A review of Twisted Blues at Blackfriars, Inverness on Saturday 23rd of February 2013.
Inverness is so well served with live music venues such as Ironworks and Eden Court that it is easy to overlook the wide range of musical styles on offer in the bars and cafes of the town. This occasional series will serve to highlight some of these.
Blackfriars at the bottom end of Academy Street has a long history in the town. It was built around 1793 and was at one time a temperance hotel. It later became a pub serving the workers of Rose Street Foundry and also the clientele of the old Empire Theatre. Today the bar offers a place to eat and listen to a wide range of music as well as providing one of the best ranges of beer in the City.
Amongst the acts regularly appearing at the venue are Twisted Blues – a local three piece band consisting of: Iain Clark drums, Bobby MacDonald bass guitar and vocals, and Roger Niven guitars. All three have long musical associations with Roger Niven being associated with Wolfstone and Iain Clark with Uriah Heep.
The group plays a wide spectrum of blues and rock and on Saturday past I sat in on the first set of the evening. This eclectic mix included works by the John Mayall Blues Band, Johnny Winter, B B King, ZZ Top, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors. The band are obviously well used to playing in each other’s company and their interest in the music they play is illustrated by the seamless and easy way they move from one song and style to the next. For an amplified band the sound levels which could have been overpowering in such a relatively small space were very tastefully set.
Del the landlord of Blackfriars states the group are the towns’ finest rock and blues band and he is certainly right there.
Look out for the new group set up by Roger Niven – Jazz Unlimited and get down to Blackfriars for the music and the beer.
Click for the Twisted Blues website.
