Ally Venable / 100 Club / London
Something I’ve been looking forward to for some time, a first trip to one of Britains most iconic music venues at 100 Oxford Street. Originally opened in 1942 as the Feldman Swing Club, it changed it’s name in 1964 and became the 100 Club. A legendary venue that has hosted the who’s who of world music, including performances from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, The Who, Sex Pistols and Oasis!
Tonight, as we descend the stairs to the basement venue, we peruse the walls covered in photos of all the icons that have played here. The place is dark with it’s famous red and white wall with the ‘100’ logo as we wait for tonight’s headliner, blues singer and guitarist Ally Venable.
First up to warm up the crowd is local Londoners The Jesse Garwood band. A blues rock trio from South London. Let by 18 year old guitarist and singer Jesse Garwood, they play a selection of their own hard hitting original titles ands a selection of covers including a cover of one of his heroes Rory Gallagher and his track Tattoo’d Lady which went down a storm. There was also a snippet of Jimi Hendrix, which standing on these hallowed boards, Jesse declared it would be a travesty not to lol. Quite right !
I was struck by his incredible playing style and facial expressions which delivered a sense of passion in his craft. His playing style is expressive and confidence, and alongside others, such as Zac Schulze, shows that the UK blues rock genre is safe in some extremely talented hands !
Next up is Canadian, British Columbia native Garret T. Willie, of Namgis and Tlingit First Nation heritage. Only 26 he stepped out into the spotlight in trademark shades with his band and Gibson SG in hand, and proceeded to deliver a performance packed with verve and swagger, intensity and ferocity.
If I hadn’t known otherwise I would have thought Garret was born and bred Louisiana blues, such is his authentic look and guitar tone and distinct gravelly vocals. It didn’t take Garret long to build up a sweat, his arms glistening in the lights from his raw and energetic playing style. Visually you can see the intensity he puts into his craft and the end result is mesmerising.
Garret took every opportunity to encourage the crowd to sing and cheer along to the tracks, and the energy in the room was electric.
Garret brought smiles and excitement to the room. A true headliner and someone to watch out for next time he heads over the ocean to UK shores
The lights dim and the cheers go up from an expectant crowd as we await the arrival on stage of Ally Venable and her band. From Texas the 27 year old is a blues rock singer, songwriter and guitarist, who won the 2014 and 2015 ETX Music awards female guitar player of the year, and she and her band were the ETX Music Awards 2015 and 2016 blues band of the year.
She released her debut album “No Glass Shoe” in 2016 and has released six albums to date, the most recent being 2025’s “Money & Power”. Her band consists of Isaac Pulido on drums and EJ Bedford on bass and keys.
Ally opened the set with Unbreakable from her latest album which served as an immediate showcase of her incredible guitar skills delivering some timeless soulful blues licks. Unthinkable being a powerful anthem of a track, perfect as a show opener with it’s punchy riffs. Ally also has some incredibly strong vocals which add a level of intensity and passion to the music. Someone runs onto the stage and hands Ally a glass, and she raises a toast to thew audience before driving into Brown Liquor also from the latest album (on which she is joined by Christone “Kingfish” Ingram), which live has a ‘70’s rock vibe to the guitar style.
There’s a real good mix of styles on display throughout the set too, and the variety really adds to the experience. Tracks like Streamroller (by James Taylor) has that traditional, classic blues rock feel, whilst elsewhere in the closing number, we get a distinctly funky vibe in the cover of Give Up The Funk by The Parliament.
Perhaps for me the real highlight of her set was a stunning performance of Texas Lousiania a single in 2023 and on the “Real Gone” album which features the legendary Buddy Guy. Here EJ takes on the Buddy vocal lines with Ally delivering some exquisite guitar solos. It’s powerful and just drips with that Buddy Guy influence. It has everyone stamping their feet, dancing and singing along.
The funky feel is there again in Stopper Back Papa which again has the audience dancing and foot ‘stompin’ along to it’s infectious tone. And it’s back to 2023’s “Real Gone” for the slow and mellow Broken & Blue which on the album featured Joe Bonamassa. It’s laid back style, reminded me of an Imelda May classic, her strong vocals just dripping with raw emotion on a track all about regret and remorse, which has the audience standing, listening along in total silence - simply stunning !
Time just seems to fly by in Ally’s company, as you get lost in the intensity of her performance. The guitar work is exceptional and her vocals are just….. well you have to simply experience them yourself to fully appreciate them.
An amazing night of great music from three exceptionally talented artists, in such an ionic venue… What more could you possibly ask for ?
Setlist
Unbreakable
Brown Liquor
Steamroller (James Taylor cover)
Texas Louisiana
Broken & Blue
Stopper Back Papa
Give Up the Funk (Parliament cover)
