Blues is King

Pacey, Hole and Achison Play The Blues

Everyday….Everyday…I have the blues.

A serendipitous phone call from a friend this past Sunday changed my evening around. I was on my way to watch a storm roll into Port Philip Bay at St Kilda when my plans got changed.  Thanks to my mate, I was involved with stormy weather of a different type.

3 deservedly well-known blues guitarists were performing under the banner “Kings Of The Blues” at The Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne.

Of course, the Kings they were talking about were Albert, B.B., and Freddie. Tonight, we would definitely be riding with the Kings in more ways than one.

Geoff Achison, Shane Pacey, and Dave Hole had teamed up to cover a couple of dozen numbers made famous by their ancestral blues brothers. With decades of 6 string experience between the 3 Australians, the audience was expecting some six-string magic.

We got Freddie’s Hideaway, Albert’s Born Under a Bad Sign and then one of the most recorded blues songs of all time, Rock Me Baby. When B.B. King released his version of Rock Me Baby in 1964 it was his first single to reach the Top 40 on Billboard.

For the rest of the evening, we were given a master class in all things King. Not to belittle the excellent playing of Shane and Geoff but being able to hear Dave Hole play live again was the highlight for me. Not having been in his presence since the Adelaide Guitar Festival in 2007, there was a huge grin on my face. Those grins were everywhere on stage as licks were traded and appreciated by the players.

Although not set up for dancing, I found it hard to believe that maybe only 4 people got up to shake their tail feathers. Of course, the blues brings an older crowd and maybe the dancing days are behind them. No matter, you could see on the faces of the audience they were dancing within.

This was a short mini-tour that I hope these fellows can revisit somewhere down the track soon.

The Blues is King.