...saw CACTUS last night !

[Tom Capasso]

After delaying for months, I finally ordered the new Cactus cd - Cactus V. It was being delivered yesterday, and I thought "hmmm - I wonder if they are playing at all?" They had a gig set - BB Kings NYC that night !!! What a stroke of luck !!

 

The Lizards opened and were pretty good - I'll post more about them later. I had taken a seat in the second row in front of Tim. Wow. They played a mix of old and new, and the band was on target and having fun. Tim's playing has picked up some chordal fills (these can also be heard on the little-known album DBA - Derringer Bogert Appice). His playing of the old parts was a bit restrained (only a Cactus fan would call it that), but all of the key riffage and boogie was there. There was still lots of solo work, variety of technique, and tons of drive. I can't imagine what it must be like for the singer and guitar player in that band (both were excellent, when I could spare the brain cells to pay attention to them) - that rhythm section is a powerhouse. The new singer Jimmy Kunes has a classic rock voice that would work in metal except that he's got too much soul (which puts him in Cactus). Jim McCarty doesn't do the constant pyrotechnics that some do, and it makes him a pleasure to listen to. His use of sustain and melody is awesome. And he spent a lot of the night with his hand in the first position rather than way up the neck. You'd think he'd want to carve out his own sonic territory, but he blends right in. Carmine is a monster - he makes those outrageous fills fit (well, in that type of music...).

 

And Tim is the best. All of the fancy modern players I've seen can do great things, but Tim's playing moves me with the music and the range of unexpected moves. And talk about tone in the hands - he changed up his technique to look like he was holding a pick and was probably hitting the string with his middle fingernail. that really added a nasty overdriven sound and was classic. At one point early on Tim had his back to the crowd adjusting the amp and someone called out "Oleo" (which has a bass solo). Tim's head snapped around and he called out "oh, it's coming". He greased the entire show quite well.

 

To cover the tech side (as I must), Tim played an ESP LTD 6 bolt that had a multi-laminate neck and 2 PUPs. I didn't see his distortion box (but it was there). He played through an SWR SM-900 and two Goliath III (4x10) which were side by side instead of stacked. I expected to see Fodera and Epifani after the BP writeup last year. The CD lists his equipment as SWR, MTD, Fodera, and ESP.

 

OK - I missed trains and got home too late to continue right now. I'll be listening to the new CD today and will add more.

 

There's nothing like seeing music that you've loved for 35 years come alive right in front of you

 

Tom

[ZZ Thorn]

That's pretty sweet luck Tom. I bet Tim is great to hear live. McCarty sure did employ pyrotechnics in the past, so it's interesting to hear he didn't fly around much. He's such a monster player on that double live CD compilation of theirs.

 

Give us a review of Cactus V.

 

There was a nice interview with Tim in Bass Guitar magazine this month.

 

So you saw BA, last night - I saw the first B! Jeff Beck played at the Chicago Theater last night and I scored great seats. (And then last night I had a dream where Carmine Appice was giving me acupuncture, lol.) It was a very good concert - he played a lot of his 'classic' stuff.

 

Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta is about as good as it gets for rock drumming. The bassist was Randy Hope-Taylor - Jeff's bass is very in the pocket and that's where Randy played. He laid down the groove, doubled Jeff's lines occasionally, and very infrequently added fills. He played a Music Man.

 

The piano player did some real nice Jan Hammer impressions and was very funky at times. They had a very foxy singer, Beth Hart, join them for a few numbers. She had a powerhouse voice, very soulful, a too tight vibrato and a nicely tight body.

 

You'd appreciate this Tom: Her first song was "Morning Dew." UNFORTUNATLEY, they ended before they kicked it into the awesome kick ass awesome rock out part. I was very disappointed.

 

Jeff's mastery of the whammy bar was in full effect. He's a total master of the instrument. He also looks nearly the exact same as he did 30 years ago - same shaggy dog haricut, tho no doubt dyed.

 

My only complaint was one span where he played several songs from his post-Wired era, where he gets a bit too spacey for me.

 

I bought a bootleg they were selling - it has Pino Palladino on bass from earlier in the year. Pino left Beck to join the Who on tour (who I'll be seeing Monday!). Pino's playing pretty much the same stuff Randy did. And it's nearly the exact same setlist, which makes me think that Jeff is pretty much going thru the motions. The motions as a master can, but that may be why I didn't get a 'great' feeling from it.

