Laura Cox’s performance offered a great opportunity to pamper my eardrums once again. I recently spoke to her briefly before her tour.
The concert in De Pul was the last of a series of fourteen shows, with Alastair Greene as the opening act.
Alastair Greene is no stranger in Europe. He was already part of Ruf’s Blues Caravan and his latest album Standing Out Loud was well received. His no-nonsense approach works perfectly live: just plug in and play.
The opener Temptation was still a bit of a trial and error, also in terms of sound balance – the backline was loud.
But with the better-known Living Today, with a catchy chorus, the fingers were warmed up and we were treated to wonderful solos.
Many songs from his latest album were reviewed, such as the title track Standing Out Loud, In Trouble, Slow Burner and Lucky 13.
The slow blues Love Too Strong was of a completely different order, with a beautifully constructed solo in which his full potential was expressed. The set was closed with the fat Texas boogie Cut You Loose, which included a nice bit of slide. A great performance and an excellent pacesetter for Laura Cox.
After a short break for rebuilding, the Laura Cox Band blew the entire venue away. What power she knows how to put in her band! The solid foundation was laid by the drum/bass tandem Antonin Guerin and Adrien Katt.
Keyboardist Jimmie Barnaud had the task of making second guitarist Mathieu Alblac forget – and he did so with verve. The figurehead of the band is undoubtedly Laura Cox herself, who said that she had to learn her leadership over time.
With the addition of covers such as Grosse Bouche (Big Mouth strike again by The Smiths) and Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode), a touch of New Wave even emerged.
New wave blues; the way Laura gives her own songs a fresh mix of blues and classic rock, with a subtle New Wave sauce, is impressive.
When that is also poured out over the audience like a whirlwind from a well-oiled machine, there is no time to catch your breath – only to go wild.
Fortunately, they are only human. After about eight songs, Laura appeared on stage with an acoustic guitar for a subdued version of Fire Fire.
This intimate atmosphere was continued with Personal Jesus and Before We Get Burned – both performed acoustically, with the full band. A beautiful intermezzo.
Laura then announced that her new album will be released later this year. As a preview, we were given the new songs Need to Try Harder and Do I Have Your Attention. If these songs are representative, the new album promises to be an absolute cracker.
The set ended with crowd favorites from her latest album, such as Wiser and One Big Mess (which the audience sang along to loudly), as well as older work such as Welcome to the Show and Bad Luck Blues.
The encore could of course only be her biggest hit: Hard Blues Shot. We were indeed presented with a true shot of hard blues.
Laura Cox has developed over the years from a girl who played covers on YouTube to a professional who knows exactly how to put on a live show. Kudos – and keep up the good work!
