Gig: Andre Williams and the Sadies

Andre Williams and the Sadies (Bloodshot Bill / catl)

The Horseshoe Tavern. Thursday, November 19, 2009.

Truth be told, when I saw this show listed I had to do some digging to find out who Andre Williams was. Turns out I knew some of his tunes, but the biggest vote of confidence here was the partnership with local heroes The Sadies. If they're playing the 'Shoe and backing somebody else up, it's generally advisable to go check it out regardless of who they're on stage with.

On this night, starting things off in a quiet-ish room was catl, an exciting addition to the bill given that they're basically a guaranteed kick-ass good time. "It's gonna be a good drunken night," singer-guitarist catl offered as the trio paused for breath between songs. Perhaps just my imagination, but the band seemed to be playing a little faster than I remembered. When they're playing their own gigs, the band is quite capable of stretching things out for extra danceability — perhaps this time they were pushing the tempos a bit to fit as much as possible into an opening slot. Maybe also aiming to reach those in the early-arrivin' crowd who wasn't already familiar with them. Regardless, as is always the case, lots to love here, with the rockin' "Caroline" and the martial drumbeats of "Oh Death" at the heart's set impressing pretty well. The wrapped up with "Working Man's Soul", their customary closer, wrapping up eleven songs in forty minutes. If the blues is a feeling, then catl proves that feeling is scuzzy and agitated, reaching for a whiskey bottle. As expected, a top-notch time.

Listen to a track from this set here.

By this time, there was a good-sized audience built up. Quite a mixed crowd, a fair number of older greaser types, who seemed ready for something that I wasn't up on. Out came a gentleman wearing a housecoat, which he removed, revealing his pyjamas underneath. This was Bloodshot Bill, hailing from Montréal, a one-man band and atavistic swamp rocker. With vox ranging from a squeal to an asthmatic Chief Wiggum snort, full of howls, squeaks and groans — his music was a purely primal rockabilly experience, so stripped down that he made catl sound like Yes. Playing seated with a kickdrum and cymbal along with his guitar, Bill was a throwback to that moment when rock'n'roll was lewd and a dangerous influence on the youth. Songs about all the seminal topics, mostly shakin' parts and breakin' hearts. One tune was introduced as a Tandoori Knights song, which further research reveals to be his forthcoming collaboration with King Khan. Definitely an artist with a following, given the number of folks shouting out requests. And it's easy to see why, this was fun stuff, raw and greasy.

Listen to a couple songs from this set here.

And then, the crowd was waiting for the main attraction. Seeing The Sadies play The Horseshoe might not be an essential prerequisite to become a citizen of Toronto, but it surely is one one the benefits. As is often the case when they're acting as someone else's backing band (and like the last time I saw 'em) they came on first for a quick set of their own material — this time, just a quick twenty minutes before settling into the groove of "Hallelujah" and introducing Mr. Rhythm himself, Andre Williams.

Listen to The Sadies warming things up here.

At 73, Williams still cuts quite a figure, taking the stage in a bright red suit, with matching red tie and hat. A genuine R&B star in the late '50's, Williams fell between the cracks and was relegated to general obscurity by the '80's, suffering through some hard times before being rediscovered by a younger generation of soulful garage rockers in his adopted hometown of Detroit. This has led to a successful second act for Williams, playing the role of elder statesman as a sort of dignified dirty old man. Never the greatest of the R&B singers, he developed a proto-rapping spoken style (not unlike Bo Diddley calling the dozens on "Say Man") that still suits him today. The whole "bad motherfucker" angle — the salty talk, the go-go dancers — actually seemed a bit quaint, sort of a throwback to when "blue" songs existed in some murky netherworld of dank alleyways of officially forbidden culture. Old-fashioned sleaze seems so innocent nowadays.

Taking the stage in between his dancers, Williams moved into the country-ish groove of "She's a Bag of Potato Chips" (from '99's Red Dirt album, recorded with The Sadies) before veering into "Agile, Mobile and Hostile" which had a lean swagger, the Good brothers playing fierce interlocking guitar rhythms. After the slow burn of "I Can Tell" (a rewrite of an old Lefty Frizell song), Williams took a breather while The Sadies kept things going with "There's a Higher Power". Detouring from his more recent material, he dipped into his original hits for "Bacon Fat" and "Jail Bait", related a foul anecdote before "I Still Love You" and ended with a run through "Shake a Tail Feather" — which I never realized was one his own compositions. Changing into a sweater he returned for an encore — performing for about an hour overall.

With The Sadies allowing no slack behind him, the sound was never less than excellent. Not all of his songs are stone classics, but he put on a good show and the whole thing was as entertaining as hell.

Listen to a track from this set here.