Supercharge – The Marina, Liverpool Friday 21st January 2011
Supercharge were an institution back in 1970s Liverpool, playing around the city; namely The Sportsman, The Dove and Olive in Speke and of course The Liverpool Stadium. Having seen the band playing here last January, I was keen to catch them again as, being based in Germany, they rarely make it home to play these days.
Over in Germany, Supercharge consists mainly top German Rhythm and Blues musicians, including Juergen Wieching on saxophone, and Mike Rafalczyk on trombone and Wolfgang Diekmann on bass. For this gig, the band was headed by the irrepressible Albie Donnelly on tenor sax and vocals along with other original members Ozzie Yue (guitar/vocals) and the band's original baritone sax player Bob Robertson (bass). The band lineup was completed by the local musicians Neil Partington (guitar), Lance Donnelly (drums), Paul Owens (baritone sax) and Paul Need (keyboards)
They started with great adaptations of "Still Alive & Well" and a cover of Johnny Guitar Watson's "Gangster Of Love". The well balanced couple of sets of RnB and Blues were inter-dispersed with some great musical highlights and the inevitable humorous musings of Albie Donnelly. Guitarist Ozzy Yue sang on Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' and took the lead on the Buddy Miles song 'Them Changes', a song that the great man Jimi Hendrix himself covered on the album 'Band Of Gypsies'.
The combination of Albie's son, Lance on drums and Bob Robertson on bass gave the band a solid base to work on and allowed the other musicians freedom to express themselves. Neil Partington's guitar playing featured heavily on 'Personal Manager' and he shared the vocals on a couple of others. Albie Donnelly and Paul Owens drove everything along and were highlighted numerous times, especially during 'Choo Choo Ch'Boogie' / 'Boogie Thing'. To complete the features, keyboardist Paul Need had his moment during 'When You Get Back'.
There was lots of blues, and swinging RnB, coupled with some fine, intricate musical excursions. Guitar, sax and keyboards were all featured in their own little slots and the audience lapped up every minute.
As last year, the band followed up this gig with one at Alexander's in Chester a couple of days later. This year there is a big difference; they plan on organizing more dates in the UK and are booked to play the Cavern in Liverpool on 29th April. You have no excuses for not attending as you'll be off that day because of some high profile wedding that's going on that day and you've had plenty of notice.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 7 available.