Sonny Landreth

Monday 26th October. Under the Bridge. Sonny Landreth. Despite the obvious odious surroundings of Stamford Bridge, the venue is actually very good with good sounds, sightlines et all.

Sonny Landreth is arguably one of the greatest living slide guitar players and the crowd is the usual mixture of middle aged musos who just want to admire his finger picking and then the general lovers of good southern blues. After the full on attack of heavy slide blues from Left Lane Cruiser last night the expectation tonight is slightly more controlled.

Landreth is touring on the back of his new record Bound by the Blues which sees a return to form after a couple of so so releases. The set leans heavily from the record plus a few old favourites thrown in.

He’s a joy to watch and his long fingers are all over the fret board and beyond and he produces a sound like no one else. You have to see him once before you die if you at all admire the skill and craft of a guitarist.

A slight criticism is the tendency into self-indulgence with extended solos and he doesn’t make enough use of his fine voice but these are minor quibbles as he ends the night with the classic Bayou Teche.

A fine evening from one the greatest.