Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 21 Location: Manchester UK
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:33 am Post subject:
Hi,
I was there and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I have only seen Robben four times now and this show rates as my second favourite show, the first one being my first time at the jazz cafe in 2000. Having said that, I was a little disappointed in the choice of material. Robben played a lot of stuff of Blue Moon and Keep on Running, which to me aren't his greatest works. We did get Lovin cup, Help the poor, Supernatural and Good Thing, which were all excellent
I went and stood at the front, about 8 to 10 feet in front of Robben. From there, the mix I was getting was mostly Robbens actual amps (not the front of house PA), the actual drums, and Robbens monitors. The sound was crisp and clear, his guitar was thick and woody (57' Les Paul only), the vocals rode the mix pretty well and overall it sounded good to me. The bass lacked definition though, it was all really low frequency stuff and lacked mid punch, it was hard to tell what the bass was doing a lot of the time.
Robben opened the show using a Sakashta guitar similar to this one:
I was not a big fan of this guitar, I much prefer the tone of his Tele or his old signature guitars. I found it glassy and lacking character. When Robben switched to the '57 Goldtop his tone was fabulous, I loved the sound of that guitar. Robben used a pair of red knobbed Twins, on the floor was his usual Ernie Ball volume, the Dunlop wah and a Zendrive. at the back Robben had a Boss Reverb pedal which he kicked in by hand occasionally. A lot of people say Robben sounds the same regardless of the amps he uses, I don't agree. I hear a difference when the Dumble is not there, the Dumble is just special.
The people I was with had a different experience than I did though. My friends stood back near the mixing desk which I believe was manned by the venue engineer. Everyone I spoke to had the same opinion of the sound - bad. Bass was just a rumble, drums were low in the mix and indistinct, bass drum was just a rumble too. Vocals were low and muffled even when speaking between tunes and his guitar was loud with biting treble. Not my experience at all, but I spoke to quite a few people after the show and everone said the same thing. It's a shame that touring bands are so much at the mercy of engineers who can't do a good job.
Anyway, it was their first night, lots of time to settle down. It was a great show for me and it was appreciated by the crowd with enthusiastic applause and encores.
Cheers,
Rob. _________________ ---------------------------------------------------
Rob Livesey
Manchester UK
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Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:27 am Post subject:
RockinRob wrote:
The people I was with had a different experience than I did though. My friends stood back near the mixing desk which I believe was manned by the venue engineer. Everyone I spoke to had the same opinion of the sound - bad. Bass was just a rumble, drums were low in the mix and indistinct, bass drum was just a rumble too. Vocals were low and muffled even when speaking between tunes and his guitar was loud with biting treble. Not my experience at all, but I spoke to quite a few people after the show and everone said the same thing. It's a shame that touring bands are so much at the mercy of engineers who can't do a good job.
Anyway, it was their first night, lots of time to settle down.
Rob,
Sorry the show you caught was the first and that it was on the weak side for you.
It was, indeed, the first show (especially for Melvin, who had never played with Robben before and therefore was just starting to get his feet wet sussing out the whole robben vibe) as they began to find this band's voice.
There were also gear problems that needed to be tended to. 'John Henry' (the rental company) had provided a rig without horns and with Melvin using 5 and 7 string basses, he needs the "clarity" (as he describes it) of horns.
The support act helped us get ahold of an SWR rig that Mel is happy with and this has allowed the bass sound to open up a lot and for Melvin to more easily and thoroughly express himself as he finds his place in Robben's music.
The 'John Henry' kit that Gary received sounded like cardboard and totally bummed out Gary's vibe. Andy was happy to share his kit with Gary and this has made a big differance.
We are, of course, still at the mercy of local sound systems and their engineers, but there is not a whole lot we can do about that. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:12 am Post subject: Manchester gig
Hi Daved,
FWIW, I attended the Manchester gig with Rob, & fully agree with his points, but, I also attended the Glasgow gig, & experienced a different ball game.
I think the venue layout / house sound system was very odd, but pleasntly surprised me.
Melvins bass was craking the stage left FOH flown cabs every so often,obviously a horn on it's way out there.
The band seemed to really get into it, as Robben had a smile on all through the gig, so he seemed quite happy.as he was opening up much more than previous times I've seen him.
A few puzzled looks from Melvin to Gary,a s in "Where are we"?, but hey, it's "Professional" live music, & I dont think it showed to 90% of the crowd, so what the hell.
Good luck & best wishes for the rest of the tour, & hopefully Robben will be back to mesmerise us soon, (Ask him not to wait so long to return to the UK next time? & more dates in Scotland please, it cost's me a fortune travelling).
By the way, I watched you polishing the frets on the Sakashta guitar before the gig, great job, (What polishing agent were you using, & do you do that for every gig?)
