Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
If ever there was a moment to silence a Blues crowd into submission then to hear Danny Bryant tell a touching story about his mentor and friend Walter Trout and a request he made to hear Mr. Bryant perform one particular song would have been that moment. The haunting sound of a rich guitar, the lyrics of Walter Trout’s favourite song, Bob Dylan’s Girl From The North Country, floating through the air like wisps of articulate light dancing in the shaded memory of all in attendance and the far-away look in Danny Bryant’s eyes only served notice that the world of Blues has never been closer. It was a beautiful moment and one that fans of both Walter Trout and Danny Bryant will understand the brother-like love and admiration that runs through both men.
If the guitar sounded as if it also was holding back any thought of sentiment during Girl From The North Country, then for the rest of the evening’s performance, Danny Bryant’s guitars were sounding as if they were being gently swayed by the thought of a demon in angelic disguise caressing them as if they were his first and only love. The mystical rise of the closely guarded Blues treasure flanked by a series of horny spirits, tamed Banshees moaning at the deep heat applied to the neck and the beautiful outpouring of almost pious declaration; it would be surprising if any of Danny’s guitars woke up without an imagined smile on its face the next morning.
From the opening number, Greenwood 31 through the magnificent Guntown, Hoochie Coochie Man, the sublime Prisoner of the Blues, Take Me Higher and the superb Tell Me; Danny Bryant, quietly tempting bass player Alex Philips and one man drum supremo Trevor Barr placed their trust in the St. Helens audience and were rewarded with a night in which was keenly felt, almost anything could have happened, anything could and it would have been welcomed more warmly that the return of a long last family member after they had gone Polar exploring for six months.
Danny Bryant had been on the road with Walter Trout for the last few weeks, the mentor and the student together playing their hearts out and no doubt celebrating, as every Blues would have been alongside them in their thoughts, the excellent prognosis of the legendary Blues man’s recovery from serious illness. To come back from a gruelling and it has to be said extremely emotionally draining tour, albeit a truly happy one, would have sent many musicians back home, to the gentle arms of loved ones and a soft welcoming bed to rest and recuperate, Danny Bryant showed the crowd at the Citadel in St. Helens just how tough, how resolute and just how much fun he is.
A tremendous night in which great Blues came back to the North West.
Ian D. Hall