Roy Marchbank: Law Of Three - Gig Review Marrs Bar Worcester 2023

Law of Three, with Roy Marchbank, played their premier show at the The Marrs Bar in Worcester on 20th July 2023. It's an hour and a quarter drive from Truth In Shredding home base in Bristol UK. As the motorway can be very busy, I decided to arrive earlier to make sure I could be ready for the show. As a result I was able to catch the pre show rehearsal, which boosted my appetite for the live show, watching Roy delivering his own brand of jaw dropping solos combined with great band interplay.

The band tonight consists of Roy Marchbank on guitar, Andy Edwards on drums, and Mark Hartley on bass and for this show a special guest, Sam Rogers on Sax. All are upbeat and pumped to deliver a great product for the arriving fans.

I've known Roy for many years, and I can tell you Roy Marchbank is a truly gifted guitarist and finally I would be seeing him in the perfect context for his capability. His playing is not just technically virtuosic, with hypersonic passages, but it's also incredibly melodic and expressive too. Indeed for this show he's using a breath controller, similar to the sort of thing that Richard Hallebeek uses. He has a unique sound that is both powerful and lyrical, whether with a fat, warm fusion feel, or more sax or trumpet like synth patches.

The power trio is ably rounded out by the accomplished and likable Andy Edwards, delivering his smooth shuffle beats or power snare smashing solos, combined with the bubbling bass of Mark Hartley, who also added some synth patches to really fill out the sound in a prog feel way. Great stuff! So like Roy, both are also outstanding musicians and you get a sense your witnessing the birth of something great. Both provide a solid foundation for Marchbank to solo over, and they also contribute some impressive improvisations of their own during the extended live solos.

Law Of Three played a set of, as yet unreleased, original material which consisted of a mix of up-tempo original fusion tunes and more laid-back melancholic ballad. The band also spiced up the set by covering a few classic jazz fusion standards, including "Stratus" by Billy Cobham, "Bundles" by Soft Machine and "Devil Take The Hindmost" by Allan Holdsworth, calling on Sam Rogers sultry sax soloing, and creating a superb interplay with Roy and the band on the extended fusion solos.

I had not been to The Marrs Bar Venue before, but it's a great club setting with a well appointed stage area and bar. This enabled the performance to be executed in an incredibly energetic and exciting manner and affording the audience a great view of the band. The band members were clearly having a lot of fun, and the audience was really into it. I was blown away by Roy's playing, and I'm definitely a big fan of the band, waiting patiently for the upcoming release.

If you're a fan of jazz fusion, I highly recommend checking out Law of Three. They're a talented group of musicians who put on a great show.

Highlights of the show:

Marchbank's incredible guitar playing.
The band's tight and enthusiastic interplay of Hartley and Edwards.
The high energy and excitement of the performance.
Sam's sonically sultry soloing
The audience's enthusiastic response.

Overall, I thought the show was fantastic. I would definitely recommend checking out Law of Three if you're a fan of jazz fusion.

You can contact Law Of Three on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090598044479 or by email lawofthree2022@gmail.com

Roy Marchbank: Law Of Three - last respects - Billy Cobham Stratus - Marrs Bar Worcester 2023