Robben Ford Discussion

Phill_B · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject: Robben Ford, My Guitar Hero

I have read the pages upon pages about what happened at the Monterey Blues Festival. My Uncle who was at the festival and sat on the side of the stage told me that Robben more than once had waved his hand to stop the flash photography. I have been to many other Blues and Jazz Festivals, one of which was the San Jose Jazz Festival with Charlie Musselwhite, where my Dad and I were right in front of him in the front row, he waved his hand once and the photographer who was using the flash completely ignored him two times almost to the point where as a member of the audience we felt uncomfortable because of the rude situation that was created by the person taking the photos. What happened here sounds almost exactly like what happened at the Monterey Festival, that being said my parents and I attended Robben's 7:00PM show at the Kwuumba Jazz Center. We arrived early and when we got there Robben was doing his sound check, Robben played Prisoner of Love and after that he was doing what seemed to be a clicking microphone check using his tongue. The doors opened at a little after 6:00PM and we were fortunate enough to get seats in the front row directly to the right of Robben. Robben was phenominal, the best that we have seen him live, and the same with Travis and Toss!! Robben during the show said that he loves to play there because of how appreciative the crowd is, it seemed as though the atmosphere was conveyed in his playing. When Robben was through playing his set and when it came time to play the encore the entire house stood up, cheered, and clapped and the band reappeared. As Robben walked to his guitar he handed me his guitar pick and smiled. I was shocked my Dad said,"Thanks Robben!" and then Robben played Supernatural as the closer. This is why Robben is my true Guitar Hero.

Phillip

PierreL · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:57 pm Post subject:

Nice story.
That will just demonstrate again (if needed !) that Robben is not the psychopath some have tried to describe lately on TheGearPage...

scorpius67

I saw the Montreal Jazz Festival 2008 show on last June 26... Robben was on Fire! The show was excellent! Couldn't ask for better! What a master at his craft! As for the Monterey, give the guy a break... He's been giving us quality music for over 30 years! And he's generously tried to teach us how to play also with all the tutorial stuff he's put out. The man is clearly a kind and talented soul.

During the show in Montreal he at one point (during a song) lightly waved to someone who had taken a photo with a flash camera! After the song he very gracefully and kindly asked the audience not to use cameras because the flash was very distracting for him on stage as he was trying to give us the best show he possibly could! Now that is proof of his dedication and I can understand that if you put such a high standing artist on a small stage with poor sound quality, flash cameras going plus some jet lag, it's more than understandable that the guy be upset. I for one would have personally completely lost it! So let's all move on to appreciating what Robben is doing for all of us and let's stop trying to probe into if there's something more behind this... Long life to Robben Ford!

Millibobs · Senior Member Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 291

When Robben played Manchester UK recently, the audience was relatively subdued and 'polite' (that's us English guys all over) and I think that this was reflected in Robben's playing which was nevertheless superb - just a slight hint of distraction in places.

I was unable to stay around after the gig and 'stalk' him but stood watching him play, I really didn't care whether I ever spoke to him or not (in a nice way) - I just wanted to soak up what is the most eloquent and gifted guitar technique that I have ever, ever witnessed. There were some pictures taken, but frankly, those of us stood near the picture takers made it pretty clear with look sand body language that this was not to be sustained - and to be fair, it wasn't.

I think the story about the pick and the various tales of Robben's on stage demeanor simply confirm him to be human, gracious and as imperfect as the rest of us. If he wasn't such a bloody genius, we wouldn't all be here having endless debates about all this stuff!

I wish I had a fraction of his ability and I'd be a happy man (albeit still a grumpy SOB with it).

AndyR · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:10 am Post subject:

Millibobs wrote:

JohnnyZ · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject:

Michael · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject:

I've seen Robben too many times to count dating back to the Yellowjackets at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. I live in Northern CA now and get to see Robben on a frequent basis.

In this regard, there have been a few times when a person would simply refuse to put the flash camera away. It's not only distracting to Robben, but it takes away from the performance. I felt cheated. I get annoyed at non-fans who are lucky enough to sit close to the stage - and run their mouth constantly talking instead of appreciating.

Robben has always been generous and gracious. The only time I've seen him tweaked a bit was at the camera guy and when Yoshi's started letting in the crowd during sound check. Other than that ... he puts out beyond and above.