Seeing a Deep Pocket show has always been guaranteed good time but for the most part their performances were solid rather than outstanding. Over the years they have gone through a number of lineups, each marked by sound musicianship but often lacking that dynamic spark needed to take their performances to the next level. I am pleased to say that based on their February 10th show at The Pitcher House the latest incarnation of Deep Pocket has evolved from merely a good time to a group worth canceling plans in order to catch their show.
Lead singer Danielle Gorre proves that is a very bad idea indeed to judge a book by its cover. The petite singer's powerful vocal chords seem to defy physics. To say she can belt out a tune would be a gross understatement. On Saturday night covering the classic James Brown song Cold Sweat, Danielle's powerful set of pipes set the tone for an evening of great music.
Lead guitarists Steve Nelson's incendiary fretwork proved riveting, while the rhythm section kept a rock solid beat throughout the night. As the evening progressed the group's versatility showed itself as both Steve Nelson and rhythm guitarist Ross Hooper took over vocal duties for a pair of songs. Steve Nelson has great deep blues growl but on this evening his vocals were clearly hampered by a cold. Fortunately his lead guitar work more than made up for the vocal difficulties.
The evenings highlight moment was when Ross Hooper took over mic duties to lead the band into a rendition of the Chris Isaac classic "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing." Deep Pocket's version is always one of the high points of their set but on this evening Hooper's vocals and guitar work took the song to new heights. The crowd couldn't help but shake and groove to the lively rendition and you could clearly see that the band members were enjoying themselves.
All in all one would be hard pressed to have a better evening with a local band. Deep Pocket has evolved from a band to drop in on when looking for something to do to a band worth marking down on your calendar and making the time to catch live.
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