Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite at Shepherd's Bush Empire - review

Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite (Getty)

“We have the blues in the house tonight and that ain’t no lie,” says Charlie Musselwhite to a packed out Shepherd’s Bush Empire - in the way that only a 1960s era American bluesman can.

He’s playing alongside Ben Harper, performing hot-off-the-press album No Mercy in This Land, their second collaboration and an album Harper described to me as “a commitment to true blues".

While separated by a generation, it’s a perfect pairing: Musselwhite channeling the swagger and sound of the Chicago blue legends from the genre’s heyday via the harmonica; Harper bringing his fresh interpretation with his phenomenal gravely vocals and exquisite guitar playing.

The Grammy-award winning duo had the crowd enthralled, head swaying in the lolloping rhythm of "When I Go", elevated and foot tapping in the insistent rhythm of "Bad Habits", and breaths held on the emotive "When Love is Not Enough".

We heard "I Don’t Believe a Word You Say" and "I’m In I’m Out and I’m Gone" from 2013’s initial collaboration Get Up! which won a Grammy for Best Blues Album alongside latest tracks "Trust You to Dig My Grave" and "Found the One".

The album and their performance of it felt intensely personal, from every note Harper eked out on "Nothing At All" atop the piano, and darker title track itself "No Mercy in the Land" brought chills to spines recounting the loss Musselwhite suffered when his mother was murdered with its gritty, primal blues sound.

As Harper explained, each song holds its own set of distinct themes, from the melancholic "No Mercy" to the contemplative "When Love is Not Enough": “For me, the most exciting part of songwriting is to explore the mystery of ideas and emotions.”

Furthermore creating with Musselwhite again was for him a major motivation for his fourteenth studio album, describing the 74 year old on stage as still “firing on all cylinders,” a musician who broke barriers in the genre then and continues to now.

At times, it was challenging to fully connect with the performance - no doubt if you were in a smoky piano bar it would be the gig of your life. But moments of chatter from the eclectic Friday night London audience and clatter from the bar, plus the fact that the musicians were sat down just out of sight of those standing in the stalls for many songs, meant absolute appreciation was frustratingly difficult.

Moments of disconnection were wholly forgotten however in others where Musselwhite’s harmonica solos demonstrated his legendary status as a powerful blues musician and Harper’s voice soared. On final track "All That Matters Now" Harper came to stand in front of his microphone and sang a capella to the audience drenched in a spotlight, trademark hat removed, one arm reaching for the roof: “I can't get well/ There's no cure for life/ Let me down easy/ At least tonight/ We're together/ And that's all that matters now” as if baring his soul.