Well folks , last night I witnessed the past, the present & the future of blues music & rarely has anything tasted so good ! Still experiencing the afterglow ! the feedback about the gig is unanimous & overwhelming in praise for your & our hero ( are you sure he aint British ? ) from the cynical old b******s , such as myself to those fortunate enough to enjoy their first live blues experience last evening ( all the musicians have talked about practising harder , haha )
had intended to take up a space centre stage but the guys i was with went left so i ended up dead centre in front of joe’s amps , a stroke of luck there then . ashamed to say this is becoming quite an established venue in my home town and i’d never been there for a gig before , if they’re usually anything like this i’ll be wanting a season ticket !
after a slow start the venue began to rapidly fill & the support act went down reasonably well , but they acknowledged why we were there and told us what a treat we were in for . didn’t move from my spec all evening so can’t estimate numbers ,but certainly very close to capacity ( 600 ) , the crowd reaction sounded as if there were considerably more ! there were a few knobheads shouting out during some quieter passages , but my overwhelming memory of people’s voices were utterances of amazement & bewilderment at what they were watching & hearing.
fortunately i’d brought a camera along & was so close didn’t feel compelled to change lens during the show ( but could have done with a bit more range , just another thing to go on the list ) . was torn between wanting to just watch the gig & taking the opportunity to try and get a couple of good shots , in the end i spent too much time watching it thru a lens & struggling with the changes of lighting - so next year a minimum of two gigs , with one camera free ! despite this , have spent much of the day wondering if i’ve ever enjoyed a gig more & in the short term i’d say no i haven’t , this was everything i’d hoped for and one hell of a lot more . the band were excellent as a unit & joe gave a stunning performance . he has technique in abundance ,but has feel in equal measure & a stage presence that i really hadn’t anticipated . there was an obvious joy & pride in the quality of their music & the reaction they were provoking from the audience , it was a privelege to witness it . you can’t fake these things , if he could he’d be an even better actor than he is a musiciian , haha .
it was as close to a perfect evening as i could have imagined , i have often taken different paths away from blues with the music i’ve listened to , but always returned to listen to blues or blues rock & that was the sort of gig you have always hoped you would go to - great venue , great audience , the best possible view , fabulous sound ( so few crews get that right , so hats off to the sound guys ) & a guy on stage that seems to have gone thru your collection of music , filtered the good from the bad & played it back to you the way you’d
always wanted to hear it & to top it all off as he’s leaving the stage you offer your hand up & the guy has the trust & grace to lean down & shake you by the hand ( wow ) , don’t know how many people patted me on the back for that ! during the performance it almost seemed like the whole band , but especially joe were welcoming photographs & maintaining a position long enough to get at least a couple of shots off , if there’s any good ones will be sure to send them in .
all you guys who’ve already seen him on the tour have obviously been buying up a s**tload of merchandise as there wasn’t a whole lot on offer , so if that’s a sign of a successful tour hopefully it’ll be worth their while to hurry back soon . joe looked drained after the gig , so despite really wanting to say a few words of appreciation , thought he didn’t need some middle aged guy hassling him when it was obvious how much of a success it had been by the looks on people’s faces , there was a sort of question i had for him but it’s not like i don’t intend to go to any more gigs in the future , so maybe next time .
i promised a set list , so here goes
TAKIN THE HIT
WALK IN MY SHADOW
SO MANY ROADS
MOUNTAIN TIME
BRIDGE TO BETTER DAYS
A NEW DAY YESTERDAY ( Spoonful ending )
MISS YOU HATE YOU ( Acoustic )
WOKE UP DREAMING ( Acoustic )
DJANGO
HAD TO CRY TODAY ( Drum Solo )
into
STARSHIP TROOPER / HEART OF THE SUNRISE
Encore
ASKING AROUND FOR YOU (Bass Solo )
TRACK WITH DAZED & CONFUSED ENDING ( violin bow not required ! ) *
* sorry to let you down with the last one , perhaps someone could help me out with this , you all seem such a decent bunch
Hope that conveyed what a truly memorable night it was
Regards.
J.
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