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John Mayall/Robben Ford


PBBPaul

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Anybody else see this show?

 

I saw them last night in Milwaukee at the very nice, intimate Pabst Theatre.

 

Eric Bibb opened the show with a very nice half-hour solo set. He was energetic, soulful and the audience was fully engaged. Robben Ford joined him for the last tune and immediately brought out the Blues Breakers for his half-hour set.

 

Robben Ford was outstanding! His voice was solid and on, his guitar (a Les Paul) sounded great through the blackface Super and he played with an aggressiveness I have not heard from him before. I could really feel what he was playing.

 

In contrast, John Mayall and the Blues Breakers were flat and monochromatic sounding. Not that they weren't good, but even though they played a good variety of songs, they all ran together. The guitar player, Buddy Whittington had some great chops but seemed more interested in showing them off rather than actually communicating with the audience.

 

In short, I wish Robben Ford had played a LOT longer. He was just getting warmed up at the end of his set.

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Funny, I had much the same experience recently - went to see Paul Jones (blues singer/blues harp) and was underwhealmed, but knocked out by Dave Kelly, his guitarist (The Blues Band).

 

Geoff

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the World will know Peace": Jimi Hendrix

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=738517&content=music

The Geoff - blame Caevan!!!

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I've seen Mayal play twice. First time he had Sugercane Harris on lead (Sugarcane stole the show that night!), the second time was a reunion with Mick Taylor and John McVie. Given that the new guy is also stepping into the shoes of Peter Green and Eric Clapton, you would expect the spotlight to be on him a fair bit of the time. Might have just had an off night. I was impressed by Whittington's playing on recent Mayall albums.

I'd be pretty happy to see Bibb, Mayall and Ford all in one night,sounds like a great evening.

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I've seen Mayall play twice. First time he had Sugercane Harris on lead (Sugarcane stole the show that night!), the second time was a reunion with Mick Taylor and John McVie. Given that the new guy is also stepping into the shoes of Peter Green and Eric Clapton, you would expect the spotlight to be on him a fair bit of the time. Might have just had an off night. I was impressed by Whittington's playing on recent Mayall albums.

I'd be pretty happy to see Bibb, Mayall and Ford all in one night,sounds like a great evening.

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I'll be catching their Blues Revue in a couple of weeks...I'll post back after the show.

 

The real neat thing is...I know everyone at the theater...so I'm hopping to score some up-close and personal time backstage...but I don't know how accessible they are?

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Originally posted by PBBPaul:

... Buddy Whittington had some great chops but seemed more interested in showing them off rather than actually communicating with the audience...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I've seen John Mayall many times, and that's the history of the 'just passin' thru' musicians that he has always surrounded himself with. Most are destined for greater things, and unfortunatelly sometimes they show it! IMHO, Buddy Whittington is a great blues player, from note selection/placement to execution. One of my favs. Concurrently, another is Mr. Ford.

 

Paul

WUDAYAKNOW.. For the first time in my life, I'm wrong again!!
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Robben was the standout at the show here in SD about a month ago.

 

His playing was masterful, sound fabulous, and taste... sublime!

 

I was happy to see him playing a LP through a Fender amp all night... also had a cool boost pedal that sounded great... but I couldn't see what it was where I was sitting.

 

Buddy was good that night, but some of John's material doesn't connect with the audience as well as tunes gone by.

 

Everyone was very accessable before and after the show, and in the venue I was at... they had an organized cd signing thing right after the show.

 

BTW, two other "alumi" of the Bluesbreakers worth seeing if they ever come to your town...

 

Coco Montoya

Walter Trout

 

They both are awesome!

I'm still "guitplayer"!

Check out my music if you like...

 

http://www.michaelsaulnier.com

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