Kitty, Daisy & Lewis deliver a retro-purist raw sound set
Sold-out show at Bürgerhaus Stollwerck, Köln
After a roughly 25 minutes intermission at 9:15 Lewis is the first to walk onto the stage of the sold-out Bürgerhaus Stollwerck. He sat at the electric piano and opens the evening with the jagged “Pan Boogie Man”, a boogie-woogie with infectious rhythm.
Then Kitty arrives and picks up the Les Paul, and Daisy takes her seat behind the drums. The line-up is completed by another family member: Graeme Durham, a veteran audio engineering expert, father of Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, on acoustic guitar. Sir Ramble returns to the stage on upright bass, and with everyone in place the boogie gets its full instrumentation.
The set continues with “It Ain’t Your Business”, “Bitchin’ in the Kitchen”, “Baby Bye Bye” and “(Baby) Hold Me Tight.”
The three siblings swap instruments after almost every song. Everyone can do everything, which has always been the band’s trademark. They share the guitars, the drums, piano and the microphones, taking turn in delivering the vocals.
Their live sound closely mirrors their analogue studio approach, which favours vintage amplifiers over modern digital processing, so there is barely any difference between the records and the stage. The band blends R&B, blues, soul, punk, rock’n’roll, country and West Indian music with the sonic character of the 1940s and ’50s. What you hear is made entirely on stage; the only modern elements are the lighting and the stage fog. In 2026, with so much digital sound, backing tracks and over-compression even at live shows, that is a genuine relief.
The setlist also features “Buggin’ Blues”, “Ooo Wee”, a cover of Canned Heat’s “Going Up the Country”, “Say You’ll Be Mine”, “Mean Son of a Gun” and a new, unreleased song, “Walk On”.
The rhythm is infectious. For the packed crowd there is too little room to dance properly, but plenty for head-bobbing, and the audience’s support for the band is unquestionable. Although the band members are in their thirties, their music drew a wide range of age groups in Cologne.
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis deliver a raw, retro-purist sound with a DIY attitude. The slight imperfections make the experience feel even more authentic.
Accreditation: Area One
