Robben Ford Discussion

Bad Juju · Member Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Hanover, PA

The show was held at the Harrisburg, PA Whitaker Center/Sunoco Performance Theater, considered to be one of the best places in Pennsylvania for sound. I hadn't been there before, and was really surprised and knew we were in for a treat. We scored 3rd row, center stage seats in the orchestra section, so we were about 10 feet from the stage.

First to open the show was Rithie Foster of Austin, TX. She came out first, grabbed a dobro, and proceeded to bring the house down with incredible slide playing and vocals. She was unaccompanied throughout her set - and she didn't need anyone else! After the first song, she picked up a Taylor and proceeded to cover blues, gospel, and folk...her voice gave us chills. A true artist, totally connected to her music, and without a doubt, the best live female vocal I have ever heard.

Next up was Jorma Kaukonen. He also played unaccompanied, playing fingerstyle guitar on a beautiful Martin. He had a little Neil Young, Arlo Guthrie, and a healthy dose of traditional acoustic blues in his style. He wore finger picks on his picking hand - a plastic one on his thumb and metal ones on his fingers. His touch, dynamics, and vibrato were outstanding.

Now, on to the main act - Robben! He used two amps, a silver face Super Reverb and a blonde Twin Reverb. There was a plexi-glass cover in front of them - they were cranked.

His pedals were: Dean Markley tuner, Ernie Ball volume pedal, Cry Baby wah, and an unknown MXR pedal (posted a question about this in The Daved Zone). It looks likes a Super Comp, but the script around the button is a mystery to me. No model exists like that, and it was a slight drive/compression boost that it provided.

Robben had Dewayne Pate on bass and his nephew, Gabriel Ford, on drums. The walked out and tore into songs from Truth, Supernatural, and others. They flat out ruled the stage - the musicianship was incredible. Robben played his Tele the whole night, but had is gold top Les Paul in the wings just in case.

Robben got more tone out of that small pedal setup than I think I've heard all year. His dynamics and pick attack are astounding - the guy is a true master. He had the thickest bridge pickup tone on a Tele that I've ever heard. He worked the wah and volume to produce so many different tones that his pallete seemed unlimited. Clean and slightly broken up tones were classic Fender, while lead tones made you think of something around a Tubescreamer crossed with a Dumble. Awesome.

At the end of the show, Ruthie came back out and played an electric organwhile doing vocals while Robben played rhythm and lead. It was a great song - the two seemed to have a definite blues/gospel vibe going on. Then Ruthie went off stage and Jorma came back on - with his red Epiphone, into a Carr Slant 6 and Roland Jazz Chorus.

They ripped out to foot-stompin', classic, slow-mid tempo blues tunes. Robben played clean while Jorma played dirty - and you could see they both were diggiing what was going on. It was a great two songs.

Then Ruthie came back out on the Taylor, and the three did a song together, trading vocals and chorus lines between each other. You would have thought they played together for years - hard to believe they're just doing a 6 week tour together. Everyone had a solo spot - Ruthie showcasing her excellent vocals, Jorma his stinging leads and Young-like vibrato, and Robben mixing jazz and blues like nobody's business - and that was it.

We screamed and clapped - and they came back out for another song. A very heartfelt, mid-tempo song with Robben playing only clean leads, Jorma on fingerstyle guitar, and Ruthie strumming chords. Jorma and Ruthie traded vocals while Robben let his guitar do all the talking. A perfect end to a flawless, perfect show.

One of the most stunning things about this show was how much fun everyone on stage was having - they were like a bunch of old friends. You could tell each genuinely appreciated the other's contributions, style, and musicality in every sense. They played with such a high level of musicianship and entertainment...it was perfect.

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PaulG · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:48 am Post subject:

Thanks for the great review! You've set a new standard with pics and all!
Sounds like they are 'jellin' quite nicely! I'll be working on a roadtrip up to Monterey.

roadwarriorfortheblues · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:54 am Post subject:

That was a great review Very Happy

Thank you!!!
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Bad Juju · Member Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Hanover, PA

Thanks!

They really did get on well on stage...there were a few times where Robben or Jorma was taking a solo and really got into it, and the other would break out in a big smile - you just knew they loved it.

Ruthie was amazing - I can't figure out why I never heard of her before. Not only was she a great musician, but her interaction with the audience was humorous too.
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rainmkr63 · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:41 am Post subject:

Perfect review man, thank you!

Bad Juju · Member Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Hanover, PA

Thanks...I kept waiting for Robben to pull the Gold Top LP out. I wanted to hear those P90s through the setup he had.
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frank0936 · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:04 am Post subject: shielded

I noticed in JZ's pic from his review that all the amps had plexiglass in front of them at that show.
Frank

roadwarriorfortheblues · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:10 am Post subject: Re: dry cleaning

Bad Juju · Member Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Hanover, PA

Same here:

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frank0936 · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:35 am Post subject: plexiglass

If you look at JZ's review, there's also plexiglass in front of the amps behind Jorma. That's what I meant by all the amps.
Frank

JohnnyZ · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:51 am Post subject:

Re: plexiglass

Holy crap! You guys are freakin' observant! I totally missed that... Shocked

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Bad Juju · Member Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Hanover, PA

Bluelobster · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:47 pm Post subject: alive

Great review and pics BJ .Cooooooooooooooooooooool Cool

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masque · Member Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 17

so i'm assuming that Robben will be the headliner each night closing the shows....am I correct? do you know how long he played?

Bad Juju · Member Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Hanover, PA

The show went from 8:00 pm to 10:30-10:45 pm. I'd guess that Ruthie and Jorma separately at first was about an hour, then about an 1 1/2 of Robben alone and with them for a few songs. Sorry, don't know the exact times...
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