One of the nice things about doing reviews for a paper is that you get the opportunity to exerience things that you might not have gone to see otherwise. Other than his more famous bandmates, and his reputation as a leading light in the British Blues Boom, I knew precious little about Mayall before going to see him. This was one of those occasions when I was well rewarded.
John Mayall may have been overshadowed by some of the guitarists that passed through his Bluesbreakers band (Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor) but he certainly held centre stage at De Montfort Hall on Tuesday night. The singer and multi-instrumentalist seemed a fraction of his 77 years as he lead his band through a blistering set of blues rock numbers.
Mayall began solo, alternating between harmonica and vocals with aplomb, finishing the song with one hand playing piano and his harmonica held to his mouth by the other. Once the band emerged, they had opportunities aplenty to shine during the blues jams and standards and all were virtuoso talents. Bassist Greg Rzab pulled off a solo that sounded like noted Primus four-stringer Les Claypole, while Rocky Athas on guitar was pulling out fluid solos with sweet vibrato and chunky riffs that underscored where more recent bands such as Audioslave had been plundering.
Star of the show was Mayall himself. His voice was strong and distinctive, and his blues piano, harmonica and guitar playing were all phenomenal. It was a shame that the hall wasn't more full to hear numbers like the breakneck Parchment Farm and Chicago Line, with its blues harp evocation of speeding trains.
Mayall remarked on how quiet the crowd was on several occasions. It certainly wasn't that they weren't enjoying themselves, as their enthusiastic applause demonstrated, just that there were slightly too few to see a hero of British blues and his band put in a bravura performance.
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