Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - Shepherd's Bush Empire, April 23rd 2023
It's a Sunday night, and I'm at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, undaunted by the typically miserable weather, for the final night of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band UK tour. The Empire is a long way from Shreveport, Louisiana, but it's also been twenty-five long years since the original release of ‘Trouble Is’ elevated the guitarist to the top of the blues tree. The platinum-selling record would spawn four crossover rock hits, building on the success of his debut album, ‘Ledbetter Heights’, and catapulted the young guitarist to headline status while still in his early twenties.
It should be noted that it’s the Kenny Wayne Shepherd band with an emphasis on band. As he demonstrates throughout the evening, KWS is a more than capable singer alongside his outstanding ability with six strings, but the addition of vocalist Noah Hunt for the original ‘Trouble Is’ album would prove to be a masterstroke as it widened the range of the KWS band allowing them to tackle anything and everything musically. The joy of ‘Trouble Is’ as an album is its accessibility. If you wanted to give a newcomer a one-stop shop to experience all the various possibilities the blues can offer, then ‘Trouble Is’ would be an ideal place to start.
Playing an album live, in its entirety, to mark an anniversary is pretty popular these days, with many acts going down that road. It’s a pretty cool way for casual fans to hear their favourite record and for the hard-core fan to enjoy deep cuts that rarely feature in a live set. Cleverly KWS understands that albums and live shows are different animals, so the reimagined ‘Trouble Is 25” finds the album shuffled around a little making a great show.
Opening with the instrumental title track, it’s instantly apparent the floppy-haired guitarist has the chops, and with an often exaggerated sweeping right hand and loose-limbed style, it’s hard to take your eyes off him. He also looks cool with a fitted silver-grey jacket over black jeans and a T-shirt. Next up ‘Somehow, Somewhere, Someway’ finds Noah Hunt sounding great, full and throaty, and owes a debt to Stevie Ray Vaughan musically, as does their catchy take on Bob Dylan’s ‘Everything Is Broken’ (originally recorded by Bob for his Oh Mercy record in 1989). The guitar nerds might be interested to know Kenny is favouring a gorgeous translucent faded blue signature Fender Strat for the early part of the set (I'm guessing he doesn't take those old Fenders very far from home). We’re treated to a scorching ‘Chase The Rainbow’ before Kenny and the band dial things back for ‘I Found Love (When I Found You)’ which Kenny tells us has become a popular wedding song, an understated, almost jazzy solo the perfect counterpoint to keys man Joe Krown’s piano and organ contribution.
Krown’s playing is again to the fore as the band switch things up for the funky Wah-Wah infused ‘Nothing To Do With Love’ before dropping into a cool groove for ‘Kings Highway’ and powering through ‘True Lies’ while ‘(Long) Gone’ found the rhythm section of drummer Sam Bryant and bassist Kevin McCormick locking into a groove to allow Joe and Kenny plenty of room for extended solos. Into the home straight now for the ‘Trouble Is’ record, we were treated to a guitar/vocal call and response on the Hendrix classic ‘I Don’t Live Today’ (Kenny is no stranger to Jimi as he’s been involved with the Experience Hendrix shows from the beginning) before a rousing rendition of Kenny’s best-known song ‘Blue On Black’ proved a guaranteed crowd pleaser and time for a little audience participation before completing the main set with the Wah-Wah drenched ‘Slow Ride’.
It felt like we’d had our money’s worth at this point, but Kenny was as good as his word and the band returned for a further set of favourites that lasted for close to another hour. Opening round two with the Southern Rock stylings of ‘Woman Like You’ (what can I say, it reminds me of Lynyrd Skynyrd for some reason), before a blazing ‘I Want You’ left no note unpicked, no fret untouched. Kenny shared vocals with Noah on the rootsy, Wah-Wah tinged ‘Diamonds & Gold’ which became a showcase for the deep, rumbly bass tones of Kevin McCormick as he enjoyed his moment in the spotlight (as a side note, it’s great to see Kevin who made such a huge contribution to those early Melissa Etheridge records and one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen back in the day). The encore/second set concluded with a double whammy of the epic ‘Heat Of The Sun’ which showcases just how good a singer Noah is before B.B. King’s ‘You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now’ allowed the band to slip into a nice slow blues with plenty of room for piano/organ and guitar solos which proved to be a fitting end to a great night. If you’re familiar with the blues, then I’m sure Kenny Wayne Shepherd is already featured in your collection, if not, then the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and ‘Trouble Is’ would be a great place to start your journey.
I don’t get to many metal shows these days, so I jumped at the opportunity to visit North London for a rare UK visit from Kamelot. The Florida-born but now multi-national act are deep into their ‘Awaken The World’ tour with impressive looking support from Ad Infinitum, Blackbriar and Frozen Crown. I’m, unusually for me, bright and early for the start of tonight’s proceedings and expecting good things.