Review: Mississippi Delta blues comes alive at The Edge Arts Centre
Mississippi Delta blues comes alive
On a hot sticky summer Friday evening, The Edge Arts Centre transported a rapt and appreciative audience thousands of miles away to the Mississippi Delta, as remarkable guitarist Remi Harris and masterful vocalist Roger Keenan presented The Travelling Riverside Blues Show.
Stripping the music back to its essence with little more than guitar and voice, the duo celebrated the pioneers of the blues with authenticity, passion and engaging storytelling, earning warm applause throughout and an ovation at the close.
The carefully curated setlist traced the evolution of the blues through many of its defining figures. Opening with Catfish Blues, the evening quickly settled into classics including Blind Willie McTell's Statesboro Blues, Robert Johnson's Walking Blues, Love in Vain and the playful They're Red Hot, alongside Blind Willie Johnson's Nobody's Fault and Blind Joe Reynolds's Outside Woman Blues.
After the interval, the pace shifted effortlessly between Hambone Willie Newbern's Rollin' & Tumblin', Reverend Gary Davis's Samson and Delilah, Sleepy John Estes' Diving Duck Blues and Big Joe Williams’s Baby Please Don't Go (as recorded by Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Van Morrison’s band Them), before a jubilant encore of Sweet Home Chicago sent the audience home smiling.
Harris's guitar playing was superb, moving effortlessly between a variety of acoustic and electric guitars, including a specially adapted nine-string instrument that added an extra dimension to the evening's sound.
Keenan's expressive vocals perfectly captured the grit, humour and humanity at the heart of these timeless songs, while his engaging storytelling painted vivid pictures of the people and places behind the music.
Despite the sweltering conditions outside, the audience remained captivated from first note to last, rewarding the performers with a rapturous reception that reflected both the quality of the performance and the enduring power of the blues.
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