New Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Page 4 of 6)

Saw KWS in Shreveport a couple of weekends ago.  Concert was great, venue not so great.  Kenny & Noah were really fired up, called this their official kickoff of the tour since Shreveport is Kenny's home town.  Played a lot of the new material.  Nice to see Kenny venture into some new territory.  I like most of his new cd, some of the songs are just great!  Favorites are Yer Blues; Oh Pretty Woman (no, not that one), Dark Side of Love, Heat of the Sun, Baby the Rain Must Fall.  (They do a version of Backwater Blues but I'm still stuck on Philip Sayce's version.)  Tony Franklin on bass and Riley Osbourn (of Austin, TX) on keyboards are nice additions to the KWS Band.

I think Kenny's a great song writer.  This time, there's at least one acoustic song.  He's always written great songs, even when he was just a kid.  He's venturing out into new territory with his guitar playing and has much further to go to become a great lead player.  Some solos are not as satisfying (hopefully he will continue to improve over the years), but at least he's moving out of his comfort zone, though he does still mix up the show with some of the old songs.  I especially liked Deja Vu and Blue on Black from the first cd.  Of course he closes out with VooDoo Chile.

edited to say:  Wow, I left off a few really good songs from the new cd:  Come on Over (recalls BCC sound!); Anywhere the Wind Blows, Heat of the Sun, Cold (KWS vocals), The Wire, Round & Round.  There are a few radio friendly songs, including Butterfly and Baby the Rain Must Fall, pretty good pop songs ... most of you probably know Kenny's manager is his dad, who was a DJ and concert promoter in Shreveport back in the day (Shotgun Ken Shepherd) and I'm sure his inside connections have done wonders for Kenny's career, including radio play.    ... I must really like Heat of the Sun, I put it in twice!

Attention Kenny Wayne Shepherd fans in the vicinity of Allentown PA!  There is a "Buy One Get One Free" ticket deal available for his Crocodile Rock gig in Allentown tomorrow night (that's Tues 8/30).  The normal price is $20 in advance and $22 at the door.  The BOGO offer is available only through Ticketmaster until 2pm tomorrow, using the password TMN241 (this is a public password, I have permission to post it)... that comes out to about $15 per ticket, after all fees, if you're buying 1 pair.  Here's the direct Ticketmaster link......
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/02004 … nstone_miz

And here's Croc Rock's website, incase you need directions, have venue questions, etc......
http://www.crocodilerockcafe.com/

This is an all-age show (must be 21 w/ ID to drink of course).  Doors at 7:00 PM.  The reason I'm so tuned into this is because one of my favorite local bands, MiZ (who I actually just mentioned in a couple posts recently), is opening the show!  Mike Mizwinski just found out last week that they got the gig, and he's so pumped for the opportunity to open for Kenny.  And trust me, this is one of those times you don't want to miss the opener! 

I'll be there, and I'm looking for someone to split the BOGO ticket deal with me.  I could even provide a ride from the Harrisburg area (or from anywhere along I-81 & I-78 between here and there), returning the same night.  I would take my son, but it figures he's starting a new job that very night.  And I have a couple friends who would like to go, but one has work and the other has a job interview the next morning.  So if somebody who's also flying solo would be interested in splitting the BOGO deal with me, let me know.

Or, if you're otherwise going to be at the show and would like to find me to say hi, look for me at MiZ's merch table, which I'll be handling.  I have long layered brown hair and will be wearing a tie-dye t-shirt of some sort. 

--Vik

Hey Vik, how about a review ...

I think KWS has grown on this album. In my opinion I believe he is playing his style more so than copying SRVs licks. I still hear some of Stevie in his playing and I think its cool. It's a nod to one of the greatest blues rock guitarists that ever lived. You'll always hear some of Stevie in many players. But like I said I think he has found his sound and his style and has grown as an artist.

I hive him props on this album. I think he did a good job.

Got my KWS fix satisfied last Friday night at the Coach House.  Show was awesome... as always.  Played about 4 songs off off the new album plus the requisite standards... shame shame, blue on black, deja voodoo, everything's broken, voodoo child. 

...And Chris Layton bangin the skins was very nice to see.

Have a great time

He did not come to the merch table after the show to sign stuff on Friday.  Hope you guy's have better luck tonight.

Kenny and the band destroyed the place tonight to an SRO sellout crowd. Great sound system, loud as hell and the band was really pumped with the crowd and they gave the extra effort. Classic gig, we were standing down the front and it rocked out! The Belly Up Tavern has the rep of being the best venue in San Diego and showed why!
Rick.
dang bot!

Wow, so I had to 'log on' for the first time in eons just to say something here after the site was down. Had to find my password and all that stuff again. Jeeeez

So here is the real bummer. Have just about waited forever for KWS to tour here in DE, and at last he's coming. 2 dates near me in Hanover and Hamburg 12 and 14 respectively. Good logistical planning by KWS.

Trouble is from the 11th to the 14th I'm croozin' to and from Oslo. Kenny, why d'ya do that to me?

Goddam........everything is broken