Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 234 Location: Hartlepool, U.K.
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:38 am Post subject:
... in the meantime, be content in the knowledge that France have just won the 6 nations rugby trophy - even though Wales deserved to win this afternoon!!!! _________________ "Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:50 am Post subject: Rugby
Hi nine acres, though i am not really kinda sport guy , the few i 've seen on tv while Zapping was this "essai" not given by the "arbitre" in spite of the video.
Too bad . .
But i still don't have my Zen....
Broadway the hard way........... _________________ http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=147748
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 234 Location: Hartlepool, U.K.
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:06 pm Post subject:
Rugby apart, I "aussi" still don't have my zendrive either. However, (and Irish and Brits will perhaps understand) like the Murphy's, I'm not bitter _________________ "Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982
Joined: 21 Feb 2004 Posts: 243 Location: Rochester, MI
Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:08 pm Post subject:
OK, I just got back from the airport on my return trip from NYC to see Robben and Larry. I have one word AMAZING!!
First off, Larry confirmed at the start of the show that the last time he and Robben played together was 30 (yes THIRTY) years ago! I knew this was going to be a very, very special night. They had 2 shows. I went to the later one.
As far as rigs, Larry had his full, 2-Dumble set up (with the EON speakers, etc.). Robben had two small Fenders (I think a Super Reverb and another smaller amp) and a Zendrive. I thought to my self, "this is not going to be a fair fight." I'll come back to their sounds later. Larry played his ES-335 and his Les Paul with the 2 P-90s. Robben played a Gold Top Les Paul all night. It looked fairly worn so I don't know if it was the real thing or a relic.
The format was a little different than what Daved said on one of his recent posts. As I had hoped, Robben and Larry played together on every song. They started off the show with just the two of them (no band) coming out and playing a medium slow Blues with each of them trading off. It was fantastic. They both played their asses off and the place went nuts! It was a very special thing to see them play like that.
The band came out and then they did Lovin’ Cup. Robben and Larry traded off as well. And so it went for the rest of the night. They would switch back and forth from a Robben song to a Larry song and then back again. Each of them would trade solos or switch off on the head, etc. After the second song, Larry asked that the house lights be turned on and then he asked how many people in the audience were guitar players—65% to 70% raised their hand and the crowd went nuts.
You could tell that both of them were having a really good time—they were both smiling the whole time. I think I must have had a smile on my face from ear-to-ear the whole show. It was such a treat seeing them (and hearing them) play together.
OK, if some of you are asking “who won the Robben versus Larry thing,” the answer is simple. “This is not a contest!” They BOTH played and sounded fantastic. They both played and sounded like themselves and it worked so well to hear them together. I will tell you, however, that many times during the show, after a Robben solo, Larry was just shaking his head with a smile in kind of a “you’ve got to be kidding me” or a perhaps “my god, you are killing me” gesture. Robben was just ON FIRE!! In the sound department, I think Robben’s basic rig sounded a lot better than Larry’s. Robben’s overdrive sound particularly was amazing.
In closing, I feel so fortunate for having gone to this show. It was well worth the special trip to see. I brought one of my guitar playing cousins who is 50 and has seen just about everyone in the last 35 years. He said it was the best “guitar player” concert he had ever seen. I think I have to agree. I have seen Robben over a dozen times in the last 25 years. All those shows were fantastic. Some are etched in my memory forever (e.g., Robben/Russell/Roscoe/Vinnie at the Baked Potato in ‘84, Robben with Miles Davis in ’88, the first Blue Line show in the early 90s, etc). This concert is one that I will never forget. I hope Robben and Larry play together again and I hope they do a DVD too. I know that after a 30-year break from playing together, this particular show will go down as one my favorite concerts ever!
Last edited by JackD on Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:18 am Post subject: Great
Jack thank you . This was a special event .....wow. Yesterday ,rainy day, lurking on the gear page : it seems that this gold Les Paul is a gift from Larry to Robben...I like the "how many guit.players?" joke.
Funny , the first time i listened to Robben Ford in my life was in 1984,
some club tapes with Vinnie,Russel & Roscoe. Now i know you are yelling in the background. _________________ http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=147748
Joined: 27 Feb 2004 Posts: 9 Location: Long Island, N.Y.
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:26 am Post subject: 8:00 show :O)
Hi Friends,
We attended the first show on Friday night. As you can imagine, it was truly amazing on every level. I kept thinking, "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe it's in this great little theater. I can't believe I'm hear to witness this!"
I've seen Robben at IMAC four times now, and Larry once before at a little club called "The Steven Talkhouse" in Amagansett. The IMAC theater is a terrific venue, with only about 500 seats. Really not a bad seat in the house. However, on previous visits I was disappointed with the sound quality. There was usually very poor definition in the bass and the overall mix tended to be muddy. But this past year, they acquired a new sound system, so I was hopeful that it would make a difference. I am pleased to say that the sound at IMAC is now spectacular. There is superior definition and presence on everything. I'm just happy about this because with everything else about the concert being so good, it would have been a pity if the house sound didn't measure up.
