shuffle / I Love You (But I Can’t Stand Your Friends) / Insanely Happy / Messing with the Booze / Friday Night’s Alright for Drinking / The Digital Number of the Beast / Stop Stringing Me Along / That Ain’t my name / Nasty Little Rash / Sweet and Brown / Robot Girlfriend / Pills / Every Path has its Puddle / Oops Sorry / Banging my Head Against the Wall / Leonard Cohen / This Ain’t Rufus / Devils not Angels /

Encore: It came Out of the Swamp

Special mention has to go to the Support act. Jeremy & the Harlequins, fresh from an appearance on BBC’s “The Andrew Marr Show” that morning, came on stage in front of a sparse audience, and that was a shame. Particularly a shame for those that came later to catch Big Boy Bloater & the Limits but missed out on experiencing an exceptional support band. New York City based Jeremy & the Harlequins bring a fresh take on ‘50s rock and roll. Jeremy Fury (Vocals) all slicked-back hair and black biker jacket, is the epitome of a ‘50s rock and roll idol, with all the swagger that goes with it. Brother Stevie Fury sits out back on the drums and the line up is completed by Bobby Ever on bass with the twin guitar attack of Craig Bon and Patrick Meyer. Already garnering respect and recognition from Steven van Zandt and reaping a host of awards and accolades since their first album in 2015, this is a band that we are going to hear about a lot more in coming months and years.

Jeremy & the Harlequins Setlist

Cam Girl / California Rock / Trip into the Light / Big Beat / Right out of Love / Starlight / Into the Night / Nothing Civil / Little One / You’re my Halo