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Purchase tickets
online for some of the Northeast's leading music
concerts
and shows.
Tickets £13.00 on the door tonight.
Doors 7.30pm
Mitch Laddie Trio
7.30pm
Coco Montoya
9.00pm
Close
11.00pm
This will be a standing gig.
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Latest News ..... Mitch Laddie Trio to do the support.
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+ Mitch Laddie Trio
Thank You to
Coco Montoya for an incredible performance at the
Cluny on Thursday 4th March. We had a big turn-out and
if ever a crowd was "up for it" this was the gig. The
show got off top the best possible start by the
Mitch Laddie Trio who did a
first rate support set. Many in the audience had not
heard of Mitch, but were glowing in their praise for the
young guitarist. Note he is back with his own show on
the 12th April. Coco gave us two solid hours of
breathtaking musicianship. There was classic blues, more
rocky stuff, touches of soul and the odd samba rhythm
could be detected. Coco and the band played out of their
skins. His guitar playing was at times was unbelievable
with several show-stoppers. Even the drum solo was
brilliant and rather than using it to visit the toilet
or go and get a pint, the crowd lapped it up - excellent
stuff! Obviously, we will be getting Coco back, but
sadly it won't be for another year. One of the best gigs
we have ever staged!
Coco Montoya gets a CannyGigs 5 Star
recommendation. That's not hype to sell a few tickets,
it's because we rate this guy so highly. If you are
Walter Trout fan, you must come and see this
cracking guitarist. Blistering contemporary blues…piercing
attack, funky, shivery guitar tones and
aggressive, soulful vocals" - Blues Revue
"In a world of blues guitar pretenders,
Coco
Montoya is the real McCoy. Be prepared to get
scorched."- Billboard
Over the course of his 30-year career, guitarist
and vocalist Coco Montoya's explosive guitar
playing and soul-driven voice have propelled him
to the upper reaches of the blues-rock world.
From his early days as a drummer to his current
status as one of the top-drawing guitarists and
vocalists on the blues-rock scene,
Montoya has
forged his reputation through years of hard work
and constant touring.
And it all started with a
chance meeting in the mid-1970s with legendary
bluesman Albert Collins, who offered Montoya a
gig as his drummer. Albert took an immediate
liking to Montoya, becoming his mentor and
teaching his new protégé secrets of the Collins
"icy hot" style of blues guitar. Five years
later, John Mayall happened to catch Montoya at
a jam session and was blown away. This led to
Montoya's touring the world for ten years with
the legendary Bluesbreakers.
Since stepping out
as a bandleader in 1993, Montoya has released
four solo albums and has performed non-stop at
clubs, concert halls and major festivals all
over the world. At every show, fans' jaws
dropped, and critics raved about Montoya's
mind-bending guitar licks and impassioned
vocals. "The fiery blues that issue forth from
Coco Montoya's guitar are awe-inspiring and
boogie requiring," shouted The Village Voice.
"Blistering, pure blues," cheered
Blues Revue.
Now, with Can't Look Back (AL 4885), Montoya
turns up the intensity with another dose of his
feral, soul stirring music.
On Can't Look Back, Montoya once again uses
blues as a blasting off point for his rock
solid, groove-laden music. With his icy hot
guitar playing and his soulful, unaffected
vocals, Montoya attacks each of the 13 songs
with deep feeling and ferocious energy. Produced
by Jim Gaines (Luther Allison, Santana, Stevie
Ray Vaughan), every song on Can't Look Back
(including five Montoya originals) burns from
start to finish. From the scorching Wish I Could
Be That Strong to the grooves and passion of
Trip, Stumble And Fall to the ear-catching
Can't
Look Back to the reinvention of
Albert Collins'
Same Old Thing, Montoya brings all the unbridled
force of his acclaimed live shows into the
studio for a foot-stomping, guitar-fuelled ride.
