Blues band return with a bang

Fireworks Party with Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band (plus Mike McKeon) tonight

Brown County's finest raucous roots/blues band return to Arlington Arts with a bang tonight (Saturday), to help the venue celebrate their fifth anniversary. The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band are said to be plotting to bring their most explosive performanceto Newbury and, what with it being a party and fireworks night, the venue are putting on their own display, as well as making food available via a winter barbecue. The good Reverend, along with his wife and cousin, last performed there in October 2010 in an evening that has already passed into local legend, says centre director Tony Trigwell-Jones.

“The week after that show I'd run into people in town who would just smile, nod and say things like: “amazing,” or “that was incredible.” One man stopped in the middle of Northbrook Street and said: “you're that Arlington guy right? That Reverend Peyton show was officially the best gig I've ever seen” with praise like that, who better to play at our fifth birthday party?”

Following their storming 2010 release The Wages, the band have just put out a new album: Peyton on Patton, a collection of songs by Rev's greatest inspiration, the early delta bluesman Charley Patton. The guitarist's legacy is something that Peyton feels very strongly about:

“A lot of folks will tell you that Robert Johnson was the King of the Delta Blues. But there's only one King, and his name was Charley Patton. And I'll go toe-to-toe with anyone who says different."

With the band's new material, alongside their amped up backwater country blues, the evening is sure to end in a bang. It will also start very strong as proceedings are opened by Mike 'Dr Blue' McKeon, a London-based bluesman that Tony Trigwell-Jones first saw at the Edinburgh Fringe 2011.

“Imagine my delight to find an amazing British blues slide and harmonica player right there at the Edinburgh Fringe. We me, we talk, we may have plans for the future but for now, it's a delight to introduce our audience to Mike,” he says.

The show starts at 8pm but food and drink will be available from 7pm. Fireworks will be in the break between Mike and the Big Damn Band.

Tickets, priced just £13 in advance (£15 on the door) are available from the box office on 01635 244246, online via www.arlingtonarts.co.uk and from Mary Hare Hearing Centre, Weaver's Walk, Newbury.