Toby Lee & James Emmanuel
- Mark Lear
- Nov 1
- 9 min read
Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffordshire - It’s Halloween and I’m desperately trying to avoid using a pile of time old cliches as I start to write this. “Am I in for a nightmare” etc. etc., you get the gist, and the child in me (never lose contact with your inner child regardless of how old you get) is destined to surface sooner or later, but anyway…
This is my second visit to the Foxlowe in the space of a week and if last Friday is anything to go by, I’m in for a treat - not a trick. See, I couldn’t even last one paragraph ! ! Shameful. Tonight, I’ve got two new artists for me, one I’ve never heard of and one who’s only twenty, so…
Now, I’d only come across Toby Lee in the last few months really, due to the huge airplay that he’s getting on Jazz FM and a few other ‘niche’ radio stations, and when the Presenters (can’t call them DJ’s anymore as that restricts their talent, apparently !) wax lyrical about them, and don’t sound as if they’re reading a Press Release, you start to wonder what you’re missing – or I do anyway. So, a quick ‘Google’ and I find that he’s about to embark on a ten-date tour in October and November, and one of them is on my doorstep, it was all too easy to go and see what the fuss is all about.
Oh, and that ‘Googling’ showed that he’d done over seventy gigs with Jools Holland last year, so whilst I might be cynical over radio presenters and their views, I will definitely believe the gospel according to St. Jools. The Support tonight comes directly from James Emmanuel and indirectly from Isabella Coulstock.
On arriving at the venue, I wonder what else might be going on in Leek tonight as the two car parks, next to the venue are full. Trick or Treating in the Town Centre perhaps ? Anyway, a couple of laps later and I strike lucky as someone was pulling out, just as I turned the corner. Result. Walking through the town, I see no ghosts and ghoulies and it’s only when I get to the Foxlowe Arts Centre, I see why the car parks are full. The gig is a sell out and there’s a healthy queue nicely formed outside the door waiting patiently for 19:30. Leek knows a hell of a lot more about Mr. Lee than I do it would seem.
For the uninitiated… ‘The Foxlowe Arts Centre was the brainchild of a group of local people who had the vision of a thriving centre for a rich variety of arts-related projects in the heart of the historic market town of Leek’ – or so says their website. I say it’s the only venue of its kind for miles, and you’ll have to head into Stoke on Trent, a dozen or so miles away, for something like it, so thank goodness those local people did what they did. The FAC is a nice place, and I’ve never had a bad night here, so let that continue over the next four hours.
Let’s get on with it…
James Emmanuel – Thirty minutes after the doors opened and with enough time to get a beer, this fella walks on stage dressed in a heavy-duty brown leather coat, a natty beret that you’d struggle to buy in a farmers market town like Leek, and what looked like one of Marks and Spencer’s finest jumpers. Leek wonders what it is about to witness, especially as he walks on with Toby Lee’s band – according to members of the audience who are not seeing Lee for the first time.
This will be interesting, we think.
Emmanuel starts off with a tune called ‘Healing’ and quickly follows it up with ‘Brothers and Sisters’ a song, he tells us, that he wrote about teaching his 18-month-old daughter’s boyfriends as to what they can and can’t do when she starts dating them. Now, that’s what I call getting ahead of the game !
Emmanuel is a very passionate singer and one that no doubt hails from some Christian Church somewhere as there’s a very healthy gospel element to his performance. He’s also a very amenable chap (unless you’re dating his daughter perhaps), and ‘Betting on Myself’ explains the situation he found himself in, when he decided to spend everything he had on releasing this as a single, and his good lady at the time, (his words) said you can only do this once.
‘Who we Hating Today’ was written because Emmanuel says, “the world is a nasty place at the moment”. ‘Lonesome Man’ saw everyone leave the stage except the piano man for the song that finally make up his mind to give up his NHS job and give music a go. He’s lost the leather coat by this time as Leek can generate quite a bit of heat when it’s full and there’s only so much that a man can tolerate.
He finishes with ‘Can't Keep a Good Man Down’, “because it tells the story of when he was mopping floors” and as he gyrates with the mike stand he busts a few moves like he was doing it again.
Well, if Leek was wondering about what it was about to witness at the start of all this, it knew now and it was really appreciative of it. Emmanuel was very well received throughout. He got a good response after each song and a huge response at the end. Leek greatly approved of what it had just seen and as Support for what was to come, it was a job well done. A word also has to be given to the band as well, as the backing was bang on point and they supported the Support very well.
James Emmanuel Set List
Healing
Brothers and Sisters
Time
Betting on Myself
Who We Hating Today
Lonesome Man
Can't Keep a Good Man Down
Toby Lee - Toby Lee might only a third of my years, but he’s packed an awful lot in, in that time. He’s getting a lot of radio cover at the moment and has put a good few miles in over the past two years as he continues to make a bigger name for himself than he already has done.
Performing since he was a child and in earnest since his tribute to B.B. King went viral, he’s since amassed 350 million views on YouTube, shared a stage with Joe Bonamassa, no less, and won Young Blues Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards, three times. Only now do I really feel foolish at what I don’t know. I’ll blame it on my age and what I’ve missed out on !
