Royal Festival Hall Review 27/3/19

"Well there's only so much you can do with an acoustic guitar right? Wrong! Tommy further demonstrated his versatility with a drum solo! No mass exodus to the washrooms here, as we looked on in disbelief given Tommy's snare drum percussion shenanigans using his mic'd guitar. Time for Emmanuel to take a deep breath as he finished with his poignant 'Rachel's Lullaby', written for his baby daughter - in Tommy's own words - his 'Blackbird'. "It was in tune when I bought it" Emmanuel joked as he tuned his guitar, whilst again saying how lucky he was to do what he does, as he invited JD back on to the stage for a jam and a joint vocal. Tommy and JD finished with '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay', Otis Redding's classic that they both recorded on 'Accomplice One', leaving us with one last duelling guitar salvo. There was one more from Emmanuel, 'Sail On', movingly dedicated to his late brother Phil, albeit with his amusing heaven anecdote, before Tommy returned for a very short instrumental encore. Emmanuel proved that he's a breathtaking live artist as much as he is on record, and his performance was one of irresistible showmanship, exhilarating finger picking and outstanding musicianship. A performance not to have been missed."

Read the whole of AJ's Tommy Emmanuel and JD Simo Royal Festival Hall, London, gig review from last Wednesday here plus check out John Bull's Photo Gallery here.