Vintage Trouble  - Live Review at Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent, 14/11/11

Ty Taylor needs very little space to pump his pelvic-thrusting moves, as his band Vintage Trouble glided from groove to groove at Stoke-on-Trent’s Sugarmill venue.

“If everyone were here, right now, doing this, I truly believe the world would have no problems” declared a genuinely choked up Taylor, before the band ease into the popular: ‘Nobody Told Me.’

Vintage Trouble’s obvious love for original rhythm and blues as well as soul, coupled with their frantic energy and in particular, Taylor’s sense of spontaneity, brings a truly refreshing taste to the contemporary music scene. That they won ‘Classic Rock’s Best New Band Award’ couldn’t be further from a surprise.

All four members suited and booted, from start to finish their set is electrifying. Their musical virtuosity aside, it feels as if Vintage Trouble is almost too big for the Sugarmill – too intense and raw with its evocative prowess.

The initially lukewarm audience increasingly let go of its inhibitions during the 90-minute performance, as people acclimatised to the frantic jiving of Taylor, both on and off-stage. He was, undoubtedly, charisma personified.

The rock n roll swagger of ‘Blues Hand Me Down’ came early in the set, and the band showed no sign of tiring. Richard Danielson’s (drums) metronome shuffles complimented the seemingly effortless abilities of Nalle Colt (guitar) and Rick Barrie Dill (bass). As a unit, they watch for Taylor’s commands and enable him to engage in a bout of audience mingling as and when he pleases.

One lucky lady was brought up on to the stage by Taylor when he spotted her busting out some shapes. After shaking her groove thing to a couple of songs, she was led back down to the dance floor, with Taylor stating: “Everybody needs to just forget everything and let go!”

With each song performed from their debut masterpiece, The Bomb Shelter Sessions, plus extras, Vintage Trouble achieved a poignancy that is increasingly hard to come across in a predominantly computerised and synthetic music industry. The slinking suggestiveness of ‘24-7-365 Satisfaction Man’ was another opportunity for Taylor to not only show off his vocal talents, but initiate another call-and-response with the crowd, who by the end were completely transfixed.

The humbleness of the band extended to after the show, where they signed merchandise, posed for pictures and generally chatted to their newly recruited ‘Troublemakers.’ Vintage Trouble knows the power of their message through music – they believe it themselves.