Now I suppose the term legend has lost a lot of its impact recently to the overuse that grown, but it certainly applied on 12 November when John Mayall, the absolute master of Blues/Rock graced the stage of Dunfermline’s premier theatre.
Now Mayall has played with an veritable who’s who in the rock and blues world including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Jack Bruce, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood to name just a few, and the quality performers used on this tour are Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab, bass and drummer Jay Davenport, three guys that certainly maintain the standard previously set. Mayall himself majored on keyboards but the odd excursion on guitar and blues harmonica and certainly his vocal confirmed his status
In a career that has been on the go since 1956, yes really, this multi instrumentalist, now a sprightly 78 years old, entertained those who came to worship at his feet for the excess of 90 minutes. Now I quite like the blues, but am not a fanatic, yet although few if any of the numbers were familiar to me, one couldn’t help but marvel at the standard of musicianship that demonstrated from all on the stage and it was evident from the aficionados that he still had it…. and then some.
So if Mayall is the history, then the opening act on the night is almost certainly the future of British Blues. The Oli Brown Band played for 45 minutes as a warm up for the master. In comparison to the headliner Brown is barely out of nappies at only 21, but the maturity, talent and presence that he exudes belies his youth. Again much of his material was new to me, a lot from his own albums, but the quality of playing was absolutely top draw. The all too short set was well appreciated by the 800 or so fans on the night, and it is plain to see why this exceptional young man has a huge future predicted for him.
The tour rolls on for a number of dates yet , details can be found on www.johnmayall.com and for a list of the many and varied attractions at The Alhambra www.alhambradunfermline.com is the place to be.
Reviewed by Geoff