Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse

Waterloo Bar Blackpool

26th January 2025

Live Review: Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse @ The Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool, on Sunday 26 January 2025

If ever there was a band to counter the wild vagaries of the weather of an English January, surely Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse are that band.

For whilst outside on the wind-haunted and rain-whipped streets of Blackpool it may be cold and bleak, within the confines of the Waterloo Music Bar, there’s warmth and light and heart aplenty. Those hardy souls who have braved the worst that the elements can throw at us have their dedication repaid tenfold and are treated to a fantastic show that is a balm to the soul in these dark dismal days, with this exceptional band delivering a wonderfully electric performance, big on energy, joy and emotion.

Over the two hours the band are on stage, they hold the audience rapt as they journey across the breadth of their three studio albums, throwing in some choice cover versions along the way. There’s a real sense of time and place in what Beaux Gris Gris do. Impossible to categorise, and all the better for it, they flirt with so many different genres creating a heady mix that is uniquely their own.

Opening with the infectious What’s My Name with its call and response chorus, the crowd are on-side and in fine voice from the moment the set begins. Fronting the band, Greta Valenti has a voice that could coax the angels from the heavens (or maybe even convince a few devils to switch sides), her range and versatility astounding. One moment she is belting out an up-tempo number such as the storming I Told My Baby, the next she’s delivering a delicate, tender song that could break your heart. Take the utterly stunning The Runaway, Greta’s soaring vocal lines combined with Robin Davey’s sublime guitar parts and Jack Herbert’s glorious keys masterfully casting a captivating spell that wraps itself around you and refuses to let go.

In fact, whilst Greta and Robin may be the heart of the band, the work of the other musicians elevates the performance to an altogether higher level. Jack’s keys really do deserve special mention but equally Charlie Kay’s effortlessly slinky and pulsing bass lines and Kev Hickman’s drumming (economic but used to brilliant dynamic effect to punctuate the song beats) are absolutely integral to the band’s wonderfully rich sound. What’s also evident is the pleasure these talented musicians get in playing together, whether it’s Jack grinning across whilst watching Robin peel off another breathless solo, or all three of the musicians gathering around Jack as he delivers more deftly dextrous keys, their camaraderie and appreciation of each other’s talents is clear to see.

Having said that, the rest of the band leave the stage for a brief acoustic interlude, where we get the first big surprise in the form of Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet, in a way that you’ve never heard it before. Greta’s phrasing and diction, showcases her skilled storytelling abilities; it’s at times breathy and almost spoken before once again rising to the heights. Robin’s guitars are the perfect foil, tasteful and devastatingly effective. The song takes on a new life in the hands of this duo, somehow both understated and dramatic all at the same time, an absolute masterclass in how to take a well-known song, reinterpret it and make it truly your own.

With the rest of the band back on stage, the band delve into their back catalogue again – it’s hard to pick out individual highlights as there are so many, but Baby, Baby was a personal favourite, starting with just beautifully simple keys and vocals before the rest of the band come back in, eventually building to a crescendo with another dynamic and emotive solo that Robin again throws out with a nonchalant ease.

Oh Yeah driven by some ferocious riffing and frenetic keys, begins a home run of upbeat numbers that have the Waterloo faithful in uproar, the band letting rip and showing off their rock n roll credentials. Satisfy Your Queen follows, a thing of swirling riotous beauty with big, bold riffing, another solo of fabulous proportions all punctuated by frantic hand claps from both on and off stage. Wild Woman’s Bluesy boogie carries on the full throttle momentum and sees Greta off the stage, in amongst the crowd and then continuing the song up on the bar, before being lifted back over the barrier by a front row faithful to deliver the last few songs. The main set comes to a close with crowd favourite, the fabulous Don’t Let the Bastards Drag You Down before one last hurrah with a startlingly brilliant cover of Queens of the Stone Age’s Make It Wit Chu, which on paper shouldn’t really work, but in actuality really, really does!

Tonight was another of those “pinch me, did that just happen” nights which the Waterloo Music Bar seems to excel at. The power of music is its ability to lift us up, to connect us and bring us together in a shared experience, that, just for those few sweet hours, lets you step out of the day-to-day and the ordinary and takes you somewhere else, somewhere rare and magical. It’s a truly special band that can do this but Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse are firmly in that very small, very exclusive club. There’s not a soul who witnessed tonight’s stellar performance that didn’t leave the Waterloo feeling uplifted, standing a bit taller, and with a little more spring in their step, and joy in their hearts….

For the first gig of the year, Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse have set the bar ridiculously high, so come on 2025, show us what you’ve got and let’s see if you can beat that.

If this is the Apocalypse then the end of the world has surely never sounded so good…

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