On a cold Tuesday winter evening Norwich City played at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. I know this because as a result it took me over two hours to get to Norwich's Waterfront venue, which is a short walk from Carrow Road the home of Norwich City FC. It would all become worth it however; as a fine evening of southern rock transpired before me at the hands of The Cadillac Three.
Having finally arrived at the venue I was pleased to see a healthy queue already waiting to enter. I'm sure a good deal of these people were already aware of our opening band for the evening, Texan's Whiskey Myers. As six men, three hats and a whole lot of hair took to the stage the venue was already full and in the mood for a good night.
Active since 2008, Whiskey Myers have already achieved a moderate level of success back in the States, and now they are making inroads over here. If their performance on the evening is anything to go by then they will do very well over here. With the likes of fellow southern rock outfits Black Stone Cherry, Blackberry Smoke and tonight's headliners The Cadillac Three already making waves in this country there is definitely a market to exploit. Following a set packed with sensational guitar solos and southern licks Whiskey Myers leave the stage as conquering heroes to a huge ovation.
At this point in the evening I was left wondering whether The Cadillac Three could rise to challenge just laid before them, but rise they would. This is a band that has steadily risen in stature since their inception a few years ago. They haven't let anything stop them despite bumps in the road such as having to change their name from The Cadillac Black early on; and this perseverance appears typical of Jaren Johnston, Kelby Ray and Neil Mason.
This is a band that have set their stall out in clear terms of the type of band that they are. They did so again tonight starting the show with 'I'm Southern' and 'I'm Rockin'', two songs that perfectly sum them up. The Cadillac Three have blended southern rock and country with a hard rocking edge and to great effect. As they delivered 'Tennessee Mojo' to the packed crowd it was clear we were in for a fun evening.
To date the band have issued their debut album and a UK only EP and the setlist is mainly drawn from these releases. But the band also chose to throw in some new material such as 'Girls On Fire' and new single 'Graffiti', both of which show great promise for the future. As mentioned 'Peace, Love & Dixie' was an EP only released in this country, which goes to show the success of the band here, and it was midway through the set that the title track appeared and became one of the highlights of the show.
The Cadillac Three are not one of the many new bands happy to deliver a quick performance and go on their way, on this evening the band flesh out their somewhat small back catalogue for an hour and a half of pure rock 'n' roll. This was clearly appreciated by the audience and as the evening progressed so did the mutual love-in between band and fans.
As the night was drawing towards its close the band produced even more highlights in an evening of highlights, in the shape of 'Down To The River' and 'Days Of Gold'. There was then only one song which could bring proceedings to an end, and finish the show as it had begun. That song is 'The South' which sees The Cadillac Three proudly present just who they are and what they do. It was a spectacular end to a sensational evening of the finest southern rock on offer.
Expect bigger and better things from both Whiskey Myers and The Cadillac Three. Both proved themselves as excellent live acts, and both showed that there is still more to come from them. The Cadillac Three's new material sounds just as good as their debut and builds anticipation for album number two, which with any luck news of its release will be with us by the time they take to the main stage at Ramblin' Man Fair this summer.
“What about the football?” I hear you asking; well Norwich lost 0-3. Oh well at least some of Norwich's residents were entertained this evening!
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.