ShareSamantha Fish with her special guests The Zac Schulze Gang performing her Paper Doll Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Saturday 7th March 2026.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Hailing from Kansas City, blues artist Samantha Fox is no stranger to Rock City and was there on Saturday night to promote her latest album, Paper Doll. But there was already a buzz around the venue as Kent’s electrifying blues rock trio, The Zac Schulze Gang took to the stage and from their very first note to the final chord, the energy coming off the stage was immense.
Having won The UK Blues Emerging Band of the Year in 2024 and Young Artists of the Year in 2025, the crowd were treated to a varied set list which was beyond expectations. Despite releasing their debut album, Straight To It last year, front man Zac Schulze, who is one of those young players who clearly lives and breathes what he does, along with his brother drummer Ben and bassist Ant Greenwell showcased new song with their opener High Roller.
They followed up with three excellent tracks from their Made Of Three EP along with their excellent Woman. A real highlight of the set was a superb cover of Dr Feelgood’s classic She Does It Right before they closed with a fantastic cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well which on its own was well worth the ticket price.
Samantha Fish strode onto the stage to a hero’s welcome and she and her band wasted no time kicking things into gear, opening with the storming title track, Paper Doll, and the groove-heavy Can Ya Handle The Heat? and I’m Done Runnin’ with its driving rhythm quickly followed.
Switching to her silver semi-acoustic guitar, she created a laid back groove on one of her stand out moments, Sweet Southern Sounds. Delivering a set of incredible blues, she brought the whole night alive with the likes of Bulletproof when she picked up her cigar box guitar and unleashed a frantic slide workout, screaming her vocals and taking the crowd to guitar heaven.
The tone was lowered for the darker Fortune Teller before she quickly moved on to Poor Black Mattie, and as the set raced towards its climax, the razor sharp new single Rusty Razor bristled with restless energy before the inevitable finale of Black Wind Howlin’ brought the main set to an end.
For the encore song, Bitch On The Run, Zac Schulze returned to the stage for an electrifying guitar duel that left the crowd with their mouths open in appreciation. Fish had swaggered around the stage, unleashing blistering blues licks and with a voice that was powerful and filled with raw emotion, she showed that she really is the complete blues package.
