Black Stone Cherry performing their Experience Kentucky Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Thursday 1st December 2016


Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

Fresh from the Carnival Of Madness which graced the Motorpoint Arena some months ago, Black Stone Cherry were back in Nottingham to promote their fifth studio album, Kentucky, and it was the more intimate Royal Concert Hall which was sold out.

This southern American hard rock band did not need any support to warm up this audience; they filled the slot with a fabulous acoustic set of their own. They stripped back the likes of Hell And High Water, Like I Roll and new songs, In Our Dreams and The Rambler, which all highlighted Chris Robertson’s rich vocals and Ben Wells and Jon Lawhon’s brilliant guitar skills.

A particular highlight was the poignant What My Father Said that had the crowd soaking up the raw emotion of the lyrics as they filled the Hall, and finishing with a delightful All I’m Dreamin’ Of, a thirty minute break was too long for this restless crowd.

The second half was pure rock and roll as BSC brought the crowd to their feet for the first time, with the rarely played Devil’s Queen. After that there was no let up as the crowd sang along to Soulcreek and White Trash Millionaire. Showcasing brutal rock riffs, new songs Darkest Secret and Shakin’ My Cage were real crowd pleasers and whilst drummer John Fred Young was insane the whole time, he was rewarded with a thrilling drum solo.

Included were the well known anthems like, Me And Mary Jane, Blame It On The Boom Boom and Lonely Train which all just served to show BSC’s consistency, their melodic hooks and fabulous rock riffs.

Last night showed that BSC are very much the ultimate arena rock band with their bold stage presence and crowd pleasing anthems, but they also showed that they can play anywhere and still have the crowd wanting more.