Dylan LeBlanc isn’t hanging around. He blows onto the stage with his regular backing band, The Pollies – the Muscle Shoals’ four-piece who had earlier provided the principal support duties with a blistering set of their own, including a wonderful cover of Neil Young’s ‘Unknown Legend’ – and proceeds to launch straight into ‘Bang Bang Bang’ from his fourth and most recent album, Renegade.
Both Renegade and Neil Young are themes that recur throughout Dylan LeBlanc’s 75 minute show. The former was released in June and sees LeBlanc returning to Europe for the first time in a couple of years to showcase material from it. Leeds is the middle leg of what are only three UK dates. The latter’s presence is keenly felt as LeBlanc tears into a monumental rock’n’roll show, circa 1977, and Neil Young’s American Stars ‘n Bars album from that year comes readily to mind, albeit very much at its ‘Like A Hurricane’ electric guitar-driven end of the spectrum.
Dylan LeBlanc does pause for breath about mid-way through his performance when The Pollies leave the stage and he straps on an acoustic guitar to deliver a most heartfelt homage to John Lennon courtesy of ‘Jealous Guy’. The Pollies return immediately thereafter and take their and LeBlanc’s collective foot temporarily off the gas for ‘Lone Rider’, one of Renegade’s most tender moments. “But I’d rather give you my heart than a piece of my mind”, LeBlanc sings, perhaps reinforcing where the Louisiana born musician is now at some considerable distance from his dissolute past.
Those wistful moments aside, though, it is full throttle rock’n’roll all down the line, a searing catalogue of rousing, melodic tunes that can be firmly located in the late-70s rock era of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and even Fleetwood Mac. We get a marvellous double-handful of songs from Renegade, an album whose basic tracks took a mere three days to lay down and this set follows a very similar trajectory of remarkable speed and spontaneity.
In keeping the Crazy Horse comparisons going, by the time that Dylan LeBlanc reaches ‘Cautionary Tale’ – the title track from his third album – LeBlanc is stood toe-to-toe with Jay Burgess, trading licks with The Pollies’ guitarist in much the way that Neil Young did with Frank Sampedro all those years ago. It is a powerful, magical moment.
For someone who says he is now “feeling very sleepy”, Dylan LeBlanc conjures up amazingly fresh levels of energy for two sizzling encores. Renegade’s title track is stripped of any studio gloss and transformed into a raw, unbridled rock classic, whilst ‘Beyond The Veil’ smoulders and burns before exploding into a frenzied, concluding guitar wig-out.
Photos: Simon Godley
More photos from this show are HERE
