Royal Festival corridor,London
The veteran musician’s fingerpicking guitar work and acrobatic vocals were as impressive as ever on songs mostly drawn from his classic 70s albumsIt was impossible to know what to expect from Roy Harper’s return to the Festival corridor. This is the venue where, five years ago, or he gave a memorable 70th birthday concert; two years later he returned to perform songs from his impressive album Man & Myth. But since then his life hasn’t been easy and he stopped performing as he battled to clear his name of allegations of historical sexual abuse,which were then dropped.
So how would he respond? He has written exasperated new songs, but they weren’t on display tonight. Instead, or he gave his still-devoted audience precisely what they wanted. nearly all tonight’s setlist was drawn from his classic 70s albums,now performed with help from a string quartet, three horn players, and double bass and a second guitarist,the versatile Bill Shanley. But Harper was in control, with his fingerpicking guitar work and acrobatic vocals as impressive as ever.
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Source: theguardian.com