The George Lite Zone

After this years Halloween party in Brussels, we descended on the Classic Rock bar, to finish the night off with a generous helping of AC/DC, Metallica and Motorhead. In the course of events, one of the local headbangers changed before our eyes into a furry creature with sharp pointy teeth. Was it a curse? Was it the Moon? Or had they borrowed my Halloween costume? I'll leave that one for Mulder and Scully. Musical highlight for me was the crowd singing along to one of my requests, SOAD's Violent Pornography . Classic stuff.

After a pre-concert beer at the Bizon, we made our way to that most venerable 0f venues Ancienne Belgique. Dave Holland and has cats came on stage and let loose a barrage of top drawer fusion jazz. Riffs interchanged, diverged and converged with Dave's base providing a permanent axis the others could play off. Moments of playfulness with the drummer dropping beats with the others filling in the aural gaps. Moments of melancholy, moments of joy and moments of beauty filled the quintet's soundscape. Listening to this band was like taking a walk in a strange land. Strange, but somehow familiar shapes move through the aural murk, opening doors of perception on a sonic world that it was a pleasure to share, if only for a little while. After the gig it was off to Bizon for more Rochefort 8 and an encounter with another Dave, who may be jamming their next Monday night. Groovy !!!

Milton is finally introduced to Cafe Bizon. Unfortunately the day before his return to the land of Uncle Sam. Still he should be back in '09 in time for Burns night, so he'll have more Bizon nights to look forwards to. That should teach him how to sing the blues.

One last thing to before I sign off blogging for the night and hit the sack. The support band for Mr Mayall tonight were The Pack A.D. and they were excellent. It's a difficult job supporting a legend, but this all female twosome from Canada did so to a standing ovation. We were already standing anyway, but hey they were goood. Raw, in your face blues rock, these girls are a band to watch out for in the future. I'm looking forwards to giving their latest shiny slver disc, Funeral Mixtape, a spin tomorrow. Give them a try and check out their Myspace account for some video footage of them in action.

After a blistering stint with the Bluesbreakers, Buddy Whittington takes some time out for a signing session. I was impressed with the way he rifted his way through a plethora of tracks at one point, in a fabulous solo, picking his way through, amongst others Zeppelin and Clapton with consummate ease. A master of his craft.

It's not often you get the chance to see a blues legend. It's even less often that they take the time to meet the fans bef0re and after a gig and sign copies of their CDs for them. John Mayall , OBE, is the father of British Blues and a very nice man to boot. Tonights concert in Brussels was a stormer and has to rank up there with the most memorable music experiences of my life. The current incarnation of the Bluesbreakers hails from the and of Uncle Sam and does the name justice. Joe Yuele on drums, Hank van Sickle on bass and the awesome Buddy Whitington on lead guitar and, occasionally, lead vocals. A barnstorming concert featuring tracks old and new Ancienne Belgique was well and truly rocked tonight (in a Bluesy kind of way). That should warm it up quite nicely for another legend next month when Lemmy brings the rock Juggernaut that is Motorhead to town. Bring it on !!! In the meantime here are a few snippets from tonights gig I found onYou Tube. With so many camera phon...