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If ever there was an album to make a blues fan teary eyed, then this is the one. Recorded just 14 months before his tragic and untimely death, ‘Live From London’ is a timely reminder of arguably the most under-appreciated guitarist in decades.
Respected by his peers, Gary Moore deserves more than to be remembered simply as the guy from Thin Lizzy who played on ‘Parisienne Walkways’. To his fans he was unstoppable, ‘Gary The Great’, ‘The Lord Of The Strings’, or simply; ‘The Master’. And if you needed any further proof that this is anything other than fans mourning a guitar god, then ‘Live From London’ should knock that insane idea out of you.
Recorded at a one-off club show on December 2nd, 2009 at Islington Academy, this showcases an artist comfortable with who he had become, and not the big haired hard rocker that he was expected to be. It’s a lengthy affair, and very bittersweet. A fiery cover of the Albert King classic ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ opens the 80 minute package and almost instantly the listener is pondering “what if?”. If he was still alive and still recording, would Gary Moore be held in the same regard by the album/ticket buying public as someone like Joe Bonamassa? Who is to say, but when Moore breaks into ‘Down The Line’ quickly followed by an emotional run through of John Mayall’s ‘Have You Heard’, everything released over the last few years suddenly pales into significance.
‘Live From London’ has many highlights; the sizzling slide work on ‘Mojo Boogie’, the 12 minute version of Donny Hathaway’s ‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ that simply flies by, the stunning live version of ‘Still Got The Blues’ which features one of the grittiest guitar tones ever, and the hard-to-resist boogie of ‘Walking By Myself’, to name but a few.
What if? That’s all, what if?
Buy/stream ‘Live From London’ here.
