So there I am at New Jersey’s infamous Starland Ballroom, in scenic Sayreville NJ, on Friday night. I’m there to see the band Wiser Time, with Jimmy Somma of Sommatone amps on lead guitar. I’m there because Wiser Time is a very cool classic rock, Black Crowes-ish band, because I rarely get to get away from the wife and kids and because I knew it would be fun.

Oh yeah: I REALLY wanted to hear Jimmy and Carmen – Wiser Time’s bandleader and lead singer – play through their Sommatone amps. And I really did not want to see or hear The Doors, for whom Wiser Time was opening. No offense, I know The Doors are a legendary band, but just never a band I got into. I always kind of thought they were the 60s version of grunge. So, in order of appearance:

Wiser Time

This is the only decent shot I got of Jimmy with my POS camera phone....

The band sounded stellar. The great PA, Ludwig Vistalite drums (per Bonham) and Fender P bass helped, but the bottom line was I was there to hear woody guitar tones and tasty playing, and was not disappointed.

I made sure to stand right where Jimmy’s amp was projecting so I have to confess that I couldn’t hear Carmen’s guitar so well. But I already knew what Carmen sounded like through his Sommatone Vibe 45 amp (killer) from hearing him play through it at the NY/NJ Amp Show two weekends ago. Mostly I was curious to see and hear what amp Jimmy would choose to play through and how it sounded.

Turned out Jimmy was running one of his Overdrive 35 6L6 heads into what I think was a 2×12 cab. He had what looked like a Roaring 40 combo next to it but he told me later he only played through the Overdrive 35.

A little about the Overdrives: Since I was already familiar with the Roaring 40 a bit, the Overdrive series – in particular the Overdrive 75 – really caught my ear at the Amp Show. That was the Sommatone amp I didn’t want to stop playing. Of course it sounded great, but it also had something I’m not sure I’ve ever heard with any other amp. At the Amp Show, I struggled to describe it to Jimmy. I think the closest I got is that the gain, or overdrive, seems to be “under” or “around” the note rather than on top of it.

You know with preamp gain or an OD pedal, the gain, distortion, overdrive or whatever you want to call it seems to surround or sit on top of the note. But with Jimmy’s Overdrive amps, you get this big woody note and the hair but in a different order somehow. I’m probably doing the amp an injustice by trying to describe it at all but it’s just one of those amps you want to keep messing with because it sounds so good and you know something with your name on it is in there.

(More on this amp coming soon on AmpGAS.)

Anyhow, as I said Jimmy sounded great through that amp and cab. He played a lot of slide, and the notes were big, woody and clear but still with a bunch of sustain and some hair. Jimmy says he loves that amp for slide, and after hearing him I can see/hear why.

I can also say that after hearing Robbie Krieger from The Doors play slide – though it seemed like it was more for effect rather than melodic lines – to my ears, Jimmy slide tone was way better.

So I’m happy to report that Jimmy’s amps sound good in a hotel room and on stage. Jimmy’s a heck of a player too.

The Doors

First of all, a band named The Doors makes communication difficult. Questions like, “When are the doors opening?” get responses like: “The Doors are opening?” I guess it’s tough to communicate capital letters verbally.

(Technically it was Ray Manzarek (keys) and Robby Krieger (guitar), not The Doors, but it’s as close to The Doors as you’re going to get so I’m going to call it that.)

Since I’m not a Doors fan I figured my buddy Alan and I would be out the door before we heard one note from The Doors. But Wiser Time only played a 30-minute set and we’d barely started on our tea and crumpets, so we decided to stick around. I have to admit I’m mostly glad we did. Mostly.

The Doors were a very good band, and it helped that they played songs that I pretty much “knew” from radio airplay back in the day. Ray and Robby were the only two original members in the band and sounded and played very well, as did the drummer (good player, did not dig the drum sound) and bass player.

But the real highlight of the band for me was the lead singer. He had a TON of stage presence, sung the tunes very well and generally brought up the level of the place to make that a gig to remember for the audience. Speaking of which, the audience had quite a few younger folks in their 20s – or maybe even younger (an all ages show) – and many were singing all the words. Pretty mind-blowing.

Robby's DeVilles.

So who was the singer? Miljenko “Michael” Matijevic, a Croatian guy who was and still is the lead singer for the ’80s metal band Steelheart and who also provided the vox for Mark Wahlberg’s character in the movie, “Rock Star.” Think this guy has some pipes?! I’m officially a fan. Love to have that guy in my band…if I had one.

Did he “sound like” Jim Morrison? Enough for me and the most of the audience, it seemed. He made the show, regardless.

