Can’t believe it’s almost a year since we all went to witness the rise (pun intended) of the Answer in this very same venue. On that night the Irish Blues rockers blew away support act Roadstar (sadly now defunct) to leave the crowd drooling over the future of this most talented of new bands. Everyone was saying it was the last chance to catch them in a small venue – which with a capacity of 400 the Academy 3 is. Almost twelve months on and you could say the same about Black Stone Cherry. 

Ok so they only had support act Serpico to contend with (missed the first band so apologies) and to be honest whilst they were decent enough players the singer was crap. I like the name and I like the film (starring Al Pachino as a maverick cop with a tea cosy on his head) and Serpico would be brill down the Dog & Duck on a Saturday night. But it’s a harsh world out there and they’ve an awful long way to go to be contenders. Hope they prove me wrong. 

Clearly with such a strongly received debut album the anticipation was higher than usual during the interval. Being such a small venue we managed to get within yards of the band. This is the beauty of catching acts destined for mega stardom in tiny clubs. When they did eventually take to the stage it was immediately apparent that the group are still very young. Guitarist Ben Wells looks in his teens still (apparently the band are all aged between 20-23) but you are still taken aback by the sheer wall of power and Chris Robertson’s amazing Southern Blues drawl – which makes him sound like he’s at least 40! 

Opening with ‘Rain Wizard’ Black Stone Cherry blew the Academy apart and only the fact that early on you couldn’t hear Robertson’s guitar solos clearly slightly dampened a near perfect opening. Advice for budding young bands? Get the best bloody singer you can. Robertson is proof personified that with the right frontman and a handful of mighty riffs you can go a long, long way. (If there’s any justice after this.) 

Strangely, Wells announced that this was the first sold out night of the tour! Incredible when you consider the quality of their debut album, the size of the venues and the very reasonably priced ticket (£8.50). What’s going on?  So with only their self-titled debut for company we got all the songs off it; a highlight being the classic ‘Hell & High Water’. Sadly the lack of material meant the inevitable padding. Yes another drum solo to endure (they seem to be following me about at the moment - as in The Scorpions last tour and Jorn’s recent live album). Two guitar spots – not my thing either to be honest. And to finish things a cover of Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile – my fave ever song. 

However for all that Black Stone Cherry were a triumph. A brilliant live band with a much more organic sound than on their slightly over produced album. The band were very engaging with their onstage banter. Down to earth, as you might expect, hailing form a town of only 1600 inhabitants in southern Kentucky. Indeed it seemed odd to think that the 400 present in the Academy was equivalent to 25% of the population of their home town, Edmonton! The Cherries have done the impossible by contemporising classic southern Blues Rock and on that note I will leave you