He might be approaching 70 but the guitar legend ain’t getting there quietly as he proved with a blistering two-hour set at the Barbican last night. Leading his 4th Dimension power quartet alongside drummer Mark Mondesir, keyboardist/drummer Gary Husband and fabulous Cameroonian bass guitarist Etienne Mbappe, McLaughlin was in fiery form. Drawing on a wide range of material that kicked off with ‘Raju’ from the Indian-flavoured album Floating Point, it took a while for the band to settle and the sound mix to solidify, though playing such demanding up-tempo material always takes a while to warm up on, but it wasn’t for want of trying from all concerned.

Highlights included Mondesir’s flashing quicksilver runs around the kit, and a couple of sparking duels with Husband on an opposing drum set, Mbappe’s deep pocket funk feel and darting Jaco-esque solos, and McLaughlin’s incendiary and impassioned solos. Having built the set to a head on the burning Latin funk of ‘Senor SC’ and the twisting ‘Five Peace Band’, the calming encore was a fitting cool down of a ballad. All of which left the packed hall feeling like they’d really got their money’s worth as The Mac proved his lionhearted approach to die-hard jazz-rock still has many fans today.  

- Mike Flynn      (photo by Jonathan Crawford)