Supergroup is more often than not a pejorative term used to describe the shortlived alchemy of malcontents and massive egos making mega music. More sneered at than soaring. More blooper than super. What say you Black Country Communion?
The first notes of opener ‘Black Country’ throws down the gauntlet to such notions before picking it up and trashing the live shit out of it. Rolling rumbling bass, thunderstick drumming, wah wowed guitar and soulful hollering make you unable to draw breath as the oxegen is sucked from the venue. Shut up, strap in and hold on. Can’t stop. Gotta rock.
Straight into the swagger and galloping of groove of ‘One Lost Soul’ and it’s clear where BCC’s strength lies; collective musical genius devoid of ego and a seductive effortless groove that serves as the foundation for familiar riff boundaries to be pulled asunder. They got the funk. Oh and rock legened Glenn Hughes. The guy’s vocals are still a thing of wonder and beauty. His whole persona and performance exudes joy, peace and love.
Joe Bonamassa confirms the contemporaneous reshaping of 70s rock by strapping on the double neck and storming the ramparts of ‘The Battle For Hadrian’s Wall’ off current release 2. Hughes combines hyperactive bass pummelling with duck walks as he shimmies and sassies around the stage throwing more shapes than an electrocuted octopus.
The crawling riff of “’ Can See Your Spirit’ is all Filmore East jam and Madsion Square Garden pomp. The aching ‘Save Me’ moves from moody chug to soaring arabesque arias. Bonham’s skin pounding on ‘Cold’ is an eye-watering powerhouse of intimate intricacy. Yeah the clue is in the name!
Bonamassa takes over vocal duties on the dark misty mountain hop of ‘The Ballad Of John Henry’ before engaging in some guitar voodoo and a soul-selling solo that’d turn the devil pale.
The riff rhythm rampage continues with the fillet of soul rock that is ‘Sweet Sista Jane’, followed by the hypnotic chug of ‘Man In The Middle’ which has Khubla Khan heading through Xanadu via Route 66.
And when you think it just can’t get any better…the show ends with that Hughes anthem (and surely one of the greatest rock songs of all time) from his time in Deep Purple, ‘Burn’.
Comfortable with the past, secure with the weight of their histories and masters at what they do, BCC just rock!
And on this display the future is the past refashioned. Can’t ignore the DNA.