This review is written by Nigel Foster and shared with his permission .
Images By Ken Jackson
Some may call Robin Bibi a veteran of the British Blues Scene. I think a more appropriate title is that of ‘Torchbearer Of The British Blues Scene’ because Robin has kept the Blues flame burning at times when the genre was totally uncool.
The man is a phenomenon, a coiled ball of energy and he brought that energy to the club tonight together with his first choice rhythm section of Tony on the bass guitar and Wez Johnson on drums. These guys know the drill, hook up, set the pace and set the groove thus giving Robin the space to lay on the six string wizardry and oh can the man do that.
The trio casually assumed their positions and tore straight into Never Fade Away, a gigantic slab of pure Texan Blues built on a bruising groove and Robin’s fazed and distorted licks, embellished further by the wrenches on the Whammy Bar that created the sustain. The Bibi vocal was commanding.
The early pace was maintained as the trio punched out a furious fast paced instrumental. The thick groove undulated beneath the Telecaster’s sharp and hard riffs.
Mixing light and shade, the next color was a slow blues in the form of In Too Deep with its deep low end groove . Well we thought it was a slow Blues until Robin tore into a power drive series of riffs that were embellished by Whammy Bar wrenches and the Eddie Van Halen style intricate tapping on the fretboard. Robin’s voice also moved through scales, low and somewhat delicate at the beginning before it acquired authority and power as the music was amped up.
The trio ended the first set with Tony taking the lead vocals and leading the band through Don’t Let Me Down, his voice higher on the register and very soulful. The rhythm was insistent and the guitar sound a chugging riff on repeat mode. At this point we, the audience were pulled in for the handclaps and singing on the call and repeat chorus.
The opening of the second set was nothing short of explosive as the trio threw down a throbbing and threatening version of Peter Green’s Green Manalishi. The groove was way down deep and dirty and it pulled us along and gave Robin the base point for his nagging riffs and the eventual complex and hard solo.
Sticking to the Fleetwood Mac back catalogue the trio created a lovely slow blues in the form of Need Your Love So Bad. Drums and bass joined as one to ease out the rhythm that lay under Robin’s emotion drenched voice. His solo had texture and color and it featured some serious string bending to get the right effect and sound.
Guest singer Chloe Christmas joined the boys for a powerful version of Big Boss Man. Due to family commitments Chloe’s opportunities to sing live are limited but Chloe instantly demonstrated she had lost none of her vocal talents. She sang with a real feeling . Musically the song also featured superb slide work.
Robin then turned Blues Preacher to deliver the gospel sermon and pull us into the cult world of adult worship and we formed a gospel choir and underneath marching drums flooded out and bass lines pulsed and Robin carved out more scorching slide.
The band’s penultimate song featured Dominic and his Saxophone to join in and he and Robin traded licks and huge applause followed.
The final song saw the trio revert to the Blues infused sound of early Fleetwood Mac and they delivered a hard bruising Oh Well. The riffs draped over the rhythm section and those sonics lifted up Robin’s voice.
A standing ovation followed that was thoroughly deserved.
Another triumph chalked up for Richard and Rosalind
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