New Brunswick blues rocker Ross Neilsen showed he is not only a wicked guitarist, but a fine vocalist as well, during his June 23 show at the Slice.
Neilsen and his band , the Sufferin’ Bastards, started a little slow just after 10 p.m., but picked up the tempo almost immediately.
Their first set included mostly older rocking material, as well as a new slower song, called ‘For the Last Time,’ which was recorded for his latest CD ‘Redemption’ but didn’t make the cut.
Neilsen’s playing is all the more impressive, once you realize all of the power is coming directly through his fingers, without a pick of any sort. He was using his thumb and forefinger mostly, adding a few extra up tempo textures with his other fingers.
He ended his first set with ‘Jelly Bean’ and flipped up his guitar, which had ‘Thanks Eh’ painted on the back.
His second set was worth staying around for though as he donned a beautiful old Resophonic guitar and nailed some sweet slide leads with it beginning with with blues classic ‘Yonder Wall,’ then several tracks off of ‘Redemption,’ including a couple of my favourites ‘Afflicted’ and ‘Hot Little Pistol,’ and a slower song called ‘Devil Knows,’ but what blew me away, bearing in mind he is only finger-picking, was a scorching version of AC DC’s ‘Whole Lotta Rosie.’ Impressive.
