ROBERT CRAY
Royal Festival Hall

THERE was a time when you couldn’t get enough of Robert Cray. He was the fresh-faced 1980s bluesman who was cool for playing blues instead of grunge on MTV and hip for hanging out with John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy.
But these days you will find past albums Strong Persuader and Bad Influence, as good as they still sound, in any worthwhile north London jumble sale.
There seemed to come a point when people had enough of his face. I saw him at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire a decade ago and his star already seemed on the wane. He seemed incapable of fulfilling a future mapped out for him by the great and good of blues.
In recent years he has been skulking around in the background, popping up every now and then as if to remind us that he was once considered one of the genre’s greatest hopes.
The Robert Cray Band, now seem ready for a triumphant return, slipping into the London listings almost unnoticed for Monday night with a special show at the Royal Festival Hall.
He might just pull a majestic comeback off.
On new album, Twenty – released through the always-reliable Sanctuary Records – Cray seems to be showing signs of form. His new songs are a little more folkish than songs of old, there is a bit of jazz in there too.
He is guilty of edging towards Clapton’s worst-chartered territory with some over-rehearsed blues by numbers tracks. But overall Cray no longer looks a spent force.
The big test will come on Monday when £24.50 – yep, £24.50 – ticket-holders will make their minds up.