Willard's Wormholes

BBC Maida Vale Studios June 17, 2010
An Intimate Evening With Stevie

A cool, live Steve Winwood show from just a few weeks ago on The BBC’s Radio 2. The ageless, 62 year-old Winwood is in good form and the sound here is pretty outstanding. I was attracted to the set’s percussive elements, as well as the sparse instrumentation (Winwood, with sax, guitar, percussion & drums). The stripped down band offers a synth-heavy hit like “Higher Love” a new lease, while the extended jamming on “Light Up And Leave Me Alone” and many of the other tracks has a casually intimate vibe. There are some lulls but, overall, this is a good showing from Winwood. Because of the intimacy, I prefer this to last year’s superstar pairing with Eric Clapton at Madison Square, which I didn’t even bother to keep. Hear an all-time favorite, Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home,” below.

Introduction (1:17)
I’m a Man/Hungry Man (13:35)
Dirty City (8:56)
Can’t Find My Way Home (4:52)
Light Up (15:26)
Higher Love (8:04)
Dear Mr Fantasy (8:00)
Band Introductions (0:37)
Gimme Some Lovin’ (5:11)
Crowd/Outro (0:43)