Robben Ford Discussion

diatonicdude · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:53 am Post subject: Milton Keynes UK gig 14/05/08

Hi everyone,

anybody know what the band line up is for this leg of Robben's tour, and will he be bringing his Dumble?

Also, anybody here going to this one?

cheers,

DD
_________________
Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.

CJ · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 11:44 am Post subject:

Having heard the Zendrive through the Super+Twin on the same stage as LC's Dumble I don't care what Robben brings over with him - the tone will be fantastic! Cool

ZenOvertone · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 2:17 pm Post subject:

You'll love it, it's a very good venue to listen to the Music - I saw FOCUS there recently (nothing wrong with a bit of Hammond/Flute and Yodelling from the mighty Thjis van Leer, eclectic tastes indeed) and have seen many others there too. I wonder if they have picked this venue as it's all seated and pretty civilised (compared to the Jazz Cafe goings on last December - I was there on both nights too and saw Daved in action - they have ushers all around who sometimes remove people with cameras and even phones with LED lights). Another thing about The Stables, it's ideal for artist signing afterwards so I'll be bringing some vinyl and a marker pen just in case. I missed out at the JC in December due to train timetables. The stage is also quite low so getting a look at the guitar setup will be easy (the stage extends to the end of the side stalls where we have our seats so we'll be able to see all the pedal action too!!)

Eclectic tastes - seeing Robin Trower and Mick Taylor this month too

LesterB · Member Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 23

Daved · Last edited by Daved on Wed May 07, 2008 7:42 am; edited 1 time in total

Cheebatone · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 7:18 am Post subject: Re: Milton Keynes UK gig 14/05/08

Bluelobster

johan · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 1:57 am Post subject:

Saw Robben yesterday in Sweden

Sakashta or 60's Tele->Zendrive->Super Reverb->Twin Reverb
Rented amps

My 8th Robben concert. Haven't seen him in ...must be 7 years. Mostly tunes from Truth. Only "old songs" were "Tired of Talking, Supernatural and Lovin' Cup". I know what to expect from Robben. He's always great but I know he whole thing could be a bit better. Tos and Travis are both great musicians but I think Tos a bit too heavy handed drummer and Travis could be a bit more comfortable on stage. I would prefer Patrick Ford on drums (Robbens guitar tech on this tour).
I remember the dynamics from the Blue Line days where they went from full blast to complete silence in the blink of an eye. Robben used that space and made it magical. Missed that yesterday.
I think he played too many songs from the latest album. I really really like it but he could mix it with some older songs and more well known songs. He got the peoples attention in the beginning and at the end but parts of the concert was just "transportation".
I've been a Robben fan (my #1) for 15 years and I love and play guitar but the instrumentals don't do much for me. Canonball, Indianola and etc...his Blue Line-era instrumentals were more interesting to me.

I'm not dissing Robben. He was great as usual. But with only 2-300 in the audience I see people's interest is going the wrong direction. A lot more people on the Holdsworth concert some time ago...

I admire is idea of looking forward, play his new songs and do what he want to do but I would appreciate some older work too just to spice it up and get the people going. It will feed off and the band will play even better.

PS! Robben started off talking to a guy with a camera on the front row. "No cameras, please" *FLASH* "Really, I mean it!".
No more cameras that evening...

PS! Between two songs, somebody shouted "Creatures of the night". Robben thought that was hysterical. "That was REALLY funny!"

diatonicdude · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:11 am Post subject: Re: Milton Keynes UK gig 14/05/08

diatonicdude · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:17 am Post subject:

[quote="johan"]
I've been a Robben fan (my #1) for 15 years and I love and play guitar but the instrumentals don't do much for me. Canonball, Indianola and etc...his Blue Line-era instrumentals were more interesting to me.
quote]

Johan,

I kind of agree with you with respect to the instrumentals mentioned, however, if Robben played "Life Song" or "Freedom" (the latter he does occassionaly) I would be over the moon

Cheers,

DD
_________________
Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.

johan · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:26 am Post subject:

DD
I've heard both cuts live way back with Blue Line and his Tiger Walk band (Novak and Chainey) and they were amazing versions.

Bluelobster · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 5:26 am Post subject: ok i am ok

Cheebatone · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:37 am Post subject:

LesterB · Member Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 23

I was at the Milton Keynes show, last night.

The venue was really nice, after the show Robben said he also enjoyed particularly both the place and the atmosphere and he felt very comfortable in playing there.

He mainly played songs from "Truth", which makes a lot of sense in a way.

From where I was seated (right at the left hand side of the stage, 5-6 meters away from Robben) the acoustic was not great. We could hear Robben's guitar and voice really well, but the bass was very blurry and indistinct, you could barely hear it. So from this point of view we had the feeling we really missed something important there.

I had the feeling that at times the chemistry between the musicians on stage was missing a bit, but then again, it could have been the result of us not hearing the sound of the bass very well (perhaps someone sitting in the front rows could tell me whether I am just talking rubbish here).

Having said that, Robben was on fire and from this point of view he blew us all away (I have seen him in concert 8-10 times, IMHO this was one of his best performances).

I found his tone absolutely amazing, which it could be relatively surprising as he essentially used a Twin, the Zendrive and the Sakashta (or 60's Tele) (and the Wha in two songs -Supernatural and another one I can't remember just now).

This just to underline where most of his trademark killer tone comes from (his fingers.. you can't buy those.. ). It was funny to see all of us at the end of the show lining up in front of the stage wondering how was it possible to get such an amazing sound from such a minimalistic rig.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this show very much, (although I would probably enjoying a Robben's show even if he played a banjo with his toes), it would be interesting to hear the impressions of other people who were there too..

Woody · Member Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 17 Location: UK

Yep, I was there too, Left side (Robbens Side) couple of rows back from the front.

Seen Robben many times now and agree that he was on fire (especially the first set). Astonishing playing. Very animated performance too.

Hard to read the signals, but occasional glances at the gear and a few whispered words to the tech made me suspect that he may not have been completely happy with something on stage.....

I'm really hoping it becomes a regular venue for his UK tours. With a bit of luck Larry might book a couple too. Deep joy.