Black Country Communion - Secret Gig - London 20th September 2010

We were lucky enough to be included in a hundred or so music journos, band friends and competition winners to witness the début gig by Black Country Communion in a recording studio in North London.

BCC consist of Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Derek Sherinian and Jason Bonham (or as Glenn described them: The Old Man, The Kid, The Mexican and The Redneck) It was an amazing experience.

We were so close to the band that we could have wiped Bonham's brow when needed!.  Apparently they had only rehearsed once and played together a dozen or so times (including recording the album) and yet they were so tight and played with fantastic passion and technique.  Hughes' vocals were spot on, Derek Sherinian's keyboards added a fantastic depth to the sound, Bonham's drums were thundering - reminiscent of his legendary father - and Joe Bonamassa seemed to be totally at home playing in a hard rock band.

They ran through eight of the songs from their eponymous titled album - opening with the killer Black Country track which set the tone for the rest of the evening - unashamedly Classic Rock, in the vein of Deep Purple and Led Zep (which isn't surprising considering their heritage).

Afterwards the band mingled outside and in the bar (of course there was a bar - there were journalists present!) and for us humble internet hacks it was surreal to chat to them and find them so approachable and down to earth.  Hopefully a full tour will follow at some stage (although Joe and Glenn both have solo tours under-way soon) - if they tour you have to go and see them.

It was a privilege to be part of what happened on Monday night - I'm sure it will go down in legend and by the time the next album is released thousands of people will claim to have witnessed this gig.

NR                             (all photos in this review (c) Christie Goodwin)