Walter Trout + Alastair Greene – Islington Assembly Hall 21/05/2023

After an evening of acoustic loveliness with Milk Carton Kids at Union Chapel on Saturday, It was only a short walk down Islington’s Upper Street for Sunday's entertainment as legendary blues singer and guitarist Walter Trout is in town. For those unfamiliar, the Assembly Hall is part of the Islington Town Hall complex built in 1930, but only reopened as a venue in 2010 after languishing as storage space for many years and retains many impressive art deco features. The hall has a capacity of approximately 900, but it always feels more intimate, the staff are friendly, and most importantly, the sound is excellent. But enough of the architectural/history lesson, it's time we get to the music, and as we arrive, opening act Alastair Greene is doing his thing.

I’m embarrassed to admit that an artist with a string of albums dating back twenty years is new to me, but I’ll happily file this one under better late than never. Greene cuts an imposing figure yet comes over as an engaging personality regaling the audience with a series of tales to remind us that the UK and the USA are two nations separated by a common language, “Do you want a shag?" would prove particularly problematic. He also seemed genuinely surprised that Iron Maiden might not be the favourite band of a blues crowd… All of this is good fun and didn’t distract in the slightest as Greene, playing solo, unleased a string of tasty slide guitar solos from his Les Paul with closer ‘Walking In Circles’ (I think) more than enough evidence that Alastair Greene would be welcome back anytime.

Walter Trout with Alastair Greene.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Walter Trout. I’d been advised he was a fantastic player who hadn’t lost a step despite his previous health issues. My advisors had only handed me half the story as Walter Trout and his band were, quite frankly, phenomenal. Walter wandered on stage and exploded into ‘I Can Tell’ (with the room still, seemingly bathed in house lights). The only reason my jaw didn’t hit the floor was because I was too busy smiling. Walter, a ridiculously sprightly 72 years young, peeled off solos from his Fender Stratocaster as if his life depended on it “I’m a one woman, one guitar guy” he joked before throttling back just a notch for ‘Walking In The Rain’. Walter was supported by a fantastic band for whom the word ferocious might have been invented. These guys mean business, and that’s just how they look. A friend joked that if those guys turned up for the audition and claimed they could play, you’d hire them, no questions asked. Bass player Johnny Griparic previously held down the bottom end with Richie Kotzen and Slash’s Snakepit but has been with Trout for a few years now. Johnny is joined by drummer Jacob Renlov (think Artimus Pyle with more hair, a bigger beard and shades) and ace keys man Richard T Bear, who has a back story that requires a feature all of its own (this guy has serious history). Three tracks in and ‘Wanna Dance’ finds the band firing on all cylinders, rockin’ hard with another mainstay of the Trout ensemble Andrew Elt popping up to add rhythm guitar/vocals (Sleaze/Hair/Glam metal fans might remember Andrew from his days in Sleeze Beez).

A gorgeous ‘Say Goodbye To The Blues’, dedicated to Walter’s inspiration B.B. King, was a guaranteed crowd pleaser, and allowed plenty of space for his guitar to really sing, and reminded us that Walter is also a good singer before embarking on a quartet of tracks from most recent, thirtieth, album ‘Ride’. As an album, ‘Ride’ does a great job of showing Walter isn’t stuck in an old-school bluesy rut. ‘Ride’ sounds modern, in blues terms, very melodic in a Doobie/Allman Brothers kinda way with some great catchy tunes. The title track, ‘Ghosts’ and ‘I’m Worried’ are all great, while Andrew Elt’s acoustic guitar was a welcome addition to ‘Follow You Back Home’, which Trout dedicated to his wife of 30+ years.

By this point of the evening, the Band are really cookin’ and Walter informed us it was time to jam, which they surely did. Alastair Greene joining in - reminding us that we’d really like to see this guy with a full band - while a quite stunning demonstration of harmonica virtuosity from Will Wilde, who, I kid you not, sports the over-the-shoulder harmonica equivalent of a bullet belt. If you think Harmonica starts and stops with Bob Dylan, then Will Wilde is one hell of a culture shock, that’s for sure. The main set concluded with a delicate acoustic ‘Destiny’ before they raced through Floyd Lee’s ‘Red Sun’. After a brief break, everyone returned for a raucously chaotic ‘Bullfrog Blues’. Walter reminded us that, although he’d played it every night for five years in Canned Heat, the best version of the song is by Rory Gallagher (which I’m sure the bloke behind me in the Rory Gallagher T-Shirt knew all along).

Beyond his still impressive guitar skills and impassioned vocals, Walter is such an engaging, humorous frontman. While taking a brief break mid-song, there was much laughter when Walter said something along the lines of despite being 72, he feels 22 but has moments when it's more like 92, and reminded us that without a liver transplant (eight months in hospital, after which he had to relearn to walk, talk and play the guitar), he wouldn’t be with us today, which is a pretty impressive reason for donor cards. Honestly, tonight was as good as it gets, and I urge you to get along to a Walter Trout show.

The official NHS website with all the info you need about organ donation is here:

https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/