Live Music 2013 - Track Your Shows Here

[Tig]

A new thread for a new year.
:digit

[R_of_G]

I know we're not even two weeks into this year, but I'm kind of sad there's nothing even on my radar at the moment.

[Tig]

B.B. King at the House of Blues, 11-Jan-13

BB still has the magic few guitarists will ever possess: the ability to make the audience beg for the next note! He's a class act without the slightest hint of an ego, instead showing a sincere appreciation to everyone for "letting me try to play".

At 87, we knew BB wasn't going to blaze through solos or sing with power. If we did, it wouldn't have been that great in the musical sense. He doesn't play too many songs from start to finish like in the past. Yet at 87, he still has the love of playing live in front of an audience that clearly loves him, like last night. He was feeding off the energy people were giving him and refilling their tanks in return.

Midway, BB sang to the ladies with "You Are My Sunshine", pausing to get someone backstage to come out... hometown hero Billy Gibbons!
Billy was completely humbled, showing much praise and quickly exiting the stage. BB wouldn't have it and they put the rhythm guitarist's (Charlie "Tuna" Dennis) backup Gibson Byrdland in his hands connected to a Fender Twin Reverb (that wasn't set up very well). Billy sat down next to his hero and the two told a few stories between trading licks. Billy said he grew up trying to be BB, and they became friends in 1972. Billy gracefully played with BB, never show boating or upstaging in the least bit. It was a magical moment for all.

I doubt BB will ever retire as playing live is his true love. Sadly, he appeared very tired last night. He had much more energy just a few months ago, so I hope he's alright.

BB and Charlie "Tuna" Dennis were both playing straight into Lab Series L5 2x12" combos.

[keletcaster]

87 is a long haul. He's one of those iconic players that can be identified in a single note. Like a George Harrison slide or a Van Halen overtone.

[Tig]

87 is a long haul. He's one of those iconic players that can be identified in a single note. Like a George Harrison slide or a Van Halen overtone.

Yep, he still has that incredible vibrato. At 80 years old, he was still playing 250 shows a year. I'm not sure how many he is playing these days.

[Tig]

Los Lobos at the Dosey Doe, a converted 150 year old tobacco barn with excellent acoustics and a very intimate setting. They serve a delicious meal before the show. We were 5 seats back.

The band only performs one or two acoustic shows a year, and they really enjoy doing it. They performed mostly Mexican folk style original songs which take on an incredible groove in their hands. Several of the guitars were small with paired strings, which I have never seen before, like 4 sets of 2 strings. The Lobos really brought it, entertaining us like we were hanging out at their garage. The music was varied in style, played at a very high level of musicianship. I'd certainly do this again!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8333/8402570594_f0fb463e4c_c.jpg

From the seats...
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David Hidalgo can tear it up on any guitar
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8463/8401517859_797f927545_z.jpg
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Cesar Rosas tucked in behind a pillar.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8402570706_273c235ea4_c.jpg

Their drummer, Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez, is awesomely talented.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8402570638_45c3b865d2_c.jpg

[sunvalleylaw]

Wow, I bet that was awesome!! Congrats!

[R_of_G]

Awesome Tig. Los Lobos in any setting is bound to be a great show, but that sounds particularly cool. Glad you got to enjoy it firsthand.

[R_of_G]

Americanarama Fest - Tampa, FL - MIDFlorida Credit Union Ampitheater - June 27, 2013
Bob Dylan & His Band, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Bob Weir

We didn't get there early enough to see Bob Weir's solo acoustic set, but missing Bobby entirely was not to be part of my evening.

We got to the venue about halfway through My Morning Jacket's set. I've heard them on record, heard them recorded live and have now seen them live. They're still not for me. My wife summed it up perfectly when she said "jambands suck if you don't like the band." However, Bob Weir joined them for a version of "Dear Prudence" that was arranged similarly to the long pretty Jerry Garcia Band versions so that was kinda nice.

Wilco came on around 730. For the second night in a row, they opened with a tune from Mermaid Avenue ("One by One"). I'll be watching the setlists to see if this trend continues because I'd love to believe Tweedy is opening with their Woody Guthrie songs as a conscious nod to Dylan.

Midway through Wilco's set they were joined by Bob Weir. First they performed the Stones' "Dead Flowers" (Tweedy singing). That was pretty cool in and of itself, but next up they did the Dead's "Friend of the Devil" with Bobby singing.

Now let's put this in perspective here. My final Dead show was eighteen years ago this week (less than a month later, Garcia died and it was all over). Bob Dylan was the opening act for that show. It was also the first (and unfortunately last) Dead show my wife got to see. So, to have it come back around like that eighteen years almost to the day later, having Weir sing a Hunter/Garcia song as part of a show opening for Dylan, that was kind of special for me.

Here's the full Wilco setlist:


One by One, Hesitating Beauty, Muzzle of Bees, War on War, Sunken Treasure, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Art of Almost , Hummingbird , Dawned on Me, Dead Flowers, Friend of the Devil, Handshake Drugs, Impossible Germany, Walken, I Got You (At the End of the Century)

As for the main event, as a songwriter he's pretty universally revered, but Dylan is one of those performers that makes for some strong and divisive opinions. I'm strongly in the "love Bob" camp. Any critiques of his voice were already cliche before I was born so that stuff bores me. In fact, given the nature of much of his more recent material (last decade or so) and the arrangements of the music, if anything, his voice is now a strength. It's supposed to sound tortured.

His current band (featuring Duke Robillard on lead guitar) is amazing. They can lock into a groove in just about any style you can think of. Bob does not play any guitar in this show. He does play piano on several songs and he sure can still play the living daylights out of a harmonica. There were at least two harmonica solos during two of the bluesier numbers that really caught my attention and I had long ago grown weary of blues harmonica.

The setlist is mostly from the more recent albums, which was fine with me. People may not know them from hearing them over and over for 30 years but being newer doesn't make these lesser songs, just not associated with nostalgia. Speaking of which, what I loved about Dylan was that when he did play a few "classic Dylan" songs they are in different arrangements. I find this makes for a lot less of the crowd singing along. I don't want to hear the guy behind me sing. I appreciate that Bob diffuses that by varying his phrasing on the fly.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the two acts I specifically went to see and I wound up with one more set of really nice memories from Bob Weir.

[tjcurtin1]

Sonny Landreth with openers Delta Generators

Bit of an odd experience - the openers kind of stole the show. The Delta Generators are a local blues/roots band, a really tight 4 piece with a terrific guitarist (actually, the whole band is very good - big vocalist, tight drummer and driving bass player -worth checking out: http://www.deltagenerators.com/news/ ; https://myspace.com/deltagenerators; and here for snips from what sounds like an interesting new album they have just finished crowdsourcing: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/deltagenerators?utm_campaign=project6294&utm_medium=project_badge&utm_source=unknown.

The real problem was that for some reason, when Sonny and band came on the volume jumped way up. Whereas you could really enjoy the guitarwork in the opening set, Sonny's sound got really mushy it was so loud, and you really couldn't enjoy the many nuances of his playing. Also, I have to say that the openers created a really emotional connection to the music that - maybe just in comparison - I didn't feel with Sonny's set. Virtuoso playing from Sonny, no doubt - just sadly lost in the volume. I wonder if that was a band decision versus the guy at the board, who usually does great work?