The Seahorses, The Bluetones and Dodgy on one bill? Yes please…
First off, a word for small venues and touring musicians. The live space in The Leopard pub in central Doncaster is a small room above the pub. Over the years, that room has played host to Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Foals, Glasvegas and many, many others. Chris Helme of the Seahorses, Mark Morriss of the Bluetones and Nigel Clark of Dodgy are seasoned musicians with 16 top 20 hits between them. They have all been touring for decades and it is a pleasure to welcome them to such an iconic small venue on the same bill.
Chris Helme kicks us off with Hello and it is striking, not just how accomplished Helme is as a guitar player and a vocalist but also how much he clearly still loves performing. Despite having to deal with some incredibly rude gig talkers, the former Seahorses front man soon has the audience eating out of his hand with a brilliant version of Love is the Law and a spirited cover of the Faces classic Ohh La La. This is my second time in the company of Chris Helme and it was a joy from start to finish. I became so excited in fact that I accidentally had three pints of Guinness during his set. This will become important later…
By the time a genuinely incredible rendition of You Can Talk To Me and a joyous Blinded By The Sun have come and gone, I was starting to ruminate on whether I had perhaps had a little too much to drink. I heroically cast aside such negative thoughts and ploughed ahead anyway. Helme goes full karaoke at the end of the set with a cover of the Doors Five To One blending effortlessly into Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger. The crowd bloody loves it of course.
Mark Morriss, formerly of the Bluetones, doesn’t have to rely on his band’s former hits to get a reaction with a beautiful rendition of his solo track Roll Away the stand out song of a heartfelt and thoroughly enjoyable set. That’s not to say that the Bluetones songs aren’t a welcome addition of course, and both Bluetonic and Cut Some Rug sound as vital as ever.
Morriss is a confident performer and he too sadly has to deal with gig talkers but he takes it all in his stride like the pro that he is. It is a testament to the London songwriter that the omission of Slight Return and Marblehead Johnson go pretty much unnoticed. Although not completely unnoticed because I have just mentioned it here. Also, as my last name is Johnson, I have long campaigned for my friends and family to nickname me Marblehead. This has been met with chilly indifference…
Right. Confession time. This was a three hour gig, we had been in the pub since 6pm and by the time Nigel Clark of Dodgy fame came to the stage I was a little worse for wear. We managed to stick around for the first five songs, including a cracking rendition of Staying Out For The Summer, but then the call of a kebab and a taxi home became too strong for my old bones. This is poor form I know and is in no way a reflection of Clark himself who sounded as reliably good as ever, but it would be remiss of me to pretend I saw the whole set when I didn’t. Nigel, I humbly apologise. Hopefully, he will return to Doncaster soon so I can make amends for my dreadful behaviour. I have let myself down, I have let Doncaster down and, most of all, I have let Nigel Clark down.
Anyway, now that I am suitably humbled and ashamed, it is time for a summary. A sold out gig with three expert performers and a crowd that wouldn’t shut up. Absolutely vintage Doncaster that is. Let’s get these three lads down again sometime.