The Brothers Grimm

Live at The Unicorn Marden, Saturday 3rd November 2012

Well, that was an effin’ good night.

If that sounds a bit strong, it was the band itself (or rather the Big Gaffer) that set the tenor for the evening. I would quickly add that if that makes me sound a bit of an old fuddy-duddy in the face of a few expletives, then that is also not the case, the odd swear word was spoken in good humour and accepted in the manner intended.

This was a big band for the Unicorn, 7-piece and, in the Gaffer’s own words, some big lads to squeeze into a small area. Brothers Grimm were new to the Unicorn, but there were some familiar faces in their number. Leigh Highwood, who performed with his own band at the same venue a month before along with Gary Hobley on the bass guitar. Highwood, on this occasion took his place on keyboards. Joint vocalist with the Gaffer was Jim Riley, who has had an interesting career in the music business if you read his biography on the internet. Who is the Big Gaffer, sorry plenty of searching has failed to produce a name.

The Brothers Grimm are a parody of the Blues Brothers with their black suits and dark glasses but their music is a mixture of blues and rock and roll. Opening with Gimme Some Lovin’, the old Spencer Davis Group number, followed by a couple of their own songs. With the audience suitably warmed up, they launched in favourites I Got My Mojo Working and Wooly Bully and went into the interval with the place rocking to Johnny Be Good.

The second session began with the Blues Brothers’ Everybody Needs Somebody. When the Gaffer said their next song would be Country and Western, apart from surprise, I readied myself for a hoe-down. What followed was a very humorous version of the theme from Rawhide, very cleverly performed. A big finish was in order and rock and roll favourite Route 66 brought proceedings to a heady close.

I’m not sure how often these musicians get together as The Brothers Grimm because internet searches don’t throw up a great deal of information, but they were effin’ good.