Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Back when double concert albums were all the rage on vinyl, complete with a gatefold sleeve of course, blues-drenched hard rockers Wishbone Ash led that pack with “Live Dates.”

Five decades later, original guitarist/vocalist Andy Powell, veteran bassist Bob Skeat, recent guitarist Mark Abrahams and brand new drummer Mike Truscott are dropping the needle on the entire project for a world tour that found Reggies Chicago landing one of just three Midwestern dates of a mere six across all of America.

Thankfully, the performance was livestreamed to absolutely anywhere with the leader remarking how solid the room sounded, though there was nothing like actually being there when the foursome plowed through “King Will Come” onward in mostly the original order.

Smack dab in the middle of the twin guitar attack, which was amongst the very first of its kind long before Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden and mounds more, Wishbone Ash simmered with “Ballad Of The Beacon” and “Baby What You Want Me To Do.”

Outside of the latter Jimmy Reed remake, Powell reminisced how the tunes on “Live Dates” were written from either the road or real life experiences, such as “Lady Whiskey” being based off the “stumblin’” woman who oversaw one of the group’s earliest apartments in England.

Yet it was “Phoenix,” also from those self-titled debut days, that will likely go down as Wishbone Ash’s ultimate theme song, which featured the guys soloing their way around an extended version met with a thunderous standing ovation.

It seemed to all pass so quickly, but the band returned for an encore of the bellowing “Blind Eye,” the earliest example of the dueling guitar concept that went over just as well as the evening’s primary time capsule.

For additional information on Wishbone Ash, visit WishboneAsh.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at Reggies Chicago include Eighteen Visions (Jul. 21); Left To Die (Jul. 22); Living Colour (Jul. 23); Tim Lefebvre & Nate Smith (Jul. 24); Beasto Blanco (Jul. 26); Petey (Jul. 27); Maxo Kream (Jul. 28); Mariah The Scientist (Jul. 29); School Of Rock AllStars (Jul. 30); Young Nudy (Jul. 30) and Anvil (Jul. 31). For additional details, visit ReggiesLive.com.

Related Articles

Wishbone Ash amplifies and unplugs on “Tough & Tender” Tour, ambitious box set on the way English art rockers Procol Harum paint well beyond “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” in opening City Winery sellout No-nonsense ZZ Top, Creedence-focused John Fogerty link up for “Blues & Bayous” at Ravinia “Stars Align” for guitar god Jeff Beck, Free-thinking Paul Rodgers, covers from the heart of Ann Wilson A potent, no frills goodbye from Deep Purple follows a gothic extravaganza by Alice Cooper American rock n’ roll at its optimum when Grand Funk Railroad storms the Genesee Hard rockin’ blues bliss from expressive English guitarist Robin Trower The Security Project stages an all-star salute to Peter Gabriel at second installment of Progtoberfest