Words by: Lucy Heffer
Photos by: Mick Fallaize & Lucy Heffer
You don’t get much more iconic than London’s 100 Club, listed as the oldest independent venue worldwide. Over many decades, musical greats such as Muddy Waters and BB King, The Who, The Kinks, The Sex Pistols and The Clash have performed here, and tonight it’s the chosen stage for Bradford born Blues guitarist Chantel McGregor’s album launch. So keen were fans to hear the tracks performed at the release day gig, they were queued along Oxford Street and beyond, waiting for the doors to open.
Starting proceedings were “…three Brummie lads on a London stage…” That’s how singer Neil Murdoch described themselves. They can also be described as UK Blues Federation Emerging Act of the Year for 2025! It was nice to see Blue Nation performing on a wide stage, meaning that drummer Nick Sharman was on equal footing with Neil and bassist Luke Weston. The line up from right to left was in increasing levels of holiday tan with Nick (having returned from holiday at 5am that day), the outright winner!
I was concerned that the Blue Nation banter, which has become such an integral part of their performance, would be omitted to squeeze more tracks in to the 45 minute slot, but after Hand Me Down, Gimme Some Time and Ordinary People, normal service was resumed. Dressed resplendently in a paisley shirt and trademark appliquéd jacket, Neil greeted the crowd and then amusingly encouraged us all to yell “Hello” to Chantel who was manning her merch desk and gave an extra special welcome to the seated audience members.
Luke was introduced as “Jesus Christ John Lennon” by Neil, but went on to explain how he was referred to as “Jesus Christ Jack Sparrow” on holiday due to his tattoos! This was particularly amusing as he said he was a descendent of Capt. Henry Morgan (the inspiration for the Captain Morgan spiced rum brand).
After crowd favourite Time is a Thief, a special guest in the audience was introduced as Trevor Gibson who produced the album The Ordinary People. Run Straight Ahead was dedicated to him as it is his favourite song, as it’s “…a lived story…”. Post gig research confirmed that Trevor was previously a UN Aid Worker who was instrumental in arranging the Bruce Dickinson gig in mid-conflict Bosnia which was immortalised in the film Scream For Me Sarajevo. This could explain the song choice.
In a premeditated attempt to “kill Nick”, a back to back trio of songs were next performed, Once in My Life, Strangers and Every Single Time. Nick coped admirably despite his lack of sleep, and channeled his inner Animal from The Muppets, as Neil looked over smirking!
The set included a serious moment as Luke discussed the importance of opening up and talking to friends when facing mental health challenges, before the band delivered a beautiful performance of Echoes. There was just time for a thank you to Chantel for being the first artist to take the band on tour, a few years ago, before the closing number and audience sing-a-long Down By The River.
At the time of going to press there are six more opportunities to see Blue Nation supporting Chantel on this tour. If you want to see a polished yet impassioned performance that will make you laugh, possibly make you cry, but definitely leave you musically satisfied, grab a ticket!
There was a lot of anticipation in the air as the audience gathered around the stage eagerly awaiting the first opportunity to hear Chantel McGregor’s new album performed live. With a low stage and a petite performer, it was particularly snug as fans positioned themselves for a better view.
The fabulous February release Broken Heartless Liar was followed by an admittance from Chantel – “I never get nervous but my tummy feels like it’s got sparrows nesting!” Due to the album being just 40 minutes long, older releases were also performed including Eternal Dream, before second single Stand On My Own, closed with rapturous applause.
Chantel shared, “I am more nervous about playing these tracks live as even my parents haven’t heard them played yet!” But the crowd was mesmerised and completely focussed on the performance. Despite most of the audience having not yet heard a lot of the new tracks, the enthusiasm never waned.
The onstage smiles increased from Chantel as she relaxed in to the gig and played more of the older tracks. Pausing to give a shout to Neil Murdoch’s Yorkshire tea making skills which had charmed her mum, could this be the reason for the band being booked on another tour with Chantel? We may never know!
For the second time that night Echoes was performed, but this version was track five on Chantel’s brand new release The Healing. Another beautiful track superbly delivered. Chantel explained that there will be a new set list every night and she had even bought a new printer to take out on the road to facilitate this. Take note, get to more than one gig if you can, and you’ll get to hear more of the new release. Radiohead’s Creep was a surprise inclusion which superbly showcased Chantel’s vocal range, is this a permanent feature of the tour? Time will tell. Another highlight was a track which included a prog-tastic interlude but I was honestly too lost in the moment to note which song! It was intense and fabulous.
Chantel gave heartfelt thanks to the band (and her cat) for getting her through these last few months and finishing the album, and then reflected that the feeling in her tummy might actually be the donuts at the rehearsal studio, rather than starlings!
Refocussing back to her task in hand, the close out track of the evening was the title track The Healing. Chantel’s smile was wide at this point as the culmination of months of hard work came to fruition. The smile resonated in the vocals on this track and it was a powerful and anthemic closing number on both the album and of the night.
In closing comments, Chantel asked the audience to refrain from sharing online videos of the night so that fans can experience the tracks live for themselves. With this in mind, and to limit spoilers, I have refrained from sharing a full set list. There are over twenty more dates to come, and if you are enjoying the new album, I can assure you that the live delivery is spot on.
