helliott
September 21st, 2011, 01:55 PM
Had the pleasure of seeing the Warren Haynes Band in Toronto, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, about a week back. Great show as you can imagine. If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, this is a great venue to see a band like this – probably 2,000 seats, very intimate. Cold beer. No decent food. Here are some observations.
The band was terrific. I knew the studio band wasn’t on the road – still admit to hoping I might see some or all of keyboardist Ivan Neville, bass wizard George Porter Jr. (Metres) or blues singing powerhouse Ruthie Foster. Still, this was a very fine band, comprised of Nigel Hall - Piano/Keyboards & Vocals; Terrence Higgins – Drums; Ron Holloway – Saxophone and Ron Johnson, bass and Alicia Shakur (think that’s the right name, not sure) on vocals. Hall and Shakur in particular were great, bass and drums rock solid with deep pockets. Sax was too blatty/screechy for me in parts, but guessing that’s what Warren wanted.
Setlist did not disappoint. Got the highlights from his terrific Man in Motion, title track, River’s Gonna Rise, Sick of My Shadow, I’ll be the One, and an amazing Your Wildest Dreams. Missed Every Day (will be a holiday) from the album, but you can’t have everything. In addition, we heard, A change is Gonna Come, Tear Me Down, Invisible, Fire in the Kitchen, a sizzling 32-20 Blues and, of course, Soulshine to wrap.
Some highlights: River’s Gonna Rise (great call and return with vocalist Shakur – smoking from both her and Warren), Sick of My Shadow and a fantastic solo to close In Your Wildest Dreams – he brought the house, band and his blonde Gibson right down to whisper level, and played a near silent solo, you could hear a pin drop and the strings scrape the neck before he hit a Haynesesque screaming sustained note and brought the band back up with a crushing finish.
Warren seems in his element here, loving the R&B, still burning every solo, rocking more than usual, and definitely smiling more than I’ve noticed at previous gigs with GM and ABB. My bet is he’ll find a way to hold on to this – it’s too good to let go at the end of this tour.
As noted, he played a blond Gibson, looked like a 335 but might have been custom. Also brought out the hot red one for one song, and only used an LP for one tune, too. Used a different slide – large brass – than I’ve seen him use in past, too. And his amps were the PRS club amps with the Diaz head also doing something.
Warren’s performance was fantastic. His singing was stronger than I’ve heard it, and his playing kept up – between the two he is a force of nature. Also really enjoyed his song structure and lyrics, nearly all of which were nicely audible in a very good sound mix.
Quibbles? Still think Warren overuses the envelope filter/auto wah. But maybe that’s just me.
Feel pretty lucky to have been able to take this show in with my fellow guitar addict/son. Next up the Tedeschi-Trucks Band at the Danforth Music Hall Oct. 25. (fourth role, seats 7&8!!)
The band was terrific. I knew the studio band wasn’t on the road – still admit to hoping I might see some or all of keyboardist Ivan Neville, bass wizard George Porter Jr. (Metres) or blues singing powerhouse Ruthie Foster. Still, this was a very fine band, comprised of Nigel Hall - Piano/Keyboards & Vocals; Terrence Higgins – Drums; Ron Holloway – Saxophone and Ron Johnson, bass and Alicia Shakur (think that’s the right name, not sure) on vocals. Hall and Shakur in particular were great, bass and drums rock solid with deep pockets. Sax was too blatty/screechy for me in parts, but guessing that’s what Warren wanted.
Setlist did not disappoint. Got the highlights from his terrific Man in Motion, title track, River’s Gonna Rise, Sick of My Shadow, I’ll be the One, and an amazing Your Wildest Dreams. Missed Every Day (will be a holiday) from the album, but you can’t have everything. In addition, we heard, A change is Gonna Come, Tear Me Down, Invisible, Fire in the Kitchen, a sizzling 32-20 Blues and, of course, Soulshine to wrap.
Some highlights: River’s Gonna Rise (great call and return with vocalist Shakur – smoking from both her and Warren), Sick of My Shadow and a fantastic solo to close In Your Wildest Dreams – he brought the house, band and his blonde Gibson right down to whisper level, and played a near silent solo, you could hear a pin drop and the strings scrape the neck before he hit a Haynesesque screaming sustained note and brought the band back up with a crushing finish.
Warren seems in his element here, loving the R&B, still burning every solo, rocking more than usual, and definitely smiling more than I’ve noticed at previous gigs with GM and ABB. My bet is he’ll find a way to hold on to this – it’s too good to let go at the end of this tour.
As noted, he played a blond Gibson, looked like a 335 but might have been custom. Also brought out the hot red one for one song, and only used an LP for one tune, too. Used a different slide – large brass – than I’ve seen him use in past, too. And his amps were the PRS club amps with the Diaz head also doing something.
Warren’s performance was fantastic. His singing was stronger than I’ve heard it, and his playing kept up – between the two he is a force of nature. Also really enjoyed his song structure and lyrics, nearly all of which were nicely audible in a very good sound mix.
Quibbles? Still think Warren overuses the envelope filter/auto wah. But maybe that’s just me.
Feel pretty lucky to have been able to take this show in with my fellow guitar addict/son. Next up the Tedeschi-Trucks Band at the Danforth Music Hall Oct. 25. (fourth role, seats 7&8!!)