Preview

After 16 years, 3250 concerts, and with a fan mailing list exceeding 20,000, The Hamsters (Snail's Pace Slim: guitar/vocals, Otis Elevator: drums/vocals, Zsa Zsa Poltergeist: bass/vocals) are established as the UK's premier Blues-Rock attraction. This has been achieved purely by hard work, with the band handling all their own affairs, thereby disproving the popular misconception that it can't be done without major-label 'muscle'.

Originally formed for their own amusement and taking their name from the Sex Pistols (who once used it as a pseudonym to outwit hostile councils), The Hamsters enjoy the irony of being an aggressive band with a cuddly name - and although serious about what they do, they don't take themselves too seriously. Band members have performed with artists such as Eric Clapton, Alison Moyet, Doctor Feelgood, Walter Trout, Art of Noise, Robin Trower and the late great veteran of British Blues, Alexis Korner and Slim has been voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC.

Widely regarded as leading interpreters of Jimi Hendrix's, and ZZ Top's songs, they're equally comfortable playing Blues or tearing into a hard rocking original. And tonight they'll be showcasing some of the new material from their latest studio album, 'Open All Hours', which they hope to have out in time for the gig.

'A guitar virtuoso performance you'll rarely see matched anywhere and the tightest rhythm section in the business' - Blueprint

'Undoubtedly, one of Britain's very best live bands' - Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2

Review

Take three dedicated, teetotal, non-smoking Greater London musicians, steeped in the archetypal blues/rock traditions of Hendrix and ZZ Top, who play three to four gigs every week, year in year out, who maintain a determined distance from the claws of the major record labels, preferring instead to take care of all aspects of their own business, and you have The Hamsters. The sheer, no-nonsense professionalism of this much-revered power-blues trio is an object lesson to anyone aspiring to a career as a rock muso - 80-hour weeks (allowing for ceaseless travelling and all the administration that their record label, bookings, promotion, and 20,000-strong fan-base entails) are the norm for these guys, evaporating once and for all any illusions that being a full-time rock'n'roller is a hedonistic breeze - it ain't. It's bloody hard work, but as they proved to a substantial Talbot crowd, it's work they revel in - this was a great show.

Snail's Pace Slim, resplendent in his Axis Bold As Love shirt, is one monster guitar slinger, and has the style that Hendrix invented down cold, but it's always an affectionate tribute, never a pastiche. Zsa Zsa Poltergeist (bass) and Otis Elevator (drums) are a thunderous rhythm section that never lets up ... mind you, after 3,250 gigs, it's no surprise they've got the hang of it. As for the material, band originals like 'Taxi Driver', 'The Walk', and 'Burning the Church House Down' really hit the spot, as did the slide showcase 'I Wouldn't Let My Guitar Down'. Rightly or wrongly, it's the Hendrix-related sections of the show that really get the audience's juices flowing: we got 'Hey Joe' (I'll refrain from entering the endless debate over who wrote the bloomin' thing, although it sure wasn't Hendrix), a corruscating 'Little Wing' (with a solo that echoed Duane Allman's sterling template on the Layla album), and an astonishing 'Star Spangled Banner' that segued seamlessly into a vintage 'All Along The Watch-Tower'. As if that wasn't enough, Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads' had new life breathed into it in funk guise, and the evening climaxed with a neo-ZZ Top spectacular, replete with illuminated guitars, and an audience walk-about, which also proved that all three of our heroes are no slouch on each other's instruments, either.

Loud? Sure, but The Hamsters have the taste and skill to make a healthy degree of volume a cornerstone of their show, rather than the offensive assault that characterizes so many Brit-plod blues-rock outfits; by the same token, they confound the dreaded 'blues-beards' with their determination not to take themselves too seriously - not much point in being Britain's hardest-working band unless it's an enjoyable experience for all concerned.