BELLA1256 // 3 June 2022

Though Ural Thomas is universally recognized as one of the most exciting singers remaining from the original soul era, and an active musical institution for over sixty years, his band, all decades younger, are treated as equals. The Pain are no backing band - but rather a well-oiled tightly-knit musical aggregation that's spent the last eight years with Thomas developing a unique sound of its own. The relationship extends beyond the stage and the studio and the practice room. On a given night you may witness the octogenarian soul journeyman turning up at the club with a crew one-third his age at midnight. If you don't recognize him, he's the sharp-dressed man with the charismatic grin out on the floor cutting a rug long after the young folks went home. This love of life and cross-generational relationship is the essence of Ural Thomas and The Pain.