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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Other Artists → Derek Trucks Band
Aaaaaaagh! Can't believe it. Derek Trucks management have changed their mind. Scott McKeon is now supporting, not Oli. 
That news has put a real downer on my Sunday.
Still looking forward to seeing DT though
Such is life (sigh)
Tripsy 
My first Derek Trucks experience will be at the Hot August Blues Fest in MD on 8/15. Of course Joe is what's drawing me to that fest, but Derek is a big bonus, and he's actually headlining the thing. I was already looking forward seeing him live, but after reading all the praise here and on other forums too, I'm totally psyched! 
--Vik 
Last night on his show on BBC radio 2, Paul Jones played a track from Already Free - didn't catch the name, but it was written by Bob Dylan - and said it had been released in the UK. Amazon UK are still saying it's out on the 13th April, although play.com don't show any release date, so I assume it may be available from them. Play.com is £1 dearer.
The better news is that Paul mentioned the tour dates and said that the BBC would be recording the Shepherds Bush gig for broadcast on his show. Hopefully, it will be for the whole of his one hour show. Definitely something to look forward to if you can't get to one of his UK gigs.
Phil
Yes that is good news. The song Paul played was "Down In The Flood" which is the opener from "Already Free". The album does not appear to be on sale on Amazon UK as a CD purchase, but it can be bought there as an MP3 download.
Speaking of which, there are plenty of Derek's shows over the years available on archive.org. The can be streamed or downloaded as FLAC or MP3 (for those of us not using torrents)
http://www.archive.org/details/DerekTrucksBand
Already Free is the album of the year thus far, in my opinion.
Well the 22nd has arrived and I shall be at Shepherds Bush again tonight seeing Derek Trucks for the first time, while some of our Bonabuddies will be at the other end of the country with Joe and Duncan will be in Glasgow with Gary Moore.
I’ve only had Already Free for one week since it was released in the UK and I can honestly say that I loved it straight off and that doesn’t happen too often when I get a new album. There’s a bit of Little Feat, a little bit of ABB, a little bit of soul, in fact a little bit of everything and that slide is heavenly. 
Joe played Down in the Flood from Already Free on his show on Planet Rock last night at the request of someone who mailed in during the show. Joe then told a little story about when Derek and he were kids and hung out together. Shame the DT gig wasn’t last night; it would have been a great chance for the two of them to renew their friendship on stage.
I’m meeting currymandavid there and will post a brief review tomorrow.
Good luck to all gigging tonight. Safe journeys everyone.
Phil
There’s a bit of Little Feat, a little bit of ABB, a little bit of soul, in fact a little bit of everything and that slide is heavenly.
Phil
That sounds like a very appealing combination to me, Phil!!
I'll have to check it out.
Hi George,
Give it a go. I'm sure Eva will sing Already Free's praises when you see her too. 
Phil
Yes, there was a plug for Derek's gig from Joe last night, and it seems quite a few of us have some good gigs tonight, with David and Phil at Derek Trucks, myself seeing Gary, Icon and Martin seeing Aynsley and Tripsy and co seeing Joe (finally) at the Sage! if only we could all be at four places at one time. Hope you all have a great time!
Have fun everyone!
Phil - I don't know if it's possible, but try to get up close and watch Derek's playing - he is amazing to watch. And maybe you'll see him smile at least once!
Wish I was there! I'm jealous. Britain is bluesin' tonite for sure.
Sandy
edit: change England to Britain - sorry Duncan!
Hi Sandy,
I'm aiming to be at the head of the queue with currymandavid and hanging onto the barriers in front of the stage. It's a beautiful day in London, the sun is shining and it's around 21C or 70F. Just back from standing in the sunshine outside the pub and all's well with the world. Can't wait for tonight.
Don't forget the show is being recorded for broadcast on Paul Jones show on the BBC too.
Just so we don't upset the Scots (Duncan) it's Britain that's bluesin' tonight.
Phil
Its sunny and warm here on the Chiltern Hills too. The bluebells are all coming out and they look glorious. Just got to wait for my son to get home and then I'm off to Shepherds Bush to meet Phil for some blues of a different kind
Looking forward to seeing Derek Trucks immensely. If we're going to be right at the front Phil I'll bring my acoustic ear plugs else I'll be deaf on the way home. A good spot to check out Derek's playing style like Sandy says though.
I hope everyone else enjoys their evenings too. Will report back tomorrow.
David
It's 1.20am and I'm just back from Shepherds Bush. More tomorrow, but just to say that Mr D Trucks is definitely King of the Slide in my estimation. A nice surprise was Butch Trucks appearance on drums for the second encore. He was loving it.
