Downchild The Real Deal at Meaford Hall
Meaford Hall audiences are great. It was packed to the rafters for The Downchild Blues Band and when they came on to the darkened stage just after eight they spent several minutes in silence just getting their instruments together, making sure they were ready. The audience began to applaud spontaneously before they played a note or even brought up the lights. Those guys in the dark there must be Downchild, so they must be good. And they were, responding with increasing strength through the evening to a warm Meaford welcome.
Downchild Blues Band
Everybody knows that blues players, like fine wine, improve with age and The Downchild Blues Band is a rare vintage. Formed by Donny and Hock Walsh in Toronto back in 1968, they became the house band at Grossman’s Tavern for the first few years of their existence, and for many years they were to blues in Toronto what Ronnie Hawkins was to rock and roll: the basic training ground for several generations of great players.
Donny Walsh “Mr. Downchild”
They call Donny Walsh “Mr. Downchild”, not only because he has been the mainstay of the band since they began 47 years ago but because he has that Downchild sound, whether he’s playing guitar or harmonica. He does it old school. There is no board of pedals at his feet, not even a monitor wedge. He stands and listens to his guitar amp that sits directly behind him, a single mic pointed at the dome of its speaker, he hears it like the audience does, unadulterated and pure. He gets a tone that is distinctively his, particularly when he plays slide, as in the beautiful melodic phrase that “One In A Million” is built around. He’s supported by a rhythm section that’s as tight as a Swiss clock, with Gary Kendall providing solid bass in perfect sync with drummer Mike Fitzpatrick. And Michael Fonfara on keyboards plays rocking piano riffs and keening organ voicings simultaneously.
Vocalist Chuck Jackson and sax player Pat Carey
A standout in a band of top musicians is sax player Pat Carey. A lot of the songs were driven by horn riffs that were doubled with two harmonicas and keyboards but when he stretched out on a solo he carried the audience away. On one song after 24 bars of molten sax he hit a high note that was completely drowned out by whistles from the audience. When the appreciative roar of the crowd finally died down he was already well into another amazing twelve bars.
Another highlight was a long harmonica solo by Donny Walsh, accompanied only by four-beats-to-the-bar clapping by the band members and the entire audience. It went on forever, building a wall of sound you wouldn’t expect to hear from a single instrument. It was a chance for lead singer Chuck Jackson to take a break backstage. He went downstairs and stepped outside for a breath of warm Meaford air, and found himself locked out. Several minutes later, while Mr. Downchild was still wailing, a guy came walking down the aisle and right up to the stage. At first it looked like an excited fan but it was Chuck, having found a way back into the building and through the hall to the stage. He joined the band to finish up the song.
The band ended the night with their big hits, “Shotgun Blues” and “I’ve Got Everything I Need (Almost), which brought them fame a few decades ago when The Blues Brothers covered them. But nobody does it like the originals.
Chuck, Donny and Pat from Downchild join Pete and Tyler at The Leeky Canoe
Both band and audience were overflowing with energy at the end of the night. Most of them flowed across the street where Pete Devlin was featured, joined by Tyler Yarema. Later, members of Downchild came across as well to offer the audience a special treat.
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