SLIM CHANCE | LIVE REVIEW
Earl Haig Memorial Club, Whitchurch, Cardiff, Wed 20 Mar
British music legend Ronnie Lane went on several musical journeys throughout his too short career. From 60s mod in The Small Faces, through to 70s rock’n’roll swagger of The Faces, finally settling down with the merry band of musical troubadours that make up Slim Chance, with whom he famously toured the UK in a giant circus tent. Lane passed away in 1997, succumbing to the ravages of MS; a Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert in 2004 spurred the band to get back together and they have been recording and playing ever since.
So it was on this wet Wednesday night in Whitchurch that a mainly silver-haired crowd were lucky enough to be treated to a patchwork of Slim Chance tunes from the mid-70s onwards, including How Come and Ooh La La. In many ways, this was quite surreal: a suburban members’ club, midweek, watching what looked like a regular bunch of guys, who between them have had the most extraordinary of musical careers. Aside from Ronnie Lane’s band, each of them have played with the likes of Clapton, Marriott, Townshend and Ronnie Wood. Guitarist Billy Nicholls, for example, trots out one of his own compositions halfway through the set: Can’t Stop Loving You, a huge hit for Leo Sayer in 1977. Who knew?
But it’s Slim Chance’s grassroots, goodtime style that is their greatest offering, blending folk, blues and soul with a general air of merriment. You can see why Lane found his musical home here. Everyone in the band sings at some point, and the range of instruments is equally impressive: original band members Charlie Hart and Steve Simpson regularly switch between guitar, fiddle, mandolin and keyboards, at one point performing a kind of fiddle duel.
But it’s when bass player and vocalist Steve Bingham steps up to perform Ronnie Lane classic The Poacher that the emotion in the air is palpable, even this long after Lane’s death. What a joyful reminder Slim Chance are of his legacy. That gypsy heart that famously eschewed 70s rock‘n’roll excess still lives on and thankfully, we still have a chance to experience it with the band he left behind.
words CLAIRE MAHONEY photos DARREN GRIFFITHS