Tonight was the second night of the tour that sees Danny & The Champions of the World return to Wales to promote their new live album, Live Champs.
First up as support are husband & wife duo Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou. They played a lovely, delicate set which was the perfect understated starter before the high octane performance of The Champs that was come.
Trevor & Hannah Lou sang perfect harmonies designed to soothe the savage beast (or Cardiff crowd). Trevor even managed to speak a few words of Welsh, a brave attempt. But they were warmly received and I for one would like to see a full set in their own setting.
Danny & the boys have just returned from Nashville, where they played two showcase performances. They were very well received over there and the extra confidence that this must have given them showed in tonight's performance.
They were on blistering form tonight and they proved once again that they are probably the best live band around in the UK at the moment. The Moon Club was packed, they were even standing on the stairs and they witnessed a band on the top of their game.
In Danny George Wilson, the band have one of the most honest and endearing front men in music. His enthusiasm & Joie De Vivre shine throughout the performance. And his humour gets genuine spontaneous applause throughout the 1 hour 40 minute show.
The show is heavily built around his breakthrough album Stay True, which for me was one of the albums of 2013. From the opening song, (Never stop building) That Old Space Rocket the band had the audience in their pocket.
But the band still give the crowd the old favourites such as Henry The Van, which encourages some excellent crowd participation of the singing variety.
The band are out promoting their new live album, Live Champs (of which more will appear on the blog) and follows the album pretty closely in terms of performance. They were selling the album on the merch stand and they were flying out. I've had mine for a few weeks and it's brilliant.
Free Jazz Jeff
The time just flew as the band played one great song after another.
Live, The Champs extend some of the songs and give them an extra dimension. Danny said that after the tour they were going straight back into the studio - it has to be Bass player Chris Clarke's Reservoir Studio which is gaining an excellent reputation in both sound and quality - to work on the next album. This news brought a huge cheer.
Danny catching the Cardiff Clap (you had to be there)
In Australian Paul Lush, the band have an excellent guitarist who excels throughout the show. Never flashy, he just gets on with playing. The band reminds me somewhat of Springsteen's E Street Band, technically excellent and obviously a very tight unit but no one ever tries to steal the show. It's all about the music and that's as it should be.
The boys kept a huge surprise until the end of the set where they played two new songs, tentatively titled Clear Water and Words On The Wind. And I am SO pleased to report that they were both excellent and bode well for the next album.
The set ended with a rousting Restless Feet and to a huge response of More, More!
The band even managed to come back and sneak in a great version of the title track from Stay True.
If there's a better live band around at the moment, I haven't heard about them.
This is a band just about to take the next huge step in an already excellent career. Catch them before they get even bigger.
Twitter - @Dannythechamp
@TM&HL
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