 

But to hear Jeff and Vinnie is to hear two of the top rock guys out there. He's heading for the west coast now and has an album coming out soon.

 

Didn't mean to hijack your thread Tom, but it was obliquely Cactus related! Any word on if they're going to tour?

[wraub]

Nicely done, Tom. I've long known about you and Cactus. It's great you got to see 'em up close.

Hope the cd is just as great.

 

ZZ, sounds like a good show for you, too.

Thanks for the review.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[Dreamer]

Reading your reviews was a real trip down memory lane: gotta find those LPs now... : cool:

[ZZ Thorn]

Looking forward to your review of the Lizards, Tom. I read that the bass player produced Cactus' new album. I also read that he said James Brown is like Mozart to him. I feel the same way, so I'm curious as to how his band sounds. And in another minor hijacking....

 

I saw James Brown in Joliet last night. What can you say that would do justice to the great one? All I can say is: I love James Brown.

 

He's 73, and the screaming and dancing ain't what they used to be, but he can still sing and he was especially transcendent on "Prisoner of Love." It must have been amazing to have seen him in his heyday. I could still listen to JB and his band play for 12 hours straight if they'd play that long. (I bet JB could only last about 7 hours now, tho.)

 

The bassist was Fred Thomas, I think, and it's a trip to see Fred still with James after all these years, still standing way in back, unacknowledged and seriously laying down famous groove after famous groove. He plays with only his thumb. There was a second bass player who gave Fred a few numbers off and otherwise seemed to slowly play some chord tones if at all.

 

One of the drummers may have been a JB vet, but it sure wasn't Stubblefield or Starks.

 

I believe that ended his tour of America, and that he's touring in Canada next year.

[Tom Capasso]

Too many days have passed to do as good a Lizards review as I'd like. I had not heard any of their music before, and liked most of it (loved some of it). My position, like that for Cactus, was away from the guitarist, so the sound wasn't balanced. This was compounded by the set-up that had the drums at the front of the stage (so Carmine's set could be all ready behind it). The combination of the placement and style was a sonic assault - that guy is loud. His name is Bobby Rondinelli and he's played with Sabbath, Rainbow, and Blue Oyster Cult. Exactly the kind of guy to open for Carmine.

 

I liked what I heard from the guitarist. I liked the singer, who also played some nice keys - mostly organ. He had a Korg CX3 and Motion Sound rotary unit. I enjoyed the keys work as well as his great voice.

 

Randy Pratt played bass - he also played harmonica with Cactus (and on the album) did a bit of harp with the Lizards (not at the same time as bass). I like his harp playing. He's clearly a smooth bass player with a light touch. I found many of his songs used 1-5-8 patterns, and there were only a few songs that had parts that made me to take notice. He played through a Marshall head with (what looked like) 2 4x12 cabs (stacked). I found his tone a bit limp, but it may just have been that he wasn't loud enough. He had a Fodera Owl bass (white body with huge Owl inlay on the body/pickups, bottom of the neck. It seemed like it was a longer scale bass (I'd guess 36"), and was a 6. Some of the recording was done at Randy's Long Island studio (Electric Randyland). There are pictures of it on the Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) website - Mark recorded an album there (Jimmy Haslip on bass - SteveC - take a look).

 

With all due respect to the Lizards (who I'll look at on-line next week), they were forgotten when Cactus got up. That's more about me than them.

 

Tom

[Phil W]

Thanks for the Cactus review, Tom.

[ZZ Thorn]

That's interesting about the Lizards, Tom. I figured their bass player would have been more impressive. Not Cactus-like impressive of course, but better than what you wrote. Guess he's no Bootsy, but there's only one Bootsy baby!

[Dave Martin]

Whooee! Cactus is back? Damn - I hope they come through here....

[Dave Martin]

I did find this...

 

[Tom Capasso]

Dave - knew you'd like this. The night I saw them they opened with Long Tall Sally.

 

ZZ - I can't express properly that Randy had a smooth style and played some interesting unison stuff. I think it's a combination of "not my style" and Cactus expectations.

 

Album review soon...

 

Tom