As someone for whom the PRS cheques roll in every time his famous songs are played, Russ Ballard has no need to go out in tour for the money, so his newly prolific touring in the UK must be for the sheer love of music. This tour represented a swift return after a round of dates 18 months ago including a 100 Club headline. This time there was a rather disappointing attendance for such a legendary figure, the off central London location or low publicity doubtless paying a part.

Though his band was unchanged from my last sighting in the spring on the Rocknytt Cruise out of Stockholm, the setlist had experienced something of a shake up in the meantime. It opened with an Argent oldie in ‘It’s Only Money Parts 1 and 2’, featuring some splendid organ work from Marc Rapson, before Russ spoke of his pride in writing the only song that was a hit when the four Kiss members released their solo albums, tapping out with his shoes the distinctive glam beat to ‘New York Groove’ which, as with many of the songs, benefited from the backing vocals of a pair of terrible twins in bassist PJ Phillips and second guitarist Roly Jones.

The former took a rare solo on ‘Playing with Fire’ but the concluding one from Russ was a masterpiece of melodic fluency and he produced some equally good work on his Stratocaster with Swiss cheese-like holes on ‘Dream On’- his solo carrying the melody on a song that surely should have been a hit in someone else’s hands- and again on the atmospheric ‘In the Night’.

Throughout we also got little homilies on his secrets of life and stories of the music, but he wore his fame very lightly. His voice is still in fine fettle, though occasionally he seemed to come in slightly late while fiddling with an earpiece, and he also looked in remarkably youthful shape for a man who has turned 78. Indeed my gig companion for the night jested he must be one of the few Tottenham fans who can actually remember the last time they won the league!

We then went from new to old as ‘Time Machine’ from his recent ‘Its Good to be Here’ album gave way to ‘Hold Your Head Up’ which notably warmed the crowd up, Marc’s proggy keyboards in particular. It was one of the few where Russ’s voice was straining and help was at hand when he summoned a fan from the front to briefly join in!

Introduced by an instrumental passage between Marc and Russ, ‘The Fire Still Burns’ was nothing short of majestic, then after he spoke of his youthful pride at writing his first hit single when Three Dog Night covered it, ‘Liar’ had an impressively dramatic arrangement. Particular credit went to drummer John Miller with his subtle contributions on the cymbals and tom-toms. Indeed on a kit much more minimalist than many of his contemporaries, more than once I found myself drawn to his work.

‘A Woman Like You’ was another new addition and epitomised the AOR friendly bent of this particular set, not least the stabbing keys. At this point my gig partner and I were relieved to hear the punchy ‘René Didn’t Do It’, relegated from being the usual set opener, even though it is far from the ‘punk’ song Russ claimed.

After playing a Scottish reel on guitar, ‘Since You Been Gone’ was another crowd pleaser, where it was interesting to hear his original variation from the all too familiar Richie Blackmore interpreting of the guitar solo. However, among a crowd of confirmed fans, the parping keys and big backing vocals of ‘Voices’ was equally enthusiastically received. Likewise ‘Two Silhouettes’, which Russ had initially been reluctant to play, thinking we might not share the Germans enthusiasm for stuff from the more AOR- flavoured 1984 self-titled album. The main set ended with a majestic ‘I Can’t Hear You No More’, its concluding jam even featuring some harmony guitar between him and Roly.

Sadly the medley of hits he has written for others was absent this time but in a fairly generous hour and 40 minutes there was just one encore, which could only be ‘God Gave Rock And Roll To You’, which saw people belatedly crowd the stage at the front. Most songwriters would be delighted to have written one such anthem during their careers: we were privileged this night to watch a master songsmith deliver scores of them, all while retaining a touching modesty.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)