In the harsh stage lights Kreiger looked every year of his 65, but so what – you couldn’t tell from his fingers. He played great and sounded good through Fender Hot Rod DeVille combos (he had a pedal board but I didn’t see it). He played old SGs, and we wondered whether those were the ones he played in the ’60s. They sure looked like it!

Just to give you a taste, this was the actual show I was at. Visuals not great, but sound okay.

Here’s a show from a few days before, better video.

More on Robby’s Rigs

From a recent interview with Premier Guitar:

You’re most known for playing a Gibson SG Standard. How did you come to use that guitar?

Before I played electric guitars, I knew nothing about them. But then I saw Chuck Berry and had to get one. I went to a pawnshop and all I could afford was a used Gibson SG Standard—it cost me $180. That was the guitar I used in The Doors. I played ES-335s and ES-355s also, but I always went back to the SG. It’s the most comfortable guitar for me. It does what I need it to do and always has.

Do you still have that original SG?

No, it was stolen a long time ago. I found a ’67 that’s almost identical to the one I had, and I still use that one all the time.

Tell me about Gibson’s recent Robby Krieger SG reissue.

I’m happy with it. They copied the ’67 SG I have now. I didn’t like that guitar’s original neck, so the neck on it is actually a copy of a friend’s ’61 SG Junior that I preferred. Gibson wired the front and rear pickups out of phase like a wah. It was a mistake, but a good one.

What other instruments are you using right now?

I have a Stratocaster that I use once in a while, and I still play ES-355s but only in the studio, not live. I also use an older SG Special with P-90s for slide – I believe it’s a ’75. I have about 30 guitars total.

Robby on his amps:

The first amp I used with the Doors was a Magnatone with two 12″ speakers. Then we got a deal with Acoustic, and I used their 260 model for a while. Ray was using one of their amps too, but we both grew disenchanted with them after awhile. Then I started using a couple of Twin Reverbs that were rebuilt with JBL speakers in them by my friend, Vince Traenor, a crazy genius who also works on pipe organs. He likes to sneak into cathedrals and play the pipe organs. My current rig is two Fender Hot Rod DeVilles, with either 2×12 or 4×10 speaker cabs.

On his board:

I use a Boss ME-10 multi-effect unit, which they don’t make anymore, and I use the gain channel on the amps too. That’s my basic rig. Very simple.

In Conclusion…

If you’re wondering whether I stayed for the whole Doors show, the answer is no. It was surprisingly cool and fun to watch, but then they played some song that sounded like a bar mitzvah tune (several folks backed me up on that), which isn’t the worst thing at all but didn’t seem to fit in a rock show. Time to bolt.

All in all a cool night. If you’re remotely into the Doors, go see Robby, Ray and company. If you ever get a chance to see Wiser Time in NJ or play one of Jimmy’s amps, do it!

Notable

> This is worth noting, from Wikipedia: Steelheart disbanded in 1992 because of a bad stage accident. Near the end of the tour that year, the band was opening for Slaughter in Denver, Colo. During the performance, Miljenko decided to climb a lighting truss, which was not properly secured and fell. He tried to get out of the way, but the 1,000-pound truss hit him on the back of the head. He fell face-first onto the stage and broke his nose, cheekbone and jaw, and twisted his spine. he managed to walk off the stage, but was immediately taken to a hospital. Wow. One tough MF.

Red bird! Note the Bogner head.

Someone got it wrong.

Either Chuck Berry misread the divine inspiration he got, or a couple of young parents in upstate New York picked the wrong name for their son.

I’m betting Chuck was mistaken because after seeing Joe Bonamassa Wednesday night at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in New Jersey, there’s no doubt in my mind that he is the guy who plays the guitar like ringing a bell. He’s the country boy who can play. It’s Joe, not Johnny.

If you want a review, here it is: It was great. Joe was great, the band was tight, the show was great.

In terms of a description, I don’t really know where to start. There were no low points in the show, so it’s not really like there was a beginning, middle and end. And clearly Joe and the band were as thrilled to be there as the audience was.

Here's the second guitar Joe pulled out.

The show was attended by people of all ages and both sexes. Everyone was having an equally good time. But for guitarists in particular, the show was beyond great. Joe’s tone was, as usual, stellar. Ditto for his technique, phrasing and overall mastery of the instrument. And he used eight different drool-worthy guitars during the show! Awesome!

I shouldn’t leave out the singing or the band: Both were very good. But Joe and his guitar-playing was the focus – for me and every other guit-slinger in the audience, anyway.

Some high points:

> White + red = cool: Joe walked out dressed in white with a red single-pickup Gibson Firebird. Sweet!

> Five, then breathe: The band ripped through five tunes (set list below) – and two guitar changes (Firebird, Les Paul with Bigsby, Bonamassa signature Les Paul) – before Joe said a word to the audience. On purpose! He’s very comfortable on the mic, so he was just firing everyone up. Not that they needed it!

