I’ve seen the brilliant New York Dolls in concert a number of
times. When Steve Conte filled Johnny Thunders’ place in their
infamous line up, he did so with all the respect and talent needed to fill the
position to perfection. His own unique style bringing success. The missing
link in the action. I’ve seen him perform with the hugely energetic Michael
Monroe and he gave a blistering performance then too.
Even though I am the proud owner of his solo album, I never thought I’d
get to see Steve with his own band here in the UK. Following in the footsteps
of the New York Dolls, making a good impression would certainly take some
doing. In my opinion, a break loose band member rarely makes an impression
without the safe, comfortable kudos of a name and back up to help out when the
going gets tough. The Steve Conte Band are currently touring the UK, so
it was with a little trepidation that I went to see what he was about to bring
to his fans on this side of the pond.
The Brook
in Southampton on 26th July and The Water Rats,
London on 27th July were my chosen venues on the tour. The
Brook is a pretty good venue with excellent acoustics, coupled with the
fact that everyone in the place can see the stage from the mosh-pit up to the
gods. The Water Rats in London is well known for being a die hard rock
pub with its serious regular fans, big into their music and not so easy to
impress. I was intrigued to see how Steve would go down in both places.
The first support band at The Brook were a local band called
Summers, a bunch of young spiky haired rockers who looked the part and had
exactly what it took to get everyone dancing and loosened up. Followed by
Steve’s support band which had previously warmed up the New York Dolls
audience at Talking Heads in Southampton, The Melodramas. Matt,
the lead singer reminds me ironically enough of a musician with the same name,
Matt Bellamy, of Muse. He delivered too, with a powerful voice and indie-like
creativity. I did wonder how Steve was going to follow such great new talent.
I didn’t need to worry. As soon as Steve hit the first chord my
apprehension diminished very quickly and went straight into my dancing feet. I
was totally stage struck with the brilliant performance happening in front of
me. Launching into the first bars of 'This is the End' and then
followed up brilliantly with all of the other tracks from his album. Steve
Conte and The Crazy Truth brought their very first gig to us in the UK
with refreshing ease. As the man says, " I didn’t want an overdubbed album
that I can’t reproduce on stage"....and he is a man of his word!. His
whole set list was delivered with all the quality and appeal of his album.
As if his own music wasn’t enough, then came the astonishing guest
appearance of Raimundo Amador, a groundbreaking Spanish guitarist who
is famous for cross breeding flamenco with all kinds of different music from
rock to rap. He was a perfect addition to Mr.Conte’s stage. Two well played
guitars’ singing in unison, the result was truly awesome.
This whole brilliant set and performance was repeated with fresh vigour
at The Water Rats, with all the sleaziness to match the venue. The
whole place has a raw feel to it and Steve catered to his audience just as
they wanted it, hard and heavy. He certainly knows how to read his audience
and react accordingly.
This time he was joined by Raimundo from the previous night at The
Brook and flamenco singer/guitarist Lin Cortez who sang to us in his
Spanish native tongue. I’m not sure exactly what he sang about but nonetheless
a lovely experience.
Another special guest at The Water Rats was Paul-Ronney Angel from
'The Urban Voodoo Machine', blowing his harp and joining in with the
vocals on 'Pills', which merged into 'Mama We’re All Crazee now'.
The sleazy singer adding even more depth to yet another awe inspiring night.
I can’t wait to see the Steve Conte tour again. If you want to be blown
away by a top quality, professional and extremely multi talented musician. I
highly
recommend that you get yourself to at least one of his shows next time he
graces us with his presence.
We welcomed him with open arms and he repaid us with one of the finest
performances I’ve seen this year.
