“What a band!” enthuses Richard Thompson at the end of the first song. “What? A band?” adds double-bassist Danny Thompson, sardonically. Yes, it’s rare for RT to tour with a band nowadays, so this sold-out performance was a thrilling way for the Brook to announce that it’s back in business. All the real and would-be guitarists in the audience were in ecstasy, and it’s true that there can’t be a guitar player in the world to match Thompson today, playing all those extraordinary sequences of notes which shouldn’t work, yet are somehow perfect. The emphasis was very much on the new album Sweet Warrior, with standouts being the Iraq war song “Daddy’s Gonna Kill Me” and the less serious but equally engaging “Too Late to Come Fishing.” There’s something for fans of all aspects of Thompson’s career, from the acoustic whimsy of “Al Bowlly’s In Heaven” to perennial favourite “Vincent Black Lightening 1952,” but he’s always at his best on the twisted electric guitar ballads like “I Still Dream.” The evening climaxed with the irresistible sing-along of “Tear Stained Letter” which turned into a Pete Zorn saxophone wig-out. Thompson is a national treasure and never lets us down.
--Oliver Gray
Photo: Oliver Gray
