Hello,

Back down to The Lowry in sunny Salford to see Mr Cray again...it's been two or three years! Despite having a new drummer (Les Falconer) and keyboard player (Dover Weinberg), there are some constants in life and Robert's sound seems to be one of them. While we're about it, it's worth applauding his bass player, the great Richard Cousins, who is a fun presence onstage as well as being a perfect fit, musically. He also can change a bass guitar faster than Usain Bolt could- there were a couple of times when his Guv'nor changed his mind from whatever was printed on the setlist!

The vibe was relaxed and good-humoured: almost every song was begun with Robert announcing to us all, "Like this!" and then launching into it with a smile. He alternated between two Strats and his sound is so clean and almost precise, for want of a better word. I was lucky to have a seat close-up so could hear the man frequently shout and yelp during his solos...I don't recall a wrong note or wrong turn either despite the stop-start nature of some of the numbers.

These guys make it look easy- even towards the end of the 95 minute set, the band concluded its rendition of "Right Next Door" (I think) with a perfect fade to near silence, which amazed the crowd: R.C. then pretended smacked his hands together mimcking swatting a fly in order to break the moment- you could literally have heard a pin drop, hah-hah! A party-piece I know and I'm sure he'll do it every show but it was a "wow" moment.

Jimmie Vaughan summed-up R.C.’s sustained success and peer respect simply when he said, “He’s got one foot in the future and one foot in the old stuff.” It is probably fair to say that he is maybe one those artists whose live work I enjoy more than their recorded output, but he is far from being unique in that!

To wrap this guff up, I offer a disclaimer/apology for the noisy, dark and pretty ropey images: the staff at The Lowry were insistent that no photos were taken, despite the band's own pre-show message just asking for all folk to disable their camera's flash. Ah well, maybe next time...









Cheers,

Simon.

What a guitarist!