Taste
Live At the Isle Of Wight

THE REVIEW

The trio is one of the most beautiful forms of group that exist. And when there's a monster like Rory Gallagher on guitar, the trio becomes perfect.

The Taste is a flash-in-the-pan band that existed from 1966 to 1970, one of those with guts: alongside Rory, who I believe needs no introduction, we have Richard McCraken on bass in 1968 and John Wilson on drums, the one trying to keep the band alive today.

Musically, Taste is perfect and their dirty and mean blues roars with every single note played. Add to this the characteristics of a talented group and the enthusiasm of 600,000 people: the result is nothing short of destructive, and it doesn’t wane even if the roar of the crowd was subsequently lowered in the studio.

Little singing, lots of solos and improvisation are the main characteristics of Taste and more specifically of this live, composed of six songs that in total last about fifty minutes.

The overwhelming "What's Going On" opens the concert, where a lumberjack-dressed Rory lets loose from the start, erupting from the amplifier his goosebump-inducing solos, singing with all possible anger, with his rough and raw voice. But the supporting musicians are not far behind: Wilson rolls at crazy speed, barely lifting the sticks from the snare drums, while McCraken circles madly on the four strings, almost as if he had more than five fingers available.

Gallagher is also great at rearranging old blues pieces and "Sugar Mama" is an example of this. The blues is melancholic and extends slowly among various improvisations, resulting in a sound compact and hard as never before, giving energy and strength to the piece. The audience noisily introduces two Gallagher-signed pieces. The first is "Morning Sun", another great test of play between highs and lows. It's strange to notice how the king of slide, a typical American way of playing, is ironically an Irishman. Because Rory is the undisputed king of the slide, the ease with which he plays the technique really makes one envious, and in live performances, this particular is highlighted much more than in the studio.

But the fabulous "Sinner Boy" is absolutely one of the most successful songs in Taste's discography: the riff is simple but overwhelming, the singing is brilliant; these are the main characteristics that make it absolute, perfect. With the cheerful "I Feel So Good", you can almost see the hippies get up and dance to the rhythm of that shower of sounds that overwhelms them. The bass and drum solos of the song are commendable on their own, and the musicians demonstrate that it's not just Rory who is the virtuoso.

With the quarter-hour of "Catfish", the concert ends, another great arrangement by the guitarist, and once again the blues is the absolute master of the festival, slow and transporting at the beginning, faster and more and more authoritative towards the end, as if to properly greet the audience that welcomed them so warmly.

It’s sad to know that the Isle of Wight was one of the band's last dates because if Rory Gallagher by himself has accomplished small and great wonders, with Taste he came very close.