| Born in '96 and still one of the premier bands of the
Swedish blues scene. A tremendous fourpiece, delivering soulful blues
as if they had been based in Memphis, not in Göteborg, Sweden.
Christer caught up with the Voodooers at Henriksberg's "Tre Våningar
Blues", Friday Sept. 3 '98:
"The
most powerful Mr Bo outfit yet, the Voodooers formly exploded into their
first number. Proudly behatted Mr Bo, armed with his (made-in-Texas) Robin
guitar and a silver face Super Reverb (plus a cable: that's all you need,
folks!) sang and played with obvious joy and supreme confidence. The first
set gave us a long and beautiful "It Takes Time" (an Otis Rush
song - although my mind wandered off to the Bloomfield & Gravenites
version on "Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West" cut in '69
with Ira Kamin on organ), "Part Time Love", "Nightlife",
"Howlin' For My Darling" and finished with a fast instrumental:
"All About That Girl".
Second set opened with a great "Let The Good Times Roll" and
rolled on with "Santa's Been Messin", "Somebody Loan Me
A Dime", "I Believe To My Soul" and more.
Third set: "Don't Burn Down That Bridge", "Big Legged Woman",
"Caledonia" (a firm favourite of mine!), "I'll Take Care
Of You"...
To my ears, Mr Bo's vocals never sounded better. The soultinged material
seemed to suit his voice even more than the regular Chicago stuff: it
should have been more difficult but it sure didn't sound that way...
Guitar buffs take notice: this guy knows how to get a righteous blues
sound out of a guitar!
The Hammond swirled and sighed and roared in all the right places. The
mere sight on stage of a battle scarred Hammond with a Leslie cabinet
fills you with anticipation. And Al Kooper - sorry: Bo Hansson - lived
up to all our expectations.
Messrs. Mellqvist and Mörck built the firmest foundation imaginable.
No wonder Lars Mellqvist is a busy musician.
And the audience (always a good crowd at the Henriksberg gigs) enjoyed
themselves hugely & loudly.
If I had a hat I'd take it off this minute as a tribute to the hardworking
ladies of the local blues society. And then I'd put it back on and queue
up for that next Voodoo gig!" |