> All wood: The acoustic guitar intro (more like a solo) before Woke Up Dreaming stole the show for a lot of people. Extremely clean, very good and very tasteful but with a lot of speed and flash here and there. It covered the following styles: Spanish/flamenco, blues, New Age (sorta), Al Dimeola/Friday Night in San Francisco, The Who – at least that’s what my ears told me! Sick, sick dynamics in his playing.

> Fig! Anton Fig of Letterman band fame took over the drums on Lonesome Road Blues. He killed! Felt like he picked the whole band up a notch. (If you want to hear just how much a drummer, and Anton in particular, can “make” a tune or album, listen to Ace Frehley’s 1978 solo album. Anton plays on all the tracks and is amazing.)

> Loved the V: Joe apparently had a new sound system (and lights) for the gig. I was stage right, two rows back and to me it sounded like Joe’s guitar was coming out of a tunnel.  In other words, I heard it okay but the acoustics weren’t good for me where I was sitting. That said, when Joe pulled out the Flying V (korina?) for the final (pre-encore) tune of the night – Just Got Paid/Dazed and Confused – for me there was a noticeable difference in tone: It sounded even better, more raw. Of course, it’s tough to say exactly why since I’m not sure which two of the four heads Joe used. I have to find out about that guitar….

I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff, but there you go. Here is what guys on the Bonamassa forum said was the setlist, with my notes on guitars:

• Had to Cry Today (Firebird)
• So It’s Like That (Firebird)
• Last Kiss (Les Paul/Bigsby – lemonburst?)
• So Many Roads (same Les Paul/Bigsby)
• Bridge to Better Days (signature Gold Top Les Paul)
• Sloe Gin (sig LP) – I think this is the tune where they worked in a little Deep Purple “Perfect Strangers”
• Lonesome Road Blues (cherryburst Les Paul, capo on 3rd fret)
• Happier Times (same cherryburst LP)
• Further on up the Road (Gold Top, cream pickup rings and pickguard – a GT Standard? Under the lights, the cream didn’t look as good as the black.)
• Great Flood (same)
• Woke up Dreaming (Yamaha? acoustic, capo 1st fret)
• Just got paid/Dazed and Confused (Gibson Flying V – korina?)

Encores

• Ball Peen Hammer (same acoustic)
• Mountain Time (Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Morse Y2D in the purplish color, only bridge pickup used)

Pre-Show Clinic and Bogner

Thanks to someone on thegearpage.net, I learned at the 11th hour that Joe was having a pre-show guitar clinic – free if you signed up! Joe’s PR/marketing folks were kind enough to get me on the list, and I’m stoked I heard about it! I believe he said it was the first such clinic he’d ever done, but not sure about that.

I’d say that between 60 and 100 people were there, just about all of whom are guitar players. Joe told some cool stories (a few summarized below), answered people’s questions and even let a couple guys play his signature gold top through his rig! Holy crap! I really wanted to, but all of a sudden I started getting cold feet – or hands.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from the clinic:

> Bogner: Obvious from looking at the stage was that one of Joe’s four heads was a Bogner. So it was: left stack – Carol-Ann JB-100, Van Weelden; right stack – Marshall Jubilee, Bogner Ecstasy. That meant the Category 5 JB 100 (what Joe calls “basically a Super Lead with a mid-boost on it”) was missing. Asked about the Bogner, Joe said he’s had it in his rig for about 6 months. Apparently Bogner is “making him one” (a signature head?) so he has the Ecstasy in the meantime. He said he’s probably the only person in the universe that likes the Ecstasy’s dark switch, and likes the Bogner head because it gives him a “Kossoff tone,” as in Paul Kossoff of Free. (Kossoff liked Super Bass heads, which usually have a somewhat darker tone than Super Leads.)

Here's the Music Man Steve Morse Y2D.

> How He Got Clapton: Joe recently filmed a gig (for a DVD out next month) at the Royal Albert Hall in that little country across the pond. Eric Clapton joined him onstage. How did he get Clapton there? He wrote him a letter – as in snail mail. Joe joked that he probably used 30-40% of the Amazon rainforest crafting just the right letter to Clapton, asking him to sit in on one song. He didn’t hear back for a couple of weeks and resigned himself to the fact that Clapton wouldn’t respond. “He’s not going to respond – he’s Eric Clapton!” Joe said. “The military has a saying – he’s above my pay grade.” But then Joe got an email from Eric saying he would do it and wondered about which song. Joe said this put him in a pickle because now he had to write him back! But Joe suggested Further On Up the Road, and Clapton agreed.

