Nine Below Zero

In the nearly thirty years that NBZ have been plying their trade the music business has moved on a number of times but the band have continued to play the same hard blues year in and year out. Now some bands grow stale with the constant touring and the same expectations and the same venues but others thrive and seem to deliver more with each time they hit the stage. Thankfully, Nine Below Zero fall well into the latter category especially since the rythmn section of Gerry McAvoy (bass) and Brendan O’Neill (drums) have been around since they played together with Rory Gallagher which puts at least another 5 years on them.
They tend to draw a vocal and appreciative audience and part of the fun is the mutual love and respect between the band and its followers. The other part of the fun is the superb guitar work of lead man Dennis Greaves and the harps of Mark Feltham. Strutting like a NorfLondon wideboy ' well he is a Tottenham supporter as he announced a number of times ' Greaves owns the stage and puts in a bid for most of the surrounding territory. The band play tight, fast R&B and blues perfectly in synch with each other. McEvoy looks like a bass player with a wide stance and constant grin and Feltham’s harp playing in sweeping and soulful. As they wind up to the finish with their trademarks ' 'Ridin’ on the L&M’ and 'Woolly Bully’ they send a satisfied audience out into the cold Oxford St. night.
A word for the support as well. 'Electric Lady Band’ have a lot of potential, chiefly invested in their young guitarist, Sophia. They play Hendrix covers well, without slavish copying and managed to win two encores from the enthusiastic crowd. A little more stage presence and they could well be ones to watch.