The Nimmo Brothers, Ben Poole.

Lev 2. Esquires Bedford. 12th November 2010.

The appeal of The NIMMO BROTHERS at Esquires seems to grow year upon year. Tonight, the venue is packed in anticipation of another great show. Hailing from the hard and mean streets of Glasgow, Alan and Steve Nimmo form the pumping heartbeat of this blues rock quartet (a bassist and drummer fit in superbly to lend support to the brothers). Inspired and influenced by, amongst others, the music of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, they add their own slant to apply some full on 'blooze' power.

From start to finish it's pure down home grooves. Naturally, from their background, nothing is going to faze them. They immediately strike a chord with their fans as they play "Slow Down" from their popular album "Picking up the Pieces". The siblings unite as they sing "Brother, pack up your troubles and leave them all behind". Never afraid to try something new, The Nimmos bring us a composition bang up to date with "Waiting for your Heart to Fall". I was particularly taken by the rich, slow intro. A contrast is to be had with "Reason to Believe". It's a fine chance for Stevie to demonstrate his slide guitar skills. Variation is the key to this band, because at times this sort of music can get overblown and monotonous! "Along the Way from Everything" keeps everyone hooked by The Nimmos effortless playing. It is followed by "There ain't Nothing in Chicago that’s for Free". A statement that could also apply to Esquires tonight as the admission price was £15. However, the payees do not seem to mind. In fact they take a swig of brew and sing back in unison with the brothers "Doing Pretty Good for the Shape I'm In"! An accurate comment to be sure. With an eighties ZZ Top feel to it, this song certainly seems to sum up quite why The Nimmo Brothers are so loved by such a lot of people in Bedford.

It's been quite a year for BEN POOLE. This young twenty-something Barton blues guitarist triumphed earlier on the year as he successfully won the Total Guitar magazine guitar wars competition which earned him a spot at June's Download festival at Donnington. It doesn't end there for this talented pupil of Brighton's Institute of Music, as he released his album called "Everything I Want". It's prodigiously co-produced by the legendary blues guitarist Bernie Torme. It seems that the immense potential that this young man has impressed us with these past few years really seems to be coming to fruition. As on his album, Ben is helped out tonight by Gary Pearson (bass) and Alan Taylor (drums). The mixture is a selection of his own material, of which he starts off with a scorching "Fooling Around" and a couple of well worn covers. Ben's indulgence with "Hey Joe" spills over when, after slowly getting his breath back at the close, he smiles and admits that they "always have fun playing that song"! The handclapping crowd seemed to agree with that comment.