Dervan “Derv” Gordon was born in Jamaica, but moved to the United Kingdom where he and his brother Lincoln were part of one of the first interracial bands in the UK, along with Gayana born Eddie Grant called The Equals. The three of them being the principal songwriters with “Baby, Come Back” being their only number one UK hit. Growing up, I don’t recall ever hearing of the band, and, based on what Gordon said, they never toured in the US due to their interracial make-up, but I do remember a few of their songs. Skipping ahead nearly 50 years, Gordon came across the band So What out of Oakland, California, and found a new band to carry on those songs with.
Before Gordon took the stage, So What did a set of their own, with their brand of music which seemed to me a British Invasion meets British Punk. Their song “Deep Freeze” reminded me of AC/DC, especially since lead guitarist/vocalist Jason Duncan noodled the intro to “For Those About To Rock” before diving headlong into it. The band is made up of John Tyree on drums, with some of the quickest hands I’ve seen, Sean M Lennon (no relation) was constantly in motion on bass, with Paul Osborrow playing rhythm guitar. Bothe Tyree and Oxborrow also provided harmonies throughout both their own and Gordon’s sets. Being from the Bay Area of California, of course they need a song about the local weather phenomenon, as they ripped into “Fog City.” I’m not sure where they came up with the song “Hard Gum” but I wonder if it had to do with one reviewer calling their musical style “Hard Bubblegum Punk.”
Without taking a break at the end of their nearly hour long set, they brought up the 79 year old Gordon. Expecting a limited set, considering Gordon’s age and the fact that So What had been on the stage for a whole set, I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case as they pulled out a 20 song hour and a quarter full set, with a huge selection from The Equals song catalog, beginning with “Diversion,” a kind of pop/afro-Jamaican song. In fact, pretty much all of The Equals’ songs played had that same Caribbean influence to them, including, “Viva Bobby Joe.” Not without controversy, the socially active band ran into trouble when the BBC, banned “Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys” and, as Gordon related, thanks to ITV, they were able to play it, garnering enough requests that the BBC finally relented and let them perform the song on “Top Of The Pops”, but somehow, the tapes were erased. Another activist song, and one of my favorites, was “Police On My Back” reminding Gordon of being arrested for murder in a case of mistaken identity (racial profiling?) and having his band show up to convince the police he had an alibi. A stand out part of the show for me, and it came early in the set, was “Michael And The Slipper Tree.” Of course the final song of the night (well nearly the next morning) was the aforementioned number one “Baby, Come Back.”
One thing I really enjoyed with the pairing of So What with Gordon, was bringing a much harder edge to the original 60’s sound. This was especially evident on the two socially conscious songs giving them a more angry biting tone. While all of the songs age very well on their own, the more current, punk sound behind them brought them into an updated sound; a more modern backing track to timeless sentiments. I find it wonderful to see younger performers embracing those who came before and while they may be breathing new life into these artists, at the same time, they are also learning lessons from them.
Opening the night, as well as a few shows earlier on the tour, were locally based, Flavour. Stepping out from behind the drum kit for Brule County Bad Boys was Ben Wissels as front man and lead guitarist. Brule County bassist, Sean Secor, also played bass. Jarpon Reyes, from the Abyssmals also lent some lead and rhythm guitar with Adam Winnie keeping a tight beat with Secor. Being the first time I saw them, although I have seen their other bands, I really enjoyed the hard garage rock and look forward to their upcoming recordings.
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