> All in the Hands: Joe said Clapton brought a signature model Strat and a tweed Fender Twin Reissue, which was stock – “I looked at it,” Joe said. “He had a Monster cable, plugged straight in and started playing – and it was instantly the Blues Breakers. It was inspirational So it doesn’t really matter what [equipment] you play. It’s how you actually feel it and what comes out.”

> Don’t Blink: He said that Royal Albert Hall gig “basically went by in a blur. I went on complete instinct. It went well, but I was so wound up about the taping and the guests we had….” He said he’s seen the DVD and is “really proud of it. It’s the thing I’m most proud of that I’ve ever done.”

> Two Off the List: After playing with Clapton, Joe later sat in with Steve Winwood. So he said he’s now crossed two “dream” items off his list.

> Tom Dowd: He talked about recording with legendary producer Tom Dowd, and how it helped him define his style. “I would do these long outro solos, and he [Dowd] would say, These eight bars sound like Clapton, these sound like Jimi Hendrix or whoever, these sound like some ’30s trumpet player I’d never heard of…but these four bars sound like you. That helped me find my style. It was like a college education every day.”

> Like an Acoustic: Asked how he gets his articulation, Joe said that he doesn’t use a lot of overdrive [and the 100-watt heads help with headroom], mutes a lot with the heel of his hand and uses nylon saddles [I believe just on the G, B and high E strings]. “It sounds overdriven, but I like it to feel like an acoustic guitar,” he said.

> No More Fender: He was also asked why he switched to Gibsons from Fenders. He said it was due to: a bad experience with Fender; the fact that many people hear a Strat and automatically think of Stevie Ray Vaughan (”you could make a canoe with two [Strats] and row it down the Hudson River, and some people would say that the sound that makes sounds like Cold Shot,” he said); and the fact that he seems to be moving toward an overall darker sound – which might explain why the Bogner is now in his rig.

Other Notable Items

Here are a few more items from the pre-show clinic:

> He said he keeps his guitars’ tone knobs on 5 so he can go up or down with them. He also never, or rarely, opens up the guitar with volume and tone knobs on 10.

> His pedal board has changed somewhat, but I couldn’t get a good look at it and couldn’t find any photos of it.

> He uses Dunlop Jazz 3 picks, and mics his cabs with Sennheiser 421s. Re: the mics, he says he wants his sound to be good not just for him but also for listeners. He added: “Unfortunately the gear I like is never the cheapest.”

> He does not overdub solos in the studio (”I overdub rhythm parts only”) and he doesn’t play solos in the control room (”I like being in the room with the amps”).

> Joe is 33 now and has been gigging regularly for 20 years.

> All photos in this post were taken by Bill Twomey.

_____

Someday you will be a man,
And you will be the leader of a big old band.
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun go down.
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying Joe be good tonight.

Go, go
Go Joe go…

I remember when the Kenny Wayne Shepherd buzz first started, this kid who idolized SRV and apparently wanted to sound just like him too. Even his name was similar (Kenny Wayne – Stevie Ray).

Then we lost SRV (we still miss you down here, man!), and we, or at least I, heard less about Kenny Wayne. The next thing I remember about Kenny Wayne was an interview in a guitar magazine a while back (years?) that talked about him lead-singing now and sounding different playing-wise.

Beyond that I didn’t know much. But I decided to go see him Friday night in Morristown, N.J. Overall I liked the show but found it a little odd…meaning different than what I expected, or maybe am used to.

First thing I noticed was that the crowd was “old.” I’m 43 (I believe Kenny Wayne is 32), and I’d say 75% of the people there were at least my age.  Not a big deal, but for some reason this was a surprise to me.

The second thing I noticed was those people were there to hear “blues in the vein of Stevie Ray Vaughan.” How do I know that? Well, to me, admittedly minimally “educated” in the blues, KWS’s leads sounded very SRV-ish – and his fans loved them! Plus, he mentioned SRV by name three times, and each time the crowd went nuts. Example: One time he was discussing his blues influences and mentioned, in this order, Albert Collins (polite applause), Jimi Hendrix (a little more applause) and SRV (huge roar from the audience).

I started to feel that those people were there to get their SRV fix via Kenny Wayne. That might be unfair, but if it isn’t there’s nothing wrong with that: Everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

The third thing I noticed – this was the strange part for me – was the almost total lack of interaction among the band members. I found this odd and off-putting.

The show is all about KWS, which I get. Even the lead singer, Noah Hunt, played second fiddle (figuratively) to Kenny. The drummer was off to stage right, as was the bass player. Looked like Kenny interacted with the drummer a couple times just for cues, never with the bass player that I noticed. The keyboard player was far off stage left. (I don’t think any of those guys were introduced, nor Noah, but I left with about 15 minutes left in the show – my son was tired and wanted to leave.) In the middle of the stage were KWS and Noah, with a line of three Fender combo amps behind them – not exactly a powerful set-up, but okay. But even KWS and Noah didn’t interact much.

