Robert at the Beacon

["Frank" <fmiller6@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My review with typos corrected. It reads easier now. LOL




Good summation of the show last night Eddie. It was great to be there, great
to meet you and great to meet Dawn.
To me the music flowed like a thick stream of liquid sound. The band was
tight, the band was into it, and the band performed just as they should, as
a band. No one really stood out as being above any other and I think that
had a lot to do with the magic of what I saw and heard. They opened with
Misty Mountain Hop and while it was nearly unrecognizable at first, as soon
as the lyrics were audible it was go. The audience stood for the first 5
numbers or so. I began wondering why I paid for a seat. LMAO.
As the band flowed through the setlist the music always seemed to come from 
another
direction. Zeppelin, then early Plant solo, then later solo, then Allison,
back to Page\Plant etc. It was really good to hear him pull from virtually
every part of his career. One particular moment that struck me was when I
heard the opening notes to "Satan Your Kingdom..." It was sounding good. 
Then
Roberts voice came through sending those lyrics out to us with almost a
religious dissonance. I could feel the passion in his voice. He was singing
it but he meant to too.
Ramble On was very good. I liked the reworked structure and did not feel 
that it robbed the song of anything. But I've
been into Roberts way of taking music to new places for many years now so to
expect something else would have been to ignore the obvious.
If there was one song that made me stop for a moment it was Tangerine. The
song was well done mind you and I enjoyed it very much. However, to me
anyway, that is Jimmy's song. I guess this bothered me the same way Jason
doing Stairway did. While it was done well, other songs from the catalogue
would seem a bit more fitting, so to speak.
Buddy Miller impressed me a lot. While he filled his role as a designer of
mood with sound he was able quite often to just grip it and rip it. A time
or two he even went for effects sounds that flirted with atonal. Picture the
scene on the No Quarter video where in Marrakech Jimmy is getting crazy
sounds out of that machine with the knob on it he keeps shifting (Sorry, I
don't know what he is playing in that one). But Miller had something very
similar on stage and used it well.
Patti Griffin sang wonderful, her solo piece was a nice blend of Bluegrass
and Jazz if you can imagine. And she belted it out solid.
Daryl Scott was damned impressive. Playing guitar, mandolin, banjo and pedal
steel he was a big musical presence on the stage. And when he sang he
knocked me out. A big Bluegrass\Rockabilly voice that punched us right in
the kisser. I suppose there might have been a moment or two when his Pedal
Steel just didn't work for me quite as well as I hoped. During Ramble On he
played the high rhythm stuff that Jimmy did on the album but it seemed a tad
out of sync. Over all though he was cool as hell a blew me away.
The rhythm section didn't get so much solo time as the others but the
drummer kept good time and added nice fills when needed. He fit the bill
well. The Bass player was similar. He knows the music and is not afraid to
say hi once in a while but he knows his role and stuck to it.
Bottom line is that this was, in terms of strength of music and performance,
one of the best concerts I have ever seen. And the cherry on top of meeting
and hanging with fellow FBO'ers made it that much better.
People, This band is on fire and Robert is having a blast. See it if you
can. They don't get much better.

:O)

Chef