16 April 2015 (gig)
17 April 2015
An intriguing night of guitar magic that posed a few more questions than one might have expected.
The evening opened with a 45 minute set by the excellent Joanne Shaw Taylor and she burst out of the traps with a hearty version of ‘Mud Honey’, ripping out the riffs on her Telecaster. Her voice was husky and as the set ran she definitely warmed up so that by the time of ‘Jealousy’ all the hurt and heartbreak of broken romance was dripping from her words. The closer to her set ‘Tied & Bound’ showed her as a natural onstage, moving easily and grabbing the spotlight as she tore out another superb, clean-toned solo. She is making a lot of friends on this tour and the crowd gave her a good reception when she finished.
Trower on the other hand is an enigma. That he is a guitarist of genius is undoubted and over a fifty+ year career he has been a constant songwriter and performer but he seems really awkward on stage, leaving the vocals to bassist Richard Watts except on the title track from the current album ‘Something’s About To Change’ and sticking behind the monitors for most of his set. The mix of Watts vocals didn’t help the overall performance either. I have seen him many times over the years and he never has been a willing live artist so it shouldn’t have been any surprise but after the vitality and snap of Joanne Shaw Taylor’s set he looked a little uncomfortable.
Trower’s playing though cannot be faulted. Whether he was playing spaced out wah-wah through ‘Bridge of Sighs’ or choppy riffery on ‘Day Of the Eagle’ he played with real control and soul. ‘Something’s About To Change’ has a dark and moody riff to it and he played with a screaming intensity that just added to the tension in the song. ‘Confessin’ Midnight’ was dreamy and powerful in turns and the crowd lapped it all up.
There was a real sense of the old guard and the new and the naturality of Ms Shaw Taylor was positively infectious but, purely in terms of his playing, Robin Trower is still the king.
Picture by Kevin Nixon
