Blues

If anything has plagued the mercurial Buddy Guy down through the years, it has been his tendency to play to the gallery. On a good night, he's an exciting blues guitarist. On a bad night, he's simply irritating. In his younger days, Guy was the master of guitar theatrics. These days, he is still a terrific stylist, but his wilful playfulness occasionally outshines both his consistency and his credibility. A major influence on Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, 63year old Buddy Guy is now a bona fide blues star following collaborations that ironically lessened his own contributions. The question to be asked in relation to his four-night residency at Dublin's HQ (from Wednesday) is how mercurial will this Guy be?