Joanne Shaw Taylor

As seems to have been the case all through this tour, the fans were out in force for Joanne Shaw Taylor’s show at London’s Shepherd Bush Empire and they certainly weren’t disappointed as she tore out a brilliant set full of tracks from her earliest album through to this years Award nominated ‘The Dirty Truth’.

The first time I saw Ms Shaw Taylor was playing an acoustic set in support of Joe Bonamassa as Shepherds Bush and it is wonderful to see how this Black Country born Blues player has developed and from the opening notes of ‘Mud Honey’ she was totally commanding of her audience.
With her trademark pink Telecaster she was ripping out the riffs and soloing like a demon and with now she is completely comfortable with her raw and gutsy vocal style she puts her songs over brilliantly.

‘Just Another Word’ and ‘Watch ‘em Burn’ from her first album demonstrated how she has developed and she played them powerfully but losing none of the subtlety of the Jim Gaines production.
The slow and burning ‘Jealousy’ was heart-wrenching and dark but when she came to ‘Wrecking Ball’ from the ‘The Dirty Truth’ album she had a little jab at Miley Cyrus before tearing out a brilliant version of her own song – the crowd lapped it up.

Earlier Bernie Marsden had played a terrific opening set of new material from his ‘Shine’ album and some Whitesnake classics and Taylor brought him out for a couple of numbers that had the packed crowd baying with joy: Whitesnake’s ‘Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues’ featured Marsden on vocals and ‘Let It Burn’ from Taylor’s ‘Diamond In the Dust’ album saw the two of them trading licks and building an old-fashioned duel. As Ms Taylor remarked afterwards “That was as much fun as it looked”.

‘Going Home’ saw the end of the set proper and she encored with a gutsy version of ‘The Dirty Truth’.

There is a good reason why British audiences have grown to love Joanne Shaw Taylor and it isn't just her looks – she plays with all her heart and no little skill. She plays for the crowd and they lapped it up – can’t wait for her to come back again.

SET LIST
Mud Honey
Just Another Word
Watch ‘em Burn
Jealousy
Diamonds in the Dirt
Wrecking Ball
Tried, Tested And True
Walking in the Shadow of the Blues (w/ Bernie Marsden)
Let It Burn (w/ Bernie Marsden)
Tied and Bound
Going Home

Encore
The Dirty Truth


Picture by Al Stuart