Robben Ford Discussion

[diatonicdude]

Hi all,

just a quick review of the Notingham gig at the Rescue rooms. i appologise for the formal format it has been written in (work mode still on!)

Support band:

The Samual C. Lees Band; they were great, as Daved had said, a blues power house band, like Moutain. They were energetic, humorous and ideal for a support band. Well done lads!!!

Sound & gear:

right out of the starting blocks I must say the position I took up (second row in front of Robben and his two red knob twin amps) was probably not the best sonically, but I got to hear what was coming directly out of his amps , so I kept my spot. Robbens tone sounded great (of course) but I wish he had his Dumble, as he probably did, too. The Zendrive done a great job to give him his signature tone. Simple set up as usual, Jim Dunlop Wah, Ernie Ball Volume pedal, Zendrive and a Boss RV-3 (i think). Robben was not pleased with his setting of the RV-3 as he spent many attempts at getting the right setting under the helpful torchlight of Daved.

Guitar wise, Robben had his "well worn" Les Paul Goldtop and Sakashta "NeuPaul". The Les Paul was great, but I think I liked the Sakashta better! It kind of had the tele sound, but also, with a flick of a switch, ironically gave a creamy mid range Les Paul type tone which cut through better in the mix than the gold top, well at least to my ears. I am pleased of his selection of guitars as I have got to see/hear play quite a few different types over the years (the cherry red Gibson 336CS being my personal favourite tone wise (2002 tour)).

Songlist:

I'll try my best to remember (i, know, I shouldn't forget), and in no particular order, so I appologise if I have made a mistake;

The way you treated me
Indianola
Nothing to nobody
Tired of talking
Lovin' Cup
Chevrolet (with Matt Schofield)
Cannonball Shuffle (with Matt Schofield)
It Don't make sense
Supernarural

There may have been a couple more, perhaps Daved may remember?! Robben apparently "mixed it up" as he didn't follow the set list!!

My favs of the night were, Lovin' cup, Chevrolet & a fantastic funky/wah version of Supernatural (I remember this was the encore ). plenty of ripping, melodic solo's to die for. Robben was hot.

One of my friends commented on the night why he liked Robben's music so much, saying "he really funks up the blues" which was very apt for most of the set .

The guest appearence of Matt Schofiled went down very, very well, especially with Robben and the band. Matt's playing was superb, with a tone which ironically resembled Robben's Dumble tone (for this he kicked in what looked like a Fulltone 2 MOSFET edition) through a Fender Reverb. Robben had a huge grin all over his face!

The band (Robben's "kind of blue" line!!!):

Could Gary Novak and Melvin (?) be the new blue line? Well they were bl**dy excellent. The band seemed comfortable with each other, plenty of freedom, and superb musicianship (yes a "kind of blue" line). Melvin played the hell out of his 7 string bass, and Gary reminded me alot of Tom Brechtline, with great dynamics and energy)

One for Elizabeth!:

Well Liz, he wore a biscuit coloured suit (very smart) with black shirt (unbuttoned all the way down ), and smart brown cowboy boots. You would have gone weak at the knee's, i am sure

Last, but not least, Daved:

Daved was seated right at the back of the stage, doing his thing, which looked like a meticulous routine, fully focused, although a trembled with fright when he seemed to mislay Robben's Zendrive for a moment before the show . In classic style, he found it, wipped out it's battery and gave it the once over as he did for all Robben's guitars, etc. During Robben's show, Daved pulled off the most frightning stare I have seen to date at a punter who ignored Robben's request not to use flash photography. Daved, you could have stopped a charging Rhino at 50 paces with that, however, it was fully justified
I only wish I had chance to have a proper chat, but at least I got to shake his hand to greet and thank him for his great work (he went into overdrive, packing up all the gear). Oh, and thanks for the pick, Daved, it was much appreciated. I had to leave pretty quickly as I had a very long drive home, and I was responsible of getting two mates home in one piece. I would have loved to meet/greet Robben too. Maybe next time round........anyway, a trully great evening was had by all.

..and now for something totally different "Missed oppoutunity?":

Apprently, earlier that day, Robben & Daved, plus band, visited the Notingham "Sounds Direct" music store. I turned up 20 minutes after they left (no other shoppers present at both times) . I could have met them all in a perfect surrounding , and maybe even traded licks (well maybe a one sided affair). That bl**dy sat navigation gadget let me down. i lost about 20 minutes because of it! You can't have it all, but what a missed oppourtunity.

Cheers,

DD

P.S: I lied about it being a brief review, i know
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