The Vintage Explosion Usher Hall Edinburgh November 9th 2024 Review
The Vintage Explosion were at the Usher Hall Edinburgh tonight, bringing their unique take on classic rock’n’roll, R&B and soul songs to the largest venue and largest audience that I have seen them perform to so far.
This band were already a viral internet sensation before they started to make their name for live performances but, even then, the speed at which they have moved from playing smaller venues to a venue like this that can hold over 2,000 people seated (and most seats were sold) has been a pleasure to watch over the last few years.
A big part of this success is obviously due to the creator of the band and lead vocalist William Hitchell, as when someone like Rod Stewart says ‘the best white soul singer I’ve heard‘, you know that there is a very special vocal talent on-stage.
This set tonight opened with the band playing the classic “Tequilla” by The Champs to be followed by the burst of energy that is William Hitchell giving this audience his power vocals version of “Shout”, followed immediately by “Reet Petit”. From this moment on, The Vintage Explosion had this audience completely on their side and could obviously do no wrong for the rest of the show.
There were far too many classic songs in this set-list to highlight, but as always a stand out performance by William Hitchell with his vocals on “A Change Is Gonna Come”. What is always interesting for me about many of these songs is that we have for the most part only ever heard them as studio recordings or mimed television performances; we have never heard them performed live as they would probably have sounded first time around and it is that feeling, that excitement of The Vintage Explosion bringing these songs to life, live on stage that makes this band so special. There is energy in every song performance here. William Hitchell knows exactly how to turn many of these songs into classic “Call and Response” audience participation moments, and that takes instinctive timing to perform properly in front of a live audience.
William Hitchell is the visible, up-front star here and that sometimes makes it all too easy to forget that The Vintage Explosion is a band. To be able to use his vocals and his performance skills as he does, William Hitchell needs a very tight band behind him, and in particular a very strong rhythm section. Only when a vocalist knows that they do not have to worry about the band behind them, that they have total trust in every member of that band being exactly where they should be on every beat of any song, can there be the type of performance that William Hitchell gives his audiences.
With only a break between sets of some 20 minutes, this show puts a huge physical demand on the vocals of William Hitchell as so much of it is performed at a very dynamic level. The set-list has expanded since I first saw this band live and it is interesting to see tonight how even small breaks have been introduced to give small and much needed rests to keep William’s vocal chords at their best for the whole show. A special mention here needs to go to the arrangement of these songs too, as that is never an easy task for anyone to do for a band. A noticeable case of this was a new song in the set, a very unique take on The Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers”, and it worked.
Not everything in this set list was a cover, as the band does write original material but somehow seamlessly blend it into that vintage sound and there were a few tracks tonight from the band’s new album “Saturday Night”.
Opening this show for The Vintage Explosion tonight was Kirkcaldy-based singer songwriter/guitarist Dovv (David Stevens) and guitarist Mark Burdette. Dovv has slowly been building up his reputation as both a songwriter and a vocalist, and most of the songs in this opening set such as “Backstreets of Your Mind” and “Runaway” reflect well the power and dynamic range of his voice.
As a songwriter there are elements in these songs, little chord changes, story telling technique and phrasing that often reminded me of some of the songs on Bruce Springsteen’s first few albums (and I mean that in a good way). There is an interesting way that David uses words in his songs, and as his sound develops I am sure that he will realise that his vocal range is capable of far softer and more emotional ranges which will I am in no doubt be reflected in his future songwriting. There was some excellent guitar work from Mark Burdette during this short set too.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This band were already a viral internet sensation before they started to make their name for live performances but, even then, the speed at which they have moved from playing smaller venues to a venue like this that can hold over 2,000 people seated (and most seats were sold) has been a pleasure to watch over the last few years.
A big part of this success is obviously due to the creator of the band and lead vocalist William Hitchell, as when someone like Rod Stewart says ‘the best white soul singer I’ve heard‘, you know that there is a very special vocal talent on-stage.
This set tonight opened with the band playing the classic “Tequilla” by The Champs to be followed by the burst of energy that is William Hitchell giving this audience his power vocals version of “Shout”, followed immediately by “Reet Petit”. From this moment on, The Vintage Explosion had this audience completely on their side and could obviously do no wrong for the rest of the show.
There were far too many classic songs in this set-list to highlight, but as always a stand out performance by William Hitchell with his vocals on “A Change Is Gonna Come”. What is always interesting for me about many of these songs is that we have for the most part only ever heard them as studio recordings or mimed television performances; we have never heard them performed live as they would probably have sounded first time around and it is that feeling, that excitement of The Vintage Explosion bringing these songs to life, live on stage that makes this band so special. There is energy in every song performance here. William Hitchell knows exactly how to turn many of these songs into classic “Call and Response” audience participation moments, and that takes instinctive timing to perform properly in front of a live audience.
William Hitchell is the visible, up-front star here and that sometimes makes it all too easy to forget that The Vintage Explosion is a band. To be able to use his vocals and his performance skills as he does, William Hitchell needs a very tight band behind him, and in particular a very strong rhythm section. Only when a vocalist knows that they do not have to worry about the band behind them, that they have total trust in every member of that band being exactly where they should be on every beat of any song, can there be the type of performance that William Hitchell gives his audiences.
With only a break between sets of some 20 minutes, this show puts a huge physical demand on the vocals of William Hitchell as so much of it is performed at a very dynamic level. The set-list has expanded since I first saw this band live and it is interesting to see tonight how even small breaks have been introduced to give small and much needed rests to keep William’s vocal chords at their best for the whole show. A special mention here needs to go to the arrangement of these songs too, as that is never an easy task for anyone to do for a band. A noticeable case of this was a new song in the set, a very unique take on The Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers”, and it worked.
Not everything in this set list was a cover, as the band does write original material but somehow seamlessly blend it into that vintage sound and there were a few tracks tonight from the band’s new album “Saturday Night”.
Opening this show for The Vintage Explosion tonight was Kirkcaldy-based singer songwriter/guitarist Dovv (David Stevens) and guitarist Mark Burdette. Dovv has slowly been building up his reputation as both a songwriter and a vocalist, and most of the songs in this opening set such as “Backstreets of Your Mind” and “Runaway” reflect well the power and dynamic range of his voice.
As a songwriter there are elements in these songs, little chord changes, story telling technique and phrasing that often reminded me of some of the songs on Bruce Springsteen’s first few albums (and I mean that in a good way). There is an interesting way that David uses words in his songs, and as his sound develops I am sure that he will realise that his vocal range is capable of far softer and more emotional ranges which will I am in no doubt be reflected in his future songwriting. There was some excellent guitar work from Mark Burdette during this short set too.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com