Jared James Nichols Live at Shepherds Bush Empire Supporting The Winery Dogs – Gig review

June 20, 2023 rocknews

“London! Are you ready to rock?!” shouts a visibly excited Jared James Nichols to a packed out and expectant Shepherds Bush Empire. The cheer that comes back indicates that the assembled are, indeed, more than ready.

They were in West London for an evening of classic rock and eagerly awaiting headliners The Winery Dogs, but Nichols and his band (bassist Diego Edsel and drummer Dennis Holm) took to the stage like they owned it with the confidence and swagger to suggest tonight’s show was a double-header.

Nichols’ set was hard, heavy, peppered with the blues and full of virtuosity. The speed and complexity of his solos – played using his fingers and no pick – is mesmerising and his playing style elicited some extraordinary (and at times subtle) sounds. It’s not hard to see why, in 2021, Gibson named him as a Global Ambassador for the brand – one of only four guitarists to be given the honour.

Their seven-song set had the audience fist pumping from the opener ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’. The subtle way that Nichols wove the melody from the Rolling Stones’ ‘Miss You’ into his solo in ‘Threw Me to the Wolves’ drew smiles and nods of appreciation.

“I’ve always wanted to play here” Nichols tells the crowd, before announcing that he has some vinyls with him, and that he’ll meet anyone who wants one and a “sweaty hug” at the back of the room in the interval.

The trio then play the opening bars to ‘War Pigs’, and what a way to finish a set. Those audience fist-pumps had turned into horns as they made the Black Sabbath classic their own.

Nichols, Edsel and Holm had well and truly warmed up an already hot and sweaty crowd with a set that barely let you catch your breath.

What a start to the night!

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Jared James Nichols is coming back to the UK in October for a headline tour, believe me this is one tour you do not want to miss.

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The Winery Dogs are a true Supergroup. Formed just over a decade ago by guitarist and vocalist Richie Kotzen (Poison, Mr. Big and over 20 solo albums), bass-wizard Billy Sheehan (David Lee Roth, Talas, Mr. Big) and drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre and many others), they are currently touring their third studio album ‘///‘. They make no secret that their influences are classic rock bands like Cream and Led Zeppelin, but they also take a steer from, amongst others, Alice in Chains and Lenny Kravitz.

These influences, and the enormous wealth of experience each of the trio bring, make for a massive sound, and their opener ‘Gaslight’ picked up where Jared James Nichols left off. The energy they brought to the stage was infectious and the crowd were in fine voice; cheering, clapping and singing along. Second song ‘Xanadu’ (NOT a cover of the Olivia Newton John number!) went down well, and was the second of five songs from ‘///‘

Richie Kotzen was in fine voice. His soulful vocals and range are certainly impressive and power the songs along with his guitar playing. How he gets those tones out of a Telecaster will remain one of life’s great mysteries. He, also, uses the fingers on his right hand, so anyone in the audience hoping to be thrown a souvenir pick tonight would have left disappointed! Kotzen’s playing, which included some extraordinary solos and meaty, bluesy riffs, was perfectly complimented by Billy Sheehan’s bass. It cut through with his unique tone and sound and he played it like a true showman. At all times, though, he was firmly locked into the groove with Mike Portnoy – his own playing an outrageous mix of showmanship and precision. His backing vocals were also strong and complimented Kotzen’s voice perfectly.

Portnoy played a fantastic solo just prior to ‘The Other Side’ (from 2013’s eponymous debut) before Billy Sheehan showed us why he’s the best in the business, doing things on the bass that shouldn’t really be allowed!

‘Oblivion’ from the ‘Hot Streak’ album finished the main set, before they returned for an encore of ‘Regret’ and ‘Elevate’ to riotous applause and an appreciation from the audience as to what they’d just witnessed.

The Winery Dogs are now off for a jaunt around Europe before returning tot he UK in October.

We hope to be there.

You should too.