"The Story Of Guitar Heroes" with Phil Walker.
Nottingham Playhouse.

As kids we all dream of being rock stars. Some come close and some just pretend. Here is a man who made that dream come true as he is every rock guitarist you can think of. Phil Walker along with his band of Toby James, Lee Williams and Allan Varnfield on drums recreate the sound of every guitar legend from over the decades.

Along with a video back drop showing the heroes, along with interviews and film footage, this show is an absolute must for, not only guitar fans but for lovers of great music.

Weaving his way from the 1950's and stars like Les Paul, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry, through the 1960's with Bert Weedon,Peter Green, Hank Marvin and Jimi Hendrix, into the 1970's with The Allman Brothers, The Eagles and Eric Clapton, into the 1980's with Prince, Thin Lizzy and Gary Moore.

Covering every genre from Country with Brad Paisley and Albert Lee, Rock n Roll with The Shadows, Eddie and Chuck, through Blues with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Vai and BB King, to classic rock with AC/DC, Guns n Roses, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, ZZ Top and of course the mighty Queen.

The set was well thought out with Act One ending with the mighty "Comfortably Numb".I have listened to this song many times but hearing this epic track played live on stage by these guitar masters, complete with an incredible light show, this tune took on a life of it's own.

The show ended with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" guitar break with the video footage of the great Freddie Mercury singing the song to Phil and co's musical accompaniment.

They then came back on for a party encore which included Status Quo's "Rocking All Over The World"

Seeing and hearing tracks like "Parisienne Walkways", "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Little Wing", "Hotel California", "Purple Rain" and "Smoke On The Water" onstage was just jaw-droppingly good. The amount of times shivers went up and down my spine, I could not tell you.

Not only is Phil an amazing guitarist, he has surrounded himself with an incredible band, all of whom provide vocals backing and featured, and Allan on those drums was spectacular to watch.

Not only do we get to see many styles and makes of guitar played, all of which matched the guitars played by the original heroes, but you get an education in the history of guitars and the heroes themselves. Educational and entertaining. Shut your eyes and it could be Hank Marvin, it could be Fleetwood Mac. It could be Thin Lizzy.

This show was for one night only at the Playhouse, but make sure that you catch this show if you can as it travels around the UK, because you will not regret this experience. It's something that I certainly will not forget and neither will the audience whose age ranges were as varied as the music played tonight.