Like a prophet of old, music vet Denny Laine reminded the filled house at Bogie’s of the essential elements of good music. Since he was there “at the beginning” with the original Moody Blues and then with Paul McCartney’s Wings, Laine has the unique ability to deliver music (as he did on his 80 minute set) that includes both authority and timeless attraction.
It sure didn’t hurt that he’s teamed with a band that is as airtight as the Houston Astros infield, with Brian Pothier/g, Alex Jules/key, Erik Paparozzi/b and Ben Lecourt/dr able to deliver material that ranged from infectious “Mercy Beat” tunes to earthy R&B with a healthy mix of danceable 70s songs from the Wings days.
Of the latter, fellow Wings alumnus Laurence Juber jumped on stage and joined the gents to contribute some tasty solos for a handful of McCartney-associated pieces like the upbeat “Again and Again and Again,” the rollicking blues “No World” the guitar chiming “No World” and the frantic “Live and Let Die.”
Material from early Moody Blues days included the gloriously passioned “Go Now,” a Fabulous Flamethrower of James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy” as well as a Left Bank Bohemia’d ditty “Boulevard de la Madeleine” while the two step shuffle boogie “Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mind)” turned the upscale club into a smoky basement dive in 60s Liverpool.
Laine and company even took the audience to the local pubs (with Pothier’s fragrant acoustic guitar) on thoughtful late night “Mull of Kintyre” and passioned “Deliver Your Children.” And, through it all, the thing that linked all of these styles of songs together was the lost art of vocal harmonization. Like a voice in the wilderness, Laine and company defy all modern vocal navel gazings and delivered wonderfully polished voices in both lead and backup during each to add textures like a vintage Monet. That, along with the lost art of making music danceable (remember that?) as on the boogie shuffle of “Helen Wheels” and even the anthematic “Band on the Run” had Laine serve as a musical compass for where we’ve somewhere made a musical wrong turn and how to, as they say, get back to where we once belonged.
Upcoming shows at Bogie’s Bar include Babylon Social Club 08/30, Griff Hamlin 09/13, Kiki Ebsen 09/16, David Garfield 09/20, Iain Matthews/Steve Postell/09/23 and Carl Verheyen 09/30