The Tedeschi Trucks Band brought their European tour to an end with two sold out shows in London, one of which was on April 27th. The band’s new album Signs was released in February and the twelve-piece band swayed the chandeliers and rocked the foundations of arguably the most famous theatre in the west end, the Palladium, built in 1910.
They opened with “Signs, High Times” from the new album, and you just knew you were seeing something special within the first few bars of the song. Trucks really makes that Gibson SG sing. Soulful vocals and intricate melodies were performed on three songs from their 2013 album, Let Me Get By – “Don’t Know What It Means”, “Part Of Me” and “It’s So Heavy” – with a great three-piece horn section of Kebbi Williams (saxophone), Ephraim Owens (trumpet) and Elizabeth Lea (trombone). “The Letter”by The Box Tops soared and they also included a great version of Charles Segar’s “Key To The Highway”, which included Mike Mattison sharing vocal duties with Susan Tedeschi, all of which were highlights of the first set.
After a short intermission the band returned with “Idle Wind” from the Made Up Mind album, laying into a powerhouse jam with the two drummers taking the song to twenty minutes plus. There was a three song run where Tedeschi’s vocals were stunning and she owned the stage – “Bird On A Wire” (Leonard Cohen) with sweet soulful vocals before the hard rockin’ blues of “Space Captain”(Joe Cocker) and “I Pity The Fool” (Bobby Blue Bland). “Get What You Deserve”, an old Derek Trucks Band number, followed before a wonderful version of “Dreams” by The Allman Brothers Band. “The Storm” had everyone in the audience on their feet and grooving. Over two hours of soulful blues positivity and was concluded with an encore of “Bound For Glory” from Revelator, which summed up the spiritual vibes of the show as a church-like experience. .