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:00 pm Post subject: Re: Manchester gig
veldt666 wrote:
...By the way, I watched you polishing the frets on the Sakashta guitar before the gig, great job, (What polishing agent were you using, & do you do that for every gig?)
I don't polish every gig, but I do inspect the frets and fingerboard every gig. I only polish frets when they start to look a little dull, dirty, or I just feel like giving the fretboard a good thorough cleaning. Probably about once a week on a regular tour.
When polishing just the frets, I use a 2000 grit emery paper with a fret shield (fret shields available online thru Stewart-MacDonald... www.stewmac.com... or just make your own with a piece of plastic or cardboard). Miniscule as it may be, the emery cloth IS, of course, abrasive so i do this sparingly.
On a more regular basis, as you saw the other night, I polish the frets and condition the fretboard wood with a small one inch square of Gorgomyte (available online thru www.gorgomyte.com )... rubbing the entire fingerboard, frets, pickups, and tailpeice down, and then buffing and polishing with a clean cloth. Makes everything shine and feel like 'factory'! _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Birmingham, UK
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:29 pm Post subject: Robben at the Robin!
Hello folks
New poster, UK Midlands' Robben fan here, thought I'd post up comments about his gig on Sunday 12th Nov at our great local blues/rock venue here in the middle of England, The Robin R 'n' B Club over in Bilston in the West Midlands! See www.therobin.co.uk (I'm not a promoter, just a fan!)
It's a cracking venue with a real music-loving crowd, such as Eric Bibb, Nils Lofgren, Luther Allison and now his son Bernard Allison, Joe Louis Walker, Sherman Robertson and many others have torn up the place - I knew Robben's would be a special night too!
Have seen Robbie 3 or 4 other times, including Birmingham Town Hall, Warwick University and the late lamented Ronnie Scott's Birmingham venue.
I reckon I might be the only Robben fan to chat to the Blue Line years ago and make a point of telling Roscoe C Beck just how fantastic the production values & arrangements are on Jennifer Warnes' fabulous albums, 'Famous Blue Raincoat' and 'The Hunter', in which he was deeply involved! He looked surprised and grateful to me, anyway
I'm not a techie so can't answer any such Q's though Robben did play the dark Les Paul and the other usual custom guitar whose make I forget.
Anyway, RF played about 1 3/4 hours and it was a splendid night. The Manchester report grumbled about the sound, but at the Robin, the bass was heavy, clean and deep (and what a bassist - I didn't know he'd only just played live first time this week until I looked at this board!).
Novak's drums were crisp hard and clean and he's a fabulous drummer. I think that Roscoe & Tom were virtually unimpeachable as Robben's power-trio buddies but these guys are red hot, too - they are very empathetic to all of Robben's styles and knew how to play the dynamics or kick up a storm!
Being stage front, the vocals weren't as loud as I'd like but of course there is so much soloing and brilliant playing, the guitar stretches soon compensate.
Trying to recall most of the songs...He kicked off with a spunky Chevrolet; Hard To Please and It Don't Make Sense off Blue Moon.
Also, tributes to Freddie King, (Robben's 'Hideaway'-style instrumental) BB King (Help The Poor) and Butterfield (a blistering Loving Cup, coruscating solos that ripped my head off!)
There was a Buddy Guy tribute, very familiar Buddy classic but sorrreee, title on the tip of my tongue for now!
The trio were powering along and there were tremedous blasts of power drumming and more space for the (seated) bassist to pop his fat hard soul chords on that amazing 7-string bass guitar!
Recall.... <click> ah yeh, Nothing To Nobody and a couple of hot instrumentals, (one might have been Step On It from the '92 'Blue Line' album on Stretch).
He did two encores, finishing with an other-worldly Supernatural, with a few extended wah-wah solos, usual tough & tender blistering emotive tones.
It was cool for me, being a Robin regular, to see such a long-time hero at my fave local venue and he got a great reception, enjoyed the gig I'm sure.
Oh, and my twin bro David took a few pics before Robben asked him to desist [there's usually a request not to flash cameras but no warning given that night ] They're non-digital but when he get the film developed will have a CD and I'll endeavour to download them if the site/Robben would like them.
Thanks to Robben and the guys for a red-hot gig and we hope to see you again soon....almost went to Nottingham for the Tues gig (60 miles away) but no time to, sadly!
Lotsa luv to all RF Fans, keep music LIVE! _________________ "There are two kinds of music - there's the blues.....and that shit you see on TV" - GEORGE THOROGOOD, live onstage in Birmingham UK!
Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Birmingham, UK
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:19 pm Post subject:
Heyyy thanks warrior, hope it gave the flavour of the night and that other attendees might add thoughts from the Robin and all the gigs! _________________ "There are two kinds of music - there's the blues.....and that shit you see on TV" - GEORGE THOROGOOD, live onstage in Birmingham UK!
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