The insatiable Jonny Craig brings his incredibly talented voice along with his equally incredible band back to the UK after a long awaited delay following the cancellation of shows this side of the pond, due to his spinal surgery earlier this year. Luckily he’s also incredibly strong willed and a matter of mere months down the line he’s back to full health and doing what he loves, and what he does best. Using that voice of his to show us just why there aren’t many vocalists out there that come close.
You could also be forgiven for thinking he’d take this opportunity to rest up and maybe take a break from music but no, what he’s actually been doing is writing a whole lot of new material. And he’s taking this tour as an opportunity to give fans a first listen to a lot of these new tracks.
Normally you’d expect a band playing such a large number of brand new, never before heard tracks to lose the crowd a little but not Slaves fans. And with Craig in full flow they quickly fall in line picking up the catchy choruses and Craig’s positively beautiful tones. Every new track receives an incredible reaction much to the bands delight, none more so than ‘True Colours’ and if this is anything to go on, the upcoming album is about to blow everything else away.
It’s an absolute pleasure to see a huge smile on Jonny’s face for the entire set, cracking jokes even when the backing track manages to freeze midway through one track and they band decide to restart it. He laughs off requests for his own solo material and from his previous bands like Emarosa, continuing to deliver an exceptional performance. With hits such as ‘The Fire Down Below’ and ‘Downing in My Addiction’ the set draws to a close the crowd are left wanting more.
Tonight has been a hugely successful return for Slaves and if this is an indication for what’s to come then we can’t wait!
CHRISTOPHER LEE
