A year ago this very week I was writing a review of Aynsley Lister‘s appearance at Bonn Harmonie, and here I am in 2025 doing exactly the same. So, not a lot of time for anything to change then, and if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it might be the motto on a pleasant Thursday evening in Endenich.
There is a certain ‘Groundhog Day’ feeling then when Aynley and his rhythm section of Craig Bacon (drums) and Jono Martin (bass) step onto the Harmonie stage soon after 8pm. The same band as in 2025 and, with no new release since then, pretty much the same set outside of a single newie that was tantalisingly given it’s “World live debut”. I even notice that Aynsley is wearing the same black jacket over the same ACDC t-shirt from last November. Given that a live release is due next Spring featuring performances from last year’s tour – could this identical gear be a Blackadder-like cunning plan to get more pictures for the album cover? You know where to find me Aynsley…
The set is largely a mix of Aynsley’s last studio release ‘Along for the Ride’ and numbers from 2009’s ‘Equilibrium’. No complaints there since these are my favourite discs from the man. “Some songs just come to you as you watch life go by” muses Aynsley. “People watching” as he puts it. That was how ‘Early Morning Dew’ came about. Will there ever be another song that references a ‘squeegee’? I don’t care. There will never be a better one. Alongside the soulful ‘What’s it all About’ and rocky ‘Hurricane’. Also from ‘Equilibrium’ is a song that rather describes Aynsley’s musical motivation from day one – ‘Soul’. Every time he takes a guitar solo he seems to be living the lyrics:
Take me way up high
To a place I know
I can close my eyes and slowly float away
Where the skies are blue
Where I can let go
Something inside that I cannot explain
It’s the reason that concert-goers keep coming back to the shows. To share that place where you can just close your eyes and slowly float away. Unpretenscious playing that digs firmly into the groove every time. There wasn’t a lot of between song banter, but Aynsley was keen to praise the guitarists that he first heard via his father’s record collection. All the Kings of the Blues of course, but also what was a musical ‘game-changer’ for him as for so many British Blues guitarists – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers ‘Beano’ album. It was a touch of nostalgia for those of a certain age to hear Aynsley’s version of ‘Steppin’ Out’ – and it’s clear that this particular track was also inspirational for Ritchie Blackmore who seems to have purloined the riff note for note and given it a Hard Rock coating on Deep Purple’s ‘Lazy’.
An Aynsley Lister concert without ‘Purple Rain’? Unthinkable, and of course an appropriate blanket of purple lighting to swirl round the walls onto the stage. It’s difficult to follow Hendrix which makes it surprising that the encore should finish with an old Aynsley Lister song – The rocking ‘Falling Down’ from 2007’s ‘Upside Down’ disc fires up the audience for their journey home.
Earlier in the set Aynsley mentioned that a new live disc would be out in the Spring of 2026 taken from last year’s touring. It’s pretty well mixed and mastered he says. He promies that we won’t be hearing a disc that is heavily over-dubbed as so many live platters have been. As Aynsley says: “It’s not perfect, but it’s got a vibe. And really, that’s what you need isn’t it?” Exactly!
