Robin Trower, 70, Sacramento, Leicester, England, USA... a Strange Vine, California... and growing up, all over again

Robin Trower, Sacramento's Ace of Spades, 2015

I first saw Robin Trower many, many years ago, on the stage at Leicester University, This was the time of Bridge Of Sighs...people were stoned, people were dreamy, people were playing air-guitar and making guitar faces and being psychadelic and all that. And while I totally appreciated Mr Trower's guitar skills, like with Steve Hackett at that time in my life, the music didn't quite resonate for me. Everyday energy from The Jam, Blondie, Madness... Bridge of Sighs was for dark, smoke-and-cushion-filled rooms, and I woke with the daylight.

(Music is inseperably entwinded with life. There is no such thing as "just a song". Try thinking of a piece of music without remembering where you were, who you were with, the emotion of that moment, that place in your life. None of us listen, or live, in a vacuum.)

Robin Trower, Sacramento's Ace of Spades, 2015

Last night: end of a hot, hot Sacramento summer day, in an Ace of Spades packed with (mostly) guys who had been set free from their workday business suits, most of whom seemed to be at least seven feet tall, with only a handful of people under thirty (surprised me--I thought there would be many more young, aspiring guitarists there)... it worked. Robin Trower, his signature Strat guitar sound, his music, old and new, embraced me. It was a wonderful show,

Robin Trower, Sacramento's Ace of Spades, 2015

So happy I was able to complete the circle from all those years ago.

Robin Trower, Sacramento's Ace of Spades, 2015

Last night was memories of friends long gone, of companionship and love, of the fading of childhood. It was today, and new dreams, rhythms for the future, life. And it was proof that, no matter where you are in life, music matters.

Robin Trower is now seventy years old. He's still on stage, playing his heart out, and there's no sound quite like this.

You still have a chance to catch up with this tour: a few more dates remain. And check out Mr Trower's 2015 release, Something's About To Change.

More photos from Robin Trower's show last night in the Toon's Tunes gallery--or click on any of the images here.

Support act were Strange Vine, from Fresno in California's central valley. Their sound: bluesy, ethereal, evocative of a drive down highway 99: two men doing the job of five, dusty, sparse, and a mental image of beautiful kids-without-shoes. (There was also zero light, so there are very few photos!) Listen to their album, Ghosts.

Ian Blesse, Strange Vine

A few more photos of Strange Vine in the Toon's Tunes Strange Vine gallery.

(Oh and the stranger who tried to nibble my bare shoulder while I was watching and listening to Robin Trower? You. Don't. Do. That. Ever. Ever. Good grief...)