[Slowhand] Washington, D.C. Review

[Almighty Geetarz]

Hello All,

You folks won't believe this one ... outside the Verizon Center in DC were the usual collection of sidewalk musicians playing for tips, and one was playing ... wait for it ... yep, "Wonderful Tonight".  I told him I'd take a dollar OUT of his tip jar if he didn't stop ;)

At any rate, once inside things improved nicely.  Robert Cray put on a tasty opening set.  EC and band took the stage earlier than I expected, before 8:30.  I sort of miss the Journeyman era where the show was slated to start at 9 and it was rare for EC to hit the stage before 9:30 - for those of us who are perpetually chronologically challenged this was a nice side benefit ;)

The crowd was also quite a pleasant surprise - DC crowds can quite often be a bunch of stiffs.  The worst I have ever seen was the 1998 Pilgrim tour show where so many of the people were in evening/formal wear as if it were a night at the opera (tilting nose in air and adopting an appropriately snooty tone when saying this). The crowd this year seemed much younger and far more energetic, which is great as it gets that symbiotic thing going where the band and fans feed off each others' energy.  Even more surprising - almost shocking - was that the majority of folks on the floor stood up and showed some enthusiasm, which was great.

As we all know EC has certainly gotten lucky and assembled a top notch band for the tour. EC has played in a lot of different styles and genres but let's face it, for an arena rock setting slower acoustic numbers and gentle finesse just don't work - Steve Jordan has been a favorite of mine for years, and personally although I understand drummers who "swing" etc. I like to see someone who just goes out there to tear the hell out of a drum kit.  One of my "Desert Island" CDs is Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos at the Hollywood Palladium and Jordan just plain *owns* the backbone of that recording.  There are musicians who sort of blend in and adapt themselves to the group and others who put their musical stamp right out front, and I definitely put Jordan in the latter camp (and I mean that as a compliment!). Combined with Weeks who really knows how to anchor a groove, those two are the heartbeat of this group.  Drum solos are a bit out of fashion these days but
 personally I'd love to see what woutd happen with the rest of the band off the stage and just Weeks and Jordan stepping out a bit.

Doyle and Derek are a perfect addition to the band as well. Each has such a different playing style - and different again from EC's style - so that it never seems crowded in a musical sense.  In many bands three guitar players would seem cluttered but everyone really keeps their own space at the same time they bounce off one another.

Chris Stainton was playing as tasty as  ever -  what a great boogie woogie piano player - but really didn't step out much, with only a few small solos.  I must admit that I'm not a huge Tim Carmon fan - not because of his playing ability but in terms of some of the keyboard sounds he uses.  As for me, I can listen to a Hammond B3 all night so this isn't sort of personal bias against keyboards, I just don't think those tones really fit with the rest of this band. There are exceptions ... his work on "Old Love" during the Heerenveen, NL concert in 1998 made that the standout performance of that song for that tour, but it just doesn't mesh with this band. When Carmon filled in for Billy Preston (RIP) in 2004, he stuck with a more traditional Hammond sound and it really fit in well.

Sharon and Michelle apparently got the memo from Digesters after the 2004 tour and were given a wardrobe budget ... great vocals *and* well dressed to boot! <g>

As for EC, he looked relaxed and in a good mood. In terms of playing, he pretty much stayed in safe mode - this isn't necessarily a criticism, it's just that he seemed relaxed and having fun, and really stepped back a bit to let the rest of the folks in the band cut loose a bit.  Probably the only part of the evening where EC really did seem to go into "The Zone" was during "Old Love", you can check it out here:

http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/2006-10-10-old-love.mp3

It's a good thing I don't have a heart condition as the setlist has been changing a bit - this is wunnerful!  In DC we got:

Pretending
Sheriff
Got to Get Better
Old Love
Anyday (!)
Motherless Children
Back Home
I Am Yours (!!)
Nobody Knows You
Running on Faith
After Midnight
Queen of Spades
Further On Up the Road
Wunnerful Tonite
Layla
Cocaine
Crossroads (the fast version EC wouldn't even play with Da Kreem last Year!)

Whereas in some tours the setlist seemed to have been arranged to avoid getting any sort of energy or momentum going, this setlist MOVED right along and even the acoustic numbers kept flowing.

Robert Cray really stepped up to the plate - like EC, Cray does seem to lay back a bit in concert at times but when he cuts loose - watch out!  It was also a nice surprise to see Cray not only back for the encore but taking the lead in singing "Crossroads" - hurrah!

Definitely an enjoyable night if a tad laid back on EC's part ... looking forward to Charlottesville and then Raleigh and points south and west - see y'all on the road!

Cheers,
AG

 		
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