Photo: Simon Green
Gig Review: Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton – Live at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
By Simon Green
The appetite had of course been wetted by the fabulous Death Wish Blues album, which Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton had released earlier in the year, but there was no guarantee that the duo would deliver the goods in the flesh.
Sam Fish is a frequent visitor to the UK and has always created a lot of interest in her shows. Jesse Dayton’s background was previously unknown to me, but this Austin Music Hall of Famer has been around the block several times both as support player and as a solo artist. His combination of influences from punk rock, country and all stations in between turned out to be a perfect match for Sam Fish, whose own influences are more diverse than most blues rockers and she tends towards a more dynamic performing style.
What I love about Samantha Fish’s live performances is that she relies on the quality of her songs rather than bludgeoning the audience with three-minute solos in each song. She’s got the guitar chops to indulge in that if she wanted to but instead tends to play spikey, creatively interesting solos that grab the attention but don’t overstay their welcome. Jesse Dayton is no slouch on guitar himself and he played some superbly tasteful country influenced licks as well as rocking out when required, which made this tour a real double threat.
Photo: Simon Green
I was lucky enough to catch their show twice in the space of a few days and it was revealing to see how they adapted between the larger theatre space of the rather elegant De La Warr Pavilion, a sleek modernist building from the 1930s down on the Sussex coast, and the grimier, but musically distinguished and intimate confines of the 100 Club in the West End of London.
The set was similar on both occasions and the tone was set early on both nights by their rocking cover of ‘Brand New Cadillac’, which Jesse name checked as being a homage to the Clash version on London Calling (which itself was a cover of the superb 50s classic original by English rocker Vince Taylor) and which rattled along in a blaze of adrenalin fuelled twin guitar glory.
Their vocals were a perfect match, the sweeter and higher tones of Sam combining with the gruffer, lower timbre of her stage centre partner. While the shows had an overall dynamic energy that was enthralling, they were also full of light and shade. While they rocked out on heavier Death Wish’ songs like ‘Rippin’ and Runnin’’, ‘Lover On The Side’ and ‘Supadupabad’, they also took it right down on the country tinged ‘Know My Heart’ from that album and the Townes Van Zandt song ‘I’ll Be Here In The Morning’ from the Stardust Session EP that preceded it, where the acoustics came out and the pair duetted beautifully with the audiences lapping up every note. It made me think that these two could make a great country album together.
In terms of stage presence, Jesse Dayton added an extra layer of charisma, which was not in short supply to begin with, and the pair seemed to feed off each other’s energy, particularly in the sweaty and crowded confines of the 100 Club where the energy level sizzled at a high-octane level throughout. The focus was on delivering one fabulous number after another with maximum energy without adding any unnecessary fat.
The Death Wish Blues album songs, powerful on the recorded versions, came over even more powerfully live and blended in well with a smattering of Sam Fish’s solo songs like established fave ‘Bulletproof’ and her covers of ‘I Put A Spell On You’ and ‘Hello Stranger’, the latter illustrating what a good soulful singer she is. They were simply brilliant together, a match made in heaven. Let’s hope this isn’t the last time they play together (fingers crossed too that some of these incendiary shows were taped for a possible live album).
“No Apologies Live” See Here.
Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton website
A very interesting review, especially given I’d been to the same two gigs. I wonder if you did both for the same reason as me. When the tour was announced De La Warr pavilion was the closest for me but they then added the 100 Club and I couldn’t miss that. In one regard the gigs were chalk and cheese for me. We were in the balcony at De La Warr but I didn’t realise when I booked that it was so far back and I it felt like it was in a different county from the stage. But at the 100 Club I luckily got to the very front by the time Samantha and Jessie came on and I was about 6 feet from Samantha and when she was to the left of her usual spot during her instrumental segments, I was about a foot from her guitar – magical! But I came out of the De La Warr gig a bit disappointed and the 100 Club to a lesser extent. Sam is a fabulous vocalist and she came across fine in the quieter moments, for instance during the country style songs. But when the band was full on her brilliant soaring vocals were pretty much completely lost in the sound mix. At times I almost wished she was miming instead. It was nothing like she sounded on her live clips on Youtube where the sound presumably bypasses the venue’s sound system. It was a little better at the 100 Club and mattered less to me because of where I was standing. But I can’t help compare that to seeing When Rivers Meet at O2 Islington where Grace – an equally superb vocalist – sounded absolutely brilliant. I love listening to the new When Rivers Meet album but know it can’t sound as good as when they are live. But it’s the opposite for Samantha Fish. She sounds best on CD and it really shouldn’t be that way.