Dan Baird and Homemade Sin, The Borderline, London, July 4th 2010

In the ultimate book of rock ‘n’ roll (to be published in 2110, just after the end of the 45-year-long Great Oil Wars), the Georgia Satellites will appear in a tiny footnote to a paragraph about Southern Rock in the 1980s. In fact, main-man Dan Baird‘s association with the group – who had a hit in ’86 with Keep Your Hands To Yourself – lasted exactly the ten years from 1980 to 1990, when he decided to leave the band and go his own way.

Southern Rock often gets a bad press for being dumb and r*dn*ck, but this is unfair. For every Confederate-flag-waving loon with a geetar, there’s a musician working away at a particular white take on rock ‘n’ roll, while being steeped in the black music tradition of the South. Little Feat were perhaps the greatest exponents of this cultural mix, while in recent times the Drive-By Truckers (and especially ex-Trucker Jason Isbell) have injected some serious soul into good-time boogie and rock ‘n’ roll. And this is where the Dan Baird fits in too (photo left – thanks to The Suit for the pics).

I was somewhat nervous about how many middle-aged Status Quo fans were in the audience. They might have been expecting an evening of repetitive twelve-bar boogie, but what was delivered was a very entertaining set of loud, fun rock ‘n’ roll with a Southern twist. The crowd loved it, so perhaps I’m being unfair to Quo fans – among whom I’d include The Suit, who has made the ill-advised decision to go to the Cropredy Festival this year to witness the likes of Quo, Rick Wakeman and others too ghastly to mention.

There were lots of oldies to keep the audience singing along – Nights Of Mystery, I Love You Period and, of course, Keep Your Hands To Yourself – and Dan seemed to be enjoying himself, as did guitar sidekick Warner Hodges (left), drafted in to the Homemade Sin a few years ago to join ex-Satellites bassist Keith Christopher and drummer extraordinaire Mauro Magellan. I last saw Warner in his ‘day job’ with Jason and the Scorchers, and his antics were just as entertaining tonight, with his over-the-shoulder guitar-slinging and maniacal solos.

In keeping with the soulful undercurrent, they played a great cover of Tears Of A Clown, while the other two of this evening’s covers – The Ramones’ I Wanna Be Sedated and Bob’s Like A Rolling Stone – show just how versatile they are. All great fun and a wonderfully energetic way to finish the weekend.