Gig Review: Luke Morley at Rescue Rooms

Hillbilly Vegas are the support act for the evening. Their Oklahoma Southern rock is enjoyable and they are decent musicians. They’ve played across the US and this is their first time touring in the UK. They play a number of tracks including Mason Jars & Moonlight, Long Way Back and Something Crazy which frontman Steve Harris dedicates to his wife, as well as a cover of Frankie Miller’s classic Down the Honky Tonk which is well received. They finish with Shake it Like a Hillbilly. Harris is talkative and warm, he gets a good rapport going with the Rescue Rooms crowd, and by the time they’ve finished we’re all good friends and honorary hillbillies.

Luke Morley, best known as the lead guitarist and principle songwriter for the hard rock band Thunder since 1989, has released a second solo album entitled Songs from the Blue Room. It arrives somewhat later than might be expected after his debut album El Gringo Retro was released over two decades ago in 2001.

‘Songs from the Blue Room’ is an offering of ten tracks that, strangely I feel, wouldn’t make it anywhere near a Thunder album. There are echoes of Thunder songs, familiar chords, and several tracks including I Wanna See the Light and I’m the One you Want feel Thunder-like, but there are fewer roaring guitar solos and the songs feel more introspective and most are ballads.

But anyone wondering if Morley can sing will be delighted to find that he really can. Not like Danny Bowes, of course! But he is actually very good. Just as a side note, for anyone that has never noticed, Morley is also left-handed which is unusual for a guitarist, but that’s never stopped him from creating great songs and explosive guitar riffs. He’s an absolutely amazing guitarist.

On the album Morley played all the instruments besides drums. He’s clearly a talented multi-instrumentalist. Naturally this isn’t possible on tour so Morley is joined by a band including Chirs Childs on bass (his Thunder bandmate) and Dean Howard on guitar (formerly of T’Pau). That Morley gives over several lead guitar parts to Howard speaks of his friendship with him and their obvious mutual respect.

They play most of the tracks from the new album including Damage, Killed By Cobain, Errol Flynn, Lying to Myself, Nobody Cares and Watch the Sun Go Down, as well as several tracks from El Gringo Retro including This World, Quiet Life and The First Day. 

The encore includes a final offering from El Gringo Retro entitled ‘Go with the Flow’ before Morley treats fans to ‘A Better Man’ which he dedicates to his Thunder band mates Danny Bowes and Ben Matthews who have both suffered health scares – Bowes being the most recent when he sustained an accidental head injury that required surgery from which he is still recovering.

A cover of Lola by The Kinks ends the evening. It’s been great to see Morley take centre stage to not only showcase his prodigious guitar skills, but also demonstrate his impressive vocal abilities. He’s a likeable guy and he deserves his own solo tour and all of the fan attention and plaudits that he receives.

Luke Morley played Rescue Rooms on Monday 29 January 2024