G'night
Phil
First off it was great meeting up with Phil (Wooders). I was delayed by traffic but he had bagged an early place in the queue and we found each other by mobile phone. Me “it's David where are you in the queue?” Phil, looking at some grey haired bloke walking along with a mobile attached to ear, “keep walking, keep walking, hi!”.
Inside, we didn't quite get the front row but we were right behind so we had a fantastic view of the stage. The Shepherds Bush Empire is a lovely old place. It was built as a variety theatre in 1903 and has ornate plaster decorations on the front of the balconies and huge sea-shell shaped features in the ceiling.
The opening act was Simon McBride who did a solo slot. He seemed pretty nervous to be performing without his band and a technical glitch didn't help matters. But once he got into his stride he was fine. He used a backing track of acoustic guitar and bass and his energetic electric playing went down well with the growing audience. Phil and I had been a bit worried at first about how few people were there (welcome to England Mr Trucks here's 50 people to watch you!) but the audience filled out to capacity during Simon's set. I don't know whether it's Derek's broad appeal or whether the young people of west London just like their live music but there was a good mix of ages in the audience.
Then on to the main attraction. Derek Trucks is a man of few words. Well, just introducing the band about half way through to be precise. No “hello” at the beginning, no “goodbye” at the end - just a wave - but thank goodness he lets his guitar playing do the talking. Sandy was right, his technique has to be seen to be believed. I'm not a musician so I can't describe it very well but his work rate on the guitar is phenomenal. I've not been a big fan of slide guitar in the past but now I'm converted. Derek didn't use any effects pedals but the different sounds he could make with that slide are extraordinary. The band are fine musicians too. It was the core band from Already Free - guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and percussion and not forgetting Mike Mattison's soulful vocals. Already Free was well represented in the show and the mood varied between blues, soul, funk and jazz and any combination of those you can think of.
As Phil mentioned in his late night post the final encore had special guest Butch Trucks having a whale of a time on the drum kit. And if you think Derek Trucks doesn't smile much you should have see the broad grin on his face as he embraced uncle Butch at the end of the show. Magnificent.
Sounds like a great gig guys! Thanks for the review, I love a slide guitar, shame he's not playing a date in Scotland. I'm glad you shared your review with us
Sounds like a great gig guys! Thanks for the review, I love a slide guitar, shame he's not playing a date in Scotland. I'm glad you shared your review with us
Thanks for the review guys. Got my tix and will be at Knust on the 27th in Hamburg to catch him for the first time. I'm not familiar with him as such although as I type 'Songlines' is playing through on the PC.
Knust is a small venue, so small that if he doesn't smile I can reach out and bend his mouth into shape! Looking forward to it.
MikeH
Very glad you all enjoyed this gig. Derek is a treat to watch. At least he now introduces the band - he used to leave that chore to someone else! Nice that Uncle Butch was there!
My brother has always been a huge Allman Brothers fan, and a devoted fan of Duane Allman. He and I have now seen Derek several times, including recently in Boston. He sent me an e-mail the other day and said "Never thought I'd say this, but I think he's surpassing Duane as my all time favorite guitarist." - no, I can't convert him to Joe, and boy, have I tried!
Nice he's smiling more - he, like Joe, is in a good place right now. Did anyone read in a recent interview how he and Joe played the same show when they were like 11 and 12 - would love to see pictures of that. Do hope there will be a reunion of sorts in August in Maryland!
Sandy
Shepherds Bush Part 2
Hi David, thanks for giving such a good summary, it saves everyone being bored by my usual verbosity. 
I also agree with everything you said.
As mentioned to you last night, I’d like to see Simon McBride with his usual band for a fuller sound. One for the must see list, I think. I thought his choice of Fire and Water was cool and his rendition of the rather hackneyed Little Wing was sufficiently different to most to make it attention grabbing.
As you mentioned, by the time DT got to the stage at 9.00pm, the theatre was just about full but not overcrowded. The tracks from Already Free were played pretty much as they are on the album with some lengthy slide passages as you’d expect – lovely. Nice to hear you’re converted, David.
In the same vein as the ABB’s Mountain Jam, DT played an extended jam based loosely around “A Few of My favourite Things” - yes, that song. I couldn’t quite believe my ears, especially when some in the audience started clapping when they recognised the tune. It developed nicely into a 15 minute jam returning to the theme a couple of times before some more frantic playing to close, during which DT broke a string on his SG.
DT playing style is unique and he must have fingers of steel to play the way he does. I’m not a guitarist either, but it’s fascinating to watch.
I was, however, disappointed by the sound quality of the pa which made the vocals just about inaudible. Maybe it was our proximity to the stage, but I don’t recall the same problem when I saw Joe at Shepherds Bush. It didn’t get any better, in my opinion.
Yes, I did enjoy the gig enormously, Sandy.
Phil
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