Live Review: The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, Harry Healy

The entry line rounds the block and you'd be forgiven for assuming it was a busy Saturday night. On closer inspection, the average age is pushing 60 and one punter is overheard recalling "when I was a kid this place was just a hall".

Harry Healy stands alone with an acoustic guitar on stage. The former The Voice Australia contestant may not have progressed far enough in the reality competition to garner a herd of screaming 12-year-old girls, but tonight the punters have turned up in droves to catch his performance. Healy's gravelly voice is reminiscent of an early Rod Stewart and his beaten old guitar screams the blues more than any finely tuned axe could. His lyrics are somewhat clichéd for a modern blues artist (such as a song written for his wife entitled Livin' With A Madman, and another about his 1952 Vincent Black Lightning motorbike), but the hooks are catchy and it's a fun way to warm up.

Mick Fleetwood enters the stage to thunderous applause. He's full of thanks and praise for the audience, and is soon joined by the rest of The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. The stage is somewhat oddly arranged with bass guitarist Lenny Castellanos and keys players Mark Johnstone far off in the wings (barely visible on stage) - obviously leaving plenty of room for us to gawk at Fleetwood.

Frontman Rick Vito - a member of Fleetwood Mac from '87-'91 - quickly quashes the hopes of at least a few punters by exclaiming, "I hope you like the blues, because you won't be hearing Rhiannon tonight!" The show kicks off with some rocking 12-bar blues and a rendition of Looking For Somebody, although the performance so far is a little lacklustre with Vito doing his best to command the stage. Yet as the four-piece break into original track Fleetwood Boogie, it becomes clear that this is no coat-tail-riding cover band.

Vito's chops haven't diminished with time and he looks just as at home in front of the legendary Fleetwood as he would have 25 years ago. Johnstone amps up his performance and churns out some funky gospel vibes from the keyboard, and Castellanos is solid (although still near invisible). But all eyes are on Fleetwood, who stands and gives us his best Hulk Hogan impersonation following an amazing cover of '69 classic Oh Well. One patron is overheard whispering (loudly) to a mate, "I wish we could spark up a joint in here". Vito jokes, "Back when Fleetwood Mac started back in '74 with Stevie," before he's drowned out by boos and quickly corrects, "Just kidding! It all started as a blues band back in '67 with Peter Green, and that's what we're playing for you tonight". With that, the quartet kick it up another notch with Love That Burns, before ripping into crowd favourite Black Magic Woman.

The set continues to impress with more high energy rock and blues tracks such as When We Do The Lucky Devil. A quick break sees a new drum kit assembled at the front of the stage for Fleetwood to deliver Black Crow and World Turning, the latter features a couple of spontaneous jams including a duel between Vito and Johnstone, and a ten-minute drum solo (accompanied by a percussionist) for the main man.

Older crowd members take turns sitting on anything that could be considered a chair and, in true rock'n'roll fashion, the guys play nearly half an hour overtime. There's still time for a quick cover of Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'N Roll Trio's Tear It Up and a beautiful encore of instrumental classic, Albatross.

As the band take a collective bow, Fleetwood takes the mic to leave us with some parting wisdom, "Never do I leave the stage without saying the following: In the crazy world we live in, remember to be kind to one another".