Jonny Lang - Shows you he is a Wonder in London!

October 3rd 2013

London, The Borderline, UK

*****

The Jeff Buckley of Blues hits The Borderline!

Jonny Lang ***** has not returned to the UK for quite a while so their is some anticipation for tonights show, which is completely Sold Out!!!. This is his only UK date before he comes back to play the Shepherds Bush o2 Empire next year which is bound to be a show that you will not want to miss, Especially after reading this review of how he brought some real Blues and Funk back to the London Borderline.

Tonight and the UK shows are really to promote his first studio album in seven years 'Fight for my Soul' which is a record I would say as really grabbed me and made me groove to it's contents. He has really thought about who he has invited to play with him tonight and his band consists of some old and new faces some coming out of the Nashville Country and Blues scene.

He opens up proceedings with the great Funky 'Don't Stop (For Anything)' off his 'Turn Around' album which is a mix of tempo's and grooves and we stops and starts with great breaks so it's a good song to start with. I think this song is a good glimpse of what was to come in Jonny Lang's albums and sounds like it was record years before it was. He goes from this into the traditional 'A quitter never Wins' which is a traditional Blues song that sticks to a formular that we have heard a million times before. This is done really well and has a very slow groove to it, but it's not as memorable as some of his other material and doesn't really stick out to me so I think this track is the low point of a almost perfect set.

It does have a great Blues Esq. solo in it which Jonny Lang pulls back and let's screech out while he really feels the music and some handy piano work then brings it back into the original groove. He then brings it a little more Funky for 'Turn Around' and a rendition of 'Red Light' that is slow and beautiful and leads to the whole audience singing a long to it. Jonny Lang's vocal versatility is really shown on this song with his vocals being so soulful, this great song is taken of his album 'Long time Coming' which has so many good songs on it. I would purchase this record though for this song on it's own, because I love it so much.

'We are the Same' off the new album is a real high point of the set, with it's Shaft Esq. 70's Groove and it's 90's Funk sounding break that could have come out of a Motown track or a R&B / Soul 12'. This song really does have a real Funky 70's film feel to it and you just can't believe that it was only written recently, I think this is what you call an instant classic. From an instant classic to and old time classic a song that is Jonny Lang's answer to his critics who say the new album is too like Stevie Wonder. He goes straight out and breaks into a cover of the Stevie Wonder song 'Livin' in the City' which almost sounds as good as the original and has a slice of Jonny's own personality added to it.

His new single in the UK 'Blew Up (The House)' starts of with a traditional Country riff and verges on traditional American road music mixed up with a bit of Soul and Funk and a sprinkling of Gospel / Church music before it has a break down that Prince would be proud of. This song is going to be a big hit over here and I am sure is going to get some good radio play like it has already done in the States. He is an artist that can do any style he wants to and always can bring something new to it like his slow down Gospel version of 'Great Day' which really shows how strong his vocals are, and sends shivers down your spine as he lifts his vocals up to give you a massive church feel in the small Borderline venue. This venue is actually packed to the rafters with people still stuck on the stairs not being able to get down to watch Jonny from the floor, which is really something to behold. 'Great Day' is such a track that it really over shines the Blues ridden 'Angel of Mercy' that ends his main set with people still remembering the brilliance of his vocal performance on it.

The crowd cheer franticly for Jonny to come back on and he slides back in with 'What your looking For' which is a track you could see James Arthur singing and 'Fourty Days' before ending his set is far the best with a stripped down version of his brilliant hit single 'Lie to Me', starting it off soulful and slow with just his acoustic guitar before hitting it in with his full band with pure class. Jonny puts so much Soul into this song that you don't realise it started off as a Blues anthem for him, the new take merging into what he has been working on with his new album 'Fight for my Soul' which can be bought at the merchandise stand signed by him for a massive price of fourty pounds. The funny things is this album is worth every single penny of it.

The Borderline has not seen such as young talent as Jonny Lang since Jeff Buckley played his legendary concert at the the venue all though's years ago. Jonny is already big in America and I think that the UK will follow shortly with great music like this, which mixes up the likes of Stevie Wonder, Prince and Stevie Ray Vaughan. This is brilliant stuff so isn't it time you got your fix of it and we got our fix with a great two hour set.