VELVET THUNDER

Featured image by Mark Mawston

A three-band night at the New Cross Inn started with local Lewisham Boys Ton50. Their power trio format was loud and heavy, and got the evening off to a rocking start. The Ramblin’ Preachers were up next, a southern rock four-piece from Milton Keynes. Hatted, bearded and booted, they served up a tight set of powerful and accessible, gravel-voiced rock in the vein of Robert Jon & The Wreck.  Highlights for me were the mid-rocking Jealousy, with its wah-wah guitar solo followed by a sudden, tight drop, and the funky Hard Times. They also dropped in a superb rendition of the Allman Bros Whipping Post near the end, with its intro in 11/8 and a heavy dose of fusion. Definitely a band to watch out for.

There was no doubt who was topping the bill though, with Herefordshire retro-rocker Troy Redfern and his band, consisting of Keira Kenworthy on bass and Nicky Waters on drums. There was no gradual build-up with this combo; a huge crash start heralded the Stratocaster slide rocker All Night Long from his latest album Invocation. A big crash ending on that one too, before Troy picked up one of his vintage electric axes to play Getaway.

Waters injected plenty of cymbals into the intro for Van Helsing, with Take Me High making it four in a row from the new album, which is clearly a no-holds-barred set of power rock. Having said that, Fever pegged it back slightly, bringing a groovy shuffle to the proceedings, a gently rolling number that was the highlight of the set so far for me. The Calling brought another variation to proceedings – after a vicious burst of barely-restrained feedback-ridden fuzzy slide guitar, it settled down into a slower, minor-key number, with Waters bringing out a set of felt mallets with which to stroke the cymbals. He also brought out a shaker to supplement the thudding rhythm of Native, which followed next.

Waters also set the scene for Ghosts, from 2021’s The Fire Cosmic, with its rapid-fire, almost bluegrass snare rhythm. Troy’s slide took on a noticeably hillbilly vibe for this one too, definitely up the rocking end of the country spectrum. It was only now that he pulled out one of his ancient acoustic resonator guitars to further explore his back catalogue, for Sweet Carolina from 2022’s Wings Of Salvation. Two more numbers from the same album followed, with the mid-tempo shuffle of Come On, and the chunky, groovy Down. This was another highlight for me, with a trippy, almost ambient groove, and some solo vocals from bassist Kenworthy.

Then we were briefly back to the new album with Voodoo Priestess, before Troy picked up another resonator, tuned to a minor key, for Dark Religion. The set ended with two more numbers from The Fire Cosmic; the mid-tempo thudding slide rocker Waiting For Your Love, and finally, the blistering workout of Sanctify. It was a highlight on The Fire Cosmic, and a highlight here too, a worthy set closer and no mistake.

Troy is often seen as a solo act, just him, a microphone and a succession of slide guitars with the gain turned up high. It’s a treat to watch him with the trio too, with Kenworthy and Waters making up a rock-solid rhythm section. Don’t expect cabaret music though; if you turn up to a Troy Redfern gig, you’re gonna get rocked.