THE ZAC SCHULZE GANG + STRANGEWAYS– BRIGHTON PRINCE ALBERT – 14TH APRIL 2025
Along with Toby Lee, The Zac Schulze Gang are one of a few blues artists who are ripping up the rule book of the last fifty or so years and starting again. Rather than the curatorial approach taken by the older Eric Clapton and The Blues Band led by Paul Jones, they are treating the blues as a living, breathing musical form, and remembering that the genre is, after all, about articulating raw emotion of all kinds. That is not something that can be done in a scholarly, refined way. Take note Messrs. Clapton and Jones, and others of their ilk.
However, before we see how successful Zac and his gang are in that particular venture, we have the support band Strangeways to consider. Like The Zac Schulze Gang, Strangeways are from Kent, and the two bands seem to have brought along a Kentish ‘barmy army’ to this sold-out show. This is no bad thing, as it makes for a rowdy, joyous atmosphere. Strangeways’ gurning and possibly slightly insane singer is an excellent frontman. He gets the audience’s attention and keeps it. The band have something of an anarchic air, and a fairly humorous but punky attitude. Most of their material is original, but they also do an excellent cover of Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer, to which they add a small ska section. The song ends in a suitably angular way.
Modern Art is quite late 1970s ‘new wave’ sounding, whilst Gymkhana is in 6/8. One song, which, if I haven’t misheard (I probably have), is called The British Punk Roaming Society (???), has something of a mid-1990s Blur influence. They cover Elvis Presley’s “The Devil in Disguise,” which the singer delivers in a mock Elvis voice. It’s fun, but not essential. One song is a very close relation to Richard Hell and the Voidoids’ Blank Generation, but not sufficiently to be legally actionable. They’re a good support band, but probably need to hone their act a little. I enjoyed their set anyway.
One thing’s for sure, the audience are good and ready for The Zac Schulze Gang, who take the stage and tear right into Woman, which features a jaw-dropping solo from bassist Ant Greenwell. High Rollers is about “taking it too far in Vegas last summer”, whilst Hole In My Pocket “is about smoking weed”. If I fully understand Zac’s meaning, I would point out that this activity is illegal and is not something that we at Punk In Focus knowingly promote. I Fall Apart is a Rory Gallagher song from his self-titled album from 1971. Zac does Rory proud. He really is the most astonishing guitarist.
One thing that I had noted from the band’s Live And Loud album was that their set is quite covers-heavy. However, this isn’t really surprising as blues artists traditionally have played a lot of covers, usually very much putting their own stamp on them. The Zac Schulze Gang cover Walking The Dog, and in my opinion, play it way too slowly. However, the guitar solo is utterly incendiary, so much so that I can forgive them virtually anything. Wilko Johnson era Dr Feelgood are clearly a major influence, and the band play an absolutely adrenalised version of the Feelgoods’ She Does It Right.
They also cover Framed by The Sensational Alex Harvey, which I very definitely wasn’t expecting!! It includes snippets of Black Sabbath by the band of the same name, The Beatles’ Day Tripper, and Guns ‘n’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine. They know their rock alright! Before Messin’ With The Kid (as covered by the great Rory Gallagher), there’s a quick snippet of the intro for Stairway To Heaven before they get back into the song. That Zeppelin intro would have got them kicked out of most guitar shops, but everyone here seems to love it.
That’s the end of the main set, but rather than leave the stage, they bring on the singer from Strangeways to join them in a tribute to “a drummer who passed away recently”. Thus, we get The Jam’s In The City in honour of the late Rick Buckler. The Zac Schulze Gang have unceremoniously torn the roof off tonight. That’s okay, though. As a music venue, the Prince Albert will have such damage covered by their insurance.
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
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