Astoria gig - Konzertbericht (leider in Englisch)
Mick Taylor (guitar and vocals)
yours truly (guitar)
Dave "Munch" Moore (keyboards)
Michael C. Ruiz (bass)
Godfrey Maclean (drums)
Also I forgot to mention that Munch played keyboards with John O'Leary as well! Actually while I think about it, he did a pretty ripping piano solo during Can't You Hear Me Knocking!
originally I was thinking I should just put nothing but pictures as the gig report, but then there are so many things I would like to remember that I figured I should at least keep a record of some of the things that happened! If I come even halfway close to describing how amazing the night was, I'll be happy!
Lorna and I set off from Chiswick on the train at about 3 o'clock, and made it to the Astoria for about 4pm - just in time to be greeted by a smiling Yuki on the door who ushered us in and up to our dressing room. Rock and roll myth #1 dispelled: Dressing Rooms are glamourous. No, they're not. They smell, are overheated, overpopulated, and over-rated! We squeezed ourselves in with the Eddie Martin band, and settled in for a few drinks. I thought it would probably be worth going and getting myself used to the amp I was to be using later on. Sadly no duoverb for me, I had a really crappy Mesa Boogie Mk4 1x12 combo. What a horrible little amp! Never mind - I should also mention at this point how amusingly stressful it was that literally noone was in charge. Having been told most certainly not to bring an amp, to have to hassle the crew for half an hour before one gets "found" is quite bizarre! Never mind - a brief soundcheck with Mick Taylor, and we were done... retreat back to the dressing room.
At this point the doors opened and the audience were allowed to come into the room - not so many at first, I think when the first band went one there were perhaps 200 people there. I went to find family Fothergill, in a loopy loopy finally armed with VIP passes type way, who then firmly lodged themselves dead centre at the front of the balcony. Probably the best place to be in I should think! Once again it was time to head back up to the room, where we typically efficiently discussed our set. Sadly, with only 10 minutes to fill, we were limited to two songs, so we decided on Born In Chicago (during which Lorna would sing a couple of verses) and Snatch It Back. A pint and a half of mirth later, and that was it, we were off down the stairs and standing backstage waiting to go on...
We were preceded by Pete Brown, who unfortunately overran slightly from the alloted time, but who played a perfunctory set which was entertaining to listen to from behind! The minute they were done, we were on, in quite possibly the quickest gear changeover I've ever experienced. Probably about 2 minutes all in all... and then we were away. We had Roger Inniss on bass who was excellent as usual, and also Winston Delandro on unexpected second guitar. Opening with Born in Chicago, everyone was in fine form and it felt good. In fact, it felt really good! After some excellent lick-inspired eurping from family Fothergill, we did a pretty swift run through Snatch It Back, during which I widdled and diddled a bit on slide, which got a really nice reception. I have to say, the buzz from that would be tough to repeat!
As quickly as the set had started, it was finished, and Joachim, Roger and Winston left the stage, leaving Mick Taylor to get on with it... and get on with it he did. The 20 minute set afforded us time to play three songs, Losing My Faith (which is a very pretty tune from a recent Mick solo album), No Expectations and Can't You Hear Me Knocking. After the one solitary rehearsal on Friday afternoon, I was pretty nervous about this to be honest, but after a few bars of the opening tune, everything seemed to just fall into place. 20 minutes felt like 2, and before I knew it, it was time to go! I must confess that during No Expectations, when Mick gave me a solo, I wasn't really sure how to play it - whether to sit back and play a bit relaxed (you know, I'd already had "my bit" during John's set - this was his time!) - then I figured what the heck and just went for it. Lots of fun although I felt a tinge of "shouldn't have done that" just as it was winding up! Turns out he didn't mind at all!
Once we were all done, it was backstage for debriefing and cocktails, before going back out front to mill around for a while... By the time we had made it out front, Gary Moore and Jack Bruce were doing their thing, and they were awesome! It really made me not feel so bad about being unable to afford to justify spunking 60 quid plus on Cream tickets! Gary Moore's tone and playing was superb, and Jack Bruce really was great. I feel free especially was good, as well as Sunshine of Your Love, which I really enjoyed! I took quite a few pictures during their set, you can see the best ones here.
As well as watching some of the Colusseum set, which was very good indeed (and certainly better than I'd expected) Lorna and I "hung out at the bar" for a bit, went on some comedic and not especially successful "celebtrity spotting" routine, had drinks bought for us, gave out picks, and generally had a really enjoyable evening. Too much fun!
Overall, LOF was very high (although quite localised), and there really aren't enough good things I can write about the whole experience. It was unbelievable - To DH-S wherever you are - I hope this evening made you proud!
