This was our first outing as a reviewer, and we came to see Voodoo play their first ever show. Having arrived way too early we found ourselves drinking with the band before they went on stage. There were nerves, excitement and scarily a throat problem for lead singer Si who was sipping a hot toddy from a ‘vintage’ cup. Once finished, they were ready to rock.

Once they were on stage you could still see a little of the nerves coming through until Si stepped up to the mic and then all nerves appeared to melt away. Once their hellos were done they stepped straight in to their first song ‘Many Things’ swiftly followed by ‘Gazelle’. Not really knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly rewarded with an interesting rock-jazz hybrid that worked far better than we might have assumed.

It’s bad form to say they did well for a first gig, but to be honest, you’d never know they hadn’t played live before, nor that it was the bassist’s first ever time on stage. None of that was evident in the performance during the first two songs. When it came to number three on the list, it was a brave decision to do a song that was very new, so new it didn’t even have a name, but again they nailed it. They’ve obviously worked hard to get to this gig and it really showed. Si’s confidence with the audience was apparent as he took a large glug of yet another (purely medicinal, we’re told) hot toddy.

After the next track ‘Flapjacks’ it was apparent there was a problem. Again, Si was confident with the crowd as he explained that he had treated himself to new strings, which often go out of tune. It’s never an ideal situation at any gig, but thankfully it didn’t take long to rectify and soon the band melted in to their final track for the evening ‘Self Contra’. It was a great way to end the show and we could tell they were enjoying themselves. It’s going to be interesting to see what they do next.

Prince Albert, Thursday 6th July 2017
Words and photos by Xavier Clarke