CONNIE LUSH & BLUES SHOUTER AT THE TUNNEL, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Text and Photos by
Sissy & Fritz Svacina
English translation and edit by
 Norman Darwen






A first-rate blues concert took place at Vienna’s ‘The Tunnel’ in November when the English female blues shouter CONNIE LUSH blew in with her band Blues Shouter for a one-off show. It took almost three years to get Connie and her band onto a stage in Vienna! Our thanks are due to the boss of ‘The Tunnel’, who cut through the bureaucracy and was co-operative and decisive, as well as to Susanne Weber (BRD Management), who made this gig possible.


Although many of the well-known and major figures of the local blues scene were absent, we were pleased to see some familiar faces. The crowd’s excitement promised an excellent show and a fine audience ready to show its appreciation.


Although Connie Lush is well-known in her own country, she was a little nervous before her first appearance in Vienna… but with the first number she felt at home (as she does for example at the Royal Albert Hall or The Cavern!) and her blues rolled out over the audience full of soul and feeling – a good reference point is Etta James, in both sound and stage presence, R&B to perfection.


Her musical range spans country blues pieces like Nobody’s Fault But Mine, jazzy sounds such as Autumn Leaves and on to rock flavoured blues such as Send Me No Flowers, Blues Is My Business and One Monkey, plus of course I’d Rather Go Blind and the top-notch Randy Newman number Guilty.


Connie also likes to tackle emotion drenched gospel, causing goose-bumps for the listener and bringing everyone under her spell with her depth of feeling… and the contributions of her accompanying musicians are the perfect foil for her.


Long-time guitarist PETER WADE was of course to the fore, with TERRY HARRIS on bass and young RICK FARROW on drums, the latter having flown in the day before to deputise for drummer CARL WOODWARD who was unfortunately suddenly taken ill.

Connie’s singing is especially effective on slow blues numbers and in some passages it can recall the early recordings of Esther Phillips, demon-strating the power and breadth of her voice.

Among the highlights of the evening were Send Me No Flowers, It Hurts Me Too – performed with just PETER WADE on slide guitar – and the more up tempo numbers like Blues Is My Business, Love Me Like A Man, and Nobody’s Fault But M ine.

On bass, Terry was right in the pocket and impressed with his solos – he was the piledriver, whilst Terry was superb at the drumkit, particularly given that this was his first stint with Blues Shouter and he visibly grew in confidence as the evening progressed – together with Terry he formed an excellent rhythm section. John was simply brilliant on the guitar; whether playing slide or not, his licks were just right.


We hope that maybe, just maybe, there will be another chance sometime during 2008 to experience this distinctive band once again in Vienna.

Thank you Connie and the band for this excellent blues concert – two giant sets in one show.

Sissy & Fritz Svacina
English translation and edit by Norman Darwen
more INFO at:
www.connielush.com
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