Bottom line: Hardly any interpersonal energy on stage. Maybe this is normal for blues bands? Am I just too used to rock bands? I don’t know, but it definitely took away from the live show experience for me.

Sound and Tone

That leaves the music and KWS’s sound. The music, with which I was largely unfamiliar, was good. I liked all the tunes to one degree or another, so that was good. Kenny Wayne’s lead playing didn’t really set me on fire, but in fairness that’s not my favorite style of playing. I’m sure my playing wouldn’t set him on fire either!

Kenny Wayne’s sound was definitely the classic Strat-through-Fender-amp (Twin Reverb?) sound, and he played three different Strats through the setup: black with a white racing stripe, white, sunburst in open tuning. After a little research, it looks like KWS’s signature Strats (specs below) are available in exactly those colors. All had rosewood boards.

Whether the guitars were the same models or not, one thing that came through loud and clear for me was that the black/racing stripe Strat sounded the best. It sounded hotter in a good way, and also compressed, possibly through a Tube Screamer.

And Kenny definitely can play. Like I said, I’m not a big fan of that style but he has the classic blues vocabulary, plays clean and doesn’t stray into odd scales or whatever.

His band was good. Noah can sing and has a unique voice, though I think with some on-stage energy he could really blast into some tunes. The bass player, drummer and keyboard player (I think called “Reverend?”) were very good. So a good band, but again, no on-stage energy.

So that’s it: good music, good band, good playing. I guess that’s what I went there for, but I still wonder how much better it would’ve been if they were all out there trying to kick each other in the ass.

Notable

> From the Fender press release announcing KWS’s signature Strat: “The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Stratocaster is based on Shepherd’s own ’61 instrument and welds vintage style to modern features. Most distinctively, Shepherd’s new signature model boasts a blueswailing voice of its own thanks to its three custom-voiced Kenny Wayne Shepherd pickups. Other features include an alder-body, maple neck with 12″-radius rosewood fingerboard and 21 jumbo frets, vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge with Graph Tech saddles and Fender vintage-style tuning machines.”

What would you do if you were just diagnosed with borderline walking peneumonia, hadn’t been getting enough sleep, lived a good hour outside of swine-flu New York City – and a buddy got tickets to see Chickenfoot at the Fillmore in NYC?

You would freakin’ go! So I did, last night. Overall review of the show: GREAT.

And really, how could it not be? It was great just seeing Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony on stage at the same time. Chad Smith was sort of an unknown to me, but not anymore. I can see why the other guys dig playing with him so much. Anyhow, on to the full review.

The Show

When’s the last time you had a great time seeing a band even though you hadn’t heard 80% of the songs before? For me, I think the answer is never. This was a first.

Also for me, the songs weren’t the best part of the show. The songs definitely are rockers in the Classic rock vein. They’re good songs, they make you want to tap your foot, maybe sing the chorus and all of that – and I’m not taking that for granted, believe me. But the best part of the show was the energy the band has.

No one on that stage was happier than anyone else up there. They were all smiling, all having fun, all playing their asses off.

Joe

It was very interesting to see Joe playing in a band with a singer, playing more of a support role. He looked comfortable doing it, and just like everyone else in the band seemed very psyched just to be a part of it.

The best parts about his playing for me were two things: 1) his fills and 2) his “dexterity,” for lack of a better word.

Because he’s Joe Satriani and knows the fingerboard backwards and forwards, his fills were really interesting. The fills “sounded like Joe” – which everyone should expect because he has a distinct style. And it was really cool to see what he would pull out here and there in songs vs. doing it “all the time” fronting his own instrumental band.

What I mean by his dexterity – we all know he can do incredible things on the guitar, but it’s rare these days that you see a band, let alone a band of guys “this age,” with a guitar player who can do anything he wants on the instrument without struggling a little. Joe could do it all – and again, you’d expect him to, but in the band setting it’s different, if you get my drift.

Tone-wise, Joe had a vocal-like sound similar to his solo stuff. He played through his singature Peavey JSX amps (120-watt heads), half-stacks, and had a pedalboard which I assume was the same as the one pictured here. [Update: According to the video linked to above, he has 25-watt Celestion greenbacks in his cab, not the 100-watts-per-speaker JSX speakers standard in JSX cabs.] He used lots of Joe-like effects. The POG-driven organ sounds on the last tune of the night (for more, see Covers below) were awesome.

(To see the whole board, right-click on the image, choose View Image.)

He played Ibanezes, of course. His main guitar was white with the Chickenfoot logo in black, and appeared where I was to be a regular Strat-sized boy instead of jis JS-sized body, and looked to have a real Floyd Rose bridge – but I couldn’t swear to that and probably am mistaken.

