Basel – a review by the dreaded Bluemac – Oh no, not HIM again...!

I had the opportunity to meet Joe before the concert started - our first face-to-face ‘encounter’ since I upset him on the forum a couple of months ago - and I have to say that for a man who really ought to be looking after his fretting hand, Joe throws a mean left hook! For the record, I think I would have come out of the ensuing fracas in a bit better shape if my wife (or ‘that b#tch’ as I now think of her) hadn’t fought on Joe’s side...Fortunately, it wasn’t far from there to my seat in the theatre and I was able to limp there almost unaided and wait for the concert to start, while tending to my injuries.

And what a start to the concert it was, the normally reserved Swiss were into it from the moment Joe started playing a storming version of Woke up Dreaming (his fretting/punching hand seemed fine, in case you were worried) and all the way through an excellent acoustic set. Joe was in fine form, laughing and chatting with the audience and his playing was brilliant throughout. The audience gave the band a standing ovation at the end of the set and the place was buzzing during the intermission.

My personal favourites were Woke up Dreaming, Around the Bend and Athens to Athens. Possibly the only song that I felt didn’t work quite as well as the rest acoustically was Stones in my Passway, though that’s just a personal opinion. Perhaps Richmond, Dislocated Boy or If Heartaches were Nickels might have been a better choice...(damn, did I just say that last bit out loud?? Sorry Joe, I’m not trying to give you advice...please don’t hit me again!).

The electric set started with Dust Bowl, which, if I’m honest, has never really been one of my favourites, but this was a punchy, more dynamic version with a great solo that really got the second half of the set off to a great start. Much has already been said about the two new songs, one of which is quite rocky (Oh Beautiful) and one of which is quite funky (Love ain’t a Love Song), and it’s always hard to judge new songs from one listening, but both came across really well live, with great solos from Tal and Lenny on the second one. Somebody has already noted that neither of the songs has a lot of lyrical content, so it will be interesting to see how they sound on the new album, if they make the final selection, or whether they are destined to be used more as live songs.

An excellent Who's Been Talking was followed by an even better, glorious version of Midnight Blues. Then came Slow Train and Driving Towards the Daylight. Others have already mentioned that there were a few sound problems on the night, with the vocals being somewhat drowned out during louder passages, and these two songs probably suffered more than most from this by nature of their arrangements, though that didn’t really diminish the enjoyment. I think DTTD is a fine song, but I feel that when played live it needs a certain something extra to really lift it to the next level – I’m thinking it needs a short, tight solo from Joe about two thirds of the way through – to give it an arrangement a bit like Badge by Cream (damn, said all that out loud...again...).

The final part of the set was just fantastic, with the best versions of Sloe Gin and John Henry that I’ve heard Joe play. The crowd were on their feet again at the end and Joe and the band rounded off the night with great versions of Django and Mountain Time before getting yet another standing ovation. All in all a fantastic concert, in spite of one or two sound glitches. Everybody on stage looked like they were having a good time and Joe’s playing was some of the best I’ve seen.

Important note: for those of you who don’t understand British humour and think that when we say something, we actually always mean it, let me just say for the record that when we met Joe before the concert there was, of course, absolutely no punching and fighting! Joe was, as you might expect, charming, friendly and funny and I want to thank him for giving us all such a great evening.

Anybody who has not yet seen Joe play live before is going to see a hugely talented artist at the top of his game, playing with a lot of variety, passion and skill. Those of you who are used to seeing Joe play live have a lot to look forward to in the new arrangements and songs.

Bluemac