Our show started off with just Larry and the band doing a beautiful, slow tone poem. Sorry, I don't know the title. Then he told a little story about how he and Robben played together every Tuesday for about six months in a little club in L.A. about thirty years ago - and not since, until now. "Please welcome Robben Ford." They launch into "Oui, Oui, Si." This is a tune that starts out hot and just keeps getting hotter. Great solos, natch, right out of the box, plus they also did a bit of real time interweaving of lines. Beautiful stuff. More of that throughout the show as well.
I'm not as familiar with Larry's material as I am with Robben's at this point, so I didn't recognize any of the other Larry tunes, but they were all wonderful. The flow of the set was essentially alternating between the two. Of Robben's tunes, we heard "Lovin' Cup", "You Can't Make Peace", "Indianola", "The Way that you Treated Me."
The structure was pretty loose on Robben's stuff, and a little less so on Larry's. It looked like they were deciding on the fly who would take solos and when - a lot of nodding and cueing. You could see Robben setting up transitions and endings and such with the drummer and bass (Travis Carlton). The structure may have been loose, but the execution was tight. I think Larry might have missed one change in Indianola (big deal). Here's the context. About halfway through the show, Larry mentions that they had gotten together about ten days ago to pick out songs and go over a "few" things for a couple of hours. And now they are here and we are hearing the first real attempt at performing any of it. Haha. Unbelievable.
Guitar sound wise, Robben's rig sounded punchier and just what we all like to hear. Larry's was a little silkier and just as punchy when he was using the gold guitar (not sure what it was). The 335 sounded a little thin to me, but it was also a matter of style. Larry tended to venture into very lightly picked and extremely fast clusters of jazzier phrases, while Robben mostly stayed with his crisply articulated phrasing that just cuts through everything.
Robben's singing was the best I've ever heard him. He didn't appear to strain at all and had great control. I think the new sound system was probably helpful to the band as well. They all looked like they were having a great time. Special mention to Greg Matheison - fantastic keyboard work.
The encore was just Larry and Robben doing the medium blues that someone here said they used as the second show opener. Just great!
All in all, the experience of a lifetime and something that I never expected to see. I felt priveleged to be there. _________________ "To be is to do"--Socrates.
"To do is to be"--Jean-Paul Sartre.
"Do be do be do"--Frank Sinatra.
Last edited by Jeff Portferson on Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 249 Location: the Netherlands
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:29 am Post subject:
Jeff and Jack,
Both thanks to your reviews. Must have been a great feeling being there. Hope there will be a DVD in the near future. Wasn't it planned to record it in Japan?
Henk
Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 289 Location: Baltimore, Md
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:51 am Post subject: L&R
Ok, my turn (btw, I typed this up before I read the others):
Well, what can I say, except WOW !!!
The Larry/Robben show lived up to anybody's wildest expectation...this was
probably the most amazing collaborative performance I have ever seen.
L&R came out and opened with a fingerpicked electic blues duet that set
the bar very high for the rest of the evening...then the boys proceeded
to raise it into the stratosphere.
I have seen Robben four times, and this performance was the most engaged
and "psyched" I've seen him. Likewise, Larry seemed happier than a kid
in a candy shop.
Larry mentioned that he's been waiting 30 years to play with Robben, and that
he was planning on having a great time.
Robben played several of this own arrangements, "The Way You Treated Me,"
"Lovin' Cup," "Indianola"and probably a couple of others I don't recall at
the moment.
Larry was really getting into it, especially when the hard driving tunes made
dramatic dynamic shifts from "fortissimo-to-piano," where he would fill the
sudden quiet void with his tasty, economical licks. He certainly tore up a few
tunes, matching Robben's pyrotechnic flurries almost note-for-note, but I believe
Larry really shines on his laid-back, B.B King-esque statements.
Robben's playing was nothing short of phenomenal, and I think he kinda stole the
show. Larry was very gracious to let Robben "strut his stuff" to the degree he did.
There was no trace of egotistical rivalry between these guys, indeed, they raised
each other up to the next level.
I was reading the thread where someone said "Robben doesn't play as much as he used
to," alluding to the more sedate solos and focus on songwriting.
Well, that all went out the window for this show. I've never heard Robben play
better, and I'm hard-pressed to think of any guitar performance by anyone that
comes close to this. It was absolutely amazing.
The boys were nicely backed by Greg Matheson on keys, Travis Carlton on bass, and the
drummer's name escapes me.
The small venue was outstanding.
The crowd gave the group a long standing ovation, then Larry and Robben returned to
the stage to acknowledge the fans, but no encore...and none was needed.
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Many thanks for the great reviews. 
