Mick Pini Review.....

On another night this would be described as a show-stopping tour de force, but there was to be no respite and each number was a highlight in its own right. It not only showed how good Mick Pini is, it also demonstrated how the soul of Fleetwood Mac disappeared with Green.
There is always a danger with a guitar virtuoso, that the set becomes a 'me me me' kind of night and two numbers in, after a false start (the only string trouble all night), Pini's rendition of I Feel So Bad saw him take the guitar to heights that would have required the builders had the audience not raised the roof themselves. But a little further down the line and King Thomson's Woke Up This Morning was a triumph for all concerned. The whole rhythm section may not have been quite the Blues Move gang, Graham Lacey unfortunately unable to appear, but Mike Hellier and Julian Grudgings proved again that they are quality musicians. Late substitute Gary Rackham on bass showed that Walker's crisps are not the only tasty thing to come from Leicester. If learning the songs via CD on the way to the gig produces this level of performance then I suggest that budding guitarists throw away the Bert Weedon Play in a Day book.

The blues burns bright because of its imperfections not in spite of them, the songs are battered and bruised by the experiences of their authors. Time and life add a few dents along the way and when they are placed in the hands of a musician and character like Mick Pini then they are given an unique lustre. There was nothing staged or sanitised about The Mick Pini Band's performance. Walter Jacob's Last Night was the kind of steamy blues that had you reaching for the windows to let some air in. The one slight disappointment was the relative lack of original material. Pini is acknowledged as one of the great interpreters of the blues but he undersells himself as a writer. Happily that will be put right early in 2003 with the release of the first 'all Pini' album. We were given a little mouthwatering introduction in the shape I Won't Be Your Fool No More, if Pini can write like this then he should concentrate his efforts a little more. He has that magic quality essential for the blues, cut through the bull and get to the heart of the matter.

As always the fans have their part to play. Pini feeds off them like a vampire taking blood and all were willing donors, one pair having travelled from Southampton. A trio of moments summed the whole thing up, the cheers that greeted the gigantic rock of You Can Run But You Can't Hide, which opened the second half, the sheer unadulterated enjoyment of a blistering Hendrix segue of Hey Joe into All Along The Watchtower and finally an encore that was a microcosm of everything that was great about The Mick Pini Band. Like A Road the slow-burning anthem from his latest album Blues Gonna Be My Way followed by Buddy Guy's Let Me Love You Baby, the call and response yeahs saw the night finish off as the frat party in Barrels animal house of the blues.