The guitarmeister crowns a frenetic year.  British guitar icon Robin Trower tours the USA for the first time in almost 60 years and shows our cousins exactly what they’ve been missing.  One Moment In Time showcases Robin Trower in his live pomp.

A LONG-AWAITED US TOUR

British guitar icon Robin Trower is a firm favourite of ours and 2025 turned out to be a classic year for Trower-ites everywhere.  Not only were we treated to a no-holds-barred deluxe reissue of Robin’s 1975 gem, For Earth Below. Robin also belied his advancing years by releasing Come And Find Me, a stunning new album that, we reckon, ranks right up there alongside his very best work.

To celebrate the acclaim accorded (not least, within these pages) to Come And Find Me, Robin and his current band – Richard Watts on bass and vocals and Chris Taggart on drums – crossed the Atlantic during the summer for a 25-date US tour. Robin’s first since his Procol Harum days, almost 60 years ago!  One Moment In Time is a vibrant document of the tour.

Several shows were recorded as Robin and the band made their way around the country. After much deliberation, Robin selected material recorded at the Music Box At The Bogota in Atlantic City and at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, New Hampshire for this live album.  As he explains: “It’s about the performance, but also down to the sound quality.  You have to choose carefully; I did a lot of listening.”

NO MERE NOSTALGIA TRIP

The chosen songs pay homage to Robin’s illustrious back catalogue, with four songs that originally appeared on his seminal Bridge Of Sighs (1974) album, alongside a few other well-loved golden oldies.  But One Moment In Time is no mere nostalgia trip. Robin Trower doesn’t do those.  There’s a load of Robin’s more recent work to get stuck into alongside the familiar faves and, what’s more, the sound quality is top-notch.  One Moment In Time is one of those rare live albums that bring the elusive concert hall experience right inside your living room.

The show gets underway with the sharp, funky Razor’s Edge and, from the outset, it’s clear that Robin and the band are right on top of their game.  Richard comes on like a slightly well-used Paul Rodgers, the guitar sparks fly and the realization that the next hour or so is going to be a lot of fun kicks in.

Too Rolling Stoned is a shoo-in for every Robin Trower live set and it’s performed here in all its stretched-out glory.  Robin’s fluid guitar has lost none of its bite and even their respective mothers would have difficulty in distinguishing Richard Watts’ vocal from James Dewar’s original.  Chris Taggart is solid on the back line and throws in some thrilling fills.  But, above all, this one’s about Robin’s flying guitar solos – and fly they do, especially during the lengthy, breathtaking coda.

STRATOCASTER SPACEWALKS

The first of four dips into 2022’s No More Worlds To Conquer album, Wither On The Vine is a rich, sleazy, bluesy affair that Richard delivers with an evil-sounding passion.  Robin’s guitar is more laid back but still reaches for the stars when called upon to do so.  Then, moving on to 1977, and that year’s In City Dreams album, the band launch into a sizzling blast through the absorbing Somebody Calling.  Richard’s bass simmers and fumes, whilst Robin looks after the punchy, choppy licks and the soaring Stratocaster spacewalks.

The respective orbits of Robin Trower and Jack Bruce have become entwined on a few occasions over the years and, in 2007, that occasional union became manifest for the third time, with that year’s Seven Moons album.  Distant Places Of The Heart is an enduring highlight of Seven Moons. It’s a sultry, bluesy song that bears all the hallmarks of its principal creators.  Here, Richard’s voice even takes on a few of Bruce’s signature tones, whilst Robin’s guitar bubbles threateningly before cutting loose, mid-song.

One Go Round is the album’s sole selection from the contemporaneous Come and Get Me album, and it’s a wise choice.  Moody and broody, it features one of Richard Watts’ finest vocal performances.  Richard and drummer Chris set a solid, persuasive rhythm that allows Robin to do what he does best. 

GETTING DOWN TO BRIDGE OF SIGHS BUSINESS

Returning to the subject of Trower/Bruce collaborations, the pair first got together as long ago as 1981, when they formed a power trio. One completed by Bill Lordan on drums for a pair of albums, BLT (1981) and Truce (1982).  It’s Too Late, a track from the BLT album, is probably the most straight-ahead blues song performed on One Moment In Time, and it’s played with passion and precision.  Just as the blues structure couldn’t contain Jimi Hendrix whenever he played Red House, so Robin Trower pushes the envelope here.

It’s time now to get down to a bit of Bridge Of Sighs business. The live version of Day Of The Eagle sounds every bit as fresh as it did on the day that it was first conceived.  Robin covers every inch of his fretboard, even before Richard gets to sing his first words, but, really, this is all just a prelude for the album’s centrepiece.  And the band are on fire for their version of the majestic Bridge Of Sighs.  This is a song that begs to be stretched out and Robin obliges here with a nine-minute epic.  Richard delivers another excellent Dewer-alike vocal and Robin has all the time he needs to explore the full potential of his guitar.  Anybody wanting to hear Robin Trower at his very best will find what they’re looking for right here.

No More Worlds to Conquer, the title track of Robin’s 2022 album, is one of his more Hendrix-inspired offerings.  Indeed, there are distinct echoes of Hey Joe in the song’s structure – not that Robin allows himself to be constrained by any imagined script, as he sooths and charms with his warm solos… 

IMAGINTIVE DIVERSIONS AND GUITAR MEANDERINGS

Robin played Daydream the first time I ever saw him perform, back in June 1973, and the song remains a staple of his live set.  It’s become a true epic over the years and Robin’s imaginative diversions are as enthralling now as they ever were.  It’s a melodic song and Robin bears that in mind, wherever his guitar meanderings might be taking him. In this case, into twelve and a half minutes of dreamy psychedelic bliss.

Little Bit Of Sympathy, the final Bridge Of Sighs selection on the One Moment In Time setlist comes on like a whirlwind after the blissful contemplation of Daydream. The contrast works a treat.  It’s the last song of the main set but, after a show like this, an encore is a given, surely?

POWER AND PROWESS

As so it turns out to be.  Rise Up Like The Sun, a song from Robin’s 1994 20^th Century Blues album, is a welcome surprise. It amply demonstrates the depth of excellent material that Robin Trower has at his disposal.  It’s a pulsing, bluesy rocker from the Crossroads stable and, for every listener, body movement is compulsory.  And the band still retain their tight discipline, even as they let loose on all fronts.

The show, and the album, concludes with Birdsong, a final slice of classic, atmospheric, Trower.  One Moment In Time is an excellent live album and Robin Trower has demonstrated, once again, that he hasn’t lost a single iota of his power or his melodic, hypnotic guitar prowess.  Keep going, Robin – we need you.

Watch Robin Trower perform Too Rolling Stoned – a live show favourite:

Robin Trower: Website

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