Veteran British bluesman John Mayall is on his 80th birthday tour. Some of these guys never stop! In some cases this is a good thing. Old Johnny rocked the house in Brussels on Friday night.
His voice was as clean as a whistle as he ripped through bluesy odes to young love like Wild About You and the cheeky Help Me with the refrain: "You got to help me, baby I can't do it all by myself!"
The band sure did help their frontman to pack a punch. The rhythm section really were as tight as a camel's ass in a sandstorm and there's no denying it. Greg Rzab on bass and Jay Davenport on drums really kept the crowd shaking. Rzab even unleashed some slap-bass wizardry. Davenport kept low-profile and a real drum solo wouldn't have gone amiss.
Mayall is known for bringing up countless guitar greats like Clapton and Green, and Rocky Athas didn't disappoint. On his sunburst Les Paul his tone and attack would have done the late great Gary Moore proud. A fairly implacable showman, but he let his guitar do the talking.
Mayall was a scion of good health, prancing from keyboards to guitar to harmonica and back again. Maybe we should all give up alcohol 25 years ago like him. Whilst his fret work was a little shaky, his keys and mouth organ were a real delight.
The overall sound balance was perfect and Ancienne Belgique everything a modern concert hall should be - sleek, refined and convivial. After the concert the whole band began dishing out autographs like sweets in the bar. Somebody's Acting Like a Child indeed!
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