23/02/04
CHRIS REA
BY JEFF YOUNGER

Chris Rea at Bush Hall is certainly not an event to miss. Bush Hall is situated in Shepherd's Bush in London and is a tiny building looking from the outside, but inside it is roomier than it looks. The stage itself take almost a third of the floor area and it is standing only. The decor of Bush hall is wonderful with its chandeliers and rustic colours. A capacity of 300 people attended each of the three nights that Chris Rea performed on these pre-tour warm up concerts. The evening event lasted only just over an hour which was the same pattern as the Stony Road warm up gigs at this venue last year. I am sure the main tour concert will be much longer with more than the 11 songs Chris presented us with on this night. Although for me an hour of Chris Rea is worth 3 times that of any other artist so I was happy enough. No merchandise available at this venue but I am sure it will be ready for the beginning of the tour.

Chris spent a great deal of time with the band running through some of the numbers in the sound check and it shows what a perfectionist Chris is in regards to his music, everything must be perfect. As always the sound and lighting guys and Tommy Willis Chris's guitar technician did a wonderful job to endure everything ran smoothly. One does not get glitz or glamour at a Rea concert and I do not think Rea fans expect it as the routine and atmosphere tends to be the same where ever and whatever size of stadium or hall he appears in. It is just great music from some expert musicians who enjoy themselves and Chris at the head coaching everyone through his newly written material with the competence an air of a man dedicated to his guitar playing and his musical abilities and his love of the blues.

It was strange to see Chris enter the stage with the band as the lights went up wearing his NOW trade-mark vest/t shirt with the hole in it. He obviously feels comfortable playing while wearing this attire and it seemed just like a continuation of the Stony Road tour - great. Of course that is until the music started and with a brief acknowledgment of the audience Chris and the band launched into The Beat Goes on. One of the more up tempo numbers from the new album The Blue Jukebox. Some slight changes in the band members for this tour as Chris once again changes his style of music making it a little more Jazzy than blues whilst retaining the passionate slide guitar in most of the numbers. Martin Ditchham was back on drums after fulfilling his commitment tother bands he works with. Robert Awhai was as ever in the background adding his accustomed guitar sound to the music. Sylvin Marc who is becoming more prevalent on stage was of course there and his smile is intoxicating as well as his pounding and varying styles of bass playing. Two new members an extremely accomplished saxophone player as the saxophone returns on a Chris Rea album after a long absence. Also an excellent jazz/blues piano player who had a few chances to show us his skills.

Alas I did not catch the names of these guys but I am working on it or maybe someone else could let us know.

But the band played together as a complete unit each knowing and feeling there way through the songs. Chris's voice to me has become even deeper and his slide guitar playing just gets better and better no one else can make a guitar sing like Chris Rea and he plays notes at the top end of his guitars that I doubt anyone else is capable of, or at least to make them sound as he does. The up tempo number went down well with the audience who I am sure were mostly dedicated Rea fans. A quick thanks from Chris for the applause and he launches into the much slower temp of Blue Street a sort of New Orleans Jazz/blues number and one could easily feel themselves in a typical jazz bar of days gone by. Some twists and turns in this song drifting through different moods and styles. The sax really blends in well with Chris's new material and Chris's guitar and the sax mimic each other in parts and gel wonderfully. Unless I missed something Chris appeared only to play his blue Italia Marinello and his natural finish Fender Telecaster. Pinkie appears to have taken a back seat these days but I image Chris uses her still to write many of his songs or in rehearsals as she can be problematic live.

The third song Restless Soul is wonderful and a very strong contender for a single release if we were to get one. It starts with Chris on harmonica and a blues Stony Road beat sounding a little like Burning Feet. I cannot remember if Chris played banjo on this one. Perhaps not, because there is some wonderful slide running through it and the sax backing adds the jazzy feel. Chris and the sax player enjoy a great exchange of notes with their instruments talking to each other.

What kind of love is this a much slower blues/ jazz ballad allows Chris to recover from his passionate slide playing. This ones a real smoochy jazz bar sax number with a wailing slide backing and the piano is more prominent on this song. This one is wonderful live and is a typical melancholy Rea song.

Slow Dance came next from the Stony Road album and it was great to hear it live again. It is wonderful to watch Chris play his slide guitars he seems to live through every note, feeling the emotion of when he wrote the song. Being a guitarist [all be it not very good] I can understand how he can lose himself in his music and feel it traveling from the brain to the fingers and though the guitar to the audience. His face and body movements are so expressive as he lives the moments and the little dance of his feet as he reaches notes we can only dream of is so lovely to watch.

Chris slows the tempo for the next number Long is the time, hard is the road. This one is a typical Rea song with wonderful lyrics talking of his experiences [ Of his old record executives I guess]. The sax and slide give this a melodic mournful atmosphere and the rhythm changes here and there. A lovely blues/jazz song with Chris's distinctive style.

Let it roll was next in line and I think my favourite of the night from the new album with some brilliant slide work as the tempo builds up from the melancholy start.

Let's do it - for some reason I do not remember much of this one - it is so difficult to take everything in on one concert and I always recommend to everyone that it is a must to go to at least 2 concerts to appreciate and remember the details and atmosphere.

Then the one I waited for, Easy Rider simply sublime, the perfect Rea blues song and Chris gave this one all he had and no doubt re-living the torment of his hospital stay not so very long ago. The guitar solo was out of this world. Oh for an official live recording of this to re-live it, but we must keep hoping I am afraid. Another favourite from Stony Road as Chris began singing 'this is the story, this is the way, gospel of reason........ superb.

The night ended with The Hustler which seemed to restart a couple of times when we thought it had finished. Chris and Sylvin went to town on this one and danced around the stage and fed off each others playing with Sylvin coming to the microphone at one point to encourage the audience to participate. I think it was this number that Chris interacted with the audience and expected, with a smile, for us to reach the low growl of his unique voice. Of course no one could get that low, so we had a good laugh. The guitars and tempo built to a crescendo and everyone was intoxicated, but sadly the end came and Chris and the band took their bows and left the stage to tremendous applause from such a small audience. We of course tried to encourage them back and were a little disappointed he did not return to the stage, but boy, what a session he gave us. I will be first in line next time Chris is at Bush Hall, it's a super venue, and now we must wait for the tour to begin in April but if this is anything to go by, it is not to be missed.

A special thanks to John Knowles for his help - the crew and all the back room people who make a night like this possible.

And of course the fans, and all the people I met and attended this concert with.