Red Hot Riot / The Musician / Leicester
I first heard of Red Hot Riot only about two years ago, as the planned support for the amazing Reverend Horton Heat and The Delta Bombers in Bristol on their spring 2020 UK tour, which was re-arranged for May 2021, then sadly cancelled because of Covid. Interested, I picked up a copy of their debut album “Forget Me Not” and simply fell in love with it. I didn’t get a chance to review it for LiveWire, but had we done so, it would have been a 10. There’s not a weak track on the album, and a serious contender for our album of the year.
So having missed out on seeing them with in Bristol (twice) I planned to see Red Hot Riot at their shows at Billy Bootlegger’s in Nottingham, the first being postponed because restrictions weren’t lifted in time, and the second when I had covid myself. Four attempts…… I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get to see them….. but here we are, FINALLY… at a new venue to LiveWire called The Musician in Leicester. So, was it worth the wait to see Red Hot Riot ?
Ricky Delaney (Guitar & Vocals) and Scott McParland (Standing Bass) were joined by new band member Louis Barnett (Guitar). Regular drummer Daniel West was unavailable and so the talented Jimmy Lee from Bristol stood in. They played a set comprising of tracks from their 2018 debut EP, 2021 album and some excellent covers.
Red Hot Riot are first and foremost exceptionally musicians, and the drum performance from stand in Jimmy was excellent. The addition of Louis on guitar, gives the tracks that extra depth of guitar sound. Brilliant entertainers too, Ricky chats away with the audience and climbs on the bass drum and front table, while Scott athletically throws the standing bass around, and plays it in all sorts of positions !!! I love that rockabilly standing drummer style too, as used by the Stray Cats, visually it’s fantastic and adds a wonderful sense of energy to the performance.
They started the night with their latest 2021 track Key to the Lock from the “Hopeless Romantic” EP. The covers of The Stray Cats Stray Cat Strut, and Rock this Town were outstanding and the audience loved them, but the best tracks of the night were their own tracks in my opinion, with the brilliant songs Life You Got, I Wanna Be Yours and my favourite track from “Forget Me Not” Masquerade all incredibly well delivered.
Curfew may have cut the set list slightly short, but the performance was exceptional from start to finish and the guys had the audience clapping along. And boy did they end on a high, with a wonderful cover of the Chuck Berry classic Johnny Be Good the small crowd bellowing out the words.
So, was it worth the wait ? Hell yeah ! A fantastic night all round. Red Hot Riot were on form, Gavin and the Laas provided an excellent support, and a welcoming venue with great sound. What more could you want from a night out. Rockabilly is alive and kicking in 2021, and Red Hot Riot are about the best there is in the UK at the moment. If you get the chance, take in a show……
Set List
Key to the Lock (Hopeless Romantic EP 2021)
I’m On Fire
Lady of the Night
Honey Bun
Peggy (Nineteen EP 2018)
Stray Cat Strut (The Stray Cats)
This Boy is Having a Nightmare (Nineteen EP 2018)
Long Blonde Hair
Life You Got (Forget Me Not LP 2021)
I Wanna Be Yours (Tick Tock) (Forget Me Not LP 2021)
Masquerade (Forget Me Not LP 2021)
Chillun Walk
Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)
Ol’ Black Joe
Ice Cold
Rock This Town (The Stray Cats)
Johnny Be Good (Chuck Berry)
In support tonight, we had local Leicester rock and roll band Gavin and the Laas. Only formed late in 2019 by lead singer Gavin Sillars, the band were almost immediately stopped in their tracks by the Covid pandemic. Having got lots of local interest and a number of shows booked. All had to be cancelled, even before they had played their first show together !
But despite the set back, they were not going down without a fight and decided to run a Crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds during the lockdown to record, mix and release their debut album. And the result was the self titled 2021 LP “Gavin and the Laas”.
A really enjoyable performance, that set the scene brilliantly for Red Hot Riot. A confident performance, that ran through all the tracks from their debut album. Highlight tracks for me are She Already Knows Your Name, I’m Into You, and the brilliant The Beer Boogie. Probably my favourite track form the album is Promises which has a real nice country flavour to it. Call Yer Momma is a cracking track, really catchy chorus that gets your feet tapping and singing along. Great stuff.
Their debut album “Gavin and the Laas” is available on all streaming services. Check them out, they’re certainly worth a listen.
Set List
A Long Way to Go
Read our Mind
Georgia Lee
Promises
The Beer Boogie
She Already Knows Your Name
Good Man
Call Yer Momma
Twice is Once Too Many
I’m Into You
Before we finish, I wanted to say a little something about the venue itself. It was our first time at The Musician in central Leicester, and what a brilliant place it is. Small and intimate with posters covering the walls, a great old school venue, run properly with passion my music lovers, with a fantastic sound system and lighting. Their schedule up to Christmas is rammed full, with shows on almost every single night, from tribute bands, local artists, upcoming bands and some established stars such as the UK Subs. Friendly and helpful,, we absolutely loved our first experience at The Musician and we’ll certainly be taking in some more shows here soon.
If you’re in the area, it’s well worth checking out.
