Rufus Miller.
The concert by British guitarist Rufus Miller at Prague's Palác Akropolis was one of those events that was announced rather inconspicuously. The only information available was the venue and time, plus the fact that Czech band Rotten Hands would be providing support and that Rufus' sister, Misty Miller, would be a special guest. Rotten Hands did indeed perform a set lasting around forty minutes. The combination of blues, earthy big beat, stage music, and cacophony was interesting, as was the frequent migration of musicians from drums to bass guitar to keyboards. Louise Traore's occasionally uncertain vocals and imprecise rhythms did not detract from the urgency of the well-executed final song of the set, Digger.
After the stage was rearranged, guitarist and singer Rufus Miller emerged from the left side of the backstage area and kicked off the main part of the evening's performance with the ninth track from his latest album, Basement (2025), the acoustic Take my time. The rest of the ensemble, Andy Thompson on bass and Bob Kessels on drums, joined in for the second song from the same album, Call Them Out. The concert began, full of grunge, British rock, but also punk, hard rock, and folk. Many of the songs feature the typical harmonized vocals of Rufus and Andy, reminiscent of Alice in Chains and the American grunge scene in general. Considering that they have only released three albums and the evening's program includes over twenty songs, including an encore, they play almost their entire repertoire. The third song, Idle Hands, is from their first album, Pop Skull (2018), and Rufus begins his speeches to the audience, during which he helps using a tuner to change the tuning for individual songs. For example, for the quartet Down to Church from the EP Fly Me Away (2024), Killing Our Friends (Pop Skull, 2018), the distinctly punk Basement and A Minute Longer (Basement, 2025), he tunes his Nelson to drop D tuning to get a fuller, resonant D tone for the songs. The band plays wonderfully, Bob Kessels is precise, punchy, with a sense of dynamics, and also plays excellently with the lanky Andy. Gradually, practically the entire Basement album is played, from which the somewhat eccentric and crazy Rat Sandwich stands out with a colourful palette of Rufus's grimaces and grimaces. The 40-year-old frontman, who was born in Hammersmith, London, and whose father is none other than Argentine guitarist Dominic Miller, known for his work with Phil Collins, the Pretenders, and especially Sting, appears relaxed, enjoying the favour of the Prague audience and visibly putting all his energy into his performance. He is no newcomer to the scene, having played with Sting for several years, his guitar playing is confident and clear, he has an excellent right hand, but due to frequent retuning, he could use an assistant to hang a second Nelson around his neck. The concert is slowly coming to an end. The next song from the current album is the calmly played Stoned in Morocco with a Sabbath-style riff on the bass guitar and the caressing vocals of Rufus and Andy. Baby You're the One from Pop Skull, with the intertwined voices of both vocalists, is the last song of the basic set.
After a short break, the band returns for a three-song encore, which ends the entire performance. Rufus, Andy, and Bob pose with the audience behind them for their own photographers. They thrilled the audience with their perfect instrumental performance, high-quality original music, and friendly demeanor.
Rufus' sister, Misty Miller, did not attend.