Walter Trout Live at Queens Hall, Edinburgh – 17 Oct 2024
7th November 2024Legendary blues guitarist Walter Trout graced the stage at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on 17th October 204, and let me tell you, if blues had a volume setting, Trout turned it up to 11 and then melted the knob right off. We all got baptized in a river of soul-ripping guitar solos and tales of heartbreak that were so raw they might have made Braveheart himself tear up.
From the moment he walked on stage, looking like the rock-and-roll Gandalf of the blues world, he commanded the room. Walter made that instrument his confidant, his boxing partner, and at one point, I swear, his therapist. Every note was like a perfectly placed punch to the gut and an invite to dance all at once.
Despite a couple of technical issues, he was not deterred from producing a night of blues that rocked your kilt off.
About halfway through, he launched into a solo that must have lasted a good ten minutes. By the end, I was questioning my life choices and wondering if I should pick up a guitar myself or stick to playing the air guitar in my pajamas.
At one point my colleague and I were sure we saw him summon some bluesy spirit from his guitar. ‘Robert Johnson, was that you?’
If you get the chance to see Walter Trout live, don’t walk – run, limp, or crawl to the nearest venue. He’ll probably leave you feeling like you got both a pep talk and a breakup speech at the same time, but hey, that’s the blues for you.
