Wednesday 31 January 2024 – Memo Music Hall.
Review: Greg Phillips Photos: Jason Rosewarne
It’s been around six years since we’ve seen Walter Trout on an Australian stage, time flies. The break however has meant another couple of albums worth of material Walter has to share with us and he seems to keen to deliver. Appearing on stage fifteen minutes early and without introduction, the band leap into an energetic loosener, I Can Tell, a cover from Bo Diddley’s 1962 self-titled album.
The receptive crowd had just been thoroughly warmed up by local blues traveller Mike Elrington, who never fails to deliver his heart and soul on a plate to his audience. The imposing figure commands attention with his booming voice, energetic guitar licks and amiable stage presence. Walter thanks support act Mike Elrington before launching into his second tune of the night, a smoking, slow blues number.
Trout announces he’s going to rock things up a little with Wanna Dance from his Ordinary Madness album. It’s a flavour which stays with the band for most of the night, with the tone taking on a harder edge than last time he performed in Australia. Contributing to this are the keyboards sitting low in the mix tonight, bringing the guitars and bass to the fore.
Walter takes some time to address the audience and tells us that when he was just sixteen and working in a shopping mall, he walked by a record store over the road on his break and amazingly spotted BB King in the store. He went in and told BB he was learning guitar and politely asked for an autograph. “Hey boy,” said BB, “You think you wanna play the blues? Well we better have us a talk.” He spoke to Walter for over an hour on his 15 minute work break. His boss crossed the road and ordered him back to work. Of course nothing was going to take Walter away from his chat with Mr King. He may have lost his job over it but he went home and told his mum what we wanted to do for the rest of his life and he hasn’t turned back since. A perfect intro to a mesmerising blues tune, dedicated to Mr King called Say Goodbye To The Blues, a song which allows Trout to put his mastery of the guitar on display.
The stories kept coming as did the rockin’ blues with Ride, the title track of his current album featuring a rollicking Allman Brothers vibe. Michael Leasure, Trout’s drummer of 16 years kept the motor purring all night, with bassist John Avila (of Oingo Boingo fame) keeping it tight, while adding his own musical personality to the blend. Richard T Bear on keys also has an outstanding musical pedigree, most famously playing with Crosby, Stills and Nash and contributed authentic southern style piano licks. As mentioned before, it would have been nice to have his keyboard levels a little higher through the PA.
In 2017 Trout recorded an album with a bunch of his musical friends including Sonny Landreth, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Charlie Musselwhite, Robben Ford, and many others. The title track, We’re All In This Together, recorded with Joe Bonamassa is up next tonight with Walter’s son Jon executing Bonamassa’s guitar parts admirably.
He tells us that in the 80s while with the band Canned Heat, he spent a lot of time in Australia and in particular St.Kilda, where he didn’t behave. He’s been sober 36 years now but back then he was not. Nine years ago he ended up with liver disease which led to his liver transplant and having to relearn how to speak and play guitar. On March 1st this year, Trout releases a new album titled Broken, a deeply personal album which documents his life journey. The first single and title track featuring Beth Hart on vocals is out now and tonight Walter delivers a heartfelt version of the new tune for us at Memo.
Red Sun follows, showcasing Richard T Bear on keyboards, thankfully with his keys now hitting a generous volume. The talented band is introduced with each player getting their time in the spotlight. After an hour and twenty minutes of electrifying blues rock, Trout and band leave the stage but for those who missed this true guitar legend or want another dose, he’s back with his Strat at Memo Music Hall again tonight.
