Winnipeg musician Patrick Alexandre Leclerc and his bandmates guitarist Dwayne Dueck and drummer Jeffrey Laird stopped by the Slice to play the blues and a little bit of jazz and a touch of gospel, July 8.
I expected more of an audience because of Streetwheelers, but they were nowhere to be seen— just a half dozen of the regulars. Fortunately they were playing three sets, as the audience had more or less tripled by the end of the show.
They used the first set to try out some new material and basically warm up for the next two sets.
LeClerc thumped away on his upright bass and howled out most of the vocals in his deep, gravelly voice. He stood back to let Dueck show his prowess on guitar. Dueck wound up the first set a with a number that had the audience snapping their fingers in time to the jazzy feel of the song which, as expected had a hot guitar solo.
Several of the highlights of the rest of the show came from “Strange New World,” LeClerc’s new Cd especially “ Who’s Gonna Thank You when You’re Gone.”
A slower song had a “16 Tons” groove. They ended the second set on a bluesy note with “I’m an Ice Cream Man.”
They continued with more straight ahead blues in the third set. They ended on an upbeat note with “Burn Down The Town,” which featured a big drum solo and another face melting guitar solo.
