Ronnie B. Goode!

Ronnie Wood With His Wild Five

All Saints Church, Kingston November 20th and Shepherd’s Bush Empire, November 21th

Ronnie took full advantage of gigging in a Saxon Church by playing Sweet Little Sixteen from the pulpit before taking his rightful place stage centre. Prior to this pianist Ben Waters had warmed up the 300-strong crowd with a tribute to Johnnie Johnson and introduced us to the band – Dion Egtved (bass), Dexter Hercules (drums), Antti Snellman (tenor sax) and Tom Waters (alto sax). A brace of backing singers and Imelda May on co-vocals allowed for a varied set of Chuck Berry songs. Outstanding were Mad Lad, a haunting instrumental played on lap steel plus several tracks covered by the Stones including Let It Rock, Little Queenie, Don’t Lie To Me, a rousing Carol and  set-closer Bye Bye Johnny. Ronnie also  revisited his time as a Face  with an evocative version of  Memphis Tennessee (“we always used to screw that one up”). Throughout a ninety minute set Ronnie’s guitar playing was faultless and just loose enough to be fun.

The following night saw a very similar set played to an absolutely rammed Shepherds Bush Empire. The audience response was equally enthusiastic with fans from all over the world helping with the vocals of Sweet Little Rock And Roller. Special guest vocalist on a seasonal Run Run Rudolph was Lulu – small in stature, big in voice.

Special Merchandise: Unique T shirts with artwork designed by Ronnie £30 (Kingston) and Mad Lad hoodies £50 (Shepherd’s Bush)

This review written for Record Collector magazine

Photocredit: Chalky1172 (via Instagram)