Blues Pills Pour A Holy Potion Over The Crowd
Published
Celebrating their debut album release, Blues Pills whip out some soulful vocals and electric guitars in an old church.
There are many a psych revival band around today, it’s a wonderful scene that thrives on past the infamous 60’s and most bands have the right spirit for it all. But some have an otherworldly genuine quality running through the notes they play. Blues Pills are real and it’s a very charismatic presence they have onstage together. Particularly holy within the white walls of St Pancras Old Church.
Celebrating the release of their debut self-titled album on Nuclear Blast Records, the American-Swedish-French quartet gathered an eager and particularly diverse in ages audience in the gothic and very pretty church.
Playing a decent length set, the expected explosion of sounds started to rumble from the stage where an alter usually stands. Elin Larsson’s soulful powerhouse of a voice was a gritty but enchanting integral part to each song, flying into the air conjoining with the amazing guitar solo’s by Dorian Sorriaux which had undeniable early Fleetwood Mac influences running through.
Crowd favourites such as ‘Astralplane’, ‘Devil Man’, opening track ‘High Class Woman’ all rock your socks off, always with a dirty driving bassline and punching drumming from the back. BP have wonderful musicians who are naturals in their art.
Blues Pills are a beautiful potion of soul, blues and psychedelic rock of the 60’s. They play what is a part of them though and you can see it from a far; they ain’t trying to ‘be’ anything, they are just being and it’s lovely to witness - even more amazing to witness within such a beautiful old building, whose walls were dotted with beautiful gilded carvings and holy depictions as well as candles setting the mood in the corners.
At any sit-down gig there is inevitable relaxed-vibes that go on but every face was totally absorbed and listening properly. Bluesy Pills (as I like to call them) have a refreshing following, with devoted fans who travel wherever they go, metal looking type goers, some hipster youngsters but most noticeably a diverse range in the older fans. Their sweet blend of Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin vocals, Cream and Hendrix style blues and rock and a new modern day psych essence makes this band a powerful and unforgettable experience.
I shall be indulging myself with another Blues Pills gig for sure and so should you.
