Keith “Catfish” Woodrow is being smart this winter, by spending it iMexico, but he wasn’t going to leave before playing the blues for a good sized, enthusiastic audience on Saturday, Dec. 4.
I caught them in the middle of a long set break, but stuck around for supper with a side helping of the blues when they finally returned to the stage.
The High Level blues band, featuring harp player Peter Noel, bassist Alex Thomson and drummer Raz Bruce are a fantastic and versatile rhythm section stretched out their set into several extended jams of blues classics and blues rock like “Jesus on the Mainline,“I’m a Man,” “Hoochie Coochie Man” and more.
Woodrow talked a little bit about the songs, but kept the energy high and the dancers’ feet on the floor.
After a few long, laid back jams, in which everybody got to solo, Gabe Thaine joined them on keyboards to sing “ I’m Your Fool”, sipping a beer with one hand, and playing keyboards with the other while singing the lyrics.
They added an Elmore James song, “The Sky is Crying,” and went really old school with “If I had Possession Over Judgement Day.”
— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor