Last time I saw The Duel live about six months ago, they’d just come off the back of a line-up reshuffle and were tentatively trying to move their sound forward by adding a synth to it. The result sounded oddly like a female-fronted Stranglers and held a bit of promise. Tonight though, although the synth is still there, it’s hardly used during the set as the group seem to be returning to their traditional punk sound. It’s still a decent performance but it feels like a bit of a step backwards – make no mistake, The Duel are still a good group but it feels a bit like they’re lacking a sense of direction right now – hopefully this’ll be put right in the months ahead.
Definitely no focus issues with The Witchdoktors though as they put in a solid set of Jerry Lee Lewis style ’50s indebted rock ‘n’ roll – think the Jim Jones Revue minus the distortion pedals or Vince Ray minus the double bass. First time I’ve seen this lot and hopefully it won’t be the last – give ‘em a looksee if you spot them in the listings near you.
Having missed Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth not once but twice when they toured over here last, it’s good to finally catch the Michael Monroe/ex-New York Dolls guitarist over here doing his own thing. Conte put out a solid solo album a couple of years back and a lot of the best bits of it (the catchy pop-punk stylings of “The Truth Ain’t Pretty” and the Johnny Thunders-style “Gypsy Cab” being particular highlights) get an airing tonight mixed with some well-chosen cover versions including a cracking version of Jason & The Scorchers’ “White Lies” and a slowed-down bluesy take on Eddie Cochrane’s “Summertime Blues”.
All in all, tonight’s been a good night with plenty of rock ‘n’ roll to satisfy our souls. Hopefully we’ll be seeing Mr Conte over here again some time in the near future.
