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April |
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The
bits of stuff that fall in the cracks between Life, Music
and Outrageous Fortune. |
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1)
M&M join their hippy mates in the lobby of the
Melbourne Recital Centre 2) The room fills up with
balding pates
John
Mayall's performance at the Melbourne Recital Centre
8.4.15 - I've seen
John Mayall a couple of times before, once in 2000
at Slim's in San Francisco, (where I got to shake
his hand), and again two or three years ago at the
Byron Bay Blues Festival, so I should've known what
to expect. I thought it just possible he might've
taken advantage of the splendid acoustics at the
Melbourne Recital Centre and done something a little
more intimate, but he wasn't about to stray from
his comfort zone, I suspect on this or any other
night. At 82 it's amazing he's still doing it really
and he's still the godfather of British Blues and
a major inspiration to me personally, but the show
was pretty uninspired and low on wit and imagination.
The positively annoying thing about the sound was
that the snare drum was way out of balance all night.
Maria and I agreed that the two songs the drummer
picked up the brushes for were the stand-out songs
of the night, namely Jimmy Rogers' That's Alright
and T-Bone Walker's Stormy Monday. To be
fair, after two or three songs John intervened on
his and the audience's behalf and demanded the sound
guy keep the level down as it was getting too loud,
but despite this plea and an immediate lowering
of the overall level his vocals had almost completely
disppeared from the mix by the end of the night.
A leaden version of Freddy King's Hideaway
was the sole encore and we left the Centre a shade
over 90 minutes from when the band walked onto the
stage, for which I was actually quite grateful.
The show would've been better suited in a pub, but
I have the feeling that very few of his constiuent
senior audience would've made the effort to see
him in those surrounds, preferring the warmth and
comfort of this very special concert room, even
if its chief assets were spurned. |
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