John Mayall came running on to the stage, waving his hands, as if he was chasing a bus. As rock show entrances go, it wasn’t that unusual, until you consider that the man is one week short of his 73rd birthday. As previous generations have discovered, there is no retirement from the blues, and the silver-haired Mayall continues to maintain a punishing touring and recording schedule. Now resident in California, the man from Macclesfield who triggered the British blues boom of the 1960s and launched the careers of countless superb musicians, has become one of the elder statesmen he sought to emulate as a young man.
Underlining the incredible span of his repertoire, Mayall began with a couple of numbers from his 1968 album Blues from Laurel Canyon, followed by Burned Bridges, a sprightly shuffle from last year’s Road Dogs album. There was a twinkle in his eye and a gleam in his smile, although he sounded a little breathless as he navigated both the speedy lyric and the accompanying harmonica part. Mayall also played keyboards — sometimes at the same time as the harmonica — and a miniature guitar, as well as singing in his strangely soulful, high-pitched voice. While not a virtuoso on any one instrument, his multitasking energy made for a bravura display.
Mayall was joined for most of the set at the Empire by a “special guest”, Gary Moore, the Irish guitarist who really should have played in the group in the Sixties, but never did.
Deploying his famously overcranked Les Paul, Moore engaged in some ferocious soloing during the slow blues of Have You Heard and All Your Love, both from the celebrated “Beano” album of 1966. But the current Bluesbreakers guitarist, Buddy Whittington, did not take this lying down, and matched Moore solo for solo. While Whittington did not have the star billing, he was more familiar with the material and seemed to have the soundman on his side. It is not something you would find yourself saying often, but Moore was simply not loud enough.
Mayall cleared the stage and finished on his own with a superb piece of old-school boogie woogie piano, before running off to catch the next bus.