Vintage Trouble @ the Waterfront

What music would you choose to hear at the end of the world? A hard rain is falling tonight in Norwich, the streets are like rivers, and lighting bolts fork the sky as we run to the Waterfront through an absolute deluge.

Inside it’s a proper sweatbox. There’s condensation running down the walls and umbrellas and anoraks dripping on the floor. But there’s a packed house of troublemakers and passionate soul fans who have braved the conditions to make it out on a school night to relight the fire in their hearts. A happy vibe, an excited vibe, an anything-could-happen vibe. I’m in shorts and sandals and ready to be blown away.

Slydigs from Warrington are our support for tonight. Fresh from supporting The Who in the States (The actual Who!) they make classic British rock n roll with a hint of the tilt and roll of country. As you’d expect they’re very polished, very professional and give lots of confident banter with the crowd. Lead singer Dean Fairhurst isn’t blessed with the most baddass of names, but sporting leopard print boots, shades and trilby he pulls off the frontman role with ease and a good deal of presence. Their 45 minute set includes sweet ballads and all-out rock as well as a great cover of Hendrix’s Hey Joe. The audience are singing along by the end and there are queues of people getting stuff bought and signed by the band at the merch stall as soon as their set finished. Bound to be filling stadiums in the not too distant future, mark my words.

The sweat continues to pour off our bodies and walls as tension builds ahead of Vintage Trouble’s performance; this is their third visit to The Waterfront. Introduced by a voiceover as The New Protocol Of Soul, the set starts with gut wrenching guitar and drums from Nalle Colt and Richard Danielson. It's VERY loud. Lead singer Ty appears in black tie with a peacock feather in his lapel, and instantly we’re in an old soul club somewhere in America about 3am. The lights are blue, and warm - the crowds are madly squashed together and up for it.

Ty starts as he means to go, standing on the barrier from the get go for Run Baby Run. At the end, Ty blows a kiss to the bloke who supported him by holding his hand, and this is where the essence of Vintage Trouble lies – good time rock n roll accompanied by good times with good people. He’s got a charming confidence, and is an extremely classy showman - his voice isn’t the most unique I’ve ever heard, no James Brown or Al Green, but it’s immensely solid, warm and sweet. Vintage Trouble have some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever seen. They know every song from the moment the first notes begin, they cheer and dance and punch the air and are in the palm of Ty’s hand throughout. We get a couple of brand new songs thrown into the set, both of which have a slight Michael Jackson feel to them, a bit of an 80’s groove. The band are extremely well practiced and tight as hell, no doubt from their many years playing live all around the world. It’s a proper show – Ty gets into the audience, he dives face first into us (I can just see his patent leather dress shoes floating above the heads), he encourages us to high five strangers and introduce ourselves to each other, he speaks seriously about making positive changes in the world through individual efforts. There’s a euphoria about tonight, not just from the music which is incredibly uplifting, but from the sense of community and love that this band offer and which the audience deliver right back to them in droves. Not Alright With Me is a moment of calm reflection, and Pelvis Pusher is a joyful romp before the encore, a full on version of Ike and Tina Turner’s Get It On. It’s an hour and half of sweat, joy and exorcising demons from Vintage Trouble, and every minute was special.

The greatest joy for me was a lady probably in her 60's. I saw her arrive on her own. She took off her anorak. She started to cut an immense rug by the merch stand, out of the crowds and all on her own. She was lost in the music and it was beautiful to see. So. If the world had indeed ended last night in that pouring storm, we would have been happy to take our last breaths in the soulful world of Vintage Trouble.