AWESOME!
Last night I experienced one of the best shows I’ve been to in a long, long time. Buddy Guy and his band took the stage and immediately took the crowd.

Mr Buddy Guy

Dressed in a light blue track suit and a hat that Donny Osmond would be proud of, the diminutive figure let rip with some fine string bending examples of how the blues should be played. The repertoire borrowed heavily from his peers including Muddy Waters “Hoochie Coochie Man”, John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom”, Cream’s “Strange Brew” and Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile”; all of which were indelibly stamped with the Buddy Guy sound. The only major departure from the blues set was the soulful title track from his 2008 album, “Skin Deep”.

Rick Hall on second guitar proved to be no slouch either. Very early in the set, Buddy stood aside to let him demonstrate his licks and boy was he good. Throw in a ZZTop 360 guitar twirl and a great guitar duel with Buddy and we have another great showman worth keeping an eye out for in the future.

We saw all the tricks with Buddy playing his guitar over his head, upside down, with his teeth, one handed, beaten with a drumstick and even flogged with a towel. Wireless technology also allowed a quick tour up and down the aisles of the stalls playing and singing directly to the crowd. It’s hard to imagine any other 74 year olds capable of keeping up with him. In between songs are brief tales and references to the history of the blues as well as a wicked sense of humour that the audience lapped up.

It’s quite evident that so many people have been influenced by Buddy Guy including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn and even Huggy Bear from the old ‘Starsky and Hutch’ seems to have borrowed a few fashion ideas.

The James Brown of the guitar? The Ricky May of the blues? No! None of these. It’s just Mr Buddy Guy. He’s earnt it and deserves full respect as a true blues prodigy of our time.

Another legend ticked off on my list.

“Buddy Guy was to me what Elvis was for others.” Eric Clapton
“Without Buddy Guy, there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan.” Stevie Ray Vaughn
“Guitar Legends do not come any better than Buddy Guy” Bill Wyman
“Buddy Guy is a master. He’s the bravest guitar player I’ve ever seen on a bandstand. He’ll pull you into his trap and kill you. He owns that bandstand and everyone knows it when Buddy’s up there.” Lonnie Brooks

Ry Cooder 2009

I’ve followed every collaboration and move he has made since. Some I’ve liked, some I haven’t.
The last album I was trully enthralled with wasn’t even his! Produced by Ry, The Mavis Staples album “We’ll never Turn Back” to me is in the classic 1970’s Ry Cooder style. Sparse bluesy gospel numbers with big drums and bass and that lovely electric slide guitar sound that can only be Ry Cooder.
With this in mind, I have been eagerly awaiting the show since it was first announced that the band would only comprise of Ry, his son Joachim on drums and the added bonus of Nick Lowe on bass. No accordians, no Cuban bossa novas, no east meets west weirdo stringed instruments, just a basic trio of very talented musicians. I was not disappointed. From the moment they leisurely strolled onto the stage, an air of expectation of greatness engulfed the crowd.
Easing into a “Fool Who Knows” followed by the early standards “Fool for a Cigarette” and an unbelievable “Vigilante Man”, the scene had been set for the rest of the evening. Despite plucking songs from across a thirty year recording period, each one seemed to flow even if they were all more representative of the early 70s albums. Highlights for me were the previously mentioned “Vigilante Man”, “Little Sister”, “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” and Nick Lowe’s “What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding”

Paul Cashmere at undercover.com.au has a great review and covered all the nitty gritty details of what, when etc. Read it! I can only agree that it was a great show and should not be missed.

Two points to make:

1977 seems a long time ago. Thinking about the music of the period, most people come up with ‘Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack’, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ or even ‘Never Mind The Bollocks its the Sex Pistols’. It was an era of mixed tastes, some of which have not stood the test of time.

GoodBye Tiger

Here in Australia, Richard Clapton released his fourth album, ‘GoodBye Tiger’ which was immediately embraced as his best so far. It also was one of the few albums to define Australian music and culture at the time. Despite a fair proportion of the album having apparently been written whilst in Europe during winter, Clapton portrayed typical images of Australian summer romances at the beach particularly in songs like “Deep Water” and “Lucky Country”.

It’s now 2009 and for the first time Richard Clapton has decided to play live the entire “GoodBye Tiger” album at special shows in Sydney and Melbourne.

I haven’t seen Richard Clapton live since the 1980s and I was very keen to relive the satisfaction and enjoyment which I remembered fondly. Just like the album, Richard has endured the test of time. The long black locks, black t-shirt and jeans, the nervous but enduring smile are all familiar. So too is the music.
Hitting the stage with “Lucky Country” and following the album’s track listing, Clapton manages to move easily between the slower songs like the title ‘Goodbye Tiger’; the sing along anthem, “Deep Water”, the rarely played hard hitting, “Back on The Edge Again”, before slowing down for the two final tracks, ‘Hiding From The Light’ and ‘Amsterdam’.
After a brief intermission we were treated to the rest of the Richard Clapton experience including all the hits from his vast array of albums. Highlights were ‘Blue Bay Blues’, ‘Stepping Across the Line’, ‘Capricorn Dancer’, ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives’ and the finale piece de resistances ‘Girls On The Avenue’ and “I am an Island’. An unexpected final encore of the Stones’ ‘Dead Flowers’ and I’ve walked away a very happy man.

