I do love a good venue, and the Edinburgh Queen’s Hall is one of my favourites. We were here tonight to catch up with that blues fireball, Samantha Fish, on the last date of her Bulletproof UK Tour, but first up were The Zac Schulze Gang.
The band, formed in Gillingham, England in 2020, consists of frontman Zac Schulze, bassist Ant Greenwell, and drummer Ben Schulze. They wasted no time setting the tone with a blistering version of the Rory Gallagher classic, “Laundromat.” Not even a technical hiccup requiring a guitar change could break their stride. It was a solid start, and I thought Zac pulled off the vocals very well.
The fast pace didn’t stop as they launched into their new single, “Woman,” with impressive, fast-paced guitar, bass, and killer drums. Vocally, this reminded me of Gary Moore at his blues best, with the guitar style as well, and some blistering drumming and basslines. Just wow.
We had a number of covers on the setlist tonight, including a nicely paced, soulful version of “Walking the Dog,” a real funky “Dry Spell,” and a not-bad rendition of “She Does It Right” from Dr. Feelgood, which is one of my favourite tracks.
We also heard a couple from last year’s Made of Three EP, with “Hole in My Pocket” and the excellent “Ballyshannon Blues.” The latter was a tasty guitar-driven, fast-paced, foot-tapping cracker of a tune.
The boys ended with another Rory classic, “Messin’ With The Kid.” While I found it a bit too fast-paced at times, it was still good. The song also blended into part of “Oh Well” as they ended their set. This was a band really out to show their stuff tonight, definitely a band worth checking out if you like your blues with just a touch of fire.
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The main event now as Samantha Fish & Co hit the stage and proceeded to flatten the place with a high-octane version of MC5’s “Kick Out The Jams.” The drums kicked in as we caught sight of her “Wildheart” with its thumping drums and stabbing guitar licks. This girl was on fire tonight.
We headed to 2021’s Faster for “Better Be Lonely.” This was a remarkably groovy track that really hit me hard in the heart tonight. Just a fantastic song with impressive vocals. She was on a different level tonight compared to the past times I’ve seen her. Just unbelievable.
The funky swagger of “Kill Or Be Kind” sauntered in now with those captivating vocals from Samantha that just make you almost swoon with their intensity. The band just motored along with her, the guitar kicked in as we motored along to “Watch It Die.” This was definitely the most guitar-driven show I’ve seen her do, and that’s not a bad thing.
The mood slowed down a touch, but in a sultry, moody way, as we swaggered along with “Chills & Fever” with some audience participation in the chorus. We got back to the faster pace now with one of my favourites, the fantastic guitar-driven “Bulletproof” on that cigar box guitar on intense slide mode. The microphone switching change in vocal tones made this just one of those timeless classics.
The pace picked up another notch as we had “Miles to Go” kick you in the gut and didn’t stop hitting you. We got a chance to recover as she got the acoustic out for a fabulous version of “Jim Lee Blues Pt.1” before the groove kicked back in with the bouncing “Somebody’s Always Trying” with some tasty guitar licks and fantastic drum rolls.
The drums led us into “Poor Black Mattie” with its real old-school blues feel before we met another sultry old timer, “I Put A Spell On You.” Oh man, what a voice! She definitely had put one on this audience tonight. Just stunning.
The band ended the set with the hard-rocking “Black Wind Howlin'” with a fair bit of soloing, which even encouraged bassman Ron to in. Samantha even left the stage at one point to the crowd at the barrier while mid-solo and got back on stage without even losing her place. A tremendous end to the set as they wandered off stage.
After a short wait, the band came back for the encore, a cover of “Goin’ Down South” with an extra band member, Mr. Zac Schulze. The pair proceeded to trade licks all the way through it, fabulous.
This was a show of outstanding performances all the way from the band to Samantha and the band. She was the golden goddess of the blues tonight, absolutely on fire with the guitar being her instrument of destruction tonight. This was definitely one of the best times I’ve seen her live. Fabulous show.
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Photos by Gary Cooper
