Post by frozenhero on Apr 17, 2019 16:17:46 GMT
Well, what can I say? John Mayall is a legend, but when I was queuing up, I did feel a bit lost as one of the very few young attendees. No bottles allowed in - I'd anticipated it, still don't like this policy, but I guess it's futile to complain.
I'd repeatedly read that John signs things before and after gigs and lo and behold, he was already sitting behind a table signing things! To be honest I was a bit shocked when I saw him, as he appeared somewhat frail to me, and also kind of absent. This was not how he looked on the cover of the new album. He signed the couple of booklets I'd taken along but I was too nervous to say anything and I'm not sure he would have listened anyway.
But whatever concerns I might have had, and no matter how surreal the situation appeared to me (the room was getting packed with people getting ready, and given the average age I'm sure many would have preferred to take a seat, while the star of the show was right there, a few metres away!), once his band took to the stage at half past seven, it became clear that this would be a great evening.
The rhythm section of Greg Rzab and Jay Davenport had impressed me quite a bit on the studio albums, but I was shocked by how heavy they sounded. I'd go as far as saying that this gig was just as much rock as blues. As is so often the case, I thought the volume was a bit too high (that said, I was close to the front), and it struck me that Jay Davenport is the kind of drummer Quo would need to sound really great again. He's a heavy blues drummer with a good feel for shuffle and groove. He had two solo spots and during his second drum solo, I thought he was trying to blow his bandmates off the stage! Incredible. Greg Rzab was quite a sight with his hair and cap and seems to be quite a character. At one point, they somehow didn't start a song properly or something and John exclaimed "What am I gonna do with them!"
Mayall's stage presence was nothing short of astonishing considering his age and how he appeared to me before the show. Maybe it's the adrenalin, maybe he was saving himself for the concert, I don't know, but he was into it. He was also rather earnest and to-the-point in his announcements, but not completely dull (right at the beginning he remarked that it was Sunday, but that wouldn't keep them from being a bit raunchy). The onstage chemistry was noticeably enlivened by Carolyn Wonderland, who brought some youthful abandon to the proceedings. Her own performance was sadly hampered by two things: The mix I was hearing completely muted her rhythm guitar, she was only audible whenever she played a solo - and even then the sound was a bit artificial, as if her Les Paul (or whatever guitar it was) was actually a guitar synth. I kept moving more to the right, but it didn't change much (except me being able to watch her fingers - she didn't use a pick at all, I think). Looking at how microscopic her amplifier was compared to Greg's huge bass speaker, I'm not really surprised her guitar lacked presence. The other issue was what I perceived as a lack of confidence. There's no doubt she's very talented both as a guitar player and a singer, but at times I felt she wasn't quite ready to go with the flow, to fully throw everything into her performance. She even admitted that she was nervous after the show; I hope she can overcome her nervosity if this line-up makes a live recording (which it should). The one point where I felt she did allow herself to fully shine was "Driftin' Blues", one of the many surprises in the setlist, though every Mayall setlist is surprising in itself. There were no songs from the Clapton album, none from "The Turning Point", not even from the new album! We did get the title track off the previous album "Talk About That", a funk monster with Rzab quoting Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". At one point John had switched on the midi-bar sound of his Roland keyboard and the effect was a bit strange, indeterminable "wooshing" coming from his keys. I wonder if that was intentional...
I did think it was a bit sad that Mayall did not use the Hammond XK3 after the first song, because I really like the sound of the organ, but he stuck with his Roland for most of the gig. Three songs featured him on guitar. Although his guitar was loud and audible in the mix, I could have done with less of it, as he's never been the greatest guitarist to begin with. His keyboard playing was marvellous however, he stayed away from obvious boogie-woogie licks and played very well. This was matched by his handling of the harmonicas: wonderful! And of course, he did his routine of playing harp and keys simultaneously a few times. He also performed the entire evening standing up, remarkable. The only aspect where his age did show a bit was, unsurprisingly, the vocals. While he's pretty good at not making his vocal decline any obvious on studio productions, you can't really do that live. So it took some getting used to the fact that he lost some of his range, but compared to some far younger "aging" rock singers, he still rules! And thankfully blues does not depend on having to sing everything the way it was originally recorded, so changing some melodies here and there did not sound too jarring.
Speaking of singing, Carolyn Wonderland also got two songs to sing and rather like her playing, her singing was full of promise but a bit tentative. She's got a great, powerful voice but it felt a bit like she was afraid to really increase the intensity despite the audience encouraging her. She also did not play any slide guitar, something I had secretly been looking forward to after hearing her on "Distant Lonesome Train".
After thirteen songs it was over and while we would have liked another encore, the band walked straight off the stage and to the table again for signing. But again I had the impression that Mayall just did not really enjoy it, I did manage to tell him that he should do another album with this lineup... the other three members were totally up for it though. Carolyn was very nice in particular and gracefully accepted the compliments and somebody telling her she should sing more songs. Jay was standing there like an anchor and Greg was funny. Since I had packed away all my CDs already and I was anxious I might miss my train, I could only offer my ticket and managed to get it signed by all four. Greg was a bit off to the side so I yelled "Hey Greg, I've got all the others' signatures already" and he replied "And you're sure you want mine too?!". He also had a solo album on offer which I noticed featured (among others) Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton! Sadly my money was in the wardrobe but I might search that CD out anyway.
