It all started with a standard boozy Saturday night, with someone I barely knew and my love of all things Black Crowes ... I was told that I would love Saint Jude, and whether it was out of sheer disbelief or out of willingness to prove a relatively unknown that he was wrong, I headed down to the 100 Club in London and it all went something like this.

The band file slowly onto the 100 Club stage and the substantial crowd gathered suddenly surged forward, leaving all but a few standing at the bar counter. To put into words, the sound that came off stage, could only be described as throwing The Black Crowes, Big Brother and The Holding Company and The Faces into one big pot, giving it a shake of blues and jazz, a fair sprinkling of vintage heart and soul and plenty of groovy rock 'n roll and you would almost be reading what I was hearing.

Saint Jude frontwoman Lynne Jackaman has quite simply resurrected the spirit of Janis Joplin and has a voice so pure and gravely that it's hard not to have shivers running up and down your spine. Not only is she vocally superb but she is totally mesmerizing within her performance as well; She really put all of her body and all of her soul into her art and I'm sure she would give it a second body if she could, too.

Her band is as equally superb and together they create some of the most incredibly powerful music this genre has to offer the UK today. 

Four songs in and neither my insistent companion nor I are willing to go to the bar for more drinks when Lynne says the next track is called 'Angel'. During this song, the hair on the back of my neck was standing up, and I've got chills down my arms and tears in my eyes - it's been years since music moved me to this extent. I barely remember saying that this song reminded me of missing people that I had never even met yet!

I've barely recomposed myself before the band wind their way into 'Down And Out' with a quiet guitar intro before that soulful voice is rasping so perfectly, "hold out your hand, let me lead you astray, close both your eyes, I will show you the way" ... I'm once more in a state of aural ecstasy and I think I might just have been introduced to my new favourite band.

As if all this was not more than enough, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones then gets onto stage and guitars up a storm with a cover of The Temptations' '(I Know) I'm Losing You' which was of course also made popular by his old band mate Rod Stewart. 

What a great week in rock 'n' roll this has been - Tuesday, I saw my gig of the year and Thursday, I'm standing in front one of the most talented bands I've seen in ages, carving their mark in history!

http://www.myspace.com/saintjudefanpageuk

Photos by Karla Da Silva