DAN BAIRD AND HOMEMADE SIN @Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 1/12/12

At 9pm precisely, after having had no support (the covers band that were originally scheduled to open had cancelled – playing their “final ever” gig the week before) the band that is in RTM’s opinion the greatest rock n roll band in the world strides out on stage.

Ok so, it’s the Wolverhampton Slade Rooms in front of barely 100 people, and a world away from the overpriced and overhyped Rolling Stones gigs at the O2 Arena, but if anyone doubts the validity of our opinion then the second Dan Baird and Warner E Hodges begin the opening bars of “Younger Face” then it becomes clear that Mr Baird and Homemade Sin are pretty damn incredible.

The bluesy “Crooked Smile” follows, before the band plays a new song. The true skill of the band is shown here, as Baird totally forgets how it goes, playing the bridge in the wrong place, while the grinning members of Homemade Sin follow his lead, before laughing with each other – and the crowd.

There is a tremendous warmth in the room throughout, as band and audience – although small – really connect, although it is not hard to enjoy songs like “Julie and Lucky and “Ain’t A Damn Thing To Be Done”

Baird, as might be expected, dusts his old Georgia Satellites past off for a pair of 80s classics in “Keep Your Hands To Yourself and “Railroad Steel” which sound as fabulous today as they ever did. Actually, that does Homemade Sin a disservice, as so good are the aforementioned Hodges, bass man Keith Christopher and drummer Mauro Magellen, that they, In terms of musical ability perhaps eclipse anything Baird has done before.

However, their real strength is just how much fun they are – and how off the cuff everything feels. This is rock and roll the way it was meant to be. There is no setlist for example, and Baird is happily playing Elvis songs before Hodges – very much the Keith to Dan’s Jagger if you will – reminds the frontman there is a strict curfew. Baird is forced to apologise, but didn’t need to, as everyone was just swept along.

A singalong “Shelia” follows, before what would have been the encore of “Two For Tuesday” complete with a segue into Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Hey Tonight”, and a bar room boogie of “Hard Day’s Night” finishes things.

After two almost faultless hours Dan Baird and Homemade Sin prove that they are the kings of this type of music. None of it would have been possible without Creedence, of course, as Baird would himself acknowledge, but as rock and roll bands go, this is the best on planet. And they didn’t charge £400 for the privilege of seeing them.

Simply stunning.

Dan Baird and Homemade Sin @Leicester Musician 9/12/11

In the late 80s I was given a Chart Show Rock compilation. On that three tape collection there was a track called “Battleship Chains” by The Georgia Satellites. I couldn’t stop playing it. It sounded fun, it sounded exciting, it sounded magnificent.

The experience led me to investigate the Satellites (I vividly remember dragging my Dad to the library so I could get their album “Open All Night”) then as I got older I discovered Credence Clearwater Revival and Dan Baird’s solo material and it sounded fun, it sounded exciting and magnificent.

And so it is, over twenty years later that RTM finds itself in Leicester watching the former Satellites front man Dan Baird playing a gig with his band Homemade Sin. It is the first time in those two decades of following Dan that I have seen him headline, indeed the only other time I have seen him live was at the much-missed JB’s with The Quireboys a couple of years ago.

Happily the venue itself is exactly the sort of place this type of music needs. Essentially a pub with a stage at one end, The Musician is the sort of place where music matters.

You suspect it matters to Dan and Homemade Sin too, you just know that the group has a decent record collection and do this for the love of it. That’s what you hope anyway.

They definitely are a band that thrives on spontaneity. From my vantage point, I am surprised that there is no setlist. But this, it emerges later, is how thing are done round here. So alongside original material like “Damn Thing To Be Done” and “Julie And Lucky” an impromptu cover of “Honky Tonk Woman” is played just for fun.

It helps that in guitarist Warner E Hodges (of Jason and the Scorchers) Baird has found his perfect foil, a fantastically talented man, Hodges is perhaps the most gregarious of the band, whirling around like some demented Pete Townshend during Satellites classic “Railroad Steel,” which along with “Two For Tuesday” from the most recent album forms sort of the centerpiece of the gig.

Not that Bassist Keith Christopher and drummer Mauro Magellan are slouches either and the band is clearly enjoying each others company as both get their turns in the spotlight.

After a cover of “Tears of a Clown” (Baird telling the crowd “I call the set, I will play it if I want”) its time for “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” and “Shelia, Shelia,” both Satellite staples.

Despite the curfew having long since passed there is time for an encore, and after “Younger Face” the evening closes on, if we are being honest, on its only duff note. A cover of Neil Young’s “Helpless” a fine song in its own right, of course and expertly played, but not the sort of track to close a night such as this.

Dan Baird and Homemade Sin are the sort of band that deserve to be household names, but equally they are the sort of band that you are glad aren’t, so you can see them in a place like this. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what they think too.

This is the sort of evening that makes you remember why you love rock 'n' roll in the first place. Now I can say for sure that Dan Baird is exciting, fun and magnificent.