Robben Ford Discussion

[bassjack]

Hi All,

I posted this previously under the "Grass Valley" topic, but I thought I'd give it its' own heading for exposure.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the "Robben Ford and the Ford Brothers Band Tribute to Butterfield and Bloomfield" show at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico. This is the same venue where the Center Stage video was recorded, so if you've seen it you know what a great place it is to showcase music.

A friend's wife had seen the show Saturday night at North Show in Tahoe and reported it was killer. My perception of the Chico show was good, not great - I thought the mix was a bit muddy and I was probably not in the personal space I needed to be. Oh well, I wouldn't have missed it in any case.

The band was Robben, Mark, Pat, Volker, Duane, unidenitifed keyboard player that appeared to be new to the ensemble, Tom Poole trumpet and a tenor sax player I've seen before but didn't catch his name.

Right from the outset you can tell that the brothers feel real good about hanging with each other and getting to play some tunes. I've seen Robben a number of times on his own and he just doesn't seem as loose and as comfortable as when he's with family.

They did only tunes associated with B & B. This is the second time I've seen this tribute and I was surprised that the didn't repeat too many tunes from the first time. Some of the selections as I recall:

Opened with Killing Floor
Drifting and drifting
Feeling Groovy
Work Song
Lovin' Cup
One More Heartache
Encore (which looked to me like they all looked around and said "yikes, what'll we do now?") was an absolute killer 12 bar instrumental that had 'em trading fours between keys, harp and guitars while the horn section just puncuated the tune effortlessly.

Robben played a LP sunburst (as did Volker) through a Fender Super Reverb. At the end of the show I checked out the peddle setup - just one with two knobs and one footswitch mounted on a white face plate, but I couldn't read any of the printing.

Good show, indeed. Robben will be back in Chico next month as part of the John Mayal blues show, so twice within 40 days or so - life is good.

BTW, he wore black cowboy books, black jeans, a black tank top with a black jacket over it with some fancy swirly stuff that reflected the lights. (I know some of you need to know this!). Mark, as always, was in a nondescript t and cargo pants. The boys can play!

Happy Trails.

Bassjack