| Author | Message | ||
     Bluzm2 |
Last night I had the distinct pleasure of seeing to of the greatest living Blues icons perform live in a perfect concert environment. BB King and Buddy Guy did a performance at the Orpheum theater here in Minneapolis last evening. For those that don't know, the Orpheum is an old school theater that has been completely restored to it former glory. Not a bad seat in the house and near perfect accoustics. The show started with the youngster (Buddy Guy, he's only 73). The man tore the place up. If you ever get a chance to see him live you MUST do everything you can to attend. Buddy and his band put on a show that impressed EVERYONE in attendance. The showmanship, sound, flow, everything was spot on. He has the ability to engage the entire audience, he didn't disappoint. His trademark stroll through the crowd was epic. The women he chose to woo will remember the experience for a lifetime as will all who were nearby. One of the things that really stood out was the dynamics he used. At times he could launch you into the back row, the next beat was so quiet that you could hardly hear him. The crowd reaction was perfectly in sync. When he did the "call and response" with the crowd, it was perfect. Unfortunately, Buddy's portion of the show was over much too soon. It was enough to wet the appetite and leave you wanting much more. I'm already working on plans to see him sometime this summer at his new place in Chicago. After a 25 min or so intermission to change the stage, drain bladders and refresh your beverage of choice, BB's band took the stage. From the start the band seemed tired and a bit out of sync. The sound mix sucked (not the bands fault really), the horn section was totally in the mud, when solos were beng performed, they were at the bottom of the mix for at least 5 seconds (usually longer) before the level was brought up mid phrase. The spotlight operators were totally clueless. Early on after finishing a solo and handing off to the keyboard player he walked to his amp to retune. The guy at the sound board didn't pot up the keyboards for at least 45 seconds. We were left hearing a nice grooving backbeat but nothing else. The spotlight operator kept the spot on the guitarists back as he retuned.. Stupid things like this happened throughout the entire performance. BB came out and as is normal for him these days took a chair center stage and went to work. As would be expected for someone 84 years old, his guitar chops are not what they used to be. His tradmark style and tone is still there although only now in short bursts. The band did a good job of covering for him when he dropped phrases or shifted timing a bit. BB spent about 70% of the time talking while the band kept a nice backbeat going. He is quite the storyteller normally but last night he seemed to drift and tended to ramble more than I remember from a show 2 years ago. During the band intros BB told a story about one of the trumpet players, he said he wasn't going let him solo until later in the show because he didn't want the women to go too crazy and throw under garments on the stage. It was a funny story but was a bit hard to follow due to the "rambling" thing. When it did come time for the trupet solo, once again the sound guy was clueless as was the spot operator. This guy was tearing it up, playing up in the rafters (up in the upper registers for a trumpet player, aka screaming) really nailing it. Problem was, once again hardly anyone could hear it. Part way into BB's 2nd or 3rd "tune" (story?) his guitar started crackling like it had a bad cable. Nothing was done to fix this and we got to hear intermittent popping for hte rest of the show. When the popping started BB looked down his guitar and said Lucille had been out drinking last night.. everyone laughed but nothing was done about the problem. About the last third of the show was a different format, the rythym and bass player joined him front stage on chairs and played some nice slower stuff. This was in my opionion the best part of the show. A bit more intimate. Just as they were really getting going, his band leader (one of the trumper players) came over and whispered in BB's ear. BB nodded his head and started appologizing to the audience that he had gone too long and the venue staff was only scheduled until 11:00 and he had to end the show. It was now 11:05. With that he thanked everyone for coming, did a quick end to the current tune, and turned the music over to his band His handlers came out with his hat and coat while the band grooved him offstage. That was it. It was nice to see BB again, at his age any show he does could be his last however maybe I should have left after Buddy's performance. Sometimes our memories of past events are better than "one last time". Was it $90 wasted? No, anytime you can get out and see live music let alone true legends, it's not a waste. But, given the technical and other distractions the whole thing could have been MUCH better. Talk about rambling, sorry for the long post. I kind of had to get this off my chest.. music means a lot to me.. Brad | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
I would love to get to see a bb king concert. I love listening to deep dark blues. | ||
| 4cammer |
There's only two kinds of music: the blues and zippety doo-dah. - Townes Van Zandt 'nuff said. | ||
| Americanmadexb |
That would be an awesome show to see. Too bad BB's show sounded like crap. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Very nice review Brad. Thanks for posting. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
I really wish there blues would make a big comeback or something. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
All you have to do is tune into XM 74, Bluesville! | ||
| Drkside79 |
Very cool | ||
| Koz5150 |
Saw Buddy Guy about 5 years ago at Summerfest in Milwaukee. He came off the stage a walked out to one of the beer tents where I was standing. It was pretty good. I have seen BB King a number of times on TV but never live. He is past his prime, but I never change the channel when he is on. | ||
| Dwardo |
I saw BB King, Little Richard, and Al Green a couple or three years ago. LR was on cructches and BB was in a wheelchair but they were all great! | ||
| Bluzm2 |
I suppose I should have prefaced the entire deal above with the info that this was the 4th time seeing BB. The most recent was 2 years ago at the MN state fair. It was a good show. The time before that was about 8 years ago. That one was even better. This was the 2nd time I'd seen Buddy Guy, the first time was about 15 years ago. The dudes still got a SERIOUS set of pipes at 74 yo. I'd go see him again in a heartbeat. Brad | ||
| 2tracksam |
I've seen BB twice in the past few years. Enjoyed the music, but the stories were the same and the set was very close. Still a great entertainer and enjoyed him. He was carefully rolled out in a chair to just behind a curtain stage left, we happened to see him take off is glasses, mosey onto the stage. We knew the show was over when off-stage the glasses went on and the rolling chair came back for him. | ||
| M2statz |
I saw BB King and Keb Mo together once, that was about 12 years ago. | ||
| Milt |
When I was in high school (1970, maybe?) I was fortunate enough to hear a show at Chicago's Auditorium Theater, arguably the best sounding hall in the world. There were four acts: Otis Clay Albert King B.B. King Ray Charles | ||
| Drkside79 |
Nice Milt | ||
| Drkside79 |
Oh and the auditorium does have great acoustics. I've never seen a concert there but I saw Phantom back in the 90s. |
