Laurence Jones, a guitar tour de force
Laurence Jones with support, Sweet Crisis at Arlington Arts, Friday, February 9. Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON
Sweet Crisis are a five-piece band from Cambridge, formed in 2014 their debut album Tricks On My Mind was released in August 2021. Their sound is fundamentally classic rock but there are many and varied influences on their music. I felt there was more than a hint of Lenny Kravitz in the mix. There was some excellent lead guitar work in particular in their 30 minutes set which made up for some issues early on with their sound balance, the keyboards tended to get lost in the mix at times. My favourite tracks tonight were Black Magic, Ain't Got Soul, Love Me Like Sugar and the title track from their album.
Laurence Jones has been playing Arlington Arts for 10 years and I have seen him several times there and have watched his career and his stage presentation develop and constantly improve. He is now an internationally acclaimed blues/rock force, a fact underlined by his acknowledgment of two fans who had travelled from Holland to tonight's sold-out show .
His latest album was released last August and he is receiving airplay on Planet Rock and he opened with two tracks from the new album You're Not Alone and the title track Bad Luck & The Blues.
It is impossible to fault the quality of Laurence's guitar playing. He is truly a master of his instrument and he, equally clearly, loves performing live.
Don't Leave Me This Way (also from the new album) was stunning, as was In Too Deep from his 2022 album Destination Unknown.
Thunder In The Sky, the first song Laurence ever wrote was given an epic work-over and led straight in to a great cover of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), the Hendrix classic.
The set ended with Woman from the new album and the thunderous applause warranted an encore of Good Morning Blues.
If you're a fan of superb guitar-led blues rock check out Laurence Jones.
He won’t disappoint.