At the allotted time the band walk back on stage for their second half of the night and immediately kick in with the intro to ‘Get Away Driver’, Lee follows and rips into a few power chords to announce his own arrival, and we’re off and running. There’s no time for a breather, as he’s straight in to a fan favourite ‘House on Fire’ and the title track of the current album. This gets Leek really buzzing and there’s many singing along in the crowd. The same can be said for ‘Preacher’ and ‘Saviour’ which sees Lee put his heart and soul into the performance with pure emotion oozing out of every pore, hair flowing all over the place as he hits riff after riff whilst singing the heartfelt lyrics into his retro / vintage / old school microphone from the 50’s, which do look cool, but frustrate the cr*p out of photographers as they obscure so much of the face – maybe that’s the real reason why artists use them, he says cynically ?
When Lee finally takes time out to share a bit of banter with the crowd, the friendliness of which does show through, he gets a bit emotional as he tells the story of Nigel Templeman. Lee arrived home one night and was called into a meeting with his Dad and taken upstairs to be told some news. “Being called upstairs meant the news was gonna be really good or really bad, and it ended up being devastating” because Nigel was his Manager, and he’d died, “and he’d looked after me since the age of 12”. There’s real emotion in his voice as he recalls the moment. “From a child he told me what would be good things to do and what would be bad things to do, and all of a sudden he's gone”. Six months or so on from that sad day, the pain is still there. The song ‘Safe Ground’ tells the whole story of Nigel’s guardianship in detail. You could tell that this was a real personal moment for Lee and he’d bravely let us in to share the moment with him. When you see this all take place. You have to take a breath to realise that this ‘lad’ is still only twenty and at such a young age, emotion can’t be faked. This was the real thing. A heartfelt tribute to a man who had meant so much to him, been there at his side, every step of the way, but now could only look down from the heavens and watch his legacy go on to greater success, from a distance.
Anyone with any emotion about them, damn near had a lump in their throat after this.
To get out of moments like this, you have to change direction and so we get introduced to the ‘Headline Support’ if there is such a thing, and Isabella Coulstock walks on stage for a three-track interlude – with Lee and the whole band, still firmly in place mind.
‘Older’ was the opening tune, one that they both sung together when they met around six or eight months ago when they were both on tour with Jules Holland and hit it off together by talking Cornwall, classic cars and Jules Holland.
‘Crazy Cowboy’ came next which was the first tune she ever wrote but had been ‘souped up’ quite a bit by Lee and the band. They finished with a cover of Elton’s Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, which was a bit light in some ways as it should only be sung by hairy-arsed performers that have been around the block a few times, not twenty-year-olds in the innocence of early adulthood perhaps – or is that just me saying that ? Answers of a postcard…
Miss Coulstock is also on tour with Nick Heywood, of Haircut 100 fame, in between dates with Toby Lee, and as she takes her leave, she gives him an affection kiss, giving the impression that there may be a little more to them than just a musical relationship. Still, cuts down on the hotel room costs, I suppose !
‘Count On Me’ heads us into the home straight, which is an infectious tune, if ever there was one, with its hook like melody and a few more neat riffs from Lee.
‘Patiently Waiting For Love’ (which he may have now found, see last paragraph but one) follows the same route. I should have said by now, that Leek is lapping this up with all its might and is engrossed by this whole performance. There’s parts of the audience that are word perfect with the lyrics and haven’t skipped a beat all night. There’s a solid relationship between performer and crowd and mutual respect, by the tractor load (farming country terminology).
‘Just Hold On’ finishes us off and causes Leek to give a huge appreciative roar as the stage clears, but as the lights don’t come up, everyone stands their ground and bellows for more please, thank you. The off-stage wait is used to maximum effect but when the side door opens we get an added bonus as Lee and the band return, with Miss Coulstock, James Emmanuel and Emmanuels keyboard player, who’s had rather an easy night of it up to now, all in tow, for an all-in finale, starting off with the Robert Johnson cover ‘Cross Road Blues’, then a blistering version of ‘Fever’ with a groove-ridden bass line, punchy drums and everyone getting a turn to show off their prowess – even said keyboard player – and a pile of additional vocals from our man Emmanuel, before the house was brought down with a storming performance of ‘All Along The Watchtower’.
So, in ninety minutes, I go from knowing nothing to knowing all I need to know, and I was very grateful for it. Lee is described by some as the ‘future of the blues’ and with a talent far beyond his years. His own website says that some say he was born in the wrong era, and that his music oozes class and sophistication that belies his age. All big strong statements, but on this showing, you would be hard pushed to argue against it, and why would you ? It was a great night out. Leek adored him and are already looking forward to having him back, and the best thing of all? The tickets for this were only £20 ! ! …but the smart money says that when he returns, he’ll be a bigger force to be reckoned with, and a tenner might have been added to the price. We shall see. But it’ll still be worth it.
Toby Lee Setlist
Get Away Driver
House On Fire
Into the Light
Preacher
Saviour
The Search For Happiness
Safe Ground
Older (with Isabella Coulstock)
Crazy Cowboy (with Isabella Coulstock)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (Elton John cover, with Isabella Coulstock)
Count On Me
Blame Me
Patiently Waiting For Love
Just Hold On
Encore:
Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson cover)
Fever
All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix cover)
The Band Tonight Were…
Toby Lee - Guitar, Vocals
Chris Haddon - Guitar, BV’s
Sam Collins - Bass, BV’s
Gareth Young - Drums
Isabella Coulstock - Guitar, Vocals
An Evening of Blues and Soul Tour 2025 – Final Dates
Weds 12 Nov - York, The Crescent
Thurs 13 Nov - Galashiels, MAC ARTS
Fri 14 Nov - Stockton-on-Tees, Georgian Theatre
Sat 15 Nov - Grimsby, Grimsby Docks Academy