He also used an Ibanez doubleneck (both guitars had whammys!) for this really cool New Orleans blues-type song – apparently not ont he forthcoming CD but Sammy hinted will be available for download free – and a couple other JS guitars. To me, the guitar that sounded the best was his Chrome Boy guitar.

> Joe is so stoked about the band that he made sure his 80-plus-year-old mother was there (Joe is from Long Island originally).

Mike

To quote Joe, Michael Anthony is F-ing great. He just is. He’s the bass player you would want to play with, the one you’d want in your band, the guy you’d want to hang out with. Always has been, as any long-time Van halen fan would know.

He’s just the MVP. You know he’s going to play well, hold down the bottom, not make a mistake, flow with the changes. You know he’s going to sing great. You know he’s going to bring a great positive energy to the experience. That’s Mike.

He brought it all, and everyone there was happy to see it.

It was great to hear Mike’s voice and to see him play again.

Did I say it was great?!

> Mike did break out the Jack Daniels bass for a few tunes. Otherwise it was all his signature Yamahas. And it looked like he was playing through Peavey cabs.

Sammy

Sammy Hagar is 61 years old, and will turn 62 this year. The guy seems like he’s in his 40s.

He’s in good shape, jumps around on stage the same as he always has and can sing like a MFer. He sang his butt off last night. At the end of the 2-plus-hour show it sounded like he didn’t quite get up to a a few notes, but most singers couldn’t even hit those notes at the beginning of a show! Very impressive.

Sammy is a great front man, and really impressed my buddy who’d neer seen him live.

He bantered with the audience, told a couple of funny stories – he’s been doing this practically his whole life so he’s probably more comfortable on stage than walking down the street!

His knack for singable melodies also is all over the tunes.

One of the best singers in rock.

> Gear-wise, he only played guitar the last two three songs: what looked like a Gibson Explorer (red, of course) and a lap steel for the intro to Bad Motor Scooter – both through his preferred amp of choice: Crate Red Voodoo.

Chad

Chad Smith’s drumming was a revelation to me. Yes, I’ve heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their tunes, and like some of them. I’ve also dug some of the energy in their tunes, but maybe the off-key singing distracted me. Whatever the case, it wasn’t evident to me how good Chad is until I saw him live.

He’s full of energy, and looks like he’s trying to have fun all the time. I think it’s that sense of fun which leads him to pretty regularly mess around with the beat, try new stuff, interact with the other guys – no just plain ol’ drumming.

A couple of examples were one time Joe was playing a series of triplets in an extended lead, and Chad started punching the triplets on the kick drum and doing something complementary with his hands (can’t remember) – sounded so cool that Joe whipped around with a big smile on his face, like, “Yeah!”

Another time Joe and Sammy were trading leads – Sammy said, “I feel brave tonight, Joe” – near the end of the show, and Chad started playing off the lines the guys were playing.

Just cool stuff, and of course Mike kept up no problem.

Chad also hits the skins hard, which I like.

Covers

Everyone expected Satch, Hagar and RHCP cover tunes. Some hoped for a Van Halen cover, but I doubted it would happen. Turned out that even in 2-plus hours, there were few covers.

The only tunes they covered by people in the band were an RHCP tune (not sure which?) I’m going to say about a third of the way through the set, and then Montrose’s Bad Motor Scooter as the second-to-last encore. That’s it.

Joe did pull out some Bridge of Sighs riffage during one jam, but it wasn’t the full song.

The last tune also was a cover, and it was one of the best tunes of the night: Highway Star, by Deep Purple. Completely unexpected, and absolutely spectacular.

First of all, it’s a great song. Second, a great band covered it. And third, Joe nailed the keyboard parts, including the solo, using his Electro-Harmonix POG (judge for yourself at this YouTube link). Just stunning stuff.

Bottom Line

The bottom line was that there was a ton of energy on stage, all of it positive, and the guys looked like they were having a lot of fun with each other and their instruments. No posing, no substance abuse, no BS.

Lots of interaction with each other – not just smiling, but also instrumental. I’d bet that the CD won’t do justice to that, but it’s all there live.

Lots of great positive energy to and from the audience. The show was sold out, the venue packed.

This is the band many of us would like to be in, or at least see. Glad I did. The ‘foot is off to Europe next – don’t miss them my European brothers! When they’re back in the States, I’ll be seeing them again.

Word is the CD is due out next week, June 5, the same night they will be on the Conan show, I believe.

Go ‘foot!

