Ayron Jones Dominates Camden Assembly with An Electrifying Performance – Gig Review

July 9, 2023 rocknews

Tonight was loud. Really loud!

The upstairs room of the Camden Assembly was packed out to welcome Seattle-based rocker Ayron Jones and his band. First, though, the gathering crowd were in for a treat in the form of The Heavy North.

The Heavy North

We’ve been following the Liverpool sextet for a couple of years now and can confirm they are one of the best live acts on the circuit, with their own blend of blues, garage rock and soul. Coming into this London show off the back of a successful gig in Gibraltar last week, they opened with a storming ‘The Genie’, the three guitars of Jose Ibanez, Jack Birch And singer Kenny Stuart blaring through the house PA. By the time they’d reached fourth number ‘Delta Shakedown’, the room was filling up and the crowd were nodding along appreciatively.

These guys can really play. Bassist Andrew Horrocks and drummer Mark Rice provide a rock solid platform for both Jose and Jack to go full ‘guitar hero’ with some spectacular solos, and Kenny Stuart’s voice, which has elements of Sam Cooke and Otis Reading, just soars.

Their 8 song set went by in a flash, with Kenny getting the room to sing along with the final two songs of ‘Satisfy You’ and ‘To the Wind I Go’.

The Heavy North gained a lot of new fans tonight, and justifiably so. They are not yet signed, but that can’t be for much longer..

You can find out more and pre order their second album, ‘Delta Shakedown’ from https://www.theheavynorth.com

The Heavy North play Kendal Calling on 29 July and a huge homecoming show on 1 December at the Camp & Furnace, Liverpool with a 12-piece band.

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Ayron Jones

Ayron Jones and his band took to the stage to huge cheers from the crowd. The lighting in the small room providing a dramatic atmosphere, played up to the full by charismatic bassist Bob Lovelace – resplendent in cowboy hat and bouncing around the stage like Flea. His bass grooves were complimented by super-cool drummer Bobbi ‘Big Sexxxy’ Jimmi and second guitarist Matthew Jacquette.

The quartet opened with ‘Boys From the Puget Sound’, an ode to Seattle, and a song Jones once described as: “like when you and your black rock band walk into a small town club and then get told you don’t belong there, until you turn your amps up to ‘I DON’T GIVE A FUCK”.

It was a call to arms and set the tone for the rest of the night.

       “I already called the fucking police
       Cuz we the baddest band in town
       We’ll blow out all these fucking windows
       Here come the boys from The Puget Sound”

Jones and the band play music to match their attitude, but he couldn’t help break character when his young daughter FaceTime’d him. He was all smiles as he tuned his phone to the crowd, who all waved at her before she was told “Daddy’s going to have to call you back”. Then it was back to business.

The band delivered a tight, energetic set that displayed their musicianship and showed us just why they have, in recent years, been chosen to support bands from Guns N Roses to Public Enemy via Patti Smith, Living Colour and the Rolling Stones.

New single ‘Blood in the Water’ was warmly received, and the rest of the set went by in a sweaty, energetic blur.

The band left the stage for the closing number of the main set, with Jones playing ‘The Sky is Crying’ solo, but they were all back for the encore of ‘Take Me Away’.

It seems to not matter what size stage this band are on, the crowd get the same intense performance. Ayron Jones and his band are a force to be reckoned with. We’re not sure when they will be back in the UK, but when they are, be sure to catch them.