Sugar Ray Norcia at The Pavilion, Cork 5/12/08

March 21, 2009 in Reviews

Online exclusive review by Clive Sinclair-Poulton

Sugar Ray Norcia flew from Rhode Island to Cork for this one-off pre-Christmas charity gig. It was a treat for all.

Arriving a day beforehand he had enough time to practise with Alex Orelli and the BluesMakers, a local Cork based band who were such long time fans of the legendary blues harmonica player that their drummer had flown in from Rome especially for the gig.

The band kicked off with some of their own songs and finished with a growling version of “Hound Dog” featuring the guitar of Alex Orelli and the keyboard playing and singing Emilano Petronilli. Sugar Ray, in black shades and beret, was in great form and played the harp and sang with gusto, sweet when needed, sad when apt and mournful when required. One moment hard gravel, the next warm silk. That performing, combined with his stage presence and the close links with the band, went down well with the crowd.
It’s not often that Cork sees a maestro at work and tonight he was in great form. There was no jet lag evident, just a masterclass on how to perform and play the blues.

An early highlight was “Gimme Nothing But The Blues” where the combination of harmonica, singing and the band got the crowd moving. “Five Long Years” showed them at their best, smooth signing, excellent guitar solo and heartfelt harping  all combined to make sadness bittersweet.

Sugar Ray chatted away between songs in an easy going way and then slid effortlessly into the next rendition. This was a man at ease with himself, his music, the band and the crowd. Sometimes standing still, sometimes striding the stage he was the centre of attention, the eye of the blues storm.

A man on a mission, to raise money for charity and to have a pint of Guinness after the show. He worked up a thirst by coming down into the crowd to prowl and sing “In My Younger Days”. This was well received by all and led to much applause.

On the last encore he played “Country Girl”, always a crowd pleaser, it showed him and the band still powering at the end.

Sugar Ray is from the States, the band is from Italy, the setting was in Ireland; it just shows that great musicians, like the blues, have no borders.