B.B. King, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
London Wembley Arena
28th June, 2009

View: right of stage

Packed with stylish blues-rock solos, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers proved fantastically varied. From Congo Square’s tight-locked Nawlins groove, to the Clapton-esque solo on Have You Heard About My Baby, every song blew gaskets. On Parchment Farm’s chicken-scratch hoedown, they even sounded like The Violent Femmes! And with a bassist going all Red Hot Chilli Peppers at the end, we weren’t even sure who we were listening to! But authenticity be damned, it was a fine set. Headliner B.B. King, meanwhile, was content to take the stage in laconic fashion, after a rousing kick-off from his horn-clad party revue. While his guitar-playing facilities have declined, his voice (a colossal coffee and cigarettes rumble) has not. Regaling us with tales of Clapton and Alexis Korner laying waste to his fingers through lengthy jams – “I swore I’d never play acoustic guitar with either o’ them again” – he laid into great blues like One Kind Favour and When Love Comes To Town with both aplomb and jovial dedication. At 83, what a man!

Reviewed by Dave Harvey
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