Review of Roll Wyn James concert in the Norie-Miller Suite of Perth Concert Hall

Oct 28 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

ONE year on after their last concert in the AK Bell Library Theatre, blues band Roll Wyn James played to another sell-out audience, this time in the Norie-Miller Suite of Perth Concert Hall.

The gig started after the audience were shown two short films about Alwyn James and the aphasia from which he suffers. The films explained the daily difficulties enccountered by those affected by stroke and aphasia. We were also shown a short clip of Alwyn and his daughter on STV which showed the challenges Alwyn has overcome with his fantastic motivation to live life to the full and get back into his beloved music.

It is fantastic to see how Alwyn has remarkably retained his sense of humour and has shown so much courage.

The gig kicked of with style as the band performed various well-known tunes with great vocals from Paul Henderson (guitar) and some wholehearted drumming from Kevin Smith.

Alwyn was ‘having a ball’ on keyboards and with his harmonica.

After a short break, Chris Agnew gave an awesome performance of ‘Blues by Numbers’, the title track of their latest CD. The audience reaction clearly showed their full appreciation of this marvellous entertainment that was ‘rocking’ the Norrie Miller Suite.

Two special award-winning guests completed the night. Paul Towndrow on saxophone and Duncan Findlay on guitar added to the audience’s enjoyment of this fabulous night of music.

Sadly, the night had to come to an end after a rousing encore. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another year to enjoy this again!

Alwyn is a truly genuine and inspiring gentleman and the amazing ‘Blues by Numbers’ CD would be a worthy investment for Blues fans with proceeds going to the very worthy cause Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland.

Paul Innes