Caught Otis Grand and band at the Apex in Bury St. Edmunds last night. Worried that at 7.25pm he was going to be playing to a largely empty hall, but then within the next five minutes it was virtually full – Apex regulars know how to time their pre-gig drinks!
The concert itself was excellent, Otis showing why he has been named British Blues Guitarist of the year on numerous occasions (even though he was born in Beirut and grew up in the States). Played a number of tracks from his last excellent album “Blues 65”. Has to be said though that the sound mixing was a little idiosyncratic, with the horns way too low in the mix for them to have the impact they should have; and the vocals were a little muddy as well. Definitely not simply a replica of his recordings though with a fair degree of improvisation going on throughout the set, as evidenced by the drummer’s frequent glances around the band as he looked for the musical cues that might give him an inkling when the song might be about to finish! Nice off the cuff blues lesson from Otis as well (Robert Johnson through to B.B. King) when Otis broke his string and it had to be replaced by one of the band while Otis improvised on his second guitar