Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Chris Rea - Brighton Centre
Chris Rea’s promoting his new music book, the story of 50’s band “The Delmonts” who later went on to become “The Hofner Bluenotes” and so divided Monday night’s set into three distinct sections to mirror this story arc.
The first part of the show wherein the band adopted the form of “The Delmonts” was quite frankly, appalling; Shadows-lite instrumentals as toe-curling pastiche replete with utterly tasteless titles displayed on a screen throughout.
There was palpable relief in the air when Rea eventually took to the mic for the straight up blues rock of “The Hofner Bluenotes” but he failed to convert with songs time and time again revisiting stock lyrical themes: God, Devil, Hell, roads, etc. The format did however free him to tear through some blistering slide guitar solos and Rea proved categorically that he still possesses a rich, gravelled voice perfectly suited to the blues.
Things picked up in the latter third of the set with a spirited run through his many hits, but a refusal to properly address or engage with his dedicated audience meant the atmosphere never properly ignited. The end product was a perfunctory performance - strangely soulless and almost stupefying in its relentless conservatism.
posted by: Jim Brackpool @ 5:27 PM
+ + +
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home