You might think blues singer with guitar: rather dull music listened to by a few old men.
John Crampton proves you wrong on all counts. Alternating between banjo and national steel guitar, and with harmonica, stomp box and a voice of pure gravel, we were treated to over two hours of high-intensity blues and bluegrass.
As if in a hurricane, the audience of all ages was instantly sucked into his musical vortex.
This man does not do subtle, slow, or quiet – it’s hard and fast all the way through: a totally engrossing wall of sound.
A powerful opening blues led into a set of aggressively rhythmic bluegrass numbers sometimes lasting 15 minutes or more.
The effect was hypnotically physical - impossible not to respond, and the room was soon dancing and jigging or clapping and drumming on the tables.
In the barrage of sound there may have been covers I failed to spot, but other than Oh Susanna and Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love I think the songs were mostly his own.
With hints of Flamenco and even African beats, John Crampton crafts his blues-based music into something utterly compelling and infectious.
Four stars
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