DRUMMER CAFE

figured i'd chime in on this while i have some downtime...

i went to the 10:30 show at iridium. once again, i was surprised and dismayed over the attendance. it wasn't empty, but for 10:30 on a friday nite i expected a full house. well whatever. maybe people had pre-summer vacation plans.

the band was holdsworth, wackerman and ernest tibbs, who is my new bass hero. dude sounded awesome.

they opened with a wackerman composition called 'the fifth' which was a midtempo, sorta meandering piece with some nice drumming highlights. chad had some really nice-sounding dw's. [of course you know that's all you'll get outta me, as i pay zero attention to gear]. from there they launched into 'fred', which as i said, left me wanting more. i can understand that you can't replicate tony w. everywhere, but it was the energy of that tune that was missing, and that all-important hi-hat pattern. moreoever, they missed very specific and important changes in the tune, which kinda bugged me. but i held on.

argh. i'm digging through my purse to find the set list, but have thus far only found my grocery list. sorry 'bout that.

in any event...imho, the show started kicking in during the last 4 tunes. everyone was firing on all cylinders by then. they did another lifetime tune, snake oil, and that one was pretty hip. this is where wackerman started really firing in the double bass, and of all the things he did that night, that was what stuck with me the most. his dbs were very smooth, very fast and fluid, and nicely integrated into the whole of the music, not just dugga-dugga for dugga-dugga's sake. i appreciated that. also, they weren't bombastically loud. i liked that about him overall--volume control.

holdsworth was very contained, on all fronts. he still had his great trademark riffs and sound, and that cool no-headstock guitar, but seemed to almost be holding back. toward the end he riffed-out in a big way, and that was cool to see. it's awesome seeing how he travels down the neck. i know a lot of gtrts who've tried to figure out his 'formula' in earnest. it's great to just see him knock it out with such aplomb.

ehhhh...that was pretty much it.

oh--the sound system: assa no goud! the guitar was very buried in the mix. i actually complained about it nicely to the soundman. he said it was a new system and he couldn't afford to 'blow it up.' bassist sounded great, though and there were no sound issues there. ernest had energy, groove, chops and showmanship [without going over the top]. he seemed really happy to be up there.

according to mr. h's wife/g-friend/significant other [who was super nice and conversational, and also a bassist], they were all very tired from their flight. so i will attribute the overall low energy to that. still, i felt a little love, and appreciated the gig for what it was.

since i don't know a ton about wackerman, i bought his performance dvd and cd, also got an older holdsworth cd. unfortunately, the chad cd started having convulsions in my car player, so i have to see what's going on there. i liked what i heard of the second tune, though. the cd is called 'legs eleven.'


i guess that's it.



reporting live from la manzana grande-
smoggy d



 

yah, i didn't want to give the impression that it was an awful show, coz it wasn't. but it didn't leave me all fired up. i saw holdsworth i guess 10 or so years ago, and i was shaken and stirred for days. it was a really powerful performance.

i am willing to forgive them. touring is hard, and everyone has their weaker moments. plus the tickets were reasonably priced, so i didn't feel duped.

they're still good musicians!