I knew going in that Allan was a monster player with a monster band – that’s always fun to see. But I’m not a jazz guy, and assumed that his form of avant garde jazz would be a little too out there for my Neanderthal rock brain to process. And a lot of it was (a drummer buddy who was with me said after one tune, “Can anyone find the 1?” – pretty funny), but that didn’t take away from the sheer…I think the best term is “artistry”…of what Allan did and does.

You could even call some of it shredding. I believe the third tune was “Devil Take the Hindmost,” and after that display of complete prowess over the instrument I didn’t know whether to crawl under a rock or go to church. It was that mind-blowingly mind-blowing.

I mean, I know my way around a fretboard, and since I was sitting about 8 feet from him I could see plain as day what he was doing – but I can say with complete certainty that I couldn’t replicate any of it. Might be fun to try, though.

Now I can see why Edward Van Halen called Allan (paraphrasing here) the one guy who’s stuff he couldn’t easily cop.

Impressions

Here are a few random impressions:

> Second tune was Fred, from the Tony Williams Lifetime album from the ’70s. Awesome!

> Again, to me, Allan is an artist. Music biz people call everyone an artist, but Allan is a true artist. He has his own muse, he’s following it and he’s doing things on an electric guitar – and possibly with jazz (I don’t know enough) – that no one has done before and most players could never do.

> His sound was at times violin-like or even keyboard-like, but mostly it sounded to me like a woodwind instrument.

> He seems like a very shy guy. Didn’t say much on stage – mostly just “Ernest Tibbs” and “Chad Wackerman” – and appeared a bit uncomfortable meeting fans after the show. I wonder if he realizes that he’s “the” Allan Holdsworth?!

> The show seemed very short to me, but it was a good 90 minutes (one encore). When time flies, to me that’s a sign of a good experience.

The bottom line was it was just fascinating to watch and listen to. Allan is on his own planet, Ernest Tibbs was great on bass and Chad Wackerman also had if not his own planet then at least his own moon. My drummer buddy noticed that Chad was so relaxed he wasn’t even sweating by the end of the night, even though he hit the drums hard at times.

Gear

Was Allan’s tone woody? Well, I guess if it sounded like a woodwind instrument, technically the answer is yes. But it isn’t organically woody. It’s processed.

It looked like Allan’s white trapezoid-body Steinberger (trem bar pushed to the back of the guitar) ran into six (!) Yamaha Magicstomp pedals and then to two volume and/or expression pedals. Or maybe it was the other way around.

The six Magicstomps were not on the floor – maybe because of the small stage? – but instead were at a level where Allan could operate them with his hand.

Amps were two Hughes & Kettner Switchblade combos (I assume that’s the right model) on top of H&K 2×12s (two total) turned on their sides. All four cabs (combos and stand-alones) were mic’d.
_____

Man, Beck and Holdsworth in the same month….

Would I see Allan again? Absolutely. The chords, the lines, the “shredding,” the band –for lack of a more poetic way to phrase it, the experience was spiritually insprational.

Here’s some insight on how Allan thinks about the guitar and scales:

Wow.

I caught Jeff Beck at the Scranton, Pa. Cultural Center last night on the first night of what looks like a short U.S. tour, and it was incredible.  Just absolutely mind-blowing.

At this point, after 30 years of noodling on the guitar and being a fan of guitar-playing, I’ve seen just about every shredder, solo guitar artist and rock guitar innovator it’s been possible to see in my lifetime.  Yet last night I saw and heard things I’ve never seen or heard done with a guitar.  It was my first time seeing Jeff.  It was great.

Not sure if I can put it into words, but here are some impressions.

1.  It seemed to me like Jeff didn’t “operate” his guitar like it was a guitar.  I mean, he was playing a guitar and if you play guitar you could identify with what he was doing.  But even though his signal was pretty raw- or dry-sounding, it seemed like the guitar was just a tool for making music.

Okay, that’s what all guitars are for.  But what do you call guitar-playing that’s full of melody and interesting emotional twists and noises, but doesn’t involve scales, chords or any of that typical guitar-playing stuff?  Whatever you call it, that’s what he was doing.

2.  I’ve never seen anyone use a whammy bar – a conventional Fender whammy (as far as I know), not a Floyd Rose – like that.  He manipulated the bar at least five different ways:  sometimes whacking it, sometimes making it vibrate, sometimes with his palm, sometimes with different fingers – and that doesn’t even count the things he did with the bridge but WITHOUT the whammy.  Just total mastery (see #3).

3.  How about pushing the whammy down to certain notes – meaning RIGHT TO certain notes, not dive-bombing down to the notes like everyone else does.  I looked at Jeff doing this hard enough that my eyes could have popped out of my sockets, but no, I don’t know how the hell he did it.  All I can do is offer this uninsightful explanation: incredible talent and years of practice.

