Blue Print Magazine
Lightning Red and Thunder Blues
at the Warrington R&B Club, Warrington England
The gig at Warrington was the band's first appearance on an extensive tour of the UK throughout the month of July.
Guitarist, singer and songwriter Lightning Red gained his early schooling in the blues in Chicago before moving to Austin, Texas.
Both sets played by the band strongly reflected the influences of those two legendary centres of American blues music.
The first set began with a Texas blues instrumental, followed by "Scratch My Back", a funky arrangement complete with slide guitar.
Three more Texas blues numbers maintained the momentum, accompanied by top quality combinations of slide and SRV-like solos.
The relentless pace was then eased by a splendid rendition of Eddie Boyd's "Five Long Years", which introduced the wonderful skills of Stockport's Paul Westwell on harp,
who continued to delight the audience on "Blow Wind Blow".
The remainder of the set comprised a well-balanced mix of shuffles, country swing and fast and funky blues, throughout which Lightning Red demonstrated his
guitar mastery with a series of scintillating solos, most
notably on "Dynamite" and "Got The Power".
Red opened the second set with another fast instrumental, followed by the funky "Houston Blues" and "Tortured Mind". "South Austin Shuffle" again evoked memories of
Stevie Ray and featured the outstanding talent of Coy Fuller on drums. Then it was time to return to Chicago and the plaintive brilliance of Paul Westwell on "Lost My Baby",
"Hoochie Coochie Man" and Little Milton's "The Blues Is Alright".
The performance ended with "Snatch It Back" and Freddie King's "Going Down", both of which showcased the considerable ability of Terry Robbins:
the former enriched by his terrific funky baseline and the latter, for which he also provided lead vocals, by a display of his versatility as a bass player.
It was an excellent evening's entertainment, provided by four masters of their respective instruments. Lightning Red is a superb guitarist and a talented songwriter;
and, equally importantly, he, Coy and Terry are warm and gracious individuals to whom an audience can't help but relate. I have a sneaking feeling that they will be back.
- Lionel Ross
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Strange Pleasures Magazine
Lightning Red & Thunder Blues
at The Vic,
Swindon England
After an awful journey down from Nottingham where they played the previous night, Red and the boys were just so glad to reach Swindon to relax and unwind for a few hours
before sound checking etc.. The intimacy of the Vic gives off good vibes under the right conditions - and that night they were just that. Red and the boys launched straight
out in to their set - a mix of styles which they call "Texicago" due to Red's roots being born in Chicago but having moved to Austin, Texas and influenced by both genres of
blues.
Red is tall with an impressive persona, stage presence, guitar style and despite his larger than life disposition, a modest meliferous voice for the greater part of the songs.
But when called upon to get growly he does so with a vengeance!
His praises have been written by greater pens than mine and by prestigious Blues magazines and noteworthy music critics of the top notch American press so I will spare
you any further repetitious eulogy on this fine gentleman.
The programme included a "Thunder and Lightning" "Houston Blues" "Tortured Mind" and a delightful "South Austin Shuffle" as well as a few non Texas orientated classic
numbers like "Five Long Years" and "Snatch It Back" and a "Red's Blues" to finish the first set. Little Milton's "The Blues Is Alright" opened the second half of the
proceedings then "Lost My Baby". Muddy's [McKinnley Morganfield] "Hoochie Coochie Man" and BB's [BB KING] "Rock Me" followed closely by - one of my all-time
favorites - Freddie King's "Goin' Down".
The flagstone floor replete with condensation and loads of spilled beer made for slippery conditions for the dancers and sedentary punters alike - but as it was so tightly packed no one hit the deck as it were!
The gig finished and the people clapped - they did an encore - people clapped again and then as time had run out, reluctantly left the gig happy, sweaty and tired having enjoyed a full rounded body of blues music Lightning Red style.
- Sweet Lizzy D
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