THIS was one of the long-awaited gigs at this year's International Guitar Festival of Great Britain, as the British guitarist with the longest CV in recording, Chris Spedding, made a rare British solo appearance at Pacific Road, in the company of Mark Davies on bass and the great former Roxy Music drummer, Paul Thompson. Spedding has graced recordings by such people as John Cale, Roy Harper and Brian Eno to name but a few, and has worked extensively with Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, while also releasing solo work since 1971. However, this was a strange show - he and the trio rattled through about 20 songs - nothing longer than about three minutes - with barely more than a muttered 'thank you' to the audience. It may be that his years as a 'hired gun' means that he is a reluctant front man, but it was easy to get the impression that Spedding was just eager to get things over and done with! Moan over, he still provided some brilliant rocking guitar on a set drawing from his brush with the singles charts and some vintage covers, including Johnny Allen's rousing The Promised Land, the evergreen Wild Thing and Johnny Kidd's Shakin' All Over. His two big singles - Motorbikin' and Guitar Jamboree ended the show, with the latter giving Spedding a chance to show off his Albert King, Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix licks. | 
