Topic: Jonny Lang/Daryl Stuermer and a bit of Joe at Northern Lights Theatre.
This show is from last night 9/17/08.
Dawn and I decided to take in dinner prior to the show in the Sports Bar inside the casino which is where The Northern Lights Theatre is located. We arrived at about 6:15 PM for the 8:00 PM show. We’ve eaten at this restaurant/bar before with Jacque and Ken and the food is always very good and served very hot as it was this night.
As we sat at our table having a drink, I glanced two tables over and there sat five men and I really thought I recognized two of them. I told Dawn to look at these gentlemen and I told her I’ll bet these are members of Jonny Lang’s band. As usual Dawn rolled her eyes, because she never believes that I can see a person once and recognize them years down the road. Since we hadn’t seen Jonny in two years, she said she doubted it. The men were finishing up and I asked her if I could go over to talk to them. Well, let’s just say it was decided that I would stay put in my chair.
As the men left, I told her I was sure that one of the guys was Jonny’s bass player and the other was Jonny’s drummer. When our waitress came back to our table, I asked her if the gentlemen that had been seated at the table were in fact, in Jonny’s band. She said, “I’m not sure they are with the band, but they are part of the show.”
As we took our seats at the show, I discovered via the electronic board that not only Jonny and his band were performing, but that the Daryl Stuermer Duo was opening for them. Now, some of you might recognize Daryl’s name, but others probably don’t. However, I’m sure most of you know the band known as Genesis with Phil Collins and Daryl has been a member of that band for a very long time. He was born and still is a resident of the Milwaukee area. Also, as we listened to the recorded music that was playing, I heard a very familiar tune. Sure enough it was none other than our Joe Bonamassa performing “Another Kind Of Love”. Two songs later it was Joe again with “One Of These Days”. I’ve been writing this theatre and handing out Joe’s business cards hoping they might contact Joe’s management. Hey, maybe they’ve started to listen?
Promptly, as Wisconsinites are known to be, Daryl and another fellow took the stage at 7:58 PM. I’ve known most of Daryl’s music through the band Genesis, but I had no idea how phenomenal of a guitarist he truly is. The other gentleman that accompanied him was a fellow who went by just one name and Daryl said he, “Hails for St. Petersburg, no not Florida, Russia!” This fellow played electric piano and matched Daryl’s fine guitar work to a tee. Actually, for percussion Daryl said he was using a “Map” which I could see by the insignia was some sort of Apple product. Amazing that a device like this can simulate both drums and bass guitar on something smaller than a brief case.
The two men covered only one Genesis song in their 50 minute performance and that song was “Land Of Confusion”. Since Daryl does not sing, it was amazing to hear how he used his guitar to mimic the lyrics that are normally sung in this song. The rest of the show was all songs written by Daryl off of his various CDs. It included one song in particular that Daryl wrote as a result of his work with the French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. He said he always wanted to make his guitar sound more like a violin because of how beautiful it sounds. I must say, the 50 minutes these two men were on stage seemed more like 15 minutes to us. What great music!
Here are just a couple of pictures from Daryl’s show and the theatre itself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8384830@N0 … 351334506/
After the opening act there was a relative quick change over of equipment and Jonny and his Band took the stage at 9:15 PM. Immediately, Dawn looked at me and had to say, “Well, I guess you were right!” Not only was I right about the two fellows that I thought I had recognized from two years ago, but as it turned out all five of the men that we saw in the restaurant were Jonny’s entire band. I know Jim Anton is on bass and Barry Alexander is on drums, but the other three men are new members.
I didn’t write down the whole set list, but I must say this. This is the third time we’ve seen Jonny over the years at this venue. It appears he really likes playing here as he has another show scheduled tonight. One year that we did see him, he not only had two shows in July, but then booked a four show stand in fall all at the Northern Lights Theatre. This venue seats five hundred people and Jonny usually fills it up. As it turned out, I feel this was Jonny’s best of the three performances and I’m pretty sure Dawn would agree.
The guys started fast and I realized that I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Instead of Jonny playing one of his custom Fender guitars, in his hands was a Gibson Les Paul. But, say it isn’t so Joe! Jonny had it strapped to him with a Fender strap!! Isn’t that a bit sacrilegious? After several songs Jonny did switch to a Fender, but did bring out the LP again later in the show. Anyway, Jonny and the band opened with “Wander This World” from the album of the same name. This was followed by a searing rendition of “Turn Around” also from another album of the same name. Jonny’s voice was unbelievable rising to such heights that you’d think he’d bust a vocal chord. I’ve seen how intense he can be at a show, but this was something entirely different. It was as if he wanted to show exactly what he’s capable of doing this night. On the other hand, Jonny's guitar work was spot on as he ripped through songs. He switches between finger picking to using a pick and back as fluidly as Joe does. Flat out, Jonny is a superb guitarist!
Many other notable songs were played including “Breakin’ Me”, “Red Light”, “Leaving To Stay” and “I Am”. Another very memorable and powerful song which most people identify with Jonny was “A Quitter Never Wins”. Not seeing Jonny do that song would be comparable to Joe Bonamassa not doing say “Mountain Time” or “Woke Up Dreaming” during a show. Each and every time that Jonny and his band begin this song the crowd looses control of itself!
The only song that Jonny and his band did that was from another artist was Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City” which I’ve heard them do before and it’s a great rendition of that song. What is really neat that Jonny does to showcase the talent of each of his band members is, he’ll pick out one long song at let each person have the spot light to show their stuff. They used this song for that purpose and everyone from the drummer, rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards and back up singer took the spot light for a part of the song. All the while Jonny and the rest of the band remain on stage in the dark and usually call out things to the person who is playing or singing. Almost like a cheering section. The guys appear to be a very tight knit group both musically and personnel wise.
As the show ran to completion and Jonny said goodnight, the crowd rose to their feet and cheered until of course, the band came back out. This time Jonny picked up his acoustic/electric guitar and along with the band, played an absolutely beautiful song. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of it. The final encore of the night is another crowd favorite and again the title track of an album called “Lie To Me” which was a fitting end to a great show. Total time on stage was one hour and 45 minutes for Jonny and his Band.
Here are the pictures of Jonny’s show. I must say, they probably aren’t very good even though a flash could be used at this venue. However, most of the pictures were taken without a flash, because I didn’t want to bother the people sitting around me. Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8384830@N0 … 358069653/
Roy
