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A lot of water has passed under the Tyne Bridge since Johnny Winter
was last in town. I am reliably informed that that was way back in
1971, when he whipped the crowd into such a frenzy that they demanded
six encores before almost destroying Newcastle City Hall when the
seventh was refused. Fast forward thirty-six years, and both the fans
and the man himself have aged a little. I must admit that when I saw
the frail elderly musician being helped on stage just after 9pm, I
didn't expect anyone to be whipped into a frenzy, but the man
referred to by the late great Muddy Waters as "my adopted son" proved
that age and appearances don't even begin to matter when you are this
good.
Opening with blues standard 'Hideaway', it was clear that Winter
still possesses talent in abundance. His inventiveness in bringing
out the best from his guitar were evident for all to see and hear.
The licks may be a little slower these days, but by the time ‘Sugar
Coated Love’ kicked in, we all knew this was going to be something
special.
Of course, it wasn't just Winter on stage tonight. Bassist Scott
Spray and drummer Wayne June played no small part in the show, and
proved why the are two of the most in demand musicians on today’s
live circuit. The rhythms they laid down for Winter to work his magic
over were awesome in themselves. The responsibility for the inter-
song banter was left to June, with Winter preferring to let his music
do the talking, and this seemed to work very well for both parties.
June is clearly a natural behind the microphone, and his impressive
vocal range shone through in a selection of numbers on which he
provided backing vocals.
Like most blues artists, Johnny Winter has no problem showing his
influences, as tonight’s covers of ‘Blackjack’ by Ray Charles, and
Muddy Waters’ ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ proved. Both were executed with
style, precision, and enough power to light up the whole of Newcastle.
By the time the end of the set came round, Winter looked exhausted.
Clearly he is a man who throws everything he has into a performance
in order to ensure the crowd go home happy. They wouldn’t go home
just yet though. When he returned to the stage with his trademark
Gibson Firebird, it was easy to see that the old spark was still there.
Faced with the same adversity as Winter, many artists would have
given up by now, and we are very lucky that he hasn’t hung up his
guitar just yet. Tonight he proved why both fans and fellow bluesmen
consider him to be a legend.
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article by: Tommy Jackson
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| published: 27/04/2007 22:37 |
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