Surely, there should be a law, that every gig must end with either a Creedence Clearwater Revival or Grand Funk Railroad track.
Oklahoma’s Hillbilly Vegas have got the right idea. And all joking aside, their cover of “We’re An American Band” Is surely spot on for them anyway.
Why? Well, try this: We’re an American Band. Check.
We’re coming to your town. Check
We’re gonna party down. Check that too.
That encore was just about the perfect way to end the show.
But before all that, a band that is resolutely not American. Shropshire’s The Howling Tides, are a welcome addition to any bill they play on and that is very much the case here.
As they begin with “White Crow” their half an hour promises much and as always delivers. One moment, they are all soaring guitars as on “Thalia” and the next they’re all about the blues, like on the title track for their most recent EP, “Blue Moon”. they’ve got something that sets them apart, though, and it’s the fact that they are more intricate than their obvious competitors, as “12/8” showcases better than words ever could.
The four-piece are seemingly intent on moving forward as well, debuting a new song, but as they end with old favourite, “He Told Me” as well as the first song they ever wrote, “Crack My Soul” you are left to reflect on the fact The Howling Tides have always been this good.
Hillbilly Vegas you imagine, have as it were, lived a life. Flirting with major labels (“We were told we were the Metallica of Nashville at one point” says singer Steve Harris with a degree of incredulity) and now able in his words “to do whatever we want” the band are here in Wolverhampton for the second time this year.
This time they are topping the bill having supported Luke Morley on the previous occasion, and there is something just so likeable about the Southern five-piece.
Right from the moment they start with “Let’s Get Together,” it is as warm as it is welcoming.
Harris explains that the changing climate is led to him feeling under the weather, but it scarcely matters as he gets people to “Raise their drinks to the sky” in “Mason Jars And Moonlight” (MV could pretend that our coke had Jack in it but we’d be lying), which is followed up with a fantastic cover of Shooter Jennings’, “Steady At The Wheel”.
Let’s be totally honest with each other, you’ve heard this before. But you know what? That’s the point. So have the Hillbillies, and they are here, in the words of one of their songs because it’s “High Time For A Good Time”.
How can you fail to have a good time with music like the groovy “Something Crazy,” which passes for a love song around here, or the Honkytonk-ready “Rolling Into 40”?
Before that track Harris, who appears to be a born storyteller. tells us a couple of tales from his past, and he is clearly emotional before they play the new single “Long Way Back”. Another From the recently released EP, “Helluva Night” – one of their earliest tunes – is excellent too, but the cover of Frankie Miller’s “Down The Honkytonk” is enough to steal any show.
“Hell To Pay” shows why it goes down a storm at the biker rally shows they play (and avoid Sturgis unless you are way braver than me appears to be the best idea) before the set ends with their big hit in four countries (“the one that made it all possible” offers Harris) “Shake It Like A Hillbilly” and Wolverhampton does.
Then is a small matter of the aforementioned encore, and whilst it is impossible to mess up perfection, you have to be a skilled band to nail it. Hillbilly Vegas do because they are just that (as you’d expect from any band with a literal member of Bad Company playing Bass, as Todd Ronning is here).
But it sort of doesn’t matter who is in the group, more the feel of the music. It is impossible not to enjoy, and as Harris says, “If you’ve gotta go to work in the morning, then at least you do it with a smile.” If Hillbilly Vegas have a mission statement, then I’m guessing it is that one.
