The Torrington, Finchley, Wednesday 16th June 2004
It was a hot, sultry June night when ninety people crammed into the Back Door
Club of The Torrington, North London, for the opening night of Swamp Rock.
We couldn’t have found a better band to open the club, Z-Funk, starring Harold Guillory from Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Crown Prince of the Royal Family of Zydeco, the Ardoin dynasty. Harold, an incredibly talented percussionist and vocalist, was the star of Chris Ardoin’s Double Clutchin’, and recently played two storming sets with Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble at the Raamsdonksveer festival in Holland. On accordion, the genius maestro Gavin Lewery, described by Steve Riley, Louisiana’s top Cajun musician as the best Zydeco and Cajun accordionist in the UK. On bass and vocals was the brilliant Tommy Mills, on drums and vocals Mickey Jones, ex Groundhogs, pounding out a merciless back beat, and on lead guitar, some blistering solos from the amazing Dave Luke.
Z-Funk set the dance floor on fire all night, blending high–energy Afro Caribbean rhythms from Zydeco’s traditional origins with contemporary sounds, where Gavin proved to be Zydeco’s answer to Eminem! We were also treated to a near perfect rendition of Clifton Chenier’s sublime waltz, ‘You Used to Call Me in the Morning.’
Harold was a human dynamo on rubboard and vocals, a ball of energy and fun. His superb voice, at times soulful, at others raunchy and wild, had the crowd screaming for more. We were also thrilled by a fantastic dance performance from Harold after the break.
I was delighted to see in the audience Phil Underwood, front man of Zyderythmics, who will be playing at our next gig on Saturday, 17 July 2004, and two members of the Bon Temps Playboys, who will be playing on Saturday 14 August. David Eyles, our resident DJ, played an excellent selection of Zydeco, blues and Rock and Roll to keep the dance floor buzzing all night.
Many of the audience had never experienced a Zydeco gig before, and were totally
knocked out. Hopefully they will all be converted, and come back next month
for another red hot Louisiana night.
Carole Lateman