Robin Trower
and Joanne Shaw Taylor
Sheffield City Hall 9 April 2015
It is not usual for me to find anything amazing to go out for on a Thursday night in April, but I did pop along to see Robin Trower and his support act, Joanne Shaw Taylor.
Trotting down several flights of stairs to the lower depths of City Hall was a bit disconcerting (pardon the pun) as I hadn't been in there before, but the hall was nice and spacious with a good atmosphere and decent acoustics.
Joanne Shaw Taylor came on with a strongly rock-blues oriented setlist. She has a massive voice, which has a raw edged vibe, kind of like Suzi Quatro meets Janis Joplin, but more controlled, to my mind, than the latter.
That would be doing her a bit of a disservice though, as she can tone it down when she wants to and "Jealousy", a soulful ballad which builds to a powerful climax, is a great showpiece for her voice.
It is a voice made for the blues, and coupled with her obvious guitar mastery makes for a formidable show. Again, the interested should have a listen to "Jealousy".
I managed to catch a few words with her after the show and she tells me that her solos are 80% improvisation to 20% set-piece. I can well believe it. There was a wildness to them that cannot quite be achieved by playing safe and playing by rote, although there was a fluidity that spoke volumes about the amount of time she spends with a guitar in hand.
For the gear geeks, she uses a Marshall 1987x at 18w with a tube screamer to kick it into overdrive, and intersperses that with a fender super reverb with a Mojo Hand Rook on the top setting to give that some beef for solos. She played the first song with a telecaster, but most of the set was using a Les Paul, and which had a mellow neck pickup with a hot, but smooth bridge. A perfect foil for her voice, and the two blended perfectly.
A brilliant start to the evening.
Robin Trower
After the interval, Robin Trower came on with a tasty white stratocaster. I wasn't sure of the model, but with 21 frets (which looked like stainless steel), a bullet truss rod and abalone dots, I suspect a custom shop model. He played that through a couple of Marshall heads, each with a 4x12 cab.
This should have been too loud for words, but, and to put it simply, the man is a master of his craft. The amps were obviously close to total saturation, but they were never let loose other than to sing, but without howling.
Mr Trower kept control of them and the instrument with a sure hand that speaks of years spent with them. The way he played was with a mastery of the instrument that I have very seldom seen. It was a combination of Jeff Beck's fluidity and musical knowledge, with Jimi Hendrix' ability to use the amp feedback as an instrument in its own right, with Dave Gilmour's artful tremolo usage, but with Robin Trower's own style and influences.
There were some rocky blues numbers, which were what one would expect, but with some inspired wah- and tremolo- laced solos, but then there were surprises, such as what seemed to be an entire instrumental ballad played using double stops, where he managed somehow to get the two notes to be just off-key enough to get the amp's distortion to cause slow phasing. The effect was akin to walking by the seashore with waves lapping and receding, but in a sonic sense. I can't really describe it, but it was the highlight of the evening for me.
Other songs were blisteringly fast, with repeated motifs and incredibly intense, convoluted runs, which carried the listener, but set them down gently at the end of each song.
A nod must go to his bassist as well, who had a brilliant voice, with a natural tremolo that added a great deal to the songs he was charged with singing. Where I was sitting (front and centre, naturally) I was a bit disappointed because the PA was at either end of the stage, so his voice was somewhat swamped by the guitar sound in the centre. I felt that a vocal speaker in the centre, or perhaps a bit of shielding for the speakers might have helped the acoustics somewhat, but as Robin Trower was the guitarist, I wasn't massively upset.
Overall, Robin Trower is one of the best guitarists I have ever seen, whether on video or live. His mastery of his craft is evident in the effortless way he plays (a strat is not the easiest of instruments to play, and to play at that speed and intensity is very difficult indeed. To play at that speed and intensity for 90 minutes would be a marathon). Whilst the instrument looked to be one of the very best of its kind, it was still a high achievement to play like that, for that length of time. Truly astonishing. Colour me a fan.
and Joanne Shaw Taylor
Sheffield City Hall 9 April 2015
It is not usual for me to find anything amazing to go out for on a Thursday night in April, but I did pop along to see Robin Trower and his support act, Joanne Shaw Taylor.