4.  He played an entire melody using a slide with his RIGHT HAND.  That’s right.  He held the guitar with his left hand, on the fingerboard, basically deadening the strings.  The slide he held in his right hand and with it played an entire melody, no mistakes, over the pickguard.

5.  I wish I could describe the expressive guitar noises he made and how he made them, but I can’t really do it.  I typed things like “robot noises” and “a flock of birds taking off all at once” but you have to see and hear him to get as close to understanding these “expressions” as it’s possible for anyone to get.  You can hear this stuff on recordings, but seeing and hearing it live is something else entirely.

6.  He did all this with just his guitar and amp:  He had a few effects (five, maybe?), but outside of a warbly chorus he kicked on a few times, they were not used for “effect.”

Those are some guitar-specific impressions of a guitar player – though after watching Jeff last night, I’m not sure if it’s legal to call myself that anymore, if you know what I mean (and I know you do).

Overall I was just blown away by the experience.  How do you know when a show has been great?  When 90+ minutes have gone by and it feels like only 15.

Jeff was [insert your own superlative adjectives here].

Vinnie Colaiuta was amazing and, according to a buddy who was there and who (allegedly) is a drummer, equaled Jeff in command of his instrument (for a little fun reading about Vinnie, check out the story from Steve Vai below).

Jason Rebello played keyboards and held up his end no problem.

Bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, 23 years young (I guessed 21 before looking it up), was good though not mic’ed so well, and I loved how she found a groove in every tune, even Peter Gunn.  Her smile lit up the stage from time to time too, which was great and added to the whole good, unpretentious, “the music is king” vibe.

The show was so good, I immediately wanted to do it again.  I wasn’t exhausted by volume or slightly disappointed by anything, as I sometimes am at shows.  I felt like being at the best ride at Disney:  Come out the ride’s exit, and immediately run to the back of the line to do it again.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t happening last night but I did scour the Internet this morning looking for a Beck show or ticket in New York.  Looks like there is a show there, but apparently not everyone in New York City has suffered in the recession….

The bottom line is I love and hate this kind of show.  I love it for all of the above reasons.  I hate it because I kick myself that I waited so long – I wasted so many years when I could’ve seen Jeff Beck but didn’t.  Don’t make the mistake I did:  Go see him if you can!

> Tour dates on Jeff’s website.

Notable

> Jeff seemed genuinely blown away and, at times, humbled by the crowd response.  Very cool.

> His gear was a surprise: a Suhr into a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier head.

I’m kidding.

It was his trusty white Strat with the rosewood fingerboard into a Marshall smallbox 50-watt head and Marshall-looking cab (no badge), mics on three speakers. His pedalboard was on stage, but was covered up until the last possible second with no way to see what was in it while uncovered. But again, he didn’t use it much. His tone was Woody all the way.

> Jeff might be the only guy I’ve heard whose Strat-Marshall tone doesn’t derivative of Jimi or SRV or any Strat tone for that matter.

> At the start of the encore, Tal and Jeff played Tal’s bass – at the same time!

> Davy Knowles, a younger guy who opened the show with an acoustic set, played well, sang well and was refreshingly sober and nice. A good choice.

> Here’s what Jimmy Page said about Jeff at Jeff’s recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction: “Jeff’s style is totally unorthodox to the way anyone was taught. He keeps getting better and better and better.”

> Here’s the Vai story about Vinnie, courtesy of the at-times-questionable Wikipedia:

He’s one of the most amazing sight-readers that ever existed on the instrument. One day we were in a Frank [Zappa] rehearsal, this was early ’80s, and Frank brought in this piece of music called “Mo ‘N Herb’s Vacation.” Just unbelievably complex. All the drums were written out, just like “The Black Page” except even more complex. There were these runs of like 17 over 3 and every drumhead is notated differently. And there were a whole bunch of people there, I think [Terry] Bozzio was there.

Vinnie had this piece of music on the stand to his right. To his left he had another music stand with a plate of sushi on it, okay? Now the tempo of the piece was very slow, like “The Black Page.” And then the first riff came in, [mimics bizarre Zappa-esque drum rhythm patterns] with all these choking of cymbals, and hi-hat, ruffs, spinning of rototoms and all this crazy stuff. And I saw Vinnie reading this thing. Now, Vinnie has this habit of pushing his glasses up with the middle finger of his right hand. Well I saw him look at this one bar of music, it was the last bar of music on the page. He started to play it as he was turning the page with one hand, and then once the page was turned he continued playing the riff with his right hand, as he reached over with his left hand, grabbed a piece of sushi and put it in his mouth, continued the riff with his left hand and feet, pushed his glasses up, and then played the remaining part of the bar.

It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. Frank threw his music up in the air. Bozzio turned around and walked away. I just started laughing.