Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
On the grounds in which the stage stood inside the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, not far from the ruler of the high seas and one of the nation’s much loved ships, The Cutty Sark, now spends her well earned retirement in perpetual adoration, once roamed and played the childhood Queen Elizabeth, arguably the finest monarch the nation has ever had on the throne of England, came the sound of the reign of the new sovereign as she played her guitar in such a way that across the Thames, in the deep vaults of The Tower of London, they were looking up the line of succession into which Midland’s born Joanne Shaw Taylor was now and undisputedly the Queen of British Blues.
It is in the very Earth, the fabric of the area of Greenwich, that the image of regal comes to mind as Joanne Shaw Taylor entertains and enthrals the five thousand strong audience sitting in the shadows of history. This woman from the Midlands, the very epitome of resurgent Blues alongside Joe Bonamassa in the 21st Century, knows how to take a guitar to its limits and then squeezes out just another drop more with the casual look of love and sweet promise.
With the sense of gaining something important, the crowd were treated to the kind of display that would stick in the mind, whether the setting, historic, filled with echoes of glory, power and decisions being made that shaped not only the chronicles of the nation but of individual lives, Joanne Shaw Taylor rode out for 45 minutes and took each heart present through greatness.
With songs, in truth innovative and contemporary Blues classics, such as Outlaw Angel, Tried Tested & True, Diamonds in the Dirt, Watch ‘Em Burn and the glory of expression that comes with The Dirty Truth all gathering at the banks of the once dirty old river in which ships such as The Cutty Sark made their way into the world for trade and conquest, Ms. Shaw Taylor captured the day with precision and beautiful, heart burning triumphant desire.
The image of three Queens making Greenwich such a desirable place in which to hold a concert was one that was unshakeable, unbreakable and filled with pageant, the Queen of British Blues held court and was unmistakably cool. A glorious way to introduce the man to come, the consort for the night and the King himself, Joanne Shaw Taylor was resplendent.
Ian D. Hall