To many Blues music is a bunch of wisened old men metaphorically sitting on a porch in the Mississippi Delta or downtown Chicago bemoaning their lot in life usually involving waking up in a morning and finding that their woman has gone. Quite how the Blues purists would take to a long blond haired young lady from Birmingham is anyone’s guess but those who have heard and seen tonight’s opening act, Joanne Shaw Taylor, just know that she is the real deal. Blessed with a husky voice and an explosive guitar style she more than justified her ever growing reputation as one of the best Blues artists of recent years and in Tied and Bound and the sultry Tried Tested and True she has the songs to stand shoulder to shoulder with the very best. She certainly won many friends in the crowd after her short but scintillating set.
Robin Trower joined Procul Harum in 1967 just after their chart busting A Whiter Shade of Pale topped the charts worldwide and remained there for a few years before breaking out on his own and for the best part of four decades has plied his trade becoming one of the most revered British guitarists around.
The Sage was sold out well in advance of the show such is the Trower’s reputation and he did not disappoint. Often tagged as the British Hendrix somewhat lazily by the music press, he takes the blueprint laid down by Hendrix, yet heads into a myriad of different directions in a way that makes it uniquely his own. When you hear him play you just know that it is Trower and no one else.
He may be into his 70’s and his hair long gone and what remains is as white as snow but age has not dulled his fiery spirit. Trower was on spectacular form. While the set was built around his ground breaking Bridge of Sighs classic with Day of The Eagle, Lady Love and Too Rolling Stoned all bristling with energy. It was perhaps the title track itself where Trower really excelled with a guitar tour de force that left the guitar aficionados frothing at the gills.
Not content to live on former glories however the title track of his excellent new critically acclaimed album Something’s About To Change showed that Trower still has the creativity to pen material that stands up to his best work.
While Trower may have a “guitarist’s voice” he has always had the ability of collaborating with great singers to allow him to focus on what he does best. The late, great James Dewar and Davey Pattison have both provided that extra dimension to Trower’s music over the years. Trower seems to have done it again with Richard Watts powerful yet soulful voice impressing throughout the performance.
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