Saw Trower last night. One of the great things about instrumentalists is that their skills don't suffer as much the ravages of time as voacalists do. So, where you might complain that, say, Robert Plant has lost his pipes over the years, I am happy to report that Robin doesn't seem to be suffering from arthiritis much. His skills -- and talent -- are pretty much intact.
Of course, a Trower concert aint for everybody, but if your into guitar gods, it was a very satisfying evening. Even so, I found my mind wandering on some of the more extended solos (the 10 minute solo in the middle of "Bridge of Sighs", ferinstance), and the number of down-tempo tunes becomes a bit hypnotic and monotonous. I was also struck by the realization that every song from Bridge of Sighs is better than almost every other song from his other albums. The forays into the other albums usually consisted of title tracks -- "Victims of the Fury" is a very nice uptempo rocker with a couple of incendiary solos, and "For Earth Below" is another extended dirge with impressive mood -- which, as usual, are the best tracks on the albums. In any event, even the tunes that weren't shining examples of songcraft were redeemed for the few moments Trower stepped forward. In fact, that's how I think these songs were written -- Trower has an idea for some guitarwork with this rhythm and key and mood, so let's write a song around it. So the songs themselves don't end up being that interesting, but the guitar solos are awesome.
Anyway, highlights were "Fool In Me", "Day of The Eagle", "Victims of the Fury", "Little Bit of Sympathy" (last song of the set), and "Too Rolling Stoned" (first song of the 3 song encore). Also, from his first album Twice Removed From Yesterday, a song called "Hannah" that featured one of the more amazing guitar solos I've ever seen or heard. Intricate left hand technique and extensive use of wah wah -- Jimi would have been proud.
Also notable -- Robin never changes guitars, using the same old beat up Strat throughout the show.
And finally, I'm heading up to Konocti tomorrow morning with another set of friends who have a cabin on the lake, so I'll see it all over again tomorrow night. Woohoo!
