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Having travelled all the way from Guildford in Surrey, Debbie Giles’ Midnight Train deserved a much bigger crowd than that which assembled in the Burtonwood Catholic Club. Fortunately, however, as Debbie warmly acknowledged, the sparse gathering proved to be a receptive and attentive audience, which contributed significantly to the undoubted success of the event.

Expertly driven by Sam Kelly on drums and Chris Belshaw on bass guitar, the band got instantly into its stride with a meaty, medium-paced opener and Etta James’s “Somebody To Love” before delivering a fine version of BB King’s “Help The Poor”, which allowed guitarist, Pete Emery, and keyboard player, Steve Oakman, the opportunity to strut their stuff with tasty solos. The first set also included Keb Mo’s slow blues, “Don’t Try To Explain” and Prince’s “Automatic” and ended with a splendid rendition of “On The 7th Day”, which particularly suited Debbie Giles’s sultry vocals.

The second set began with a jumping instrumental followed by an excellent rendition of “The Fundamental Things” from the Bonnie Raitt songbook and the funky, Ann Peebles hit, “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home”. The varied and lively set also featured “Stormy Monday”, Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” and a bouncing delivery of John Cleary’s “Take My Heart”. Understandably, there was a loud demand for an encore, which was provided in the shape of BB King’s “When Love Comes To Town” to round off a very enjoyable evening.

Midnight Train MySpace Page

Lionel Ross

Flickr photo from Shertila Tony.  Follow the link for more of his excellent photos.