On Wednesday evening I took a jaunt off to Manchester to see John Mayall and The Blues Breakers play live at the Bridgewater hall. Before John and his band came on stage we were also treated to another awesome blues band, Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack. Basically it was a very bluesy night! A number of jazz and blues society members were supposed to be going but in the end only myself and Heather could make it. It didn’t spoil the enjoyment of it though and on the way there we tried to contain the excitement of seeing such an amazing act by recounting tales of our respective cat’s antics back home - its amazing how much mischief a cat can get up to in its lifetime! Anyway I digress, back to the blues

First onto the stage was Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack. The great blues name had great promise and we weren’t disappointed. They opened their set with a lively blues number and then Stan Webb chatted to the audience. Turns out he’s quite the comedian as well as a blues artist and soon had us all chuckling with comments about political issues and having been in the pub all day. His band was what I call guitar heavy, with a large amount of guitar work going on, but after the first few songs it was easy to tune into and pick up the sheer range of guitar work going on - a truely great sound. Stan’s vocals were also superb and really made the whole experience very enjoyable. I was soon foot-tapping my way through the set and applauding loudly at the end of each piece. This all really came together when he played Sweetest Little Thing, a Jonny Cash influenced tune, and his singing really did sound like Jonny Cash in many places. The song literally blew myself and Heather away and at the end of the set when we went out for the interval we both unanimously agreed that it had been the best song out of the whole set by a mile. If you’re thinking about going out to get a CD or to try and see Stan and the band live then this song should be the reason you actually do it.

We were called back to the concert hall rather swiftly after the interval to see the start of John Mayall’s set. As is often the case with blues bands the band came onto the stage before John Mayall and played a couple of numbers. You always know when you’re seeing a band that is both amazing and one of your favorites because each song is unmistakably the band in question. This is how it is with the Blues Breakers. You’re sitting there and even if you’ve never heard the song before you immediately recognise it. The sound was very reminiscent of some the groups more recent releases and most enjoyable.

When John came on stage a large amount of people around us went crazy with whoops and cheers. I then realised we were seated amongst some seriously hard-core John Mayall fans and that was sure to make the experience a whole lot better. As John started to play I realised why I like him and the band so much, his talents are so wide ranging, sounding great on the keyboards, harmonica and guitar, not to mention vocals. I recognised a vast number of the tracks that the band played and it was great to be able to hear them all live. Theres something that just doesn’t get accross on the CD - the atmosphere of hearing live blues. It just fills you up untill all you can percieve is the sound in your mins, its a truely amazing feeling. Without a doubt the best track of the evening was John’s final song, Room to Move off the album Turning Point. This was one of his earlier pieces and the harmonica and vocals in this track are simply outstanding. The song got the biggest cheer of the night when it was done and John and the band got a standing ovation afterwards. In fact we refused to shut up or sit down till himself and the band came back on stage to play a couple more songs. When they tried to leave the stage we got them back again for another superb keyboard piece with vocals, a great way to finish a gig - two encores, you don’t see that very often.

All in all this was a truely amazing gig, and one I’m so glad I didn’t have to miss out on. It was a bit of a trek into manchester but I don’t think I’ve ever heard live blues quite as good as this. My enjoyment of John Mayall’s music will no doubt continue with even more enthusiasm from now on