Andy Fairweather-Low 20/7/2012

I must have seen AFL a lot of times when you add in all the Clapton gigs and a Roger Waters gig and supporting Robert Cray but this was the first I had seen him as the headline act. As it was on his home turf in South Wales with friends and family in the audience it was a very relaxed and informal gig and that suits him very well. Inevitably he brought out the old Amen Corner hits but that was done without much real passion towards the end and the highlights of the gig were when he was playing the music he loved - country blues in particular but also some twang and a stones tribute version of 'Route 66' at the end. His guitar playing on a couple of Jimmy Reed songs ('Bright Lights, Big City' and 'Baby, what You want Me to Do') and on a Lightening Hopkins track was outstanding; effortless and atmospheric. He surprised me by including a little twang section which started off with 'Apache' then did another Shadows hit 'FBI' and then brilliantly a great version of 'Peter Gunn'. Having waited twenty plus years (since the 80s Duanne Eddy tour)to hear Peter Gunn live I then get to hear it in successive gigs - how weird is that? There were various other countryish tracks of note - a heartfelt version of 'When Things Go Wrong' comes to mind - and then that great finish. AFL admitted he had learnt the Keith Richards solo by heart as a teenager and then he reproduced it. Great stuff. As ever Nick Pentelow provided that rocking sax sound to accompany AFL and the rhythm section did their duty expertly. I am now wondering whether I can catch the band later on in the tour that is just starting.