Page 57 - Black Velvet Issue 91

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BLACK STONE CHERRY - EXPERIENCE KENTUCKY: AN EVENING WITH BLACK STONE CHERRY - BRIGHTON
DOME 30.11.16
It feels a little strange seeing a band who
usually take over entire arenas playing in a
theatre hall, but when you see the beauty of
the Brighton Dome you’re instantly won over.
It's a very brave thing to perform without
a warm-up band, however, in this case, Black
Stone Cherry are their own warm-up. This 'Ex-
perience Kentucky': An Evening with Black
Stone Cherry' tour sees Black Stone Cherry
perform a semi-unplugged set before a full
electric set. The semi-unplugged set lets them
show off songs they don’t perform anywhere,
let alone in a normal performance. They even
mentioned that on the first night of tour, they
held back the doors by 15 minutes because
they wanted to play a song acoustically but
were trying to figure out how to do it! An unex-
pected ‘Big City Lights’ sees the loyal devoted
smile and singing from the crowd, and despite
some fans not knowing this song, they don’t
disappoint. In fact, they very well impress
everyone and it gives a huge sense of a united
fan base with relaxed singing and comedic
moments such as, "Can you play a little soft
John Fred?" Chris Robertson asks. "Man, I am
playing soft!" John Fred Young retorts in
shock. "If that’s soft, I’d hate to see what hard
is!" Chris teases. John Fred’s reply being,
"You and your soft." "Don't take the mickey out
of the way I say soft. I know I say it s-o-f-t as
in capital T. Soft," Chris says quickly with a lit-
tle sass in his Kentucky accent. The crowd
erupts into laughter before the next song be-
gins. The set sees particular favourites such
as ‘The Rambler’, ‘Hell And High Water’ and
‘Like I Roll’, with both delicacy and raw country
picking, not often a side to Black Stone Cherry
you see. ‘Things My Father Said’, and ‘All I’m
Dreamin’ Of’ let loose some emotional flecks
but held together beautiful melodies and rich
harmonies before closing the set and making
way for the stage upheaval for the full electric
half of the night.

Half an hour’s interval allows the crowd to pect nothing less than brilliance from a band that song sees the three guitarists play their guitars
refresh, chatter and watch as the stage gets a fill arenas, and they know how to push the resting on shoulders behind their heads and
makeover. The opener ‘Devil’s Queen’ sets off crowd's buttons by playing ’White Trash Million- even a Chris Robertson solo Jimi Hendrix-style.
a more predictable Black Stone Cherry gig. With aire’ and ‘Killing Floor’ back-to-back before John To see such a big name be brave and take
each song played laden in guitar solos, the en- Fred busts out a five-minute drum solo and lit- themselves back to basics is very refreshing,
ergy levels get pushed up a notch, almost in erally lets his hair down which has been tied up and it’s also nice to see them in a venue under
time to Ben Wells' ridiculously high kicks. And all night. At this point, the rest of the band take 2000 capacity, to play so well and intimately.
just when you think it can’t go any higher, ‘Me this chance to have a quick offstage break and Let’s hope some more artists take a leaf out of
And Mary Jane’ fills the theatre with a very ap- come back to give us a treat, their latest single Black Stone Cherry’s book in the future!
preciative crowd vocal and we see all four mem- ‘Shakin’ My Cage’, followed by ‘Blame It On The YYYYY
bers of Black Stone Cherry grinning from ear to Boom Boom’ and ‘Lonely Train’. To close, we Annina Cremona
ear - it’s really heartwarming to see a band that hear an homage to Lemmy of Motorhead with a
are still humbled by their fan reaction. You’d ex- ballsy rendition of ‘Ace Of Spades’. The last Ben Wells (BSC) Photo By Annina Cremona

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