AS A GUITAR player for over 40 years, I was fascinated when I saw the preview for this particular show at St George’s Hall, and I was not to be disappointed. Phil Walker and his exceptional band takes the audience from the 50s to the present day and features such guitar greats as Hank B Marvin, George Harrison, Clapton, Hendrix, Bill Haley, Slash from Guns 'N Roses etc.

And even for those who might never had picked up a guitar but who love great tunes, it was still a great show to attend and listen to the different types of instruments – Fender Stratocasters, Gibson Les Pauls, Ibanez etc.

Starting with Bill Haley’s Rock Around The Clock from the 50s, the first half took us through the 60s and 70s and into the early 1980s. Songs included were Twenty Flight Rock by Eddie Cochrane, Jeff’s Boogie by Jeff Beck from the Yarbirds, Wonderful Land and Apache from the Shadows’ Hank B Marvin, Purple Haze, Voodoo Child and Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Layla by Eric Clapton. Country Boy by Albert Lee, Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler and finally Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall.

The second half of the show went from the 80s through to the present day. Tommy Emmanuel’s Classical Gas opened the second half which was followed by Hotel California by The Eagles featuring the guitar playing of Glen Frey and Joe Walsh, Stray Cats Strut by The Stray Cats, Brian Setzer’s Sleepwalk, Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC segueing into Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin and Gary Moore’s Walking By Myself. The music of Slash from Guns n Roses featured in Sweet Child of Mine and we were then into two songs by my favourite band Queen featuring the Brian May guitar solos in Brighton Rock and Tie Your Mother Down before the final two numbers of Liberty by Steve Vai and Satch Boogie by Joe Satriani.

After great applause by the audience the band came back for an encore of Fire by Jimi Hendrix. As well as Phil Walker who plays most of the guitar solos and is the main vocalist, the other members played an integral part in the production. These were Toby James on Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Kristian Dluzewski on Drums and new boy Jason Boyd on Bass.

As well as the songs themselves, the show also featured a number of clips on the two large screens about some of the artists being featured and interviews with a number of them plus also a little of the history of the instruments themselves including a very fascinating interview with Les Paul who designed and played the famous Gibson Les Paul which has been used by many of these artists over the years.

An excellent show, and for anyone who missed it in Bradford it is being performed again on March 31at City Varieties in Leeds. Tickets are available on line at www.cityvarieties.co.uk or by phone on 0113 243 0808.

by John Burland