Eel Pie Island played a prominent role in the development of popular music in the 1960s. The island in the Thames became a major and internationally important blues venue.
Names such as John Mayall, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck all become associated with the Eel Pie incarnation of early rock and rhythm ‘n’ blues.
The original Eel Pie Island Hotel burned down in 1971, but the Eel Pie Club Twickenham (at The Cabbage Patch) continues the grand tradition of bringing first-rate UK Rhythm & Blues to the Thames Delta.
Stand-out artists to have appeared at the club include Dire Straits, The Kinks, The Jeff Beck Band, Wishbone Ash, The Blues Band and many others.
Now, the distinguished lineup of glitzy guitar greats will include another outrageously talented guitar frizzler: DOM MARTIN.
The European and UK Blues Awards winner —who, it must be said is every bit as luminary and myth-making as the aformentioned Eel Pie artists (albeit he’s only 32)— is a loremaster extraordinaire and, comprehensively, an ‘all round good bloke.’ As one London fan observed, ‘What I most like about Dom is his attitude…’ And we can’t argue with the observation. Dom approaches songwriting, artistry, performance, and embracing life (in general) with sensibly proportioned perspectives. Yep, he has good attitude!
We were fortunate to see his live show at the historic Eel Pie Club on 19th October, 2023.
To a whoosh of applause from the Twickenham crowd, the lissome Belfast-born chatterer took to a red-padded stool to elegantly weave ‘Hello In There‘ on acoustic guitar. If, like us, you’re a fan of Gallows Pole or the Spanish influenced Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (both by Led Zeppelin) you’d have adored ‘Hello In There‘ —possibly written about the calm storm that blows through a creator’s mind. It was closely followed by ‘The Fall‘ a number that became an overcast and doleful coronach about the collapse of society and the everyday upheavals we all must face.
The red cushion was kicked away as Dom checked his zipper (‘It always worries me when I get up from a stool, it truly does...’) and announced some ‘selfish fun.’ So we were treated to an inspired unveilment of Messin’ With the Kid. Dom’s version was, we think, heftier, earthier, and throatier than Gallagher’s rock ‘n’ roll adaption of the famed Mel London number.
a song of unfoldment & catastrophe with skillfully compelling guitar work and AN unwaveringly brambly, grumpy voice…
Raw Ramp Music Magazine
For fastidious blues connoisseurs the slow-handed ‘Lefty 2 Guns‘ (the song’s anti-hero Lefty is featured in imagery on Dom’s most recent album, Buried in the Hail) was a song of unfoldment & catastrophe, with skillfully compelling guitar work and that unwaveringly brambly, grumpy voice that delivered both surrender & hurt in equal measure. This tune was for those fans who prefer their blues songs to unspool ever deeper into their hearts.
The flop-haired, switch-hipped, darkbrew warlock then chatted about ‘Buried In The Hail’ and explained it was about being being mired in inner conflict. He apologised to the audience, saying the song was (in his words) ‘Incredibly boring…‘ but if there was any moment of tedium to come we didn’t notice it, not just because the musician come to a sudden halt about a third way through to address a sound problem. ‘I like you to see me struggle,’ he put forth. ‘I embrace the struggle‘ but also because his performance piece was an incredibly emotional spectacle!
Dom’s pick ‘n’ slide technique was quicksilvery fast; and his skills reawakened memories of mid-Seventies artrists such as Gilmour and Knopfler. His Howlin’ Wolf cover (Howlin’) was offered as pharmaceutical therapy “‘Howlin’ Wolf is medicine,‘ the performer told the Twickers crowd. ‘It should be handed out to folks on prescription…‘
His rendition provided space for his two accomplices Aaron McLaughlin (drums) and Ben Graham (bass) to demonstrate their adapatability and penetrability. Their combined punch and musical rhythm was as tight as an electric chair’s straps. We think it wouldn’t be overstating things to say they reminded us of Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding. Excellent!
The SONG transformed into a blue-lit black thunderbolt of musical expression & deep-throated thruminess…
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Dom’s ‘Crazy‘ featured in the finale. Written by Willie Nelson (but popularized by Patsy Cline) in Martin’s brooding moonless hands (and perhaps, also, his morrowless heart) the song, which all-along was about becoming insolvent in all manner of ways — transformed into a blue-lit black thunderbolt of musical expression & deep-throated thruminess. It spiked, it fell, then, thankfully, it bounced right back to a state of detoxification… amidst roarsome applause from the Eel Pie crowd. Revivifying!
If you took the the pivoting slenderness of a young Scott Gorham (circa 1974) combined it with the exalted dazzlement of a post-Yardbirds Jimmy Page, them added the husky, hardbitten voice of Jimmy Farrar (Molly Hatchet), you would get halfway close to comprehending the monumental genius of Dom Martin. An Eel Pie show to remember!
Dom Martin continues his “Buried In The Hail” Autumn 2023 Album Tour into the end of October and through November. See the dates (in the poster) below.
Words: © Neil Mach
Main photo: © Will Carter
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