Coco Montoya was born in Santa Monica,
California in 1951 and raised by working class
parents with a large record collection. As a
youngster, he enjoyed picking out notes on the
guitar, but he grew up playing drums in local
rock bands. In 1969, Montoya saw
Albert King
opening up a Creedence Clearwater Revival, Iron
Butterfly concert and was transformed. "After
Albert got done playing," says Montoya, "my life
was changed. When he played, the music went
right into my soul. It grabbed me so emotionally
that I had tears welling up in my eyes. Nothing
had ever affected me to this level. He showed me
what music and guitar playing were all about. I
knew that was what I wanted to do."
By the mid-1970s, Montoya was playing drums in
several local rock bands, one of which played a
small Culver City, California bar on weekends.
One Sunday, Albert Collins was booked to play a
matinee there and the club owner gave Collins
permission to use Montoya's drums.
Montoya
continues the story: "I show up to pick up my
equipment and I see that someone had been
playing my drums and I got a little angry with
the club owner. So Albert called me up at the
club and was real nice and apologetic. I went
down to see his show and it really just tore my
head off. The thing that I had seen and felt
with Albert King came pouring back on me when I
saw Albert Collins."
A few months later, Albert desperately needed a
drummer for a tour of the Northwest and he
called Coco. "When he called," recalls
Coco, "I
figured we'd rehearse for a few weeks before the
tour. Instead, he told me he'd pick me up in
three hours." During the tour, Albert took
Montoya under his wing, teaching him about the
blues. After the tour ended,
Montoya remained in
Collins' band for five more years. It was during
this time that Coco began doubling on guitar.
And Collins went out of his way to teach the
youngster. "We'd sit in hotel rooms for hours
and play guitar," remembers
Montoya. "He'd play
that beautiful rhythm of his and just have me
play along. He was always saying, 'Don't think
about it, just feel it.' He taught me to tap
into an inner strength. What a great gift he
gave me." As Montoya's guitar playing improved,
his relationship with Collins kept growing. "He
was like a father to me," says
Coco, who often
crashed at Collins' house. When Collins declared
Montoya his "son," it was the highest praise and
affection he could offer. In return, Montoya
learned everything he could from the legendary
Master of the Telecaster.
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Mitch Laddie Trio
There are
many budding guitarists, but most don’t get past a gig
at the local the pub. However, one Northeast lad has
made the break-through. Mitch Laddie is a 19 year old
from Ebchester in County Durham, but while he was only
sixteen his emerging talents were spotted by American
blues legend Walter Trout in 2006.
Trout
invited Laddie to jam with him and the band at Colne
Hall and live on stage in front of a big crowd,
Laddies’s potential was emphatically confirmed. Trout
had no hesitation to further invite him over to
Amsterdam to guest at his gig at the famous Paradiso. It
was here that Provogue Records boss Ed van Zijl was
immediately impressed and signed the young guitarist to
the influential blues label.
Trout has
become a true friend and mentor to Laddie and gave him a
guest spot at his recent O2 Academy gig in Newcastle.
The crowd was blown away at the immense skill and
passion of the youngster and gave him thunderous
applause.
Laddie
began playing guitar seriously at the age of 13 after
suffering an injury, which led to several months in
hospital. He learned Pink Floyd, Mark Knopfler and Chuck
Berry ditties and focused on Hendrix and Gilmour licks.
But it wasn’t until he heard the great Stevie Ray
Vaughan that he really jumped into the deep end of the
blues.
Now with
his own band, The Mitch Laddie Trio, he will launch his
first album titled “This Time Around” for
Provogue and embark on a major promotional UK tour next
April. Laddie has also recorded three live sessions with
Walter Trout with a view to one of the cuts being
selected as a bonus track on the new album.
It’s
certainly taken many years of hard work, but it’s good
to see a ‘local lad’ making the grade. Studio work is
very interesting, but Laddie prefers to play live and
will be the special guest of Coco Montoya
www.mitchladdie.com
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