Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Nils Lofgren has placed his guitar on the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall stage before and yet as the chill in the January air was making the very air being exhaled from Liverpool public’s mouths feel as though it was shattering onto the pavements in a tiny fragmented pieces, never has watching one of the most scintillating guitarists to ever come out of America, filled the heart with as much heat and joyous warmth.

With supremely accomplished musician Greg Varlotta aiding a key man from America’s outstanding period of Rock, Nils Lofgren took the Philharmonic Hall audience through their collective paces as he showcased songs from seemingly every era of his long and illustrious career. Whether it was the talk of his early days with the band he founded, Grin, his sublime work as a renowned and prestigious solo artist or even as a member of The E-Street Band with the much missed Clarence Clemons, Steven Van Zandt, Patti Sciaffa and of course the indomitable Bruce Springsteen, all the angles, all the hits, the musical beauty and thoughts of a man who first heard the Beatles as a young lad and was hooked on the idea of music.

Opening the evening with a harp intro may have had the odd person in the crowd looking puzzled but the delicate, almost feminine aspect to the playing was wonderfully in sharp contrast to what was to come over the following two hours and it mirrored in many ways the subtle nature of the man with the outlandish entertainer and executor of the guitar with transcendent action.

Over the course of 120 minutes, Nils Lofgren took full advantage of playing in the home of British popular music and as he slipped in the story of how The Beatles, and later other sterling acts, influenced him and how it led to the life he has had, tracks such as New Holes in Old Shoes, Fall Behind, the outstanding Girl in Motion, Rusty Gun, Black Books, Man in the Moon, Dream Big, Be Humble, Dance A Lot and a first rate, tremendously jaw-dropping version of the behemoth Springsteen written track, Because The Night, became more relevant, more attainable and offered a depth of character that may have been missed by many an audience member before.

Nils Lofgren is not just a master of his craft but he is also, fittingly, very humble and modest about what he has achieved in life, arguably fitting in more in one life than many manage in ten. He has a lot of stories, a lot of music in which to impart on to the world but he also does it with grace and humility which is a huge credit to the man and the standing ovation from a very encouraged, warmed and privileged crowd stood testament to that musical modesty.

Ian D. Hall