Robben Ford Discussion

[slidejules]

Hello all,

Well, that's my Robben cherry popped! First time seeing him last night, and a fun night it was. I was stood pretty much in front of Robben's amp all night, right up front, which was a real treat. As a guitar player myself it was nice to have such an up-close masterclass!

Given that the band don't start until 9.30, and many of us had been in the room for 2 and a half hours in order to get good and close to the stage, the sense of anticipation was huge! Once Robben and the guys came to the stage, the night took one false start as the kick drum seemed to be overloading the monitors, and this seemed to bring down the mood of both audience and band slightly. I didn't take a setlist down, but it seemed similar to the ones I've been reading here - start with Chevrolet, and then in no particular order, Homework, Loving Cup, Up The Line, Indianola, Don't Make Sense, among others.

While I think about it, we had a treat for the encore as Long John Baldry came out and sang a couple of songs. Have a look for him on allmusic.com if you're not familiar with him. He's a pretty quirky old school r&b/jazz singer - very good and a nice diversion from the mood of Robben's other material. I must say that the two songs with him (I forget what they were, the first was a jazz standard that in my morning fog I can't recall, the second was an upbeat shuffle, again the specifics are lost to me) - those two songs were I think the first time the band really looked like they were having fun on stage (especially Robben). After LJB had left the stage, they played a perfunctory run through of Badge, and that was that.

Robben's guitar playing was totally exemplary, exactly as I'd expected it to be. He is a total professional and his tone was superb (again as expected!), his rhythm playing especially was an inspiration - I don't think there can be many chord voicings that he doesn't know or use regularly!

My overall impression, as someone who has never seen Robben before, but who has been collecting his CDs for a while now, was that the band were incredibly polished, and consumately professional, but lacked a certain punch/spark... I was very impressed by the rhythm section (Tos on drums in particular - despite looking like he was really beating the drums, he has a really delicate touch) - Bob on sax contributed some great solos too, although he didn't seem particularly comfortable on stage "doing nothing" during the guitar solos. I would have liked to have seen a bit more interplay between the musicians I think, maybe some call/response between the sax and guitar, something like that.

The only real irritation of the night, was the drunk idiot right up front and just to my left (straight in front of Bob) who kept shouting "yeeahhhh Robbeennnnn you da mannnn Robbeeeennnnn play superrnaturalllll yeahhh" through most of the last 20 minutes of the set (even louder in the quieter sections). This was incredibly frustrating as an audience member, and I could understand it irritating the band, although they seemed to ignore him more or less entirely. I didn't notice any of the staff getting involved, it would have helped maybe if they did! The bad mood of the people standing around him was quite palpable.

So, here's hoping tonight might have a bit more of a spark to it!

Cheers, Jules
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"You can't hurt anybody with music" - Duane Allman

[srammell]

Hi all, I was there ) finally seeing RF again after what must be 6-7 years!! took my btrother, he's now converted !

It was a really good gig, although the Jazz Cafe was smaller than I expected it to be, and the Band did not come on stage until 9.30pm (I was told 9.00 by the venue!, still well worth the wait.

I grabbed Robben's setlist [couldnt get a pick ( , but I did introduce myself to Daved, as a 'list member' , he was cool ] -

Chevrolet
Help The Poor
Indianola
The Way You Treated Me
Keep On Running
Up The Line
Homework
Cannonball Shuffle
Moonchild Blues
It Dont Make Sense
Lovin' Cup

encore 2 songs with Long John Baldry
LJB - It Aint Nobodys Business (Jimmy Witherspoon)
LJB -
Badge

Mostly RF used his 'black' guitar (Baker?), swapping to the Tele about 4-5 times during the set. couldnt see his socks - too far back - did anyone get / post any pictures hope so.

Look forward to next years tour, and hopefully they will play closer to my home town again, I had a 200 mile round trip to see the gig, so quite tiring.

[Filmore]

Hey srammell,

Yes SRAM, got pictures taken from the concert at Koblenz, Bonn and Verviers !
But you'll have to wait untill they are ready to be shot to the message board !

It will be in a few days !

Greetings,
Fill from Brussels.
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Filmore

[srammell]

cool, look forward to seeing them , hopefully someone last night taking photos was a list member so we may see som Jazz Cafe pics as well!

[bluesman]

Hello all,

Yes, the bend was hot and Robben was playing great, much, much better than in 2001-2002 at previous visits.
I interviewed Robben for the "Blues Matters!" magazine and took about 40 pictures of the band at the sound check session (no flash).
Interview will be in the February - March issue and photos I'll publish here after Robbens manager Mr. Dal Booth approves them.
Talking with Robben was great, he is not only great musician but also hi is a charming gentleman.
I took great picture of Daved playing Baker - he is a great character and I can not imagine Robben's band without him performing pre-gig technical magic, RESPECT DAVED!
BTW the "drunk idiot" started ferocious fight with the security man after the gig and was skillfully punched and later restrained by the police.