Otis Gibbs

From the tongue-in-cheek introduction to the rehearsed encore cheer this was 90 wonderful minutes in the company of a master storyteller. Gibbs’s warm, gravelly voice ran through a set of fan favourites alongside selections from new album ‘Souvenirs Of A Misspent Youth’. The new songs looked back with affection on his childhood, his man’s man father and much-missed friends and reached a peak with the brooding threat of ‘The Darker Side Of Me’. The well-travelled tales of hobos and truck-stops added to the poignancy of his blue-collar ballads and an unplugged ‘Charles Bridge’, sung within the audience, ended a mesmerising evening.

Prince Albert, 15 July 2014

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