Mike Bones of New York is moving on from being known as a notable guitarist on other peoples records to being a frontman in his own right - he was over here promoting his newest album, A Fool For Everyone. 

He started slowly tonight, letting the piano of his backing band (The Multiple Homicides) take a forward role, but as the opener progressed, Bones’ almost playfully depressed lyrics gave way to his extraordinary guitar work.

A masterful guitarist without the need for Satriani-esque histrionics, Bones stole all attention away from anything other than his playing. He works largely around the formula of slow building songs and bleak lyrics tempered by an acerbic humour, but with each number the crowd was waiting for him to step up and cut loose.

Bones may not yet be as good a songwriter as he is a guitarist, but if he were he’d be up there with Neil Young or Tom Verlaine. Still, this was a beautifully unadorned, technically astute and heartfelt slab of New York melancholy and the chance to see it such intimate surroundings was phenomenal.

Richard Davie
photo: Rachel Lipsitz