[Slowhand] R: Slowhand Digest, Vol 11, Issue 161

liabar at tin.it liabar at tin.it
Sun Jun 29 06:06:22 EDT 2008



Dear Slowhanders,
It is Sunday moring, and am still in London after
the concert in HYDE PARK of yesterday evening.
It was a great event .
a
vast sea of people in front and behind me. I am Italian but didn't have
time to get a sun tan yet.
well I got it yesterday!! Such a wonderful
weather that made everything finer.

I let other better euipped fellow
slowhanders write a detailed report on each song we heard.
I would like
to share with you just a couple of general notes "a caldo" which
means straight out after the experience"
I was stricken both by Robert
Randolph's and j. Mayer's performances
After a local band, without
annoucement therecame R.R with a series of notes as if he were saying
"Hey, Wathc out, I am Here , Listen to me.
The audience rose up highly
especially after some notes of Jimi Hedrix's (Purple Haze?)
I was
disappointed with the young peple who stood in front of me talking
aloud when Mayer's performance went on
I tried to shut them up, as I
really thought they were missing something important and intense. He
was playing so well as he is keen on reaching higher tops, a very
ambitious musician I would say....

meanwhile S Crow was doing her
number the area filled even more and I felt great expectatiopn in the
air..
One thing I am sure of 99% of them were there for Eric only, and
sometimes we read of an artist in decay ..... yes
Yesterday I have
realized the affection British people have for Eric..... warm sincere
affection.

it is a little sad that a great lot of the outskirts of
the audience were just keeping on stuffing themselves with japanese
spaghetti or hot dogs and drinking their souls away with beer or
spirits.....and talking very loudly .......
I don't want to sound a
puritan, but when we have these great musicians on stage, our
concentration should be on what we hear not on our belly's needs...
I
told myself I haven't got up at 3 a.m. and made my way up to London to
just see people getting drunk

So I said to myself, I have to push my
way ahead towards the stage as I am sure people there will be
different....
and I was totally right...
I found myself surrounded by
all ages that jumped at the rythm sang waved their hands ..
my biggest
surprise was to find out hearing italian exclamation of approval that
I was also surrounded by several Italians who, like me, thanks to the
low cost companies, had been able afford a trip to London just to hear
eric playing .....
I really haven't realized the big following Eric has
also in my country where you can hardly hear him on the radio or even
more rarely seeing Eric on a TV show.

the last two hours with Eric
passed in a blow, when I heard Layla's introductory notes I felt
NOOOOOO
It can't be true he already on his closing set of songs.
I
enjoyed two songs that I have never heard before probably the 5th
song and one in the acoustic set (a kind of ld time jazz song) that
were great
I am sure Eric's long time followers will tell you the
titles of.
but when I hear i new piece from him , it is always a
pleasant discovery that soothes my very soul......
How much I love the
guy...
we were transported onto another planet, another level of
music.....
still if my perception wasn't wrong, Eric let Doyle shine as
he was not in one of those magic evenings when at a certain point he
takes his glasses of and takes off over the rainbow .
his
solos or
phrasing between other band member' s numbers or improvisations were
not many or not particularly long, even if they were masterpieces but I
believe he was only 9o per cent in it.....(and this is not a critic it
is just I am demanding from him superhuman performances all the time)
I
am not a particular lover of Doyle's kind of playing but yesterday i
revaluated him a lot.
Probably he was the best on stage
Still I am
happy with the event even at 90 % Eric is a galassia away from
others.......

this badly written but totally sincere review is
dedicated to Bluesgirl whom I wished could have joined me .

Eric's
addicted
lia


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