St David’s Day in the Muse at Brecon saw the very welcome return of the amazing Dave Arcari, plus the first visit to Wales of Estonian guitar wizard Andres Roots. Introduced as usual by our compere Mr. Paul Keddle, the evening kicked off with a virtuoso performance by Andres Roots.
Andres delivered a masterclass in acoustic guitar finger-picking. His playing is delicate and dexterous, and his overall sound mellow and warm. The interplay between his expressive use of slide on the top strings and rhythmic thumb-picked bass line on the lower strings was particularly impressive. He clearly has complete mastery over his guitar, and plays with great charm and taste… often exhibiting just the right degree of restraint to create a subtle tension.
The diversity of Andres’ repertiore was most remarkable, as he ranged between powerful self-composed acoustic blues, through Eastern European-influenced mandolin-like strumming, to expert renditions of standards by Hendrix and Alvin Lee… with even a bit of tango rhythm along the way.
He entertained us between numbers with a few anecdotes, delivered in his characteristically engaging and modest manner, and the audience clearly warmed to him greatly. We hope he enjoyed his first ever gig on Welsh soil, and that he’ll be back again soon.
After a short break it was time for the mighty Dave Arcari to take to the stage.
Dave seemed pleased to be back in Brecon, and we were certainly delighted to welcome him here again. There is something instantly likeable about him, as he kicks and stomps out his powerful blues numbers with irrepressible enthusiasm, a hugely infectious grin, and irresistible cries of “come on…!” As ever, he bestrode the stage with immense physical energy, and gave the poor old Muse magic carpet a bit of a pounding.
Somehow Dave manages to be authentically Scottish but deeply infused with the old-time tradition of American blues at the same time. One minute he’s delivering superbly executed versions of Merle Travis’ Nine pound hammer (“Hell yeah!”) and Trouble In Mind… then the next he’s celebrating the delights of the Glengoyne whisky distillery near Loch Lomond (I’m with you on that one, Dave!).
His heartfelt and thoughtful self-penned tribute to old friendships (‘Still Friends’) to a delicate banjo accompaniment was particularly memorable… Dave currently has a Kickstarter campaign to bring out a new album with this as the title track – check this out here.
But it’s in delivering the raw and raunchy essence of the blues that Dave most excels. The precision and drive of his finger-picking and slide guitar work is amazing, as he throws his whole body into the performance. You couldn’t wish to see anybody playing with greater commitment and heart. On St. David’s Day, this particular Dave certainly gave us a day to remember.
At the end of the evening, Andres Roots joined Dave for a final encore – and then (a very welcome extra treat) they were joined on stage by the wonderful Dilwyn Roberts on harmonica, for a thoroughly enjoyable ‘Key to the Highway’.
All too soon, as usual, it was all over – but this was another great night of top-quality blues music. As ever we wish these fine musicians safe travels on their way, and thank everyone who helped to make the gig possible – and everyone who turned out to support live music.
Photos by Barry Hill
Review by Jim Kerslake
