Sunday, June 28, 2015

Tom Walker Trio: Live at the Symphony Hall 10/6/15

You'd think that after three days at Lunar I'd have had my fix of live music for the time being. Yet with a lovely sunny day and nothing much to do with it I made the journey especially into town to check out The Tom Walker Trio. For nearly a year I had been friends with Tom walker on Facebook without ever actually meeting him, so I felt it'd be nice to get a chance to see him play. The free gig put on by Project Sound-Lounge was placed awkwardly in the Symphony Hall Foyer right behind  the massive sheets of tinted glass. Seats were lined out and a mix of fans from all ages and backgrounds had come to see them play. Amazingly Tom Walker is only 20 years old, but his talent and stage manner belies that fact. With a deep throaty growl, and some serious skill on his guitar, Tom Walker and his band are very much in the Blues Rock mould popularised by the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan. More recently other young types such as Joanne Shaw Taylor, Oli Brown, and Virgil and the Accelerators have made some amazing music in this style and TW3 are very much the equal of those bands. The two guys backing Tom are at least twice his age, but the three clearly share a friendship and on stage are a tight unit. The slap bass playing adds another layer of funk into the mix. In traditional blues style the set-list was made up of established blues classics, such as Jimi Hendrix' 'All along the watchtower', which Tom has put his own take on, having replaced the iconic solo with something of his own. Another highlight was their take on Joe Bonnamassa's 'The Ballard of John Henry' with perfectly nicked Joe's dirty, dusty tone.
The band's original songs don't quite stand up to classics such as those, but still show a lot of promise.

Considering it was free and over an hour long, it was definitely worth coming along too, despite the strange time and place. Afterwards I finally got to meet Tom, and he told me a bit about the blues night  he's putting on at the Roadhouse In Birmingham.

Rating 7.2/10

Check out their new single below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOmCtB9npQs

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