Robert Cray
17 Jul 2002 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
karohemdJust got back.
Wow, what a gig, worth every penny of the 20.50 it cost. Cray isn't my favourite blues artist (my favourites are BB King, Luther Allison, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughn) but he rocked.
The supporting act wasn't bad if a bit samey and slow, songwriter stuff which reminded a bit of Mellencamp.
Then RC came on and I almost dispaired as they had managed to completely screw up the mix of the bass, you could only feel a vibrating mass with no distinction. Thankfully, somebody stepped in after the second song and rectified it which was a good thing because the bass player was really good. The drummer was good as well, he didn't play anything fancy, just a rather basic blues groove but that he played very solidly, a joy to listen to. The pianist/organist was a bit in the background except for the two solos he played, a really powerful one on the piano and a hilarious one on the organ, starting very thin, almost sounding like those bits they play at US Hockey matches, but then putting in more and more substance, major coolness.
As I said, I don't own any RC records so I only recognised Because of me but I didn't have to. It's blues, it's more improvisation than anything else, anyway. There was enough variety in styles as well although he could have played more funky stuff. Although Cray has his very own style, you could hear Luther Allison's influence, especially during his solos.
It was only about 90 minutes but it was GOOOD.
Oh, and I felt really young again, most people were far older than me. Then again, I am 20 years younger than my musical taste... ;o)
Wow, what a gig, worth every penny of the 20.50 it cost. Cray isn't my favourite blues artist (my favourites are BB King, Luther Allison, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughn) but he rocked.
The supporting act wasn't bad if a bit samey and slow, songwriter stuff which reminded a bit of Mellencamp.
Then RC came on and I almost dispaired as they had managed to completely screw up the mix of the bass, you could only feel a vibrating mass with no distinction. Thankfully, somebody stepped in after the second song and rectified it which was a good thing because the bass player was really good. The drummer was good as well, he didn't play anything fancy, just a rather basic blues groove but that he played very solidly, a joy to listen to. The pianist/organist was a bit in the background except for the two solos he played, a really powerful one on the piano and a hilarious one on the organ, starting very thin, almost sounding like those bits they play at US Hockey matches, but then putting in more and more substance, major coolness.
As I said, I don't own any RC records so I only recognised Because of me but I didn't have to. It's blues, it's more improvisation than anything else, anyway. There was enough variety in styles as well although he could have played more funky stuff. Although Cray has his very own style, you could hear Luther Allison's influence, especially during his solos.
It was only about 90 minutes but it was GOOOD.
Oh, and I felt really young again, most people were far older than me. Then again, I am 20 years younger than my musical taste... ;o)
