Stone foundation performing their Street Rituals Tour at The Glee Club Nottingham on Wednesday 25th October 2017.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
It was an all standing crowd that welcomed the Stone Foundation to the Glee Club and the five band members, along with a fantastic three piece brass section, got them all moving from the off.
Along with Neil Sheasby, lead singer Neil Jones has been under the radar for a number of years and after enduring several line ups and sound changes, they were spotted by The Specials’ drummer John Bradbury and the rest is history.
Having more recently come to the attention of the Modfather, Paul Weller’s influence was there for all to see and hear. Producing their new album, Street Rituals, Weller has helped guide them through to their new status as a must see soul band.
Considering their age, it was no surprise to see a crowd that has clearly grown up in the 70s and 80s as they were taken back to the Graham Parker & The Rumour and Brinsley Schwarz pub-rock days.
Starting the evening with funky opener Back In The Game, the soul boys really got the crowd bouncing, while new song Season Of Change sounded like an old familiar classic.
As the band is touring to promote their new album, the set list was jam-packed with songs from it. There was the wonderful Open Your Heart To The World and Limit Of A Man which went down a treat. Songs from their 2015 album, A Life Unlimited, were given an outing as the crowd sang along and clapped to Beverley and Pushing Your Love.
With the vocals at times being drowned out by the very tight band, the set was brought to a close with a cover of Ann Peebles’ I’m Going To Tear Your Playhouse Down, and while the Stone Foundation hadn’t quite managed that last night, they did shake the rafters proving that they are now a band to be reckoned with.