Trotting down several flights of stairs to the lower depths of City Hall was a bit disconcerting (pardon the pun) as I hadn't been in there before, but the hall was nice and spacious with a good atmosphere and decent acoustics.
Joanne Shaw Taylor came on with a strongly rock-blues oriented setlist. She has a massive voice, which has a raw edged vibe, kind of like Suzi Quatro meets Janis Joplin, but more controlled, to my mind, than the latter.
That would be doing her a bit of a disservice though, as she can tone it down when she wants to and "Jealousy", a soulful ballad which builds to a powerful climax, is a great showpiece for her voice.
It is a voice made for the blues, and coupled with her obvious guitar mastery makes for a formidable show. Again, the interested should have a listen to "Jealousy".
I managed to catch a few words with her after the show and she tells me that her solos are 80% improvisation to 20% set-piece. I can well believe it. There was a wildness to them that cannot quite be achieved by playing safe and playing by rote, although there was a fluidity that spoke volumes about the amount of time she spends with a guitar in hand.
For the gear geeks, she uses a Marshall 1987x at 18w with a tube screamer to kick it into overdrive, and intersperses that with a fender super reverb with a Mojo Hand Rook on the top setting to give that some beef for solos. She played the first song with a telecaster, but most of the set was using a Les Paul, and which had a mellow neck pickup with a hot, but smooth bridge. A perfect foil for her voice, and the two blended perfectly.
A brilliant start to the evening.
Robin Trower
After the interval, Robin Trower came on with a tasty white stratocaster. I wasn't sure of the model, but with 21 frets (which looked like stainless steel), a bullet truss rod and abalone dots, I suspect a custom shop model. He played that through a couple of Marshall heads, each with a 4x12 cab.
This should have been too loud for words, but, and to put it simply, the man is a master of his craft. The amps were obviously close to total saturation, but they were never let loose other than to sing, but without howling.
Mr Trower kept control of them and the instrument with a sure hand that speaks of years spent with them. The way he played was with a mastery of the instrument that I have very seldom seen. It was a combination of Jeff Beck's fluidity and musical knowledge, with Jimi Hendrix' ability to use the amp feedback as an instrument in its own right, with Dave Gilmour's artful tremolo usage, but with Robin Trower's own style and influences.
There were some rocky blues numbers, which were what one would expect, but with some inspired wah- and tremolo- laced solos, but then there were surprises, such as what seemed to be an entire instrumental ballad played using double stops, where he managed somehow to get the two notes to be just off-key enough to get the amp's distortion to cause slow phasing. The effect was akin to walking by the seashore with waves lapping and receding, but in a sonic sense. I can't really describe it, but it was the highlight of the evening for me.
Other songs were blisteringly fast, with repeated motifs and incredibly intense, convoluted runs, which carried the listener, but set them down gently at the end of each song.
A nod must go to his bassist as well, who had a brilliant voice, with a natural tremolo that added a great deal to the songs he was charged with singing. Where I was sitting (front and centre, naturally) I was a bit disappointed because the PA was at either end of the stage, so his voice was somewhat swamped by the guitar sound in the centre. I felt that a vocal speaker in the centre, or perhaps a bit of shielding for the speakers might have helped the acoustics somewhat, but as Robin Trower was the guitarist, I wasn't massively upset.
Overall, Robin Trower is one of the best guitarists I have ever seen, whether on video or live. His mastery of his craft is evident in the effortless way he plays (a strat is not the easiest of instruments to play, and to play at that speed and intensity is very difficult indeed. To play at that speed and intensity for 90 minutes would be a marathon). Whilst the instrument looked to be one of the very best of its kind, it was still a high achievement to play like that, for that length of time. Truly astonishing. Colour me a fan.
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