On summary, this was definitely an evening (and ticket price) well spent. Although Mayall's performance was convincing (especially considering his age!), I do wonder how long he's gonna continue doing this. I wouldn't bet on him still playing shows in five years' time, so if you've got him on your list, better go and see him soon while he's still around.
I'd repeatedly read that John signs things before and after gigs and lo and behold, he was already sitting behind a table signing things! To be honest I was a bit shocked when I saw him, as he appeared somewhat frail to me, and also kind of absent. This was not how he looked on the cover of the new album. He signed the couple of booklets I'd taken along but I was too nervous to say anything and I'm not sure he would have listened anyway.
But whatever concerns I might have had, and no matter how surreal the situation appeared to me (the room was getting packed with people getting ready, and given the average age I'm sure many would have preferred to take a seat, while the star of the show was right there, a few metres away!), once his band took to the stage at half past seven, it became clear that this would be a great evening.
The rhythm section of Greg Rzab and Jay Davenport had impressed me quite a bit on the studio albums, but I was shocked by how heavy they sounded. I'd go as far as saying that this gig was just as much rock as blues. As is so often the case, I thought the volume was a bit too high (that said, I was close to the front), and it struck me that Jay Davenport is the kind of drummer Quo would need to sound really great again. He's a heavy blues drummer with a good feel for shuffle and groove. He had two solo spots and during his second drum solo, I thought he was trying to blow his bandmates off the stage! Incredible. Greg Rzab was quite a sight with his hair and cap and seems to be quite a character. At one point, they somehow didn't start a song properly or something and John exclaimed "What am I gonna do with them!"
Mayall's stage presence was nothing short of astonishing considering his age and how he appeared to me before the show. Maybe it's the adrenalin, maybe he was saving himself for the concert, I don't know, but he was into it. He was also rather earnest and to-the-point in his announcements, but not completely dull (right at the beginning he remarked that it was Sunday, but that wouldn't keep them from being a bit raunchy). The onstage chemistry was noticeably enlivened by Carolyn Wonderland, who brought some youthful abandon to the proceedings. Her own performance was sadly hampered by two things: The mix I was hearing completely muted her rhythm guitar, she was only audible whenever she played a solo - and even then the sound was a bit artificial, as if her Les Paul (or whatever guitar it was) was actually a guitar synth. I kept moving more to the right, but it didn't change much (except me being able to watch her fingers - she didn't use a pick at all, I think). Looking at how microscopic her amplifier was compared to Greg's huge bass speaker, I'm not really surprised her guitar lacked presence. The other issue was what I perceived as a lack of confidence. There's no doubt she's very talented both as a guitar player and a singer, but at times I felt she wasn't quite ready to go with the flow, to fully throw everything into her performance. She even admitted that she was nervous after the show; I hope she can overcome her nervosity if this line-up makes a live recording (which it should). The one point where I felt she did allow herself to fully shine was "Driftin' Blues", one of the many surprises in the setlist, though every Mayall setlist is surprising in itself. There were no songs from the Clapton album, none from "The Turning Point", not even from the new album! We did get the title track off the previous album "Talk About That", a funk monster with Rzab quoting Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". At one point John had switched on the midi-bar sound of his Roland keyboard and the effect was a bit strange, indeterminable "wooshing" coming from his keys. I wonder if that was intentional...
I did think it was a bit sad that Mayall did not use the Hammond XK3 after the first song, because I really like the sound of the organ, but he stuck with his Roland for most of the gig. Three songs featured him on guitar. Although his guitar was loud and audible in the mix, I could have done with less of it, as he's never been the greatest guitarist to begin with. His keyboard playing was marvellous however, he stayed away from obvious boogie-woogie licks and played very well. This was matched by his handling of the harmonicas: wonderful! And of course, he did his routine of playing harp and keys simultaneously a few times. He also performed the entire evening standing up, remarkable. The only aspect where his age did show a bit was, unsurprisingly, the vocals. While he's pretty good at not making his vocal decline any obvious on studio productions, you can't really do that live. So it took some getting used to the fact that he lost some of his range, but compared to some far younger "aging" rock singers, he still rules! And thankfully blues does not depend on having to sing everything the way it was originally recorded, so changing some melodies here and there did not sound too jarring.
Speaking of singing, Carolyn Wonderland also got two songs to sing and rather like her playing, her singing was full of promise but a bit tentative. She's got a great, powerful voice but it felt a bit like she was afraid to really increase the intensity despite the audience encouraging her. She also did not play any slide guitar, something I had secretly been looking forward to after hearing her on "Distant Lonesome Train".
After thirteen songs it was over and while we would have liked another encore, the band walked straight off the stage and to the table again for signing. But again I had the impression that Mayall just did not really enjoy it, I did manage to tell him that he should do another album with this lineup... the other three members were totally up for it though. Carolyn was very nice in particular and gracefully accepted the compliments and somebody telling her she should sing more songs. Jay was standing there like an anchor and Greg was funny. Since I had packed away all my CDs already and I was anxious I might miss my train, I could only offer my ticket and managed to get it signed by all four. Greg was a bit off to the side so I yelled "Hey Greg, I've got all the others' signatures already" and he replied "And you're sure you want mine too?!". He also had a solo album on offer which I noticed featured (among others) Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton! Sadly my money was in the wardrobe but I might search that CD out anyway.
On summary, this was definitely an evening (and ticket price) well spent. Although Mayall's performance was convincing (especially considering his age!), I do wonder how long he's gonna continue doing this. I wouldn't bet on him still playing shows in five years' time, so if you've got him on your list, better go and see him soon while he's still around.