Manchester Apollo, 17 October 2010

Back in the late 80s/early 90s I embarked on a massive upgrade to my hi-fi system, and in readiness for it acquired fifty of the top sounding albums as selected by What Hi-Fi magazine. Amongst that album selection were a few guitarists including Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin and Joe Satriani. To my suprise, it was the guitar albums that really struck a chord with me (pun unintended)and I’ve been a fan ever since. While I now possess most of McLaughlin’s and Satriani’s recordings, up to twelve months ago I had never seen these two amazing guitarists perform live. Then, like the proverbial buses, along they came and of course I jumped on… In addition I saw my first performances by other legends including Eric Clapton and BB King.

My first Satriani album was his 1995 eponymous recording, a dark, bluesy, lyrical affair which I believe represented his first effort at song-writing. It remained my favourite Satriani album, until now. The excellent Manchester Apollo theatre date was Satriani’s first on this UK tour and a capacity seated audience of over 2,000 were to be treated to the new album almost in its entirety. BLACK SWANS AND WORMHOLE WIZARDS is an epic, expansive affair majoring on melody and, to my ears, great production. But before Satriani hit the stage a young Belfast blues/rock guitarist/singer called Simon McBRIDE provided 45 minutes of his own compositions.

McBRIDE, supported by a drummer and bassist, proved to be an excellent guitarist with a powerful voice and a sound bedside manner which snared his audience after just a couple of songs. I was impressed and made a mental note to look out for an album on my next visit to HMV…

Biography

As both a virtuoso guitarist and an Irishman ( Hailing from near Belfast, Northern Ireland) comparisons are often made with Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore, though he sounds like neither in particular. Simon first started playing at age 10 and (self taught) entered and won Guitarist Magazine’s Young Guitarist of the Year competition when he was 15. He was immediately recruited by Sweet Savage (Vivian Campbell/Def Leppard) with whom he recorded two albums and regularly played major festivals. That was 13 years ago, since when he has toured the world as guitarist for diverse acts including Grammy nominated soulman Andrew Strong.

Along the way he has played with artists like TM Stevens, Charlie Morgan, Zorro, Hugh Burns, Slash and Steve Lukather. He has demonstrated for Marshall amplifiers and Paul Reed Smith Guitars (PRS) and is endorsed by PRS and Hughes & Kettner amplifiers. Writing, recording and releasing an own album of mostly original songs opens a new chapter.