By Chris Roberts/Widerview Visual Media
Laurence Jones, with support from Amy Eftekhari (his fiancée), wowed the fans at The Stables in Wavendon, Milton Keynes. This was part of his solo acoustic tour at venues around the UK.
The Stables was first built by Jonny Dankworth & Cleo Lane in 1970, not long after the birth of Milton Keynes, with the current building erected in 2000 and an update in 2007.
Amy Eftekhari first met Laurence in 2015 at the launch of his What’s It Gonna Be album in Leamington Spa, where Amy was also doing some backing vocals.
Laurence was playing acoustic guitars rather than the electric guitars he plays with his band and, as Laurence explained, his solo album On My Own is taking him back to his blues roots.
He started with “One Life”, a great slide guitar-led song (a feature throughout the evening), with Laurence’s bluesy, strident vocals and foot drum getting us into the blues!
This was followed by “Ain’t Coming Back No More” (as Laurence said, the Francis Rossi song), a great high-tempo blues song with excellent guitar picking, effective vocals and a foot-stomping tempo.
He talked about his Crohn’s and the changes he needed to make, including setting up his own record label, Ron Records, which was set up in memory of his grandad, who was a great supporter early in his music career. His doctor had to put him on a special diet, which has helped him put on a couple of stone.
Next was the title track from his new album, “On My Own”, with its great stomping tempo, powerful guitar picking and strong bluesy vocals. This was followed by a Robert Johnson song which influenced his early songs, “Come into my Kitchen”, with powerful slide guitar, great picking and foot drum. The vocals were in a very early blues style, à la Robert Johnson.
Laurence has always included a song from his guitar hero Jimi Hendrix, and this time we had the acoustic version of “Voodoo Child”, with strident vocals, excellent slide guitar and picking. The song also included a section from Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home”.
“Thunder in the Sky” was his first song written and is a fan favourite, but this version was different, with its Spanish guitar influence. It is still very anthemic in this extended acoustic version. Then we had a new song played live for the first time, “Lenny”, a Stevie Ray Vaughan instrumental, with a slow, mellow start and heavy string picking.
Going back to 2015, Laurence played “What’s It Gonna Be”, the title track from his 2015 album, with drum backing, powerful, strident vocals, slide guitar and picking.
Amy then joined Laurence for a few songs, including “This Moment”, which was a great duet with powerful vocals from both, with Laurence on guitar.
Then Laurence gave us a Gary Moore song, “You Know I Love You”, with passionate and strident vocals, effective slide and a tub-thumping beat. The last song was dedicated to Amy, with “Beautiful”, featuring evocative and passionate vocals and great high-tempo guitar picking.
After lots of applause, Laurence came back for an encore with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Sweet Home Chicago”, with powerful bluesy vocals, slide guitar and picking.
Laurence Jones is definitely worth catching live, especially having gone back to his blues roots, with his powerful voice and brilliant guitar playing!