Richard Clapton is not “back”, he’s never been away.
Australia’s timeless classic album, without a doubt: ‘Goodbye Tiger’.

The Man In Black

We got all the songs Johnny made famous, a history lesson, and the biography of the man himself without all the flashy drama of the recent ‘Walk The Line’ movie.

What I liked most is it’s authenticity to the music more than the legend. The band is superb but subtle.  Tex takes us on the life journey providing enough commentary to be informative but not judgmental nor schmaltzy.  Each song is treated with reverence to the original recording.  Sure the twangy signature guitar riff is there, but so is the slap bass and drum accompaniment which also give it the true Johnny Cash sound.  The raw vocals highlight how much Tex can sound like Mr Cash without the use of technology and emphasises the personal strength of songs like ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’, ‘Hey Porter’ and ‘Folsom Prison’. The highlight for me was the haunting version of ‘Bird On A Wire’ taken from his later recordings. The fun songs also added spice to the night including ‘Get Rhythm’, ‘Boy Named Sue’ and a fantastic version of  ’Cocaine Blues’.

My father was a huge Johnny Cash fan and the night took on a very personal and nostalgic turn for my brother and I.  We both concluded that both Johnny Cash and Dad would be pleased with Tex’s performance and that the legacy of the ‘Man In Black’ lives on ……

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler have a long and varied history showing up in all kinds of places including 1994’s Woodstock, support act to the Rolling Stones, The Late Show (David Letterman’s favourite band)  and even in an episode of Roseanne. 

Tonight was also to be a night of variety with their setlist not only drawing from their latest album ‘North Hollywood Shootout’, but also earlier hits including “But Anyway”, “Run Around” and “Hook”. Throw in a cover of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want me” and a blistering version of “The Devil Went down to Georgia” and you’ve got most genres covered.

Whilst sometimes drifiting off into ‘jam’ land and perhaps a tad bit excessive, the small but dedicated crowd was nonetheless greatly impressed and appreciative.

Chris Wilson!

Chris Wilson gets better every time I see him.
Tonight’s perfomance as support to Blues Traveler was no exception. A great, no frills, solid blues set showed the small but astute crowd why he is the Australian king of the harp.
Blues Traveler was certainly impressed enough to invite him to jam along during the second song of their set. Here again he proved to be a solid challenger to the master.

Counting Crows

The band hit the stage around 9:30 and right from the start, the energy from lead singer/songwriter, Adam Duritz, was infectious. With the beginning of each song, the crowd would leap to their feet in approval and join in. Even the more obscure songs brought sighs of gratitude from members of the audience who had obviously attached their own special meaning to the lyrics. I think this is the key to Counting Crows success. The quality of the songwriting has obviously impacted the lives of many and the opportunity to see and hear the band play them live brings on an extra special meaning.

Rain King

I’ve come away from the concert with a whole new appreciation of the band and Adam Duritz in particular. Not sure I’m a total convert, but I’ll certainly seek out their CDs for another listen.

The Who!

I love The Who. I loved it even more when I just strolled into the concert after the Grand Prix race had finished without a ticket.

Pete Townsend, the grumpiest man in the world, despite calling Australia a ’shithole’, is still one of the most fascinating guitarists to watch on stage. Bald, grey and unshaven, if you met him in the street you’d probably slip him a few dollars to help him on his way. But once he straps on his guitar, the arm starts winding around and around and the sound builds and builds into a chainsaw crescendo, you know you are experiencing one of rock’s great moments.

After the race, the Who hit the stage with their standard opener, ‘I Can’t Explain’ and those new to the Who experience were mesmerised from the first riff. Daltrey was in fine form with his microphone twirling antics and Ringo’s son, Zak bringing the wall of drums alive.
Pino Palladino on Bass, Simon Townsend on guitar and keyboardist John Bundrick rounded out the sound and helped fill the void that the the racing cars had left an hour earlier.

This was probably a much different crowd for the Who with the majority being under the usual 40+ age bracket and calls to ’smash your guitar’ could even be heard on stage. Townsend commented that ‘we used to smash our gear so that we didn’t have to do an encore. Now If I smash it, I won’t be able to do what I’m about to do …. play more songs’. I’m not sure the fans saw it that way as he seemed to have quite an array of instruments. Must be what happens in your old age … you get a bit stingy.

The song list was a standard Who show with only ‘Fragments’ and ‘Tea and Theatre’ from the more recent album, ‘Endless Wire’, being added since I saw them last in 2004.
Highlight of the night was ‘My Generation’ which just rocked with so much power and passion. Further highlights included the CSI revived hits, ‘ Who Are You’, ‘Won’t Get Foolded Again’ and ‘Baba O’Riley’.
‘Behind Blue Eyes’ was the “sing-along” after a brief wave of bewilderment for the younger crowd members who suddenly realised that the Limp Bizkit version wasn’t the original. Roger’s voice croaked a bit in the cool night air, but nonetheless he soldiered on.

A Who concert is what a true rock concert should be: Loud guitars, bright lights, a soaring voice, over the top posing, elongated song endings, guitar feedback, not too many special effects and lots of loud crashing drums.

Full list:

Encore:

Who Interview SMH