Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2004 1:36 am Post subject: Chiari, Italy - 24 July 2004
Well...
Chiari is not one of Italy's best known places. It doesn't rank or compare to the likes of Rome, Venice and Florence. Actually, I never heard of it myself before this concert. It is typical small rural town near the industrial town Brescia.
However, gigs in small places like this can have it's advantages: no parking problems, cheap, good food (Pizzeria "La Bella Napoli" - where I think I saw the band having dinner as well), no space problems and, in this particular case - a good organization.
The concert was out in the open air with the stage set up on the playground of the local sports/recreational centre. Even though it has been unbearably hot these days, incidently it was raining last night. No problem however since the prudent organizers had a tent covering the seats (around 500-800). Beer was cheap (2,5 Euros) and served right next to the seats.
The band appeared to be relaxed. This time I thought Dwayne really blended in well (and his solo was really good) and Bob narrowed done his playing to more conventional, tasty solo's with the occasional "out" bit. Hilary was rock solid as usual but I would have preferred a longer drum solo! ;)
And Robben?
Well, what can I say? Robben was simply....ROBBEN!
The big novelty for me was the Les Paul. First of all, I think that it is one of the most beautiful LPs I have ever seen. The flame top is georguos, but not excessive. The colour is something like amber/honeyburst. It really blends in well with Robbens black outfit and the dark surroundings.
The tone? Surprisingly bright for a LP, also considering that Robben almost exclusively used with the bridge pickup. It sounded very articulate, yet sweet at the same time.
Highlights? IMHO, I really enjoyed "Moonchild Blues" (the best I have heard so far! - Robbens and Bobs phrasing where amazing), Help the Poor and Bonnie (which I wasn't too keen on). I think it something to do with Robbens minor 9th grooves which seem to suite this band very well.
Another good one was "Prison of Love" which is a song I always found great for how Robben spaces between classic blues and those dim scales!
Overall, the audiance where very pleased and I have to notice that Robben is not having any trouble in filling in multiple >1000 seat venues even if they are located in geographycally intriguing places. Word of mouth is spreading what today is quite hard to find: a good live act! (for musicians and non).
After the concert, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Daved (thanks for sparing some time in such a busy moment).
I guess tonights show is in Pordenone and then the band is going south to Rome.
I normally use my video camera to take photos at concerts because it has an excellent zoom and shutter speed, but I didn't want to look like I was taping the show so I used my small Canon which is slow and hence the"special effects".
Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 70 Location: Lake Tahoe
Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2004 8:19 am Post subject:
Marin, Thanks for sharing the review and the pics!
Interesting.. Robben didn't use the LP at all last month. I don't even think he had it with him. Did he also have the black baker last night? Or just the LP and tele?
Looks like he had a twin setup last night as well? When I saw him a month ago, I'm pretty sure it was just the Dumble. Could be the size of venue I suppose..
Sounds like you had a great time! Always to be had at one of Robben's shows.
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:43 am Post subject:
'Twas a pleasure finally meeting and chatting with you, Marin.
Personally, "Bonnie" is one of my favorites from the latest CD & I encouraged Robben to add it to the set. I loved the DAT Robben played for me at the studio the day after he & Bonnie finished writing it and I thought the studio version turned out very well (Though one of the things that intrigued me on the DAT version was that the rough vocal had a distorted 'telephone' quality I really liked.... as though the song was a message machine plea left by the singer).
But, since working it into the live set list, it has been gradually developing into a very interesting 7-10 minute jam tune... a la "Help The Poor", "Moonchild Blues", "It Don't Make Sense", etc. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:57 am Post subject: ( }:-D Liz... New Shoes!
By the way, Liz, Robben bought some new Italian clothes the other day, including some handmade, square tipped shoes he really likes... though he hasn't worn them onstage yet.
He did wear a new outfit... black, with big zippers... the other night. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 1043 Location: Boulder, CO
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:09 am Post subject:
Hey Daved,
Glad to hear "Bonnie" has made the live set list! I thought that was one of the strongest cuts on the "Keep on Running" CD!
I would also like to see "Give Me Something For The Pain" from Blue Moon added as well. I think that's a killer tune, killer groove and would rock live!
Joined: 19 Feb 2004 Posts: 103 Location: Upper left coast
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:41 am Post subject: Give Me Something for the Pain
Daved and David -
I heard Bonnie live for the first time in Bend and it sounded great. I'm with David - would love to hear Give Me Something for the Pain added to the set list.
Meantime I'll just keep playing it to console myself until Robben's touring schedule brings the band a little closer to the upper left coast.
Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 8:44 am Post subject: Re: ( }:-D Liz... New Shoes!
Daved wrote:
By the way, Liz, Robben bought some new Italian clothes the other day, including some handmade, square tipped shoes he really likes... though he hasn't worn them onstage yet.
He did wear a new outfit... black, with big zippers... the other night.
Life is fun , for some europeans the best is to wear workman clothes , jeans and a Tèshirt, like Daved.
I had a truckload of fun reading the Seattle Gig report from the newbie Photographer, where they stated that Robben & the audience were well suited (for seattle) .
Ain't life's funny Americans want to be europeans and Europeans want to be americans.
But , hey , i am just keeping my line (or whatever but i'm sure you get me)
my granma (from Marseille , Remember the french connection) always told me , taught me, that these damn 2 coloured shoes were the trademark of Pimps.
Marin, Thanks for sharing the review and the pics!
Interesting.. Robben didn't use the LP at all last month. I don't even think he had it with him. Did he also have the black baker last night? Or just the LP and tele?
Looks like he had a twin setup last night as well? When I saw him a month ago, I'm pretty sure it was just the Dumble. Could be the size of venue I suppose..
Sounds like you had a great time! Always to be had at one of Robben's shows.
Patrick
No Bakers. Just the LP and Tele, as far as we saw that night.
There was a Fender amp on stage but I guess that it was there just to widen the sound and serve as a backup.
________
Yamaha xt 350 history
Last edited by marinblues on Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:55 am; edited 1 time in total
'Twas a pleasure finally meeting and chatting with you, Marin.
Same here, Daved.
Quote:
But, since working it into the live set list, it has been gradually developing into a very interesting 7-10 minute jam tune... a la "Help The Poor", "Moonchild Blues", "It Don't Make Sense", etc.
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 6:26 am Post subject: Re: ( }:-D Liz... New Shoes!
Bluelobster wrote:
Daved wrote:
By the way, Liz, Robben bought some new Italian clothes the other day, including some handmade, square tipped shoes he really likes... though he hasn't worn them onstage yet.
He did wear a new outfit... black, with big zippers... the other night.
Life is fun , for some europeans the best is to wear workman clothes , jeans and a T?shirt, like Daved.
I had a truckload of fun reading the Seattle Gig report from the newbie Photographer, where they stated that Robben & the audience were well suited (for seattle) .
Ain't life's funny Americans want to be europeans and Europeans want to be americans.
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 173 Location: Santa Barbara
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:08 am Post subject:
Greetings from SoCal. This is my first post, thus a caveat.
Wow! Can anyone imagine a greater time than a small outdoor RF concert in a rural Italian town, under a tent with warm rain coming down?
Man, that sounds fantastic. Good to hear he is drawing them into the smaller venues as well.
As far as tunes for the live sets, I love 'Up the Line', which he has used to open a couple shows I've seen. The live performance of this song allows for a good sax solo to follow the cool beginning of the song. I was bummed that they did not give that baritone sax a lead on the cd.
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