Howdy Folks. Happy Easter, or as the less religious amongst us put it, Happy Day Off!

Rosie and Mr Wizard joined me at the Canned Heat/Fabulous Thunderbirds gig on Saturday night, a great gig indeed.

Shame my IPhone Zoom is a little crappy...

Even with The Bear and The Blind Owl missing from the lineup, Canned Heat put on a great show. That's was as close as I'll ever get to seeing them in their full glory live. It gave me pause to reflect that seeing a favourite band is something you have to do while you can - you never know when you'll get another chance. 

With the two main singers departed from the band, the Heat relied on Harvey Mandels guitar fireworks and did quite a few instrumentals, although full credit to Fito for a remarkable job of reproducing the sound of Al Wllson - who would have thought reproducing the sound of the Bear would be harder?

Dale Spalding is a heck of a harmonica player, I'll be stealing some of those licks, and a versatile guitarist. As their set progressed you could still feel the elements of what made them one of the biggest bands in the world. After running through their hits, doing some guitar and harmonica wailing, solo's all round, they ended with a Boogie and the Bears trademark phrase- and remember, don' forget to boogie.

After the 'Heat, the Fabulous Thunderbirds came out swinging, and I can see why Kim Wilson has the rep for harp playing. I am not game to do a 15 minute harp solo as I would run out of ideas around the 38 second mark, but Kim just kept on going. I've studiously avoided the green-bullet-valve-amp-combo for a while now, but hearing the guys on Saturday night, I am starting to wonder if I am missing out on something. Boy did they both get a good tone.

Nostalgia? Sure, but they're still kicking and still playing and I guess that's as much as any of us can hope for. If you've got a fave band, get out and see them. 

And remember, don't forget to Boogie.