Mr. Nick And The Dirty Tricks played three hours of solid blues at Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ in Brighton last night. It made for the usual high level of entertainment audiences have come to expect from Mr. Nick as a front man. Mr. Nick and his boys also played it with the volume of solid talent they’ve become respected for.
Opening with “Spoonful,” Mr. Nick’s smooth, flowing voice and his swaying harp lines found their place in the easy, swaying groove. It was a pleasant after dinner intro. (Smoken’ Joe’s is an upscale restaurant as well as an intimate music room and I always have their andouille burger. It’s a tasty burger). That kind of mellow vibe always agrees with digestion.
Getting back to the music. Mr. Nick and company had momentum going on the first tune.
Guitarist “Lonely” Gus Carlson chimed in with his tender lead guitar notes, tip toeing around the groove, cajoling a nice melodic sweetness out of his axe. Bass player Teddy Bukowski, better known as Teddy B, had his thick knobby notes dancing around the beat, a busyness of sound that made him almost melodic at times.
On tunes without harmonica, Mr. Nick got to showcase what he could do his vocal approach. His voice was a tool of muscular control that wound its way mellifluously in and around open spaces in the grooves.
“Lost In A Dream” grooved forward with a steady thump while Mr. Nick unfurled a greasy harp line. The vibe he built was infused with cool. It helped that Teddy B threw in a lot of subtle touches and tweaks. Some of the evening’s best moment came when Mr. Nick and Lonely Gus sang in their terrific old school harmony, cooing their way into these 1950s flavored tunes. At other moments, when Carlson took over with his nimble picking style, a song would get a romantic enhancement of its tonal qualities.
Carlson also nudged songs forward with nifty rhythmic patterns when he locked in with the rhythm section. A thickening of the sound would result and it played into the oldies cool that permeated the show. This band has a swagger that was born in yesteryear but stands up today because of their understanding of the underpinnings of all that classic music and their ability to bring it forward with authenticity.
Mr. Nick’s handsome, soulful vocal, backed by his in the pocket Dirty Tricks, can never miss. A lot of times a listener might not even think of this outfit as a harmonica band because they have a lot of other things to offer in addition. Mr. Nick has a distinct timbre and presentation that can be compared to the likes of Sam The Sham when “Wooly Bully” was recorded to showcase that singer’s unique flourishes. Mr. Nick did the hold the note forever thing on “Knocking At My Door,” showcasing he was the real deal with his own sound. It was his unique vocal qualities that shone the most at that moment. He also uses an amplified harp microphone here and there to get that electric sound that is closer to B3 than harp. Full of earth, grit, soul, these heavier harp sounds fit in beautifully with the bands steady, authoritative stomp, sending rock and roll vibrations through the room.
The band also had fun with some classics while making them their own. “Automobile Blues” by Lightnin’ Hopkins featured Carlson playing guitar behind his back, playful notes skipping around the beat. Things started really rocking, though, when they jumped into Little Richard’s “The Girl Can’t Help it.” Carlson and drummer Rick Rousseau blended great on the chorus while Mr. Nick sounded off in the call and response number. During “Oh Wow!” Mr. Nick showed that he can put his vocal accents wherever he damn well pleases and still make it work, finessing this one with explosive aplomb. Teddy B got into his melodic thing again with a speedy avalanche of notes.
As a drummer, Rousseau knows when to pepper a song with tasteful nuances and he knows just when to play it straight and be the understated backbone. He also sings fine harmony with Mr. Nick and Lonely Gus and he turned in a fun vocal performance on “Is You Is, Or Is You Ain’t My Baby.”
“Snatch It Back And Hold It” received a run of honey dripping sweet notes from Carlson that gave it a special kind of sugar coated cool, much different from the original but at the same time faithful to its architecture. The humorous song “Good Morning, Judge” heaved with rhythmic thrust and “Georgia Slop” was a chugging train engine shuffle groove that made the feet want to move. Carlson caressed a handful of notes at once and on long slow blues numbers Mr. Nick really let his hair down on harmonica, letting loose all sorts of trippy blues drenched lines. Some whistled. Some shouted. Some cried. All were emotive, soulful, expressive, revealing the pain, joy, hardship that birthed these tunes.
When Mr. Nick belted, which he did nearing the end, you felt you were in the presence of a large than life personality. He showed off his vocal antics a bit on “Little Demon” and kick started “Tramp” with the utterance of that singe word. His demeanor at the microphone and his vocal mojo let him kick a few right out of the ballpark. He can even take it down low and smooth as he did on “Mellow Down Easy” and he put his own personal stamp on the bar band cliché “Let The Good Times Roll.”
Mr. Nick And The Dirty Tricks closed out the evening with the same energy they began with. Mr. Nick never seems to come to stop. It’s more like he pauses before chugging off to the next station.