I witnessed Robin Trower last night here in Atlanta @ my favorite local venue the Variety Playhouse.
Before I get into the actual review, a few words about the evening itself and some surrounding tidbits.
First-off, when this show was first announced quite some time back, I shared this info with many of my musical friends and told them that I was planning on getting my ticket early (which I did) Fast-forward to earlier this week: My good friend Robert decided to attend, confessing that he did not have a ticket and would just get one at the box office. (a sane and normal thing to do when considering a ticket for a less-than-mainstream artist who is performing on a Thursday night here in ATL). Robert and I decided to meeting a few hours early to have a meal, hoist a few and get caught up on things. (Living on opposite ends of Atlanta bares logistical challenges on meeting-up on a regular basis) Moments before I left the house, he calls me to inform me that he just called the box office and, low-and-behold….the show is sold out, and apparently has been for more than a week now. He decided to come on down anyway and try to get a scalp ticket. I arrived at the venue 2 hours prior to show-time and there was already a LONG line in front of the venue….long story short, Robert was not able to get a ticket, the venue was not just standing room only but was, what I would call, Sardine-packed standing room only. Since I waited outside with Robert right up until the last moment, I ended up having to stand up against the far-right wall about 20 feet from the stage. (a VERY extreme angle for viewing and certainly NOT the best sound balance for sure)
However, on to the show:
I caught the last three songs of this singer-songwriter duo who normally would not be my cup-of-tea, however, their original tunes very much reminded me of acoustic Eagles/Jackson Browne/America. It was actually fairly pleasant.
Robin Trower comes out to a THUNDEROUS standing ovation (I’m not making this up) and starts ripping into it. His Strat tone was just as I remember it being on those early albums (Bridges of Sighs, Long Misty Nights, etc.) and he was playing through 3 Marshall ½ stacks of varying vintages. Strat tone bliss! Oh yeah, He still rides that Roto-Vibe pedal better than ANYONE has EVER done. (Makes me teary-eyed just thinking back on how great that sounded last night)
Over the course of the night, I’m pretty sure he played everything from Bridge of Sighs. His solos were loud, lengthy and sublime and, you can tell that the Blues-Rock energy is still flowing in his soul.
I was really enjoying myself hearing these tunes of my early guitar-learning days (as was the crowd who were hooting and hollering non-stop) This crowd was much different than the normal “Prog” crowd I see at most of the shows I attend. (Read: Rowdier and louder)
One hell of a good evening, minus the fact the that my friend Robert couldn’t get in.
One small side note: I have not seen pictures of Robin in recent years. To me, he looked very thin and very old/haggard. (Kind of like Steve Howe’s younger (but still very old) Brother)
If Robin is coming your way, I urge you to get tickets early and GO!!!!
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