The man who bills himself on his Instagram as Wild Willy Cobb found himself on the wrong side of the law earlier today. Unable to find a bin outside their Manchester hotel, he’d thrown his cigarette butt on the floor. For this he was fined £150. Rock’n’roll, eh?
Initially, his evening didn’t get too much better. He had played his opening track “Country Bumpkin” (and his Dungarees suggested the title was apt) but was unable to get a tune out of his guitar for the second song. A roadie sorted it for him and things got very much better. On the likes of “Deadly On Drugs” he is raw and from the heart, likewise on “Boy Toy”. But he’s also adept in slowing things down. “New Chapters” does that, and by the time he plays his last song, “Cigarette Smell” (not about this morning’s shenanigans) there is enough, to suggest that Willy Cobb is going places. One minute it is as if Steve Earle is gone punk, the next is tender and soulful. An artist in his infancy – he has only one song released at the moment – there is every reason to think, that wherever Willy Cobb goes, trouble might follow but it will always be interesting.
The support act, wasn’t the only one having a bad day. Chris Shiflett and the guys hadn’t had a Greggs yet on this tour, so decided to remedy it. They didn’t know you had to ask for things to be warmed, so three cold chicken bakes later they were back on the road.
There is something lovely and real about that tale. Indeed seems to fit the unfussy nature of the rest of the show. He has other jobs, primarily in arguably the biggest rock band on the planet, but in this particular world Chris Shiflett is a blue-collar singer-songwriter, one for whom the music matters. The songs are all that counts. And that feeling permeates right from the start, the wonderful “Dead And Gone”.
That track like a good number of them, comes from last autumn’s “Overboard” album. Written with the Cadillac 3’s Jaren Johnston, it was, and is, a superb collection.
But if this night proves anything, it proves that Shiflett has always been this good. “Liar’s Word” makes that absolutely plain, while by the time he’s done “Sticks And Stones” you are ready to compare him to Dan Baird – and frankly praise does not get any higher.
There is a sense of fun throughout the evening, both on stage and off. “Carrie Midnight Texas Queen” sees dancing begin, while drummer Robert is excited to be in the (near) hometown of John Bonham and plays his homage.
Most of all, however, this is just a celebration of some classic-sounding rock’n’roll. “Goodnight Little Rock” harks back to the early days of touring, when he had just started in No Use For A Name, and “Black Top, White Lines” from the last album is quite simply superb.
Damage control as a touch of almost reggae, while “Weigh You Down” a song he had written for his wife’s birthday features an extended guitar solo (“We’re trying to figure how to be a jam band on this tour” he laughs), and “Long Long Year” has a Counting Crows flavour, and a sing-along
He speaks about his family on “Welcome To Your First Heartache” before what he terms a “middle-aged love song” sees “Overboard’s” title cut aired.
Ending with the raucous, “I’m Still Drunk” the encore sees guitar tech Sam (who had been getting a rapturous reception, shred a solo, before Shiflett’s take on one of the finest songs ever written, Thin Lizzy’s “Cowboy Song” and if you can’t improve perfection, then I guess you can add a twangy guitar solo.
The last song though, was the title track of his “West Coast Town” album. And it’s worth just thinking of its chorus for a minute.
“Yeah, I grew up in a West Coast town
Back before they chased the working class out
You know we don’t fuck around where I grew up
In a West Coast town”
Those four lines were everything that happened here in the 80 minutes or so that the trio were on stage. They loved it, it’s obvious and there are no gimmicks beyond just having loads of great songs to play.
Chris Shiflett called playing the gig “the fun part” of his musical life, and it really shone through.
