Listen: I like Francis Dunnery’s music. From my very first encounter, watching him on The Old Grey Whistle test, I sat open mouthed at his guitar prowess which was the absolute de rigueur reaction for a young aspiring guitarist at the time. Shortly after I saw him live in Bristol with It Bites then, over a decade later, dipped my toes into Dunnery waters again with a solo acoustic gig and lastly one of Dunnery's infamous and exclusive house concerts where he played in a friend's front room, an event that no-one present could stop talking about.
From the opener Because I Can with its Pete Townshend like chorus, Frank is back reinventing himself into a casual zen-like songwriting guitar wizard. Between songs there’s a kind of hushed respect, allowing the nuances of the songs to come through; the sublime guitar on Immaculate; the Oh Brother Where Art Thou picking of Sunshine and the swing of Rain or Shine.
Playing mostly songs from the Tall Blonde Helicopter album released in 1995, it’s a set alternating between acoustic and electric songs. The Johnny Podell Song saw Motorhead's Phil Campbell and his son trading solos with Frank, who worked his guitar into a Miles Davis like frenzy.
The state of happy congruence was sustained as the encore manifested itself into a six song mini-set including 48 Hours, Sunflowers and the sing-along It Bites classic Still Too Young To Remember.
If The Point is “The Church of Wales,” as an audience member shouted out, then Francis Dunnery delivered an euphonious sermon to his faithful.
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