Live Review: Black Stone Cherry | Royal Albert Hall, London | 29/09/21
The past and present continuously insists on blurring the lines between our heritage and the future we are constantly carving every day, and London’s Royal Albert Hall is no different. The Grade 1 Listed amphitheatre dates back to 1871, and truly captures the grandeur of Victorian era Britain. Despite the towering glass doors and sleek-fitted bathrooms mixing with the classical stone architecture, the sound emanating from within the structure would make Prince Albert himself shudder.
Southern hard rockers Black Stone Cherry quite literally went through hell and high-water to bring their Kentucky-laced dirty blues flavours to the stage, and that sentiment was not wasted on a single soul that evening. The importance of this gig was palpable within the air, as for some it was their first outing since before the Rapture That Shall Not Be Named; their first large-scale event; and most certainly, their first sight of an international performance. Precautionary travel from the US was a big enough risk to take to ensure the two-year delayed tour could finally go ahead, and the night resulted in more emotions than one.
Warming up the crowd was Devon-born Kris Barras and his band, and having already gained notable experience fronting Billy Gibbons’ band Supersonic Blues Machine and supporting Bon Jovi on tour, the daunting feel of the Albert Hall stage did nothing to propel the intimidation across the musician’s faces. With most of the energy concentrated on the right side of the stage being driven mainly by the bass section, The Kris Barras Band familiarised themselves with three new songs in preparation for their headline tour of the UK in March 2022, where venues with lower roofs, stickier floors and sweatier atmospheres will welcome them more with open arms and reciprocated crowd energy.
Much like a smooth Bourbon warming the throat as it finds it’s way down to your chest, the crowd gave off a welcoming and homely aura as Black Stone Cherry took in their surroundings for the first time that night and slammed heavily like a train collision into ‘Me And Mary Jane’, ‘Burnin’’, and ‘Again’.
In conjunction with their sound and the history of the venue, the boys in the band interweaved tracks from their latest record The Human Condition with crowdpleasers from their debut self titled album. Foot-stomping tunes ‘White Trash Millionaire’, ‘Blame It On The Boom Boom’, and ‘Cheaper To Drink Alone’ also got the foundations shaking, as well as a cheeky appearance from ‘Yeah Man’, a track which only appears on the compilation record Play Loud: Rock. Tracks like ‘In My Blood’ and ‘Like I Roll’ traded in the distortion and overdrive in return for harmonies and gang choruses throughout the auditorium resulting in a lost voice or two the following day, a night of unity being well worth the sacrifice.
Photo Credit: Ben Gibson
Sheer ferocity sparked out of John Fred Young’s drumsticks and Ben Wells guitar strings, the fire and vitality that had been lying dormant for many months finally coming to a head on the final night of the tour. The reasoning for John Fred’s drum solo is lost between inner circle whispers, as the performance given off from the Kentucky Headhunter offspring is at an all-time constant high from the get go to the let go anyway, with no unwavering moment. The same is said for Ben Wells, like a kid with ADHD on a sugar rush bounding from one length of the stage to the other and headbanging as if he had the 360 degree neck of an owl.
To the untrained eye, newest touring member Steve Jewell and his bass guitar commanded his side of the stage with authority and jurisdiction, the pressure of filling John Lawhon’s boots, in The Royal Albert Hall of all places, not a worry on his mind.
The night jostled with one emotion after another, as frontman Chris Robertson introduced the tearjerking track ‘Things My Father Said’. The empty stool by the side of the stage where his dad used to sit may have been heartbreakingly vacant, yet still the aura of pride was present as his son finally had the Royal Albert Hall wrapped around his fingers.
Unlike most bands, Black Stone Cherry chose to end the night on a sombre yet somehow unifying note with ‘Peace Is Free’. A simple speech reflecting on how easy and quickly rock n’ roll and music got snatched away from us was one for the history books, the reality and realisation of just how fragile life and everything we think we know can be hitting hard like a blunt object to the back of the head. But thanks to the four lads from Edmonton, Kentucky, we’ll all be that little bit more sentimental with our live music from now on.
Photo Credit: Ben Gibson