Seasick Steve, Hammersmith Apollo, gig review: Former hobo veers from hoedown punk to tender ballads
Sonic Soul Surfer performed with expressive violinist Georgina Leach and drummer Dan Magnusson
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There is plugging your new album, then there is plugging in a portable turntable and playing it for a live audience. It is testament to the affection Steven Wold is held in here that he gets away with such stunts.
As Seasick Steve, being a skilled raconteur plays a key role in resurrecting music forms usually heard on field recordings. Many years have passed since he was a hobo himself, a long time even before he found fame in the mid-noughties, yet this former carnie's charm and commitment lubricates a two-hour show that flows from hoedown punk to tender ballads.
Playing mainly as a duo with similarly hirsute drummer Dan Magnusson, a video screen brings out the details, focusing as much on Wold's outlandish instruments – one-string washboard, hubcap guitar – as on the artist's bearded, weather-beaten visage. Also key is the chemistry that enables the pair to extend hillbilly stomps into wilder jams.
Much of the set comes from current, return-to-form, album Sonic Soul Surfer, aided partly by expressive violinist Georgina Leach. While they lack the necessary Nick Cave-style drama for the sombre 'Swamp Dog', the brooding intensity of 'In Peaceful Dreams' suggests this old dawg can still hone old tricks.
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