Reenen-Biddulph
When BB King walked onto the stage on Halloween Friday the roof of the stunningly beautiful Riverside Theatre jumped a little bit as we welcomed him. He took his time getting to the stage while his backing band, all eight of them also old and black and big, displayed their talents.
BB took his seat, as he is doing all the time these days and for which he surely cannot be blamed at the age of 83, and started... well, talking. He would start with a song and just as we got into the opening of the song he would stop and start on another story. And you know what, nobody cared. We just did the backing vocals as he requested. He was funny and naughty and happy and he shared it all with us. And when he eventually got going with a song you realized with a shiver that the thrill is definitely not gone.
What amazed me was the very overdriven settings he uses, as was apparent from the huge feedback he so easily and expertly got. But the way in which he controlled the sound was also impressive. I suppose after so many years and so many gigs it all just comes naturally.
BB only did one song from his new CD and I believe he only did it because he told a story about it, and because this issue may very well always be at the back of his mind these days. The song was "See that My Grave Is Kept Clean".
What a pleasure and honour to see BB (or Bee, as he refers to himself) and the love of his life, the faithful and famous Lucille, perform magic in a beautiful, magical setting. May there still be many, many shows for them both.
Love has come to town, and I was there.
Matt-White
Lucky bastard!! Any idea what amp/s he used?
nick
ah man, Ive really got into him recently. show sounded awesome 8)
FatBoy
Dude! I am so jealous!! You are one lucky man to see the master at work!
Reenen-Biddulph
Sorry Matt, I actually tried to identify the amp but was unable to do so. Yes guys, I suppose this is what America is all about. We also got to see Bob Dylan at the same venue last Thursday, but I am not commenting on that show because Bob did not touch a guitar once...
Have a look at reenenshana.blogspot.com under Guitars to see the wonderful guitar shop we have here in town, and where I got my Gretch Electromatic and small Gretch valve amp for a bargain.
FatBoy
Dude, I had a brief scan through your blog and I am in awe. Love the Gretch!
Do you play a bit of Country music?
Reenen-Biddulph
Fritz Brand wrote:
Dude, I had a brief scan through your blog and I am in awe. Love the Gretch!
Do you play a bit of Country music?
Hey Fritz, no I don't actually. Its just that in SA I have a Strat and a LP Custom and a Minarik Inferno so I thought it was time to go a bit semi-acoustic... I am not really playing at the moment but what little I do is mostly trying a bit of slide.
Bob-Dubery
Lucky you!
BB King is one of several artists I have missed by a whisker on my travels IE have to move on to the next town the day he's playing in the town I have to leave.
The better 5/8 and I were in the UK in July. Near misses there included Stephen Stills (twice!) and Seth Lakeman (who is reckoned to be some kind of amazing in concert). I think I may have just missed Louden Wainwright as well, and I had an opportunity to see the fab Shetland fiddler Jenna Reid but decided to play safe on travelling time (and needn't have).
BUT I have done some advance planning the last two times we went on an overseas holiday. There are a LOT of gigs, and with a bit of surfing you can usually find somebody you want to see with an itinerary that coincides with yours at some point.
So we got to see english folk-guitar legend Martin Carthy at a tiny little gig in London (I booked well in advance, and not surprisingly the 90 seats and 30 extra standing places got snapped up quickly) and we spent a day at the Brampton Roots Music Festival near Carlisle. We saw John Tams, Linde Nijland, Chambawamba and, top of the bill, the fantastic Richard Thompson.
OK... I'm one of probably half-a-dozen Thompson fans in SA, but the point is that with a little planning you can add some great live music to your holiday itinerary.
My own preference is not for big gigs. The Brampton festival has two arenas - 1000 seats each. Which is not too bad. It seems to me that there are a lot of really interesting artists these days working a circuit of smaller, more intimate venues with the show concentrating on songs and craft more than on light shows and peta-watt sound systems and bleeding ears. Bruce Cockburn, for example, does a lot of gigs solo on acoustic guitar in smallish venues.
The sort of extreme of this would be, I guess, the sort of show we saw Carthy play. I think he was doing a favour to the local folk music club. Whatever.... I had known of his reputation for years but not heard much that he'd played. In the event to sit feet away from a guitarist and of that skill and performer of that power was a real treat.
Mind you I saw Tony Cox playing to... I don't know... maybe 250 people out in Randburg recently. A small room - 250 was pretty much a full house. That was pretty cool too.
In particular there are a lot of great festivals in the UK in July and August - many of them not massive Glastonbury scale affairs. Last year we went to the Lewes Acoustic Guitar Festival which runs for a week and covers lots of bases. There was a jazz night, a singer-songwriter night, a flamenco night, a "roots hoedown" night etc... plus exhibits by local luthiers, a workshop on most days, and a free lunch-time concert every day. Again the biggest venue they had was 1000 seats.
Werner77
Hi Reenen
Glad to find you here. Will see you when you have a reunion gig with DKW!!!
baie jaloers oor die BB King show!
Lekker!!
Werner
Werner-Carstens
Life is unfair. You don't think BB will do a gig in Wellington? Really? You're sure?
Rokster, you have my respect.
