Samantha Fish tore the roof off Band on the Wall in Manchester, UK when she passed through on May 14th. She entered the stage looking very sassy followed by her three band members. With a 50s hairstyle and clothes to match, you could just tell she was full of fire and spirit as she strapped on her white Gibson SG. This lady was known as a blues guitar prodigy at 21 and can shred with the best of them. Saying, “I’m gonna play a Charley Patton song,” she grabbed her Taylor acoustic and performed a sublime version of “Jim Lees Blues Pt 1”, taking the audience back to the Mississippi Delta of the ‘30s.
Wonderful versions of “Blood In The Water”, “Daughters” and “Need You More” from her Belle Of The West album were performed with the help of her kick-ass band of Phil Breen on keyboards, Chris Alexander on bass, and Scott Graves on drums. From blues to rock to country, they created a very real and honest sound, and the raw emotion in her vocals on one song transformed in beautifully soulful in the next.
Fish performed two new songs tonight that have been released as singles – “Watch It Die” and “Love Letters” and both songs showed there is a real focus on songwriting from Fish while being warmly received by the audience. She also played slide guitar on and off throughout the night while jumping from electric, acoustic, and of course her now signature cigar box guitar to perform a hot version of “Crow Jane” from her Chills & Fever album. By the end of the performance it was clear we will see her star rising and shining a bright light on us all.
