Sonny Landreth
Monday 26th October 2015
Under The Bridge, London, United Kingdom
I had been singing the praises of this venue to Sonny for quite a while ; the first thing he said to me after the show was how much the band liked the sound and vibe. Landreth doesn’t do a lot of chatting tonight besides the odd song history and impeccable Southern greetings and thanks to his audience. It’s been a while since he played here, so a lot of first-timers in the room and all pretty much leaving as fans, I reckon as Sonny wisely mixes up gritty blues outings, back porch musings, country rattlerides, Saturday Night rock’n’roll and exquisite ambitious soundscapes. Whatever brought you to Landreth’s music, it was in the listing tonight. Other star musicians like Eric Johnson and Robben Ford will tell you in hushed tones of their appreciation of this player’s skills and enthusiasm. It does rather help that like Joe Bonamassa, Landreth is a fan and it’s a pleasure to give him a Taste album he doesn’t/didn’t have. ‘Cherry Ball’ is given a joyous batting round the room; ‘Walkin’ Blues’ remains a stroll out in the country in tonight’s take. The Johnny Winter tribute ‘FireBird’ aches with lovely slide runs. ‘Congo Square’ still sounds ominous and broody. Brave New Girl is quite a sound adventure and he sure knows his way around his floor FX. ‘Pedal To Metal’ takes flight early and the trio keep it in the air like a sonic drone. Plenty dynamics, no lack of soul. Sonny is his own man.
Pete Sargeant
Visuals: Kieran White at KW Media
Sonny Landreth’s new album ‘Bound By The Blues’ is out now on Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group. For more information visit: http://www.sonnylandreth.com/
