Même si ça change, c'est encore la même chose*
Plunger caught up with Connor Selby again at the Half Moon, Putney, more than five years since we last saw him and, not surprisingly, there have been a few changes since then: from profile-raising support slots for The Who and Pearl Jam to signing with Provogue/Mascot Records; and from collaboration with session men du jour Redtenbacher’s Funkestra; and a slick, don’t-frighten-the-horses makeover.
Those last two events left Plunger a little worried that Connor might have taken a different musical direction to that of the long-haired, Clapton-is-God-t-shirt-wearing artist we’d witnessed. But this show proved our fears were baseless: as evinced in the opening southern soul-influenced pairing of I Can’t Let You Go and Falling In Love Again, the former displaying rather Warren Haynesish guitar phrasing and the latter some lovely interplay between Connor and Joe Anderton in a brief but tasteful guitar-off.
After the slow but swinging blues of I Shouldn’t Care, a long and impressive organ solo from Stevie Watts introduced the soulful amble of If You’re Gonna Leave Me before a new song, Truth Comes Out Eventually provided a splash of snare-on-three Caribbean-spiced 60s blues-soul.
Connor’s deft touch with various shades of blues was shown in the echt, slow, slow-blues of Love Letter To The Blues featuring some highly Larry McCray-like tone and phrasing; a rather funky Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland-inspired version of Goin’ Down Slow with tight snare-and-bass underpinning, and era-correct Fender Rhodes-y electric piano; and a fabulously swinging The Deep End, drawing on one of Connor’s heroes Ray Charles, with rim-shots for that late-night smoky-dive vibe, and excellent jazzy piano throughout.
Much to Plunger’s delight there was plenty ‘southern soul’ in a 70s vein (of the kind that reeled us in on our first hearing of Connor): the melodic keys and guitar of a mellow Man I Ought To Be were reminiscent of solo Gregg Allman - not least in Connor’s fine-grained-sandpaper voice - topped off nicely by a delightful tremolo-laden chordal break from Joe; and Hear My Prayer’s Derek & The Dominos/Delaney & Bonnie brisker jangle included anthemic piano, ride cymbal-led drums, Joe and Stevie adding bvs, and a sweet southern-fried closing solo from Connor.
The closing pair of tracks reminded Plunger of the modern day torchbearers of that whole 70s southern soul thing, Tedeschi Trucks Band: the relaxed opening of That’s Alright with ticking rim-shots and swirly organ shifted up a gear with a full-band break-in with three part bvs, while the lithe TTB funk-soul of Show Me A Sign, with its Stax-y insistent-snare chorus and bustling bass lines, was the opportunity for solo spots from all, most notably a fiery British Invasion break from Joe, and a cracking keys outing featuring some surprisingly Jon Lordesque touches including a smattering of Bach! Connor’s own solo (perhaps the longest in a night where brevity and restraint were watchwords) ranged from clucking muted funkiness to soaring southern bends and all points in between.
An inevitable encore saw Connor switch from Les Paul to SG for an old Plunger favourite, Emily - a loping D&B southern soul-rocker with hints of the Louie Louie riff, a Wasted Words-style descending organ wash, and fabulous Billy Powell-style piano… a cracking finale to a cracking evening.
Some things may have changed but the accomplished songwriting, restrained non-grandstanding (but still highly fluid) playing and wonderfully soulful vocal are all still there, as good as they were, if not better.
* “Even if it changes it’s still the same thing” - with apologies to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
