Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Live in Chicago reviewed by Steve Jones

Live in Chicago
Rabble Rousers
12 tracks/59:59

If you are looking for hot, driving blues then the Rabble Rousers are the band for you! They have appeared locally in Rockford and are one of the hottest acts out of Chicago right now. Their Live in Chicago CD is a super little set of a dozen tunes, half covers and half originals. I enjoyed this CD thoroughly because of the great energy they put into their music and the talent they display in each tune. 12 live tracks including 2 alternative mixed bonus tracks make up this set of tunes recorded live at Quigley’s Irish Pub and and Orazio’s Pub in Naperville.

The CD features Rich “Rabble” Reminger on vocals, harp and rhythm guitar, John “Chicago Johnny” Spira on lead and slide guitar, Rick “Keys” Forbes on piano and organ, and Mike “Gentle Giant” Maloney on the bass. The drummers are Tommy Rugg at Quigley’s and Aaron Turner at Orazio’s. Rich started the band in 2002 and brought together some extremely talented musicians in the Rabble Rousers.

The covers “Messin’ With the Kid”, “Woke Up This Morning”, “Teenie Weenie Bit”, “Blues at Sunrise” and “My Bleeding Heart” are all great. But what makes this CD even better is the original stuff. “Travelin’ Blues” (my favorite number) on track 2 and “Got Me a Ticket” on track 3 display what the band can do with both fast and slow blues. The guitar and keyboards are impeccable throughout, but these two tracks just seem to demonstrate everything that this band is about. Spira’s guitar and Forbes keys with Reminger’s vocals and the backdrop bass work by Maloney are all great.
From the opener “Messin’ With the Kid” to the closing original tune “Cause I Think I’m Going Down” we have a finely crafted blues album that fans will really enjoy. I recommend you sample the band’s work on the CD; you can do that via the net, but the best way get the CD is to go see them live and buy the CD at the show! You won’t regret it!

No comments: