David Gogo (Page 3 of 3)

I met Eva as she got off the train from Germany in Apeldoorn on a beautifully sunny, but windy, holiday Monday. We had plenty of time before Gogo show time, so we first adjourned to the nearest establishment where we could get a decent cup of coffee (no, not Starbucks!). Imagine my surprise when the Dutch woman behind the bar pointed at the name Bonamassa on my chest and said, 'I know him!'. It turned out that her favorite number was 'that one with the sounds of the city in the background', which obviously turned out to be 'Sloe Gin'. Not a bad start, I thought. Eva and I exchanged the items we'd brought, special sauerkraut for me, a signed by Joe copy of Guitar Player and New York City fridge magnet for Eva, and Giro souvenir stuff for her to give Cathy in Chicago. Such is the world of Bonamaniac globetrotters. 

After a visit to Joe's amp guru, Peter, where we were shown the new 'magic box' he was making for Joe (I'm a complete gear philistine, so I'm afraid that I wasn't as impressed by it all as some here would have been), we then walked towards the distant sound of roaring Harley engines, as this was the town's official 'Harley Day', where we were going to see David Gogo outdoors for free!

We made our way through hundreds of gleaming, shiny, polished Harley beasts and eventually found the square where the music was happening. Within minutes we spotted David standing by the tiny stage. I can be quite shameless on such occasions and went straight over to introduce myself (I'd previously posted on his FB page).

I delivered Cathy's message that he should have brought 'the' Gibson instead of 'the' Fender and explained a bit about how we roll in this forum and how it was a special sort of anniversary day for me. (When I noticed that he had a Gibson in his rack, he confessed, 'It's a bit broken'.) He wondered about how a trans-Atlantic relationship could work, so I s'plained that some things come easier to old folks than younger folks might think. Eva laughed, knowingly. 

He told me that he has three bands, one for W. Canada, one for E. Canada and one for Europe. Considering that he would only have had very little time to rehearse with the three Dutch musicians accompanying him, the subsequent tightness of the band was even more impressive. The only disappointment of the day for me was that when I asked David if he would play 'Skeleton Key', he said he wouldn't since none of this band could sing harmony. Ah well.

David Gogo overcame an exploding amp and a broken string to produce a show every bit as good as I had hoped and expected it would be! Not only does this man rock, he knows how to boogie too! David played a mix of older and newer songs, including most favorites like 'Louisiana Blues', 'Jesse James', 'Things are about to change', and 'Too late to stop now' and 'Where the devil won't go' from his latest cd, Different View. I bought two copies and got them signed after the show, Cathy's copy also to be delivered in Chicago. Unfortunately, Peter wanted to see Philip Sayce about 30 minutes drive away, and since Eva was staying at his place that night, she left with him and so missed nearly half of an almost two hour long set.

My personal highlight was the look on David's face, just as he was about to start, when he was handed a pitcher of water. Priceless!    This was clearly a case of crossed wires somewhere, as David was then kept supplied with whiskey and beer for the rest of the show. Another nice little touch was when he opened a bottle of Corona on the bottle opener attached to the bottom of one of his guitars, drained the bottle in one chug with his right hand while continuing to play with his left, and then using the empty bottle as a slide. He also wandered through the crowd playing (always popular!) and even did a Hendrix 'playing the guitar behind his back' number.They were asked for three encores, and of course they obliged. A glorious version of David's killer 'It's a man's world', which Cathy got to hear some of, finished proceedings.

I love this guy, I think he's great. He makes me smile the way Walter does. There's an extra show in Leiden tomorrow night, I'm seriously thinking of going again. If you don't know his music, do yourselves a favor and check him out. The pics should be self-explanatory if you're still reading now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41803612@N … 017510147/

Yes, I will be attending the extra show tonight.....with 'our girls', Marianne and Annelies, which makes both Cathy and me very happy.     

Eva and George,
Philip Sayce is playing in Paradiso this Sunday, so will Stefan Schil, he does his  Cd release party.
I have a birthday party in the afternoon but maybe I can manage to be there....

Andre Wittebroek

David Gogo is one of those artists that I don't always listen to, but then I do, I listen to him a lot - for a few days at a time. He's really good and I'd love to see him live! The guy should really be far better known. His new album Different Views in my opinion though is not his best though. If you don''t have any of his work start with an earlier one, perhaps one of the live albums or Halfway To Memphis.