Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings have just completed their UK tour – playing to packed venues up and down the country. Fans loved the line-up and gigs – and so did the critics, hailing the tour ‘truly impressive’ and a ‘super line-up’.
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Review for Bournemouth show on November 6, 2009
Jeremy
Miles (Bournemouth Daily Echo 12.11.09) said: “Some unlikely things
have happened to Bill Wyman since he left the Rolling Stones. First he
acquired a serious metal detecting habit and now he’s given up smoking
and become virtually tee-total. At this rate he’ll have taken up
knitting before the end of the year.
“Happily though the 73-year-old
bassman still runs a sensational band. His Rhythm Kings hit the stage
at the Pavilion on Friday just a week into their latest UK tour and
delivered a show that had the packed house on its feet, clapping,
dancing and singing along. The nine piece line-up, featuring some of
the finest musical talents around, played a compelling set that veered
from jazz, blues and R&B to cajun, pop and straight down the line
rock ‘n’ roll.
“With Georgie Fame on Hammond organ,
Geraint Watkins on piano, Terry Taylor and Albert Lee on guitars, the
twin horns of Nick Payn and Frank Mead, Graham Broad on drums and
Beverley Skeete on vocals, Wyman has established a formidable
performing unit. Watching from behind his bass with proprietorial
pride, he exploits his band's not inconsiderable strengths with quiet
efficiency.
On Friday, special guest Gary US
Bonds added a little extra icing to an already lip-smacking confection.
A truly impressive show.”
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Review for New Brighton show on November 16, 2009
David
Charters (Liverpool Daily Post 16.11.09) said: “They scooped ice cream
from tubs with wooden spoons or winced at the chill of nutty choc ices
when the music paused for breath in the interval at the plush theatre
on the old prom - where, half a century earlier, some of them would
have thronged with the teddy boys in fluorescent socks and
liquorice-stick trousers towards the girls with beehive hair, seamed
stockings and suspenders. Rock and Roll was young then and riding the
carousel.
“Now it’s mature and wise, but its
fans and the players are rejuvenated, and they link arms with the
ghosts of their own high days, when they hear again those chords
thunder through the amplifiers. So it was when Bill Wyman and the
Rhythm Kings visited the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton to entertain a
packed house with cajun, blues, jazz, soul, skiffle - all those styles
that piped into Rock and Roll.
“Cool as ever in denims and shades,
Wyman, 73, introduced the boys and the one girl in his band. She is
Beverley Skeete, a singer of such range, depth and power that she would
tremble the souls of those hopefuls in TV's silly talent shows. "Do
You Like Good Music?" she sang. The answer was obvious, as she swayed
her hips and kicked out flashes of her crimson petticoat.
“Overlooking the stage from his organ
was Georgie Fame, sitting straight as a preacher in his black jacket
and white shirt, his husky, jazz-smoked voice carrying over the
auditorium. On keyboards was the superb Geraint Watkins. The splendid
Nick Payn and Frank Mead blew and stuttered their saxophones, while the
drumming of Graham Broad and the consummate bass of Wyman itself held
the rhythm for the virtuosos, including their old pals Terry Taylor and
Albert Lee on guitars.
Gary US Bonds was the guest singer,
his voice as soulful as the rolling river outside. The other star of a
wonderful, stomping, clapping night was the new Floral Pavilion with
its generously spaced chairs and compact stage, a great venue for rock
and roll.”
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Review for Aberdeen show on November 17, 2009
Jim
Strachan (Evening Express 18.11.09) said: “By rights, Bill Wyman
should be sitting at home in his slippers of an evening, having turned
73 last month. But the ex-Rolling Stones bassist just keeps rocking on,
for which his millions of fans are thankful.
“Bill's latest visit to Aberdeen was
halfway through an exhausting tour which sees him and his band play 32
gigs in 40 nights. And he’s loving every minute of it because, as he
says, the Rhythm Kings play the music they like to people who like it.
“The generous set included rock 'n'
roll, blues, soul, jazz and Cajun music. The Kings gave every genre the
Midas touch - no surprise considering their line-up contains Georgia
Fame, Albert Lee and Frank Mead.
“Lee's guitar playing on Race With
The Devil was fabulous, while Mead's frequent sax solos were out of
this world. And vocalist Beverley Skeete had the audience spellbound
with the aptly-named I Put A Spell On You.”
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Review for Cheltenham show on November 22, 2009
Duncan
Brooks (Crackerjack November 2009) said: “Doctors may today be
perplexed as their surgery waiting rooms fill with patients complaining
of the same ankle ailment. However, this is no bizarre epidemic of
achilles tendonitis raging through the local area, but a capacity Town
Hall’s worth of people suffering the after effects of three hours
incessant foot-tapping to Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.
“Wyman took to the stage before the
rest of the band to pay an understated and rather touching nod to Brian
Jones, saying that it was a pleasure to play in his late band-mate’s
birthplace and always special to be reminded of the man who was
responsible for the Rolling Stones’ forming.
“The band’s impressive line-up was
then introduced, amongst them rhythm and blues icon Georgie Fame and
country rock guitar virtuoso Albert Lee. After a taster of the banter
that punctuated the whole performance, Wyman described the set as a
selection of jazz, blues, early rock and Cajun.
“The first half followed a consistent
style, as each member took turns to lead the songs, all masterfully,
as their skill shone though. The second half showed much more variety
and depth, as James Brown’s hit This Is A Man’s World opened to reflect
a change of pace. The band’s faithful were also treated to a strange
and stonking rendition of Johnny B Goode dripping with motifs from the
James Bond Theme, before Rolling Stones fans were delighted by Wyman’s
second nod to his past with a performance of Honky Tonk Woman.
“As the second half drew to a close
and the band left the stage to raucous applause, the main room’s sprung
dance floor rumbled like a demanding belly as a packed room’s measure
of feet stamped for an encore with similar hunger.
“The super line-up did not disappoint
and retook the stage with special guest, American R’n’B singer Gary
Bonds, who urged the packed stalls to their feet to join in with a
rousing finish.
"The Rhythm Kings are truly a treat to see live.”
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Review for Manchester show on November 25, 2009
Ria
Nortcliffe (City Life 26.11.09) said: “Blues, soul, rock, jazz, or
Cajun - you name it, the very adaptable Rhythm Kings can play it. This
vast family of musicians, led by rock ’n’ roll icon, author, and
restaurateur Bill Wyman, now 73, gave their own take on popular songs
from the turn of last century through to the 1970s. The jewel in the
Kings' crown is Beverley Skeete, their only female member, and a
vocalist of such range and depth that the hall trembled when she sang.
“She made Wilson Pickett’s Sweet
Soul Music look effortless. The soulful Gary US Bonds was the guest
singer, and was so in sync with the band that it is hard to imagine the
Rhythm Kings without him. Unlike previous performances, Wyman stepped
out of the shadows to sing three songs, including the Rolling Stones'
Honky Tonk Woman, which was a high point for many.
But this was surpassed by Skeete as
she took centre stage with Albert Lee, who laid down his guitar in
favour of piano to accompany her in a heart-rending version of The
Everley Brothers' Crying in the Rain. This was followed by her stunning
rendition of Nina Simone's I Put A Spell On You. It was a wonderful,
stomping, clapping night, and the variety of songs proved the range of
Wyman and his band.”
