Gig review: Bob Log III

Published on Wednesday 23 September 2009 18:57

BOB LOG III **** KING TUT'S, GLASGOW

IF YOU have never been exposed to the distorted Delta blues of Bob Log III, then you are missing a treat. The enigmatic Log is unlike other bluesmen, in that he dons a black satin jumpsuit emblazoned with a modicum of bling and an identity-concealing sparkly motorcycle helmet, with a telephone receiver embedded in the visor as his microphone.

And in addition to his mean guitar-shredding skills, Log accompanies himself, one-man-band-style, on a bass drum, cymbal and tambourine. Gimmicky, you say? True – but no more gimmicky than Seasick Steve and his two-string guitar, and this is a whole lot more entertaining.

This Evel Knievel of the slide guitar is also possibly the only bluesman in the world whose set includes songs about having good reason to get up in the morning or about wearing a mile-wide smile or, in one case (following a pithy deconstruction of the art of songwriting) a song about "absolutely nothin'!"

Although the dog ate his setlist in Glasgow, the usual conventions of a Bob Log show were honoured. His traditional appeal to the audience for "two beverages" to whet his whistle garnered a generous haul of four drinks laid out before him. "Glasgow is trying to get me drunk," he declared gleefully. A "band meeting" was swiftly convened, as a cover for Log to have a swig of his liquor. Suitably refreshed, he unleashed a ferociously delivered speedfreak stomp of a number.

The libation-based shenanigans continued with the time-honoured performance of his classic track, Boob Scotch – surely the only song in the blues canon about stirring your whisky with a boob (male or female, Bob doesn't mind). Now that Log's guitar is wireless, he is truly free to roam. You have been warned.