Rockphiles' roving reporter, Paul de Neve, recently attended the opening night of Paul Rodgers' sold-out UK mini-tour and filed the following exclusive review. 

It's Sunday, October 1, and I take my seat, centre circle at Sheffield City Hall, as the show is about to start. It's Paul Rodgers’ opening night of an 8-stop sold-out solo UK tour.  But where are all the people?  The house is only two-thirds full as opening act, Deborah Bonham (younger sister of the late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham) kicks off the evening with a selection of numbers from The Old Hyde album, together with a couple of new songs.  My personal favourite was Stay With Me Baby.  What a voice! Combining the raw power of Janis Joplin and the softer, huskier tones of Elkie Brooks, this lady is a classy singer with a voice full of emotion. One third of the audience missed a real treat.  If you're lucky enough to catch her at the other Paul Rodgers' gigs, trust me, you won’t regret it!

The stage was now set for the ‘main course.’The house is full.  A silver drum set emerged in a spotlight, followed by drummer Ryan Hoyle, who took up the opening beat.  Another spotlight on bassist Lynn Sorensen, then guitarist Howard Leece, followed by the 17-year old guitar sensation Kurtis Dengler, then finally the “Voice”  entered from the wings, singing and acting the part of I’ll Be Creeping, the first of many legendary Free and Bad Company hits we were going to hear that night.

Paul's jacket soon came off to reveal his now-trademark stage uniform of white tank-top atop black velveteen pants as he launched into Free classics The Stealer, followed by Fire & Water. Next, the riff-heavy Closer, co-written with Jimmy Page, and one of  the Firm's biggest hits. The lovely bluesy rocker Be My Friend featured some exciting guitar duels between the two lead guitarists.( Howard Leece won this contest overall on points!)  Ride On Pony, supported by some nice bass work from Lynn Sorensen, was the last of the opening hard-core numbers.

Next up was the first of the evening’s two new songs, acoustic War Boys. Introduced as a “prayer for peace,” it showed a more serious side of Paul’s character. Moving on to Bad Company selections, Paul played harmonica on Feel Like Making Love and, from behind the piano, belted out the rock classic, Bad Company.

Another change of tempo, this time to reggae, with (I Just Want To See You) Smile from Paul's days with The Maytals. The audience, appreciative though restrained up till now, began to clap along.  Wishing Well was equally well received,  generating more rapturous and well-deserved applause. From the Now album, the Muddy Waters tribute Louisiana Blues, followed by Saving Grace,  with Paul again encouraging the audience to join in on the chorus.The set closed with the anthemic All Right Now, Howard and  Lynn taking centre stage with their respective guitars.  By now, the whole audience was on its feet,  many of them shaking hands with Rodgers, passing along the front of the stage as the lights went down.

Given that this was the first night, the audience wasn't quite sure how many encores would follow (although given the vast catalogue of possible songs, everyone hoped for at least six!) and it was nearly three minutes before Paul (now wearing a red shirt) came back with I’m A Mover, featuring alternating riffs between the two lead guitarists. By way of another tribute, he launched into Hendrix’s Angel, as the audience enthusiastically joined in the chorus.  The third number of the encore was another new song for the UK audience, the sea shanty-ish Distant Shore featuring Howard on mandolin, Paul on acoustic, and the others on assorted percussion.  With the audience still refusing to leave, the band returned to play The Hunter as their second and final encore.

For a  rock icon approaching his 57^th birthday, Paul Rodgers is in remarkably good shape, both physically and vocally.  That distinctive gravelly voice is as rich and powerful as ever; the impish smile and the mike-stand twirling (and more importantly – the catching!) are still there too.  The only thing that spoilt my (and at least some of my neighbours’) evening was the painful brightness of the white light banks on the stage directed towards the audience, particularly at the end of the main set, and again during the encore.  Unless providing lighting for some sort of filming, I really didn’t understand the thinking behind this.  Otherwise, an outstanding, highly recommended show from a master of rock.