Venue: Kassemattenbuehne / Graz / Austria
Concert date: 20.07.2007
Attendance: 350
Ticket price: 20 EUR
John Mayall is definitely more than just another in a long line of aging, thoroughly worn-out performers who haunt the unsuspecting, and on top of that completely dehydrated, inhabitants of the old continent in these shamelessly hot summer days. The man is an institution in the truest sense of the word, a veritable father figure of the British (for many even the world’s) blues movement, who keeps up his constant, tireless touring all over the globe despite his not exactly spring-chicken seventy-four years. This time around, surely to the great delight of “all fifty divisions” of Slovenian blues fans, he holed up for an hour and a half or so in the intimate setting of the gorgeous castle in Graz, Austria. John, as expected, didn’t disappoint. Quite the opposite. Riding the wings of a brilliant Bluesbreaker generation for the new millennium, the man served up a first-rate demonstration of the power and character of what he likes to call his greatest love – the blues!
Your head can spin quickly at the sheer magnificence of the world-class names who have, as a rule, marched more or less successfully through John Mayall’s blues school over the years. Best known to most are surely Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jack Bruce and Mick Taylor. After what we saw last night, there’s no doubt you could seat at least one more name in that elite company: Buddy Whittington! A pleasantly round, plain-looking Yankee gentleman, he blew us away with the incredible dynamics of his guitar playing. At moments it maybe even reminded a little too much of Eric’s and Mick’s well-known ideas, if you were paying attention, but that takes nothing away from the importance of his role, which, next to John’s noticeably tired vocals, saved more than one awkward situation. The self-assured uncle also got the honor of opening this long-awaited event, and he pulled it off in the best possible way, with an impressive jam that soon got lost in the punchy rhythm of the BB King classic Every Day I Have The Blues! That one summoned John Mayall himself to the stage, and he immediately gave himself over to reminiscing about the next blues giant, Freddie King! His Palace Of The King and I’ve Got A Woman were followed by a roaring response from the crowd to the heavily extended and wittily executed harmonica solo of Burnt Bridges. A very welcome emotional outburst that, for a change, in no way recalled any of Sonny Boy Williamson’s perversions.
Despite his obvious respect for the musical legacy of the past, Mayall proudly refuses any kind of lazy lounging on old laurels. The relaxed I Love You More Every Day and especially the astonishing Congo Square, basic blues that John lets occasionally dance off into multicolored jazzy shapes, show a creator who takes his work extremely seriously, but with just the right dose of looseness, which lets the band communicate joyfully through the many colorful twists hidden within. We got an almost too-enthusiastic experience with Pretty Woman, where Whittington seemed for a moment determined to revive Mick Taylor’s lines, but at John’s solemn look he evidently thought better of it at the last second. John then rounds off the little beauty by Albert King with a playful Hammond solo, after which we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of an exciting Led Zeppelin “medley”, spiced up with an excellently played I Need Love, which reminded everyone present, without a shred of guilt, of their unpaid debt to the great Willie Dixon.
One of the biggest surprises of the evening was definitely Help Me Thru The Day, in a fantastic vocal performance by the pleasantly round Buddy. Another Freddie King classic, with all this big-mouthed trip down memory lane, hinted at one or two of the pearls of Robert Johnson, which John has evidently had a hard time tackling in recent years. Of the blues giants, we also got to look forward to two Otis Rush classics, the melancholic So Many Roads and above all the indispensable All Your Love, which, along with Hideaway, was also the only song played from Mayall’s Eric Clapton era. Interesting, huh!
Setlist
1.Every Day I Have The Blues 2.Palace Of The King 3.I’ve Got A Woman 4.Burnt Bridges 5.I Love You More Every Day 6.Congo Square 7.Help Me Thro The Day 8.Pretty Woman 9.Hideaway 10.So Many Roads 11.I Know What You Mean —–encore—– 12.All Your Love 13.Texas Guitar
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