It's a cold Friday night in November, and this BluesBunny still can't stay out of trouble. This evening's entertainment took place in a cosy wee pub called The Pandora, with Paula Knight bringing the noise.
Unfamiliar as I was with this Queen's Park bar, I was nonetheless pleased with the pints of Guinness. Though it was a fairly large pub, I still found it odd that it would play host to such a concert. Imagine being in an up-market alehouse, watching BBC News and discussing the football, only to have a hard rock band cause your pint to fall on you. It's not meant to happen like that.
It didn't. People actually came through to hear the music. BluesBunny has seen Paula Knight a few times in recent months, and been most impressed by her enthusiasm. The presence of a fair-sized crowd only spurred the band on. "Seven Skies" kicked the show into life. The pace kept up through to "I Can't Sleep Tonight", a slower, but no less powerful song. Paula and her band cleverly intersperse shades of funk, rock, and even metal. It's not often I can say this about these days, but Paula has a fantastic voice. Strong, inoffensive, and flowing. Drawing a comparison to any notable female singer troubles this writer, but this should take nothing from the power of Paula's vocals. The pseudo-metal fury of "Lady of Rage" drew the first set to a close. This slab of growling angst-rock is a shoe-in closing song, and is sure to be the cause of many a royal rumble in the future.
After a five-minute pause, Paula and her band returned for a set of classic rock covers. Pub jam favourites such as Free's "All Right Now" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid". What impressed most about this set was the band's ability to carry off such covers without compromising their own musical stylings. It serves as testament to the band's performance that the crowd grew as the show went on. A second rendition of Paula's "Something New" brought the show to an end. Not bad at all!
On a poignant note, this show was to be the last drummer Harvey would play with the band, due to overseas work commitments. BluesBunny sends its best regards to Harvey in his future endeavours.
It's only fair to say that this venue is not the sort of venue that you'd expect to see Paula Knight. However, on this occasion this odd pairing worked particularly well. Satisfied and slightly drunk, this BluesBunny caught a late bus home.