A proper live album is what Matthews claims to deliver here, folks. As in, not ‘fixed’ in the studio later. In the past some performance recordings have had so many parts touched up or even replaced by engineers that they can hardly claim to be ‘Live’. Or ‘Dangerous’…I will say no Moore.

The group here is :Krissy Mathews gtr/vcl, Max Maxwell dr/vcl and Sam Weston on bs /vcl and the shows you hear here was in Germany – at Freak Valley and also Gerd’s Juke Joint, for the later cuts.

Feeling For The Blues bursts into action with pumping bass, crashing drums and slashes of guitar plus an impassioned vocal. Before a minute is up Matthews is off into a squealing and fluid guitar solo, from a cold start this is pretty impressive. There are ideas a-plenty and the group plays with tempo changes with skill. Harmonics splinter off the fretboard as if he can’t wait to get his store of licks out on display.

No stop and we are off into I’ve Been Searching with its greasy riffing ; All Night Long has swagger to it as it falls into gallop. Every now and again the twisting figures and stop-start elements put the listener in mind of the late Rory Gallagher, here. Searching For The Desert For The Blues is the Blind Willie McTell and just over a vocal he gets the crowd clapping and overall the tune is well-handled.

Language By Injection has Southern Rock vibes about it; The Soul Will Never Die is dedicated to B.B. King and he eases up on the lightning riffing to put some space between the guitar playing, which uses a bee-sting fuzz and delay to good effect.

Bad Boy is all thump and punch, as befits a festival I guess. Freedom is the Hendrix song and works quite well.

Hit The Rock starts the Club tracks and has funk drum intro before the stabbing song starts. A slick tempo change rolls us into Texas shuffle. Roadsick Blues pummels its way into life and betrays a liking for Zappa, I suspects it tumbles intro fast country rock. Final number Bubbles & The Seven Phones is about a deceased manager and takes its time..my favourite track overall.

This trio gels extremely well, Matthews’ singing apes an American accent too often for this listener but so many acts fall into this trap. The guitar work is flashy and spirited, he so obviously lives to play. The material is varied enough and would work well in most live performance situations. He has made his point!

Pete Sargeant