We heard about this gig about 24 hours before.  Some rumours had been spreading around London and after a sneaky email or two it was confirmed – Erro was to perform at London’s Ruby-Lo in an intimate last minute acoustic session.
Having already been to the Jazz Café gig on the Friday this was a chance to hear him in a completely different environment and we snapped up the chance.

Anthony David was again present and went through three or four tracks to get us warmed up.  We’ve been listening to his stuff for a couple of years now, and although I must say I’ve always been impressed with him, I was so glad I had seen him in the flesh.  At his most comfortable – it seems – with just a guitar and a microphone; his inspiring voice filled the venue with no effort at all, seeing him live was really a completely different ball game to playing the CD in the car.

An unblemished performance from him; even interrupting a track to go into his very own acoustic version of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation” – which had the whole room rapping (picture the scene) “I like ‘em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian”… you get my drift…... 
With Anthony David there is a genuine feeling that he hasn’t just written the song – he isn’t just performing the song – he is the song.  Every word is coming from deep within the man and when performed so perfectly I could give him no higher compliment.

Eric Roberson stepped up to perform a few obvious – and a few less obvious tracks – flanked by just a backing vocalist and a guitarist he really did wow the audience.  There’s something to be said for these low key affairs – I mean – the impact of a full band is amazing but last night you could really hear his voice; and what a voice.
It was a joy to hear some of his biggest tracks sung acoustically only a couple of metres from me but this wasn’t just about the big tunes.  For example until last night I had never heard a soul singer perform a “freestyle” track.  Much more commonly associated with the world of rap this was the first ever non-scripted, unrehearsed full live performance I had witnessed.  Erro asked the crowd to come up with some subject matter – after about ten seconds I bet he wish he hadn’t.  “So” he jokes “We need a song with the words indigo, bicycle, iguana….”  and so on….

Four and a half minutes later the small crowd were losing their mind trying to work out how he had actually made these ridiculous words into an almost perfect song, making perfect sense in front of them.  Impressed wasn’t the word, I am in awe of the man.

He received a similar reaction after performing “Pretty Girl” from his most recent album “Left”, asking his guitarist to continue playing and – much like the freestyle I describe above – went into an impromptu tribute for the man who produced the song, the late J Dillah.  Like all of us lo-fi heads, he holds this man in the highest regard describing JD as more important than Marvin, Michael and Stevie.  We managed to bully him into an encore and one more acoustic track, this time Anthony David taking the guitar and backing vocals; then stayed around to mingle and chat with every single person in the room, something most people really appreciate, I’m sure.

It’s been a pleasure seeing Erro here in the UK – someone I’ve been going on about seeing for so long now.  It’s a strange feeling, I left both of his gigs feeling like I’ve got to know him, or that I’ve got a new friend.  That really is how close I felt to the music with this man on the stage. It should be noted that someone here at the Soul Kitchen said it was – and I quote – “The best live gig I have ever been to” - High praise indeed.  We all wish Erro, Anthony David and the band the best of luck for the rest of the tour, we’re sure they will have made thousands more friends by the time they finally return home.

V