"But I'm not a reviewer", I kept nervously saying to myself whilst queueing amongst a good humoured and well-seasoned crowd (myself included) waiting to gain entry to Chester's Live Rooms. You see due to a technicality we have no official reviewer for the evening so I am off the sub bench and into action. I can barely string two words together in written form, and definitely struggle to go beyond "this is epic" or "naa, I’m not keen" when talking music. I tend to like what I like, and in more recent times find that I prefer tracks to bands. Bands for me demand fandom and opinions on everything they do, whereas on good mood days I can lose myself in the music of a track,  and on my darker days I can allow the lyrics of the same track to smack me in the face, add or remove validity to my mood and feelings, or give me a much needed wake-up call. Being a 'Tog means I can get the shots I think I need and if the headliners aren’t to my taste, I can leave after clicking away like a wrong 'un for the first three tracks and start my editing. There will be no leaving early tonight though. Tonight promises to be bloody epic, which hopefully makes this review write itself haha.

Elles Bailey opens our evening with an acoustic set as the rest of her band are otherwise engaged this week. I remember catching just the last song of her Kris Barras Band support set a few years ago (my first ever ROCKFLESH gig) after a bit of a mix up over photo passes caused me to be delayed getting to the stage, so was so looking forward to hearing a fuller set from her. Long-time guitarist Joe Wilkins takes a seat on the right side of the stage picking up his acoustic guitar and the expectant crowd bid her a warm cheer then quietens as Elles stands front and centre onstage to a 3/4 full venue. Her sound is soulful, country-tinged blues with splashes of Americana and holds an ever increasing audience very well as applause gets louder as each song ends. She is an excellent story teller, placing the listener under no doubts of the scene she is painting and Joe is a very accomplished guitarist, playing slide on an acoustic like he was born to it. As well as Chester, Elles opens for Walter Trout in Buxton, Brighton, London, Holmfirth, Bury St Edmunds and finally Frome and is well worth the 45+ miles I drove to see her.

It’s quite possibly unfair to describe Walter Trout just as the former Canned Heat and John Mayall guitarist and I wouldn't want to do him any disservice at all, because a quick Internet search tells me he has provided guitar services to the likes of John Lee hooker, Percy Mayfield, Big Mama Thornton and Joe tex to name a few, and this is probably why he sports a very loyal following of experienced musical appreciators who know exactly what they like and exactly how they like it, and they are fully aware of what Walter Trout is all about.

Having survived liver failure some eight years ago he is living proof that an "opt-in" donor scheme like we have in the UK has real benefits, having a replacement liver when he was at death's door and going on to become a patron of the British Liver Trust. I couldn't see a setlist at all onstage,  and I was simply too wrapped up and in total awe of this total guitar genius to make many notes of the songs played - My bad.

He often gave a short story connected to the track to follow, one in particular where he mentioned he'd been around since Trueman was president (or Clement Atlee, Prime Minister of the era for us Brits) and told a very attentive audience "Whilst I can still do it I'm gonna be doin it" and given that album number thirty is nearing completion, you can well believe it too. If the blues ever needed a president of its own, there is no doubt in my mind he would be it, but not a career driven, self-serving, pocket lining, politician like we tend to see from politics nowadays,  but an old school, "I represent and work for the greater good and for the betterment of the blues" kind. Walter looks to have quite a unique playing style, from the way he wears his guitar, through how he holds it, and how he gets feedback and bends the strings to make it sound occasionally almost keyboard like.

Photographers weren't allowed at the front of the stage for the set, as a teenage talent in the form of Isaac Grover needed to make his way onstage from the audience part way through the set. Isaac was discovered busking aged just 8. In his mid-teens now, and every inch a real talent to watch out for in future. Photographs come courtesy of balcony access, which photographers are very kindly granted access to, and are very appreciative of, as it offers unique perspective of the crowd and stage area.

After what felt like pretty much a greatest hits night, the gig drew to a sad close with a tribute to Rory Gallagher and a bit of a piss-take of Elvis encore - All in good fun of course, and left me feeling like I should have had a lot more blues on my iPod for my drive home