Influenced by the blues greats, Sean Webster has been flying the flag for the genre since 2004, when he released his acclaimed debut album, long time coming. Since that auspicious outing, Sean has taken his band on the road, recorded a further three albums (the most recent of which, 2017’s leave your heart at the door, providing four of the cuts on this live offering) and become a key fixture of the British blues scene. Recorded, as the title might suggest, over three nights (at Bootleggers, Kendal; Mainsforth Community Centre, Ferryhill and the Legion Blues Club, Poynton), in order to get the best possible performance of each track, the album was mixed and mastered by the ever-excellent Wayne Proctor (King King, Adam Norsworthy, Aynsley Lister) and captures Sean and his band in scintillating form.
The album gets off to a cracking start with the gritty, pop-infused give me the truth, a track that taps into the same vein of inspiration that has powered the likes of King King and Kris Barras, the woah-oh-oh opening custom built to get the audience singing along right from the start. However, whilst give me the truth gets things off to a flying start, it’s the whip-smart groove of hands of time that really hooks the listener in. With Sean’s gravelly vocals and gritty guitar playing laid over the super-tight rhythm section, it’s simply a great song and it’s easy to imagine the audience leaning in close for the wonderfully understated and emotionally-charged solo that sits at the track’s heart. Sean sensibly slows the pace for the gorgeous and aptly-titled John Mayer cover, Slow dancing in a burning room which takes on a slow-burning intensity bolstered considerably by Sean’s warm, empathetic guitar work. Things remain restrained with heart still bleeds recalling Clapton’s journeyman-period, the light-touch guitar giving way to tougher riffing as the lengthy piece builds to a blistering climax, replete with fiery solos and an inescapable sense of excitement. The first side of the album ends with the crystalline blues of hear me now, the closing number from the first ten years and a real show-stopper here. A warm, emotional piece of music, Sean’s solo soars throughout, the audience hushed and respectful, before the band bring it home with a reprise of the immensely catchy chorus, triggering rapturous applause in the process.
Right at the heart of the live set, Sean and his band bring out a sweet, slow blues in the form of don’t feel the same, an eight-minute track that seems to hover gently in the air, lasting for a fraction of its run time and drawing the listener into a dream-world, lulled by the mellifluous guitar work and Sean’s superlative vocal performance. In contrast, the elastic riff of the mayor, powered by Ruud Gielen’s John Bonham-sized drums, recalls Joe Bonamassa’s who killed John Henry and gets the head nodding before Sean leads us into the second of the night’s covers – a subtle take on Keith Urban’s ‘til summer comes around that simmers wonderfully. With the end of the night looming large, Sean kicks things up several notches with the breezy highway man, a hard-rocking blues number with plenty of energy and a soulful underpinning that is an absolute delight to hear. Culminating in an awe-inspiring solo that sits somewhere between Gilmour and Clapton in the chain of inspiration, highway man is one hell of a finale and it is to no-one’s surprise that the band are invited back for an encore by the star-struck audience. Thus, amidst the rampant calls for more, Sean and his band give us you got to know, a thrilling return that brings the set to a suitably thunderous close.
Brilliantly recorded, three nights live is a thrilling record of Sean Webster on stage. For those who caught the tour, it is the perfect souvenir; for those who missed it, it is a cause for celebration that this pristine record exists (and a stern reminder to get out of the house next time around). More than anything else, it captures the chemistry that Sean has with his band (comprising Floris Poesse on bass, Hibrand Bos on keys and the aforementioned Ruud on drums) and the excellent dynamic of a live set that has the audience hooked from the start. Absolutely brilliant. 9/10
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