02 April 2013 (gig)
06 April 2013
There aren’t many true guitar virtuosi either alive today or historically. Once you get past Hendrix, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia or Al DiMeola and, at a pinch, Joe Satriani there are very few guitarists who make you stand up and applaud for their sheer skill and technical brilliance.
Added to that list is and has been for some time, Eric Johnson.
On Wednesday his show at the Empire was a sell out and the crowd were rapt in admiration of a brilliant player whose fingers seemed to be almost divorced from his hands.
His playing from the first moments to the last were an education in how to play a Strat. His runs, riffs and solos ranging from the jazzy and Bluesy through to full on shredding and lightning fast came at you one after the other and there were times when it was almost impossible for the bass and drums to keep up although they did, brilliantly.
He played some of the tracks from his new album ‘Up Close’ including a stunning version of ‘Austin’ along with a number of favourites from his back catalogue, varying pace and power as well as showing that it is possible to play long, intricate solos AND keep the soul of the music intact.
A personal favourite was the acoustic interlude where he covered ‘Divanae’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In Texas’ and managed the same level of virtuosity on an acoustic.
He concentrated mainly on the strat and in these days of watching the guitar tech appear at the end of every number with a new instrument it was wonderful to see a musician that is talented enough to create all that he dd without swapping or even needing to constantly fiddle with the tuning. When he did switch to an SG for a couple of numbers it was for the sheer power that the Gibson delivers but then we were back to the favoured Strat.
I have two gripes about the gig; I would have liked to see him play more of his country and slide and the vocals were bloody awful – virtually inaudible.
Overall, a superb gig and a demonstration of what you can do with a guitar if you possess the talent – not many could even come close.
Pic credit - Stephen Fourie
Setlist
1. Intro Jam
2. Battle We Have Won
3. Zenland (Alien Love Child song)
4. Austin
5. Forty Mile Town
6. Fatdaddy
7. Desert Rose
8. Last House on the Block (Alien Love Child song)
9. Mr. P.C (John Coltrane cover) (incl drum solo)
10. Divanae (Acoustic)
11. Once Upon A Time In Texas (Acoustic)
12. Manhattan
13. Zap
14. When The Sun Meets The Sky
Encore:
15. Are You Experienced? (Jimi Hendrix cover)
16. Cliffs of Dover
Encore 2:
17. Rock and Roll Jam
