Live Review: The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Eagle & The Wolf

The extremely accomplished, and relatively gentle duo Eagle & The Wolf provided a great lead-in for tonight's legends. The alt-country newbies showed there's lots happening at both ends of the musical and generational spectrum — and hopefully there's lots more to come from them.  

The Blind Boys Of Alabama literally jumped as they entered the stage a little before 9pm, with leader Jimmy Carter now well into his 80s. Although he and the other boys sit down a little more often than they have during their last visits, the sound remains as robust as ever — gospel that is rich, flawless and the wonderful missing link between country, blues, R&B and rock'n'roll. "If you like these songs, we've brought them with us in the form of C-Ds for you to pur-chase, because us Blind Boys like to eat," Carter said with a beautiful (and cheeky) southern accent. Keen to connect with the crowd, he and band encouraged us to make noise, get up and dance and move around. "We don't like to play to a conservative crowd so wake up and have a good time ... We can't see you, we have to hear you," they teased, getting even the hardest of heathens to get up and boogie to their gospel. The set covered established tunes like Spirit In The Sky, People Get Ready and Nobody's Fault But Mine, If I Had A Hammer and God Put A Rainbow In The Sky, as well as The Blind Boys' fantastic version of Amazing Grace sung to the tune of House Of The Rising Sun. To end, Carter sat down on the side of the stage as he sang, asking who in the crowd wanted to come shake his hand. When all was done the boys bowed, to head home to Alabama tomorrow. Their energy remains amazing.