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August 18, 2008
Peter Frampton at The Klein
MEA CULPA: Sorry if this isn’t very timely. I wrote it Friday, Aug. 15, but I must have not hit the right button to get it on the blog.
I must admit that I’ve never owned a copy of Peter Frampton’s monumental 1976 two-record set “Frampton Comes Alive!” Not on cassette, LP, CD or even 8-track.
Practically everybody that was into rock ’n’ roll in the ’70s has a copy, but it just never came into my orbit. My older brother had it, but I don’t recall that being one of the albums that I would sneak out of his room to put on my turntable.
Of course, I heard a lot of the singles on Top 40 and rock radio and I liked them. I just never got caught up in Frampton-mania.
So it was with no expectations that I went to The Klein in Bridgeport Thursday night to see Frampton. I figured it would be a good way to spend a Thursday night and that’s about it. I’m happy to report it was much more than killing time. It was time well spent.
Not knowing what to expect – for the most part – I was a little thrown off when Frampton started the concert with a couple of Motown Era songs, Junior Walker and the All-Stars’ “Shotgun” and Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).”
He knew what the thousand or so people at the venue wanted and soon enough he was playing songs from “Frampton Comes Alive!,” including a top-notch version of “Show Me the Way,” complete with the talk box he made famous.
Frampton showcased his guitar licks throughout the concert and played several instrumentals. In lesser hands, these can be momentum-killers in concert, but the raucous crowd lapped it up. His instrumental cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” especially, stood out, garnering the 58-year-old one of his many standing ovations.
He followed that with three straight standout tunes: “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “I’ll Give You Money” and “Do You Feel Like We Do.”
On the last of these songs, many in the crowd made their way to the front of the stage, giving The Klein the feel of a true rock arena. That's not an easy task for a venue traditionally thought of as the home of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.
During the extended “Do You Feel Like We Do,” Frampton and Rob Arthur engaged in a little musical call-and-response with Frampton’s guitar and Arthur’s keyboards. At one point in the song, Frampton used the talk box to poke fun at his recent television commercial for car insurance.
“Do you have GEICO Insurance?,” he asked, before quickly adding, “Neither do I.” That drew a big laugh from the audience.
Frampton also used the mid-song break to introduce the rest of his band and said his drummer, Dan Wojciechowski, is from Bridgeport. On Frampton’s Web site, however, he is listed as having grown up in Warren, Mich., so maybe he lives here now. Anybody know his connection to the Park City?
Early in the show, Frampton dedicated a song to “Beatle George,” his longtime friend George Harrison – he played on Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass – and during the encore he performed Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
The performance closed with a song from Frampton’s early band, Humble Pie’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” that was a rousing finish to a very entertaining evening.
Posted by Sean on August 18, 2008 3:27 AM
