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October 22, 2007
An awesome Experience
It’s almost a shame that Saturday night’s Experience Hendrix concert was held at the Palace Theatre in Waterbury. Not because there’s anything wrong with the venue — it’s beautiful and a great place to see a show — it’s just that more people should have been able to witness this event.
The amount of talent that graced the stage during the event should have been enough to sell the Palace out many times over, but for those of us on the inside, the intimate theater was ideal.
The funny thing is, that while the show was terrific, no one performer stood out over the others. Some of the artists, I couldn’t help but wonder why they would go out on the road with a tour like this when they’re only on stage for a fraction of the concert.
Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and blues legend Hubert Sumlin, who played with Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, were just three of those involved that didn’t seem to have much time in the spotlight.
I guess the lure of performing the music of Jimi Hendrix was enough.
The night started off with the less-famous names on the bill. First was a fiery performance by Eric Gales, followed by an equally rousing two songs from Mato Nanji, the singer-guitarist for the Native American rock band Indigenous.
Doyle Bramhall II, who has accompanied Roger Waters and Eric Clapton on tours in addition to his own recordings, was up next, joined by Living Colour singer Corey Glover. Bramhall did a transcendent version of Hendrix’s “Angel,” but his time on stage seemingly was cut short by a technical problem near the end of his rendition of “Rock Me Baby.”
Supplying the connection to the music of Hendrix was two of his bandmates — drummer Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi Hendrix Experience and bassist Billy Cox of Band of Gypsys. Cox even showed himself to be a heck of a singer, especially during the blues song “Red House.”
One of the night’s biggest ovations was when young guitar-slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd appeared with the singer from his band, Noah Hunt. Shepherd blistered his way through three songs, cementing his reputation as a logical successor to Stevie Ray Vaughn, himself a disciple of Hendrix.
I write that Shepherd got “one of the night’s biggest ovations” because the next artist received, without a doubt, the warmest welcome. It was the great Buddy Guy.
Guy had the most time on stage and, strangely, didn’t play a Hendrix tune. This struck me as very odd because I seem to remember him doing one of Jimi’s tunes at this summer’s Gathering of the Vibes.
Sumlin joined Guy during his set, giving the Waterbury audience the opportunity to see two of the greatest remaining links to the old-time blues era.
(Here’s a personal note to the man in the crowd who screamed “play a [bleep]ing Hendrix song” at Buddy Guy: Please don’t go to any more concerts. You’ll probably just embarrass yourself some more. If you can’t sit quietly while two men who paved the way for Hendrix perform, then you should be kept separated from the rest of the music-loving public.)
With all of the talent on hand, it was left to young pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph to wrap up the three-hour show. He was joined by Krieger for “Purple Haze,” before Shepherd and Hunt returned for “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”
Posted by Sean on October 22, 2007 9:21 PM
