Accomplished bluesman Big Boy Bloater kicked off his latest UK tour with a scintillating performance at St Johns Church in Farncombe, Surrey.

Backed by drummer Matt Cowley and bassist Steven Oates, Bloater powered through twenty high energy numbers.

Big Boy Bloater plays good time rhythm and blues in the Dr Feelgood and George Thorogood mode with songs are about bad times, good times and of course drinking, including Messing With The Booze and Friday Night’s Alright For Drinking.

He tackles contemporary subjects with gusto with Robot Girlfriend and The Digital Number Of The Beast. There’s humour as well, with the tracks Oops Sorry and Every Path Has Its Puddle, about a serial killer, naturally.

Premiering two new songs, Nasty Little Rash and Banging My Head Against A Brick Wall, Bloater performed mainly original material and threw in a great cover of Muddy Waters’ Roll And Tumble.

With his big personality and frame, and Fender guitar looking like a toy, it would be easy to overlook what an accomplished guitarist Bloater is, nearly every track contained a perfectly formed guitar solo.

Playing in a church was a new experience for Bloater and it was with trepidation that he introduced Devils Not Angels which finished his main set. The crowd favourite It Came Outta The Swamp was the raucous encore.

Great fun. A fine performance from the blues boy. Catch Big Boy next time if you can.

Words by Chaz Brooks

Live photo by Ken Whalley