Chantel McGregor plus support from Stoney Broke

First up I must give a mention to tonight’s opener Stoney Broke. No, it’s not a band, it is actually a very personable young man named Jake Scott, who describes himself as an unsecure show off. He is from Scotland, and he is very talented. He has catalogue of high-quality tunes, delivered with a big strong likeable voice, and he kept us all in the Robin tonight transfixed. I noticed no talking while he was on, and much applause when he finished. He turned his acoustic guitar into a lead guitar, and my god can he play. We will be keeping an eye on this young man and suggest you do the same, class.

The very nice sized crowd, for a rainy, windy mid-weeknight was nicely warmed up by Stoney Broke. Now, when you see Chantel McGregor on stage, you know you’re in for some extraordinary guitar playing. That’s a given, but she’s more than that. She has a really good voice, a voice may I add that would sit nicely in any modern chart and that is obvious on the new album, ‘The Healing’. With her voice more to the front than her well known guitar skills, coupled with some tunes that are already getting air play, like the first couple of singles, ‘Broken Heartless Liar’ and ‘Stand On My Own’. But the album has a rock undertone to it, and as Chantel showed tonight, it worked brilliantly on the live stage, with that extra umph That you get live. And Chantel understands this and asked anyone who has video of tonight’s performance not to post it for a while as she wanted her fans to hear them for the first time live, not on a tiny screen with duff sound.

Playing the entire album in full on this tour, to longstanding fans who are more accustomed to the Blues Chantel McGregor, they gave their thumbs up with their clapping. She rocked out even with a few tech problems, and of course she threw in a few older numbers, and an emotional version of ‘Anaesthetize’, simply beautiful. We have had to wait a long time for, ‘The Healing’, but it’s worth the wait, we believe.

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe