Simon RushworthWillie Dowling wraps up his solo tour this week after crisscrossing the UK armed with peachy piano-led tunes and politically charged craic. Rushonrock caught The Quireboys’ latest keysman capturing hearts and winning minds.
File under: The Lost Art of Entertainment
Let’s be honest. It doesn’t take much to interact with your audience, strike up what passes for rapport in 2025 and furnish your paying customers with more of a personal live experience. Or so you’d think. But for every wonderful raconteur, part-time comedian and multi-talented instrumentalist in the mould of Willie Dowling there are scores more shoegazing shufflers who barely make eye contact — let alone consider any kind of conversation mid-gig. So Dowling and his peers should be celebrated. On The Simpleton tour it’s not all about the music… but it just so happens that’s bloody good too.
Great craic… and Honeycrack
Wor Willie — he might have lost the accent but there’s still a cheeky Geordie chappy in there — did the hard yards decades ago. Fronting bands including Marquee favourites The Grip and The Dowling Poole back in the day, the cocktail bar pianist turned cock rock hero could, and some say should, have become a household name and regular Kerrang! cover star. And while this tour’s all about shining a light on the critically acclaimed solo cuts that adorn The Simpleton, nostalgia plays its part. Hearing Honeycrack’s Anyway was a truly special treat — as was a tantalising version of Jackdaw4’s Frobisher’s Last Stand.
Demolition Darby steals the show
Dowling knows all too well that there’s no ‘I’ in team. And The Invisible Band is a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Long time collaborator and bassman Andy Lewis keeps his colleagues in check — adding the occasional backing vocal to The Simpleton’s poppier moments — but it’s drummer Darby Todd who threatens to steal the show. Having worked with the likes of The Darkness, Kee Marcello and Devin Townsend, his CV’s as impeccable as his timing. Dowling regularly admits he’s incredibly fortunate to be flanked by Lewis and Todd but the trio fit like a diamante studded glove.
The Simpleton: cleverer than you think
If you judge a book by its cover then it’s always best to judge an album by how its songs translate to the live arena. Rushonrock-approved The Simpleton was one of our favourite records of 2024 — a joyous amalgam of glam, pop and blues that bowled us over from the first play. Needless to say, expectations were sky high ahead of this live celebration of an absolute belter and Dowling didn’t disappoint. The Ballad Of Sadie Goldman (replete with hilarious Edwina Currie/Elizabeth Windsor preamble) was brilliantly executed while I Killed My Imaginary Friend and the brazen Fuck You Goodbye were the glue that kept this fast-paced set together. Top drawer from a top fella.