Paul Gregory
5 hours ago
3 min read

ERIC JOHNSON

Tom Moriarty

The Cheese and Grain - Frome

24 July 2026

The audience applause was tremendous at the end of this song and in fact that applause volume continued after every song that was performed.

Focused bassist with glasses plays a black electric bass on a smoky blue-lit stage, wearing a green earbud and mustache. — **Photos by kind permission of:** Laurie Monk

Eric Johnson is THE guitarist’s guitarist. He has performed in the past as part of G3 with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, as well as a solo artist. The last time Johnson toured the UK was in 2013, and I was privileged to see him perform and then to meet him at Salisbury City Hall on the final date of that tour. The venue tonight is packed (the capacity is around 800 people), and it is very hot. This is a surprise as I did not think he was that popular in the UK, he hasn’t toured here for a long time and he also has not released any new material recently either.

At 20.00, support Tom Moriarty appeared on stage. He did a thirty minute set, singing and playing electric and acoustic guitars. The set consisted of self-penned Blues and Folk-Rock numbers that were pleasant. He was well received by the audience when he left the stage

It is an excellent instrumental to begin the show with and to get the crowd in the mood.

Johnson appeared on stage at 21.00. Dressed all in the same colour, and playing his signature tri-colour Fender Stratocaster. He has with him on this tour, Daniel Kimbro on bass and Tal Bergman on drums. The opening song was ‘Righteous’ from the album ‘Ah Via Musicom’. It is an excellent instrumental to begin the show with and to get the crowd in the mood. The audience applause was tremendous at the end of this song and in fact that applause volume continued after every song that was performed.

The set tonight was split into four parts. The first part was a few of his more popular tracks and a cover of a Duke Ellington song, followed by an acoustic set accompanied on bass by Kimbro, a Blues Rock section which had him change his Stratocaster to a beautiful cherry red sunburst Les Paul, and then back to the Strat and finishing off with some more of his established songs. Throughout all the set, the band are superb, with one or two sweet and short drum solos, a number of truly amazing bass solos, and of course Johnson’s outstanding guitar playing. The guitar breaks varied from shredding, finger tapping, Bluegrass finger picking, and all out superb mind-blowing guitar solos. Mention must be made of Johnson’s vocals. He does not sing on many songs, but when he does the vocals that are very restrained (and not unlike John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers) suit the style of his songs perfectly.

He does not sing on many songs, but when he does the vocals that are very restrained

Standout songs for me were; ‘Song For George’, showcasing his acoustic guitar skills, ‘E Flat Blues’ with a dazzling guitar solo, ‘Desert Rose’, that shows shredders how to play melodically rather than just play thousands of notes regardless, and of course ‘Cliffs Of Dover’ that had a very long intro. The set lasted one hour and forty minutes with one encore, and it was a masterclass on how guitar playing should be performed. I was again privileged to meet him again after the show, and as before he was charming, ready to discuss anything, including our interview for Fireworks Magazine earlier in the year and reflect on memories of the last time we met in Salisbury. Thank you Eric!!

it was a masterclass on how guitar playing should be performed.

Setlist (Contains Spoilers)

Righteous, Forty Mile Town, S.R.V, Caravan (Duke Ellington cover), Friends

Acoustic set:

Resolution, Abelia, Chester, Once Upon A Time In Texas, Song For George

Blues set:

Stella By Starlight (Victor Young Cover), E Flat Blues, On Green Dolphin Street (Bronislaw Kapen cover), True Heart Blues, Steve’s Boogie

Established set:

Desert Rose, Cliffs Of Dover

Encore:

Zap

Photo Gallery

Photos by kind permission of: Laurie Monk

Photos by kind permission of: Andy Balcam

Review: Paul Gregory

Photos: Laurie Monk/ Andy Balcam

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Disclaimer:

All photographs in this review are given for free for us to use (either in the magazine or website). We will not give them to a third party without the express permission of the rights owners. If payment is required between the rights owner and the third party, that will be decided between them, not Fireworks Rock & Metal Music Magazine.