Having built a devoted global following through relentless touring and an unshakable live chemistry that bridges Southern Rock tradition with California soul, Robert Jon & The Wreck completed the UK leg of their Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes tour at Southampton's sold out The Brook on Sunday night, but the previous evening we were lucky enough to witness the roots-rockers penultimate gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, along with special guest Sam Morrow.

With one EP and five albums under his guitar belt, the last being 2024's eleven-track 'On The Ride Hire', it's fair to say that Sam Morrow has carved out a sound that exists somewhere outside of genre and geography. And tonight we were fortunate enough to be present for an albeit short, half hour, six-song set of his own version of modern-day American Roots music.

A mix of roadhouse Rock & Roll, bluesy R&B, and Country-fried funky-tonk, driven forward by groove, grease and guitars, this quartet comprising Morrow on guitar and vocals, Kaleb "Junior" Patterson on guitar, Michael Frost on drums and Wildman Boone on bass, not only looked the part with their combination of shades, beards and baseball caps, but much more importantly they also delivered.

Kicking off and getting down with the aforementioned 'On The Ride Here's eighth track, 'On My Way', this was followed by the Bad Company vibe of 'South Texas Women', taken from Sam's forthcoming album, 'Southern Boogie', that's due out this June. 'Cigarettes' from 2018's 'Concrete and Mud' saw a great guitar solo from Morrow, equally matched by Boone's bass solo, while the influences behind 'Lucretia', another new airing from the upcoming album, wouldn't be the last time that The Allman Brothers Band were mentioned in conversation tonight.

Going back to 'Concrete and Mud', the sound of Waylon Jennings meets J.J. Cale on 'Paid By The Mile', gave way to the first of two outstanding covers this evening, as well as another tobacco flavoured tune, namely Pink Floyd's 'Have A Cigar', where Junior's guitar solo shone out like a crazy diamond. Wow - for those that missed out on this classic finale, I just wished you were here. Although the good news is that Sam Morrow are returning to these shores to play Maidstone's Maid Of Stone on Friday 17th July, when we look forward to reacquainting with the very aptly named Wildman, who we met after tonight's show, to find out more about his legendary ancestor, American pioneer and frontiersman, Daniel (seriously).

As for Robert Jon & The Wreck, consisting of Robert Jon Burrison (vocals, guitar), Henry James (lead guitar, vocals), Andrew Espantman (drums, vocals), Warren Murrel (bass) and Jake Abernathie (keyboards), fond memories of me seeing them for the first and last time at Camden's Powerhaus in February 2023 came flooding back. Admittedly not knowing much of their stuff at that time, that night was all killer no filler, however, due to the mother of all clashes, I missed their return to London at Islington's O2 Academy in November 2024, albeit with the consolation that I would catch up with them at New Orleans Jazz Fest in April the following year. Wrong! Thanks to our connecting flight being cancelled, while the band were actually performing in the cavernous Blues Tent, we were stuck in a Dallas Airport bar drowning our sorrows! Doh!

In order to temper my euphoria after this three year hiatus, tonight I was accompanied by two RJ&TW virgins so that they could find out what all the fuss was about, given this band were now also playing a much larger iconic London venue. Fair play also to this accomplished quintet, as during this tour they had varied their nightly setlists, thus reinforcing the undoubted strength of their back catalogue. Opening coincidentally with the same 'Ride Into The Night' (2023) track played at Powerhaus, the up-beat rocker 'Pain No More' was not only a perfect introduction for my compadres to the tightness of the band, but also their Allman Brothers sound, as well as the virtuosity of the afro-haired James with his first, but by no means last, guitar solo.

Turning the clock back to 2015's 'Glory Bound' and the band's first ever single, saw another "wow" slide guitar solo from Henry on 'Blame It On The Whiskey', that conjured up comparisons to Blackberry Smoke, Fleetwood Mac and Creedence Clearwater Revival. After asking "How are we doing London?", Burrison's soaring Phil Collins-esque vocals with a Country twang excelled on their powerful stand-alone single 'Back to the Beginning Again'. A textbook Southern rocker, complemented by some neat keys from Abernathie, this was followed by the hard hitting 'Sittin' Pretty', the high-octane opening track from their latest album 'Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes'.

"It means a lot be here" added the cowboy-hatted Robert Jon, before launching into the stirring anthem 'Ashes In The Snow', the first single from their latest album, of which its climactic and emotional title track followed, with a tuneful piano plus mellotron textures from Jake, as well as Robert Jon’s deeply passionate vocals. The similarly cowboy-hatted Espantman's pounding drum intro heralded a new song, 'Arroyo', with a legendary Wishbone Ash style dual guitar attack from James and Burrison, equally matched by Abernathie's organ, that was completed by a Carlos Santana-esque guitar solo from Henry.

"How are we doing in the balcony?" enquired Burrison. Very nicely thank you, as they unleashed the Funk-infused rhythms and thought-provoking lyrics of their 2024 album title track, 'Red Moon Rising', with the bearded Abernathie's keys right to the fore, before beautifully segueing into an awesome cover of The Who's 'Eminence Front'. Well we were next door to Townshend's manor of White City tonight after all, weren't we? And talking of old friends, the first track to be aired tonight from their 2018 eponymous album namely 'Old Friend', was followed by 'Glory Bound's title track, featuring another twin guitar lead sound, as well as encapsulating all the Southern Rock bands you could name, rolled into one!

To further emphasise the depth of the band's material past and present, the only other songs that they aired this evening from that memorable Powerhaus gig were the final two. "Are you ready to sing this evening?" teased Robert Jon, as they led into their fan favourite and classic wistful Rock ballad, 'Oh Miss Carolina', taken from 2020's 'Last Light On The Highway', that saw everyone singing along, as we unashamedly waved our hands in the air! Next was 'Cold Night' from 'Glory Bound', that delightfully had a bit of everything with its Santana vibe, majestic dual guitars, as well as James and Abernathie trading guitar and keys solos respectively, while the fervent crowd clapped along, ending with the cool, shades wearing Murrel joining both Burrison and James for a fitting climax at the front of the stage.

Deservedly returning for an encore, the guys were joined on stage by Sam Morrow and his band for an explosive final jam and cover of J.J. Cale's 'Call Me The Breeze'. Suffice to say that the two RJ&TW virgins I had arrived with this evening, were now well and truly broken in and loved every minute of it. Although, to well and truly sum up this evening, our intrepid photographer Bruce Biege commented that this gig reminded him of the first time he saw The Allman Brothers Band play in Austin, Texas, duly adding "Robert Jon & The Wreck were sensational tonight. What a spectacular band and what a great evening of music!" Praise indeed! Now taking their Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes into Europe, the good news is that this quintet will return to the UK in June and October to perform more concerts. Make sure you do not miss them by checking out https://robertjonandthewreck.com/tour/

Review: AJ
Photos: Bruce Biege