With a healthy audience assembled for The Urban Voodoo Machine and their regular visit to Swansea sees the band was ably supported by local misfits Stickman with their funk-punk hotpot Rock sound but it was their bourbon soaked bop n stroll, blues, punk ‘n soul or whatever their strapline is. One thing for sure is I’ve seen this band many times over the years and tonight was, without doubt, the finest I’ve heard them sound since they did a Glastonbury warm-up show in a Bristol Rehearsal studio complex. From the moment they weaved through the audience and hit the stage and went straight into the fantastic ‘Plastic Cup’ Dedicating the set to the latest dearly departed Brother Wilco Johnson it was ‘Not With You’ that raise the temperature to boiling point as the band sounded in fine form.

Jary got out from behind his hybrid kit and sat on his Cajon and slapped out the rhythm we were ‘Living In Fear’ which made way for ‘Johnny Foreigner’ the banter was good as Paul-Ronney Angel explained his situation post Brexshit. Wilco was toasted as the band went through a spinetingling ‘Goodnight My Dear’ where you could have heard a pin drop. The band were on fire and to be fair apart from a dodgy XLR that haulted one intro the sound was excellent and the interplay between the band was superb and like I mentioned earlier better than they’ve sounded for a long long time. ‘Rusty Water’ and ‘Orphans Lament’ now mainstays in the set were perfectly executed. there is no band better at this style than Urban Voodoo Machine. I love Gogol Bordello, Mad Juana but the way Urban Voodoo mix up some of the best parts of The Pogues and Strummer with their Gypsy Blues is majestic. In Paul-Ronney they have one of the finest frontmen around from his harmonica playing to his ringmaster work he’s a genuine talent and his band are one of the finest around anywhere and on the kind of form they are in tonight they can go toe to toe with anyone anywhere.

There were songs from the brand new album ‘Snake Oil Engine’ with ‘Little Jimmy & The Wrong Crowd’ being a thing of beauty and a song that might well become a UVM classic. As we hit home straight it was ‘Help Me Jesus, ‘While We Were All Asleep’ and finishing off with the fantastic ‘Goodbye To Another Year’. I salute The Urban Voodoo Machine and all who sail with her. Another fantastic night of entertainment with one of the finest live bands out there.

Author: Dom Daley