Live Review

Guitarists that can play as well as they can sing are a relatively rare breed let alone, those that write their own songs, but tonight thats what were promised in the shape of the Robert Cray Band and support act Andy Fairweather Low. It speaks volumes that as the lights go down, I cast my eye around the audience and note that its almost a full house this is the sign of a good support act.

Now, I must confess to being a bit of an Andy Fairweather Low virgin, being only slightly familiar with his back catalogue, but remember being mightily impressed by him when he appeared alongside Pink Floyds Roger Waters for the 2008 Dark Side of the Moon O2 date. So I did my homework.

Andy comes onto the stage with his Lowriders a band which he proclaimed to be the best he ever has worked with, which considering this guy has worked with the likes of Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani and Roger Waters, is saying something. The band consists of Andy on vocals and electro-acoustic guitar, Paul Beavis on drums, Dave Bronze on bass and backing harmonies and Nick Penetelow on saxophones and clarinet. The first thing that Andy says is that tonight he wont be playing any Rock n Roll so, there goes my homework

When the band open-up, I was less than impressed with the sound, which was quite boomy in the lower end, and the sound of Andys strumming made me wonder how good a guitarist he is. Luckily as the song approached its crescendo, Andys melody playing really shone through, with some lovely picking. By the second song, the sound seemed a bit better - maybe the sound men were on the case? The song choices of the night were presumably picked in light of Mr Cray being the next act, with a definite blues-slant, and a bit of gospel thrown in for good measure. The third song was a cover of bluesman Jimmy Reeds Peepin and Hidin (I think), with the bass player stepping up to the plate with some nice harmonies.

A section of AFL originals followed first up was Hymn 4 My Soul covered by Joe Cocker in 2007, then his 1975 hit Wide Eyed and Legless, both of them delivered faultlessly, with a Chris Barber song thrown in for good measure. The saxophonist deserves a mention for his excellent delivery, tone and fluidity, whether he was playing the tenor, soprano or clarinet.

After just over 35 minutes of flawless music, Andy and his low riders deliver a wee song dedicated to the England football team; When Youre Smiling. With that the jolly Welshman departs, waving his little flag, and I allow myself a very brief moment to reflect on past Welsh footballing achievements... ;-)

Entering the stage to a rather groovy sounding slice of soul, Mr Cray and his band, including Bad Influence era bass player Richard Cousins, new drummer Tony Braunagel and long-term keys player (and occasional song-writing partner) Jim Pugh take their place. The band open up with the aforementioned soul song still playing hmm guess this is a warm-up. Then come the opening chimes of Our Last Time from personal fave album I Was Warned, but this was a pretty damn barn-storming rendition, complete with the aforementioned Jim Pughs lovely Hammond B3 stint mmm. They stretched out for a bit and brought it to an end. Cue: guitar change and one of my all-time favourites: Right Next Door (Because of Me) perhaps my all-time favourite Robert Cray song, only, they messed with it. Sacrilege! It was slowed-down a tad, and, well, just not as good.

As if to make up for that, next they played Bad Influence, taken from their second album and covered (in the early 90s?) by a certain Mr Eric Clapton. If Right Next Door was a disappointment, this was perhaps a highlight almost absolutely spot on. The only thing that could have improved it would have been to borrow Lowrider sax player Nick Penetelow to play the sax solo in the song a part which wasnt really filled-in by Jim Pugh.

Were brought into present time (of sorts) with the next few songs taken from the slightly retro-blues of 2009's This Time, with a song written by soul brother number one yes, thats right: Jim Pugh (Robert Crays words, with tongue firmly in cheek). The slow groove of Love 2009 leads to the jangly blues of Chicken in the Kitchen. Trouble and Pain follows also from the 2009 album, with the weirdest ending ever. Robert chose to allow a few of the songs to linger, with a slow-burning bit of finger-picking/ light drums/ mellow keys or some low down bass, but in this case the band chose to slow it down, do a bit of a reggae thing, and then: chaos. Everyone seemed to lose the plot. Robert stopped playing, but stayed hunched over his strat, paused, and then declared: OK, and that was that.

Favourites Smoking Gun and Phone Booth got an airing to much applause before and after. In fact, by my reckoning, this is my fourth Mr Cray gig, and Phone Booth has never failed to make an appearance. No bad thing, as its a great tune (covered by Albert King a few years after its 1983 release).

With the sound of closing song Thats What Keeps Me Rockin ringing in my ears, we head for home and it strikes me that not only does Robert Cray rarely cover songs, but that quite a few of his have been covered over the years, which is reasonably rare in the blues world, and testament to the man (and his bands) skills.