28
Sep
2011
Little Giants – Live Review
Horse & Groom, Derby
GLANCING DOWN at the vast never-ending set-list that was taped to the stage, I’d serious visions of Little Giants still playing at dawn.
Describing themselves as funky, country, soul and rock and normally a five-some, violinist Melanie Taylor was absent tonight due to holiday commitments, they opened up with the very rarely heard cover Witch Queen, Three Steps and Six Days On The Road. Although most tunes hailed from a past era, they were delivered with an enthusiasm that merited the given applause. Which got me thinking, maybe there’s more to this lot than meets the eye.
With vocal duties switching from bassist Kevin Kirwan, who it has to be said really does play like some of the world’s best, to guitarist Gary Russell, they soon earned their first stripe by playing Primal Scream’s Country Girl which went down well.
After the obligatory drinks break Little Giants cracked on with more stuff by the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Earle, and a marvellous version of 15 Years by The Levellers.
Our gang also requested something by AC/DC, and obligingly they did their version of You Shook Me All Night Long, which is a favourite for everyone.
Throughout the show smacking his Ludwig kit Richard Warr kept good time with guitarist Alan Higgins adding backing vocals where required.
Ending the night with the ever popular Mustang Sally, complete with female backing singers, and with the clock ticking towards closing, their work was done.
At first I wasn’t going to review this Nottingham gang as I just wanted to see a band without having to take notes, which for me is a rarity.
But since Little Giants performed so well and being decent chaps to boot, I felt it churlish of me not to spread the word, which hopefully should give them a BIG following.
Words and Pictures
Roy Goodall
This article was written by: Mark