3/2/2022 Jack J. Hutchinson @ Islington Academy

It's only about three months since I saw Jack J. Hutchinson at The Black Heart in Camden promoting his latest single Halo from the then forthcoming album. Now he is out on tour to promote the album The Hammer Falls and Jack is playing his largest London gig to date at the Islington Academy. Having seen on Twitter earlier that Marshall just delivered a massive stack to the venue for tonight's show I was keen to get in and hear it. However, there was a problem...

The only way to get a ticket for the show was via Ticketmaster, and it was only possible to buy an e-ticket which only worked via their phone app to show on the door. So a couple of days before the show I downloaded the app to my phone, bought a ticket, and got it loaded onto my phone. I checked it would show my ticket while I was still at home and everything worked fine. I even checked on the train on my way to the gig just to make sure my ticket was still showing on my phone. So I arrive at the venue and get out my phone to show the security guys on the door my ticket - and the bloody Ticketmaster app decides not to work! I'm stuck outside an O2 venue and my phone is also on O2 and apparently I can't get a signal to make the Ticketmaster app work! Normally I just print out my own ticket at home with a scannable bar or QR code and everything works fine - but Ticketmaster decided not to offer that option for this show. Why the hell not? According to the guy on the door other people had similar problems trying to get into this gig. Fortunately the security guy was very helpful and set his own phone up as a Wi-Fi hotspot so I could make my ticket appear on my phone - if he hadn't done that I wouldn't have been able to get in. But suppose it was a big venue and there were hundreds of people trying to get in? If Ticketmaster only offer phone app tickets for another gig I'm interested in going to they can go fuck themselves.

So, after a fashion I eventually get into the venue - no thanks to Ticketbastard. And it's a very good show.

Jack seems to be re-inventing himself from his blues roots into a hard-rock performer.

He certainly has the chops on guitar and is a bit of a showman.

And of course it doesn't hurt that he has a pretty hard rocking band as well.

Things calm down for the almost obligatory acoustic spot and a well received rendition of 'I Will Follow You' - a song with a very personal meaning for Jack.

And then it's time to tread on the loud pedal again and it's back to some seriously heavy riffing.

The new album is a noticeable step in a heavier and harder direction from his earlier blues-rock roots - heavy riffs and shredding solos abound in songs like Call Of The Wild 'Straight To Hell' and World On Fire, but there are some catchy tunes in there as well. What stands out is the well crafted quality of the songs as well as the thick and warm guitar sound. The album is good, but it is as a live performer that Jack J. Hutchinson shines.