let’s hear it for The Heavy.
If you haven’t heard of The Heavy, you’re missing out. They’re a four piece (plus friends) from the West Country, who’ve been making their mark Stateside for years, but are unaccountably underappreciated over here.
They troubled the UK top 30 for the first time with their fourth album, ‘The Hurt and the Merciless’. But in the US, they make regular appearances on Letterman, and have played sell-out tours with Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. They play an intoxicating blend of driving funk-soul-blues-rock, and have a charismatic frontman who’s one part Curtis Mayfield, one part Paul Rogers. We were lucky enough to get guest passes to their show at the O2 arena in Birmingham last week, and they were in fine fettle — tight, energetic and compelling, one of the best live show I’ve seen in years. Catch them if you can before they go stratospheric.
www.theheavy.co.uk