Seasick Steve

Coventry HMV Empire

Hobo bluesman rambles to a different beat.

What a difference a drummer can make. Last time Seasick Steve toured the UK it was a oneman-and-his-guitar set-up, folksy blues with a lineage running from Blind Lemon Jefferson through to Bob Dylan. Tonight’s opening number Don’t Know Why

She Love Me But She Do is a different beast entirely, drummer Dan Magnusson tap-dancing across his kit, adding shades of Allman Brothers and even a bit of ZZ Top boogie.

Perched on an ornate wooden chair like a backwoods king on his throne, Steve captivates the audience with his genteel country-boy mannerisms. The chatter between songs isn’t really banter – half the time he doesn’t even talk into the mic – but it crafts an informal tone that perfectly accentuates the evening. “This song is about being young and dumb,” Steve says. “Someone’s gotta do it… I sure did.”

Although undoubtedly rooted in the blues, the set plays out like Seasick Steve’s personal Great American Songbook. There’s the funky guitar licks of Trainwreck, the Bobbie Gentry-like whimsical strut of Hobo Low, and set closer Thunderbird builds to a walloping crescendo that makes John Bonham’s performance on When The Levee Breaks seem effete. Through it all, Steve imbues every song with his own character, transforming them into dust-speckled parables with a deviously infectious beat. As Steve himself puts it: “